This was actually happening. The Weaver hadn't lied about giving him a second chance, and now Shinichi found himself in a world he'd only dreamed about during those miserable lunch breaks in his cramped apartment.
"Bring the child to the examination chamber," a cold voice cut through the moment. "We need to determine his affinity immediately."
Hands lifted him from his mother's embrace before he could process what was happening. A maid in a plain uniform carried him through long corridors lit by floating orbs that glowed with soft white light.
The examination chamber had a ceiling that stretched impossibly high above them. In the center of the room, a massive crystal orb floated above a stone altar covered in glowing runes. The air buzzed with energy that made the fine hairs on his tiny arms stand up.
An old man waited beside the altar with white hair that cascaded past his shoulders and a long beard to match. His dark blue robes were embroidered with silver stars that caught the light, and despite his age, he carried himself with commanding presence. He looked exactly like the wizards from every fantasy story Shinichi had consumed during his previous life.
"Place his hand on the crystal," the old man said.
The maid brought Shinichi's small hand toward the smooth surface. His fingers touched the cool crystal, and for a few seconds, nothing happened. Then light began to spread from where his hand made contact.
But instead of the bright, powerful glow everyone was clearly expecting, the light came out pale and weak. It flickered uncertainly like a candle flame being battered by wind, barely managing to illuminate the inside of the crystal.
The old man's face changed instantly. The anticipation in his eyes faded into confusion, then hardened into disappointment. "No. This can't be."
Shinichi's mother forced her way through the crowd that had gathered, her face looks worried. "What is it? What's wrong with my son?"
The wizard stared at the crystal like it had personally betrayed him. His hands shook when he spoke.
"Lady Stelle, your son does possess magical affinity, but..." He stopped, as if saying the rest would make it more real.
"But what?" Stelle's voice rose. "Tell me what's wrong with Shinichi!"
Moro took a long breath. "Light affinity. Grade F. The lowest grade ever recorded in the Sunvolt family's entire history."
"Possibly the lowest in the kingdom, maybe even the continent." He paused, and each word that followed landed heavier than the last.
"Furthermore, he has no secondary affinity. No Fire. No Water. No Earth or Wind. Only Light."
The whispers started immediately among the servants and family members who had gathered to witness what should have been a celebration. "Light magic? The weakest type?"
"How is this possible? The Sunvolt bloodline has never—"
"Such a shame..."
Shinichi heard every word. His infant body was useless and couldn't even lift his own head, but his adult mind was still completely intact. Those whispers hurt worse than anything physical ever had in either of his lives.
In this world, Fire mages could destroy entire battlefields with waves of flame. Lightning mages could kill dozens of enemies with a single thought. Earth mages could reshape the ground itself. And Light magic?
Light magic made glowing balls so people could read at night. It was convenience magic, not real power. The kind of magic for servants and common people, not nobles and warriors.
Of course this would happen. He'd been given a second chance at life and brought to a world of magic and possibilities, only to discover it was just as much of a cosmic joke as his first life. From poverty and crushing debt to the weakest magic anyone had ever seen. Apparently the universe enjoyed making him the punchline.
Stelle grabbed him from the maid's arms and pulled him tight against her chest. Tears ran down her face and dripped onto Shinichi's forehead. "It's alright, Shinichi. You're still my son. I don't care what anyone says."
But Shinichi could hear the despair woven through her words. He'd become a disappointment within minutes of being born, before he could even hold his head up. His existence had already become a stain on the family name.
The Weaver had promised compensation for the mistake, some kind of gift to make up for the decades of stolen life. But all he'd gotten was the weakest magic in existence, in a world where magic determined everything. Unless...
Trust your mind. It will be your greatest weapon. The Weaver's words came back to him with sudden clarity. Not his magic. Not some special power. His mind. The compensation wasn't something outside himself but something he already had.
He wasn't just a baby with adult memories. He was a man from a world of science and technology, reborn into a world of magic that operated on medieval understanding. A world where Light magic was considered weak and useless because nobody actually understood what light really was.
These people saw light as simple illumination. Something to push back darkness. A way to heal small cuts. They had no idea what light actually was at its core.
They didn't know about photons or wavelengths or frequencies. They'd never heard of the electromagnetic spectrum. They had no concept that light was the fastest thing that existed, the very speed at which reality itself operated.
In this world of magic, they used it to make reading lamps and heal papercuts. Light wasn't weak. These people just had no idea how to actually use it. But Shinichi knew better. He knew the principles behind what light could really do like the physics and the science.
If magic in this world was just another way to manipulate energy and interact with reality's basic forces, and if he had an affinity specifically for light, then he could do things these people couldn't even dream of. This was the compensation the Weaver had mentioned.
Not some outside power added to his soul, just the combination of his modern scientific knowledge and the magical affinity this world considered worthless. A combination nobody else in this entire world had.
He would call it Mynd. His mind that can be used as a real weapon, exactly like the Weaver had said. The connection between science and magic that would let him turn the weakest element into something that would shake everything this world thought it knew.
Still held in his mother's arms and surrounded by disappointed whispers and pitying looks, Shinichi Sunvolt smiled. The first genuine moment of happiness he'd felt in either of his lives.
Let them whisper. Let them call him weak and a failure. He would show them all what Light could really do when someone who actually understood it used it. Not because some system said he could, but because he understood something fundamental that they didn't.
The whispers kept going around him as more family members and servants heard about what had happened to the Sunvolt household. But Shinichi barely noticed them anymore.
His infant eyes, golden like his father's, shone with determination that had nothing to do with how old his body was and everything to do with his soul's unbreakable will. This time would be different. He refused to stay weak, and promised to himself that he would become the strongest.