I passed the physical requirements, but it was a special branch. I'm an alchemist, we have to pass a written exam to get in, and show our skills. Only one or two get accepted every year, it's not exactly a cake walk.

Everyone else was an adult. My brother couldn't pass the physical exam, so he didn't join... but he still stayed with me the whole time.

[He's used to be people being fairly unimpressed with the notion of alchemy in these worlds, so he breezes over that detail as if talking about the weather. Enough negative reactions made one stop boasting about a certain aspect when it was rarely well received or impressive anymore.]