So, a few more months slipped by.
And along the way, I've made a ground-breaking achievement.
I can crawl!
This was easily my proudest moment in both of my lifetimes.
Now, it felt like I was one step—or rather, inch—closer to becoming the Hero I desired to be and reaching the pinnacle of strength in this world.
To help with this goal, I'd also been using the magic textbooks in the palace's library to increase my knowledge of magic and things regarding the world.
I wasn't sure if it was because of my constant exposure to the new language in this world, or because the books Esil read me to bed, or possibly because I was some sort of genius, but I've somehow picked up enough words to read nigh-fluently.
Of course, there were still words I couldn't understand yet, but in cases such as that, I used the context of the topic along with the words surrounding it in order to determine what was being said. It was easier in some cases, others not so much.
For the most part, I could choose any book off the countless shelves and read 'em, though.
My main interest had resonated with the magic textbooks. For obvious reasons.
A few things I've learned so far is that magic in this world is slightly different from what I'm used to (in the tons of novels and manga I'd read), but the principles and foundations that make it up seem to be similar.
Usually, there's some type of ceremony or ritual involving gods that let you use magic.
Here, however, there existed something called a "Manaphrodite Coreular," which was typically referred to as a magic core.
Every living being capable of using mana has this core located in their body, albeit it looks a bit different depending on the creature. For example, a human/humainoid's core is typically more round than a non-humanoid, magic beast's crystal-shaped core, and they also differ in terms of how they can be used/extracted after their owner passes on.
After a certain period of time whenever a magic beast dies, their crystal core is the only thing that becomes left of them, which adventurers exchange for treasures and other riches (though, it can be extracted at the time of death).
More about this some other time, though.
Your mana core is directly responsible for your ability to use mana, as the name suggests, and is currently the most common way to accurately measure a mage's capabilities.
The ability to use mana is mostly genetic based, but there are occasionally a few cases in which people with no recorded ancestry linked to the usage of mana suddenly awakening to it.
While there's some luck involved, it's primarily genetics and training.
A person's mana core begins officially forming right around the one month mark of age, meaning that my core had begun to start forming already.
I was able to sense it, albeit faintly.
There's still the forming and accumulation processes which can finish naturally from either early or late adolescence (unless mitigated) before a person is actually able to use magic, however, as even if you're aware of the processes behind using it, if your core (which is linked to the amount of mana you can store) wasn't finished, then it'd be like trying to pull water from an empty cup.
And in some (most) cases, it would cause more issues than it would solve.
Additionally, the speed at which an individual's mana core forms is based on certain requisites such as:
the amount of abundant mana in their surroundings, and primarily, their natural attunement to mana—the reason why most non-human-like races core forms faster than humans, even dwarves (fun fact).
Though that is not to say that humans couldn't form their mana cores fast, since it can be expedited by quite an extent depending on where you live.
Thankfully, Verlice was quite rich in this aspect, as were the other Blessed Kingdoms.
To sum it up, I'm one step (in my case one leg) closer to using magic, and becoming the Hero I aim to be.
All that was left now was to play the boring ole' waiting game.
Fortunately for me, I had options to keep me occupied in the meantime, what with being a prince and all.
Sifting through a particular display of books on one of the many rows of shelves, my fingers lightly tracing the hard woven covers, I pulled a particular one out, and set the familiar aureate and gray book down on the soft, gray sofa.
My eyes glid across the book as I took in its shimmering, solid title.
"The Beginner Mage's Guide to All Things Magic."
As I've mentioned previously, up until recently, I acquired most of my knowledge from Esil's stories.
But with me gaining the ability to crawl, things changed by a whole lot.
One day, as I was exploring around the palace testing out my newfound power (crawling), I came upon quite a magnificent room.
That room turned out to be the palace's very own library. How lucky was that?
Having happened upon this gold mine of knowledge, I made it a priority in my life to get as much information from it as possible.
On a side note, I felt as if the word "library" isn't doing it justice enough, considering how grand it is…
There was a top floor that you could reach via a rich set of stairs, the wooden rows of shelves were a golden-bronze color that shined with opulence, and there was a particularly comfortable window seat that I relaxed on as I read whatever book caught my interest at the time.
Thankfully, it was low enough for me to climb onto. Very convenient!
As a byproduct, Esil grew accustomed to finding me holed up in here; my face buried in books, this one in particular.
My current knowledge about magic and the history/current state of the continent can, for a large part, be traced back to this very book.
I reached for the small, bright purple strip sticking out from the book, and slipped my fingers into the pages, finding myself at the same place I left off last time.
…Looks like I've just about finished the book, I noted. All that was left was a bit of review, it seems.
I decided there'd be no harm in indulging.
A small section near the end of the page titled, "Magic Theory: Review".
…Mana refers to the energy/life force that sustains our world.
While magic and mana are separate, in a sense, it's impossible to use magic while not using the mana.
Mana is energy; magic is the product of that energy, meaning that while you can use mana without using magic, the same logic doesn't apply in reverse.
Every individual person's mana is unique to them and holds inherent attributes to them, but others' manifest more strongly.
The best way to put this is that some people's mana can be sharp or jagged, while others' can be smooth or coarse. In extremely rare cases, those typically with royal lineage can have their mana take on the attributes and effects of magic, completely replacing their usual appearance of mana, limiting their decisions in what kind of magic they can use to just one.
A mage will gain something in return for losing something, whether it be a Flaw in exchange for their new magic imposed upon them, increased firepower, or something else…
This is a rare phenomenon known as Heavenly Exchange, and is typically imposed upon birth.
There's only been a few individuals in the history of Ethos to have been afflicted by this contract, and as such, the true range of its effects are widely unknown, to this day.
*flip*
…Each race has a different biological inclination towards a magic type; an affinity.
The four basic magic types go as the following: fire, earth, water, and wind.
Each of these elements have a higher, specialized form—a divergent form, and those able to wield even a singular one of them are classified as a divergent (mage). The list of basic divergent magic goes as follows:
Fire -> Electricity -> Lightning
Water -> Ice -> Plant
Earth -> Magma -> Gravity
Wind -> Sound -> Illusion
These are not the only types of magic present, however, it's just that these are the most basic types that all mages can awaken to, and are used as a basis for the other magic arts; the foundation of an intricate tree with many branches connected to it.
There are other magic types that can either be cultivated by the user through a process of training, or inherited through heritage, of which cannot be replicated by others except those possessing the same heritage as one's own. In such cases as the latter, they are referred to as Special Divergent magic.
The list of some of the various divergent magic arts goes as follows:
Bloodflame, Dark Ice (sometimes referred to as Black Ice), Mist, Blackflame, Black Lightning, Soul Wind, Soulfire, Iron Spikes, Iceflame, and more.
As for the affinities, humans are more likely to awaken to the fire and water elements, occasionally being able to utilize the earth element, too.
Elves are more likely to awaken to water and wind elements, occasionally being able to use fire too.
Beastkin are more likely to awaken to earth and wind elements, although they may awaken to the water element, too, and dwarves are more likely to awaken to fire and earth elements, although they may awaken to the wind element, too.
As a side note, this is not the is-all be-all for these specific races, they can learn to wield any element at any time, but these are simply the ones most likely for them to awaken to.
…The list for the divergent elements that the most prominent races can awaken to goes as followed:
Water -> Ice (All races) -> Plant (Elves only)
Earth -> Gravity (All races) -> Magma (Beastkin and Dwarves only)
Fire -> Electricity (Humans and elves only) -> Lightning (Humans only)
Wind -> Sound (All races) -> Illusion (Elves and Beastkin only)
…Mages are able to use divergent elements once they acquire a certain level of skill of mana manipulation, or unless they possess a special divergent art—one specifically inherited by their lineage.
The theory behind converting the elements to their more specialized form requires the individual to transmute the mana particles, and takes immense concentration.
*flip*
….Mana veins are present in all types of mages.
They are mainly responsible for a mage's ability to relocate their mana from their core to various parts of their bodies, but they also measure how sustainable your mana is.
The sustainability of your mana is linked to how many mana veins you possess, which affects how long your mana can last outside of your body; the reason why a conjurer's spells will last longer than an enhancer's, as their mana veins are more prominent in their bodies.
(Additionally, if these channels are hit with enough precision and force, it can severely weaken a mage and temporarily prevent them from using mana as a whole.
The use of this technique is strictly prohibited in any form of duels or tournaments, unless verbally agreed upon, or written, beforehand.)
More mana veins lead to longer spell duration and increased potency, with increased casting time as a drawback, due to the process of channel mana through more parts of your body.
This also means, however, that while there aren't as many m. veins in an enhancer as there is in a conjurer, an enhancer's mana veins are wider, which helps with speed/amount that can be relocated from their core to their body for their preferred fighting style, allowing for faster spellcasting.
This helps enhancers overcome the sheer power conjurers possess in their spells.
*flip*'
…Enhancers are a type of mage who have the ability to strengthen or coat themselves or an object they're making direct contact with in their mana.
Enhancers rely purely on their own storage of mana within themselves to spellcast, and cannot afford to supplement their own mana pool with atmospheric mana as they spellcast, unlike a conjurer, due to their lack of mana veins.
Since their mana pools tend to be smaller, they tend to rely on spells with short, almost instantaneous, cast times, or instead, opt to enhancing their weapons or selves with mana.
Enhancers can possess immense strength, defense, and agility, all due to being able to invest more focus into doing so.
Their weakness lies in their lack of range, and unlike conjurers, they do not possess a great enough quantity of m. veins to keep their mana in the atmosphere for long periods of time, meaning their spells have less duration, thus typically making them weaker overall.
This does not mean they cannot spellcast, however, rather that they just are not very suited for focusing on it.
*flip*
…Conjurers possess the ability to create things from mana and bend their surroundings to their will.
They take in the atmospheric mana and begin a process in which they'll purify the absorbed mana from their surroundings and use it to supply their core, similar to the standard way of refining your magic core to acquire the next stage.
Once finished, they'll use that absorbed mana to cast spells. This process takes time, however, which is why most conjurers prefer long ranged battles.
A conjurer's mana veins are more abundant, which makes their spells better at sustaining themselves, thus increasing duration and overall potency.
The more of a certain element there is for a spell relating to that element, the stronger it can be.
Additionally, if a conjurer were to overfill, overexert, in any way, overstrain their mana core in attempts to cast a spell beyond the caster's capacity, and among other things, they could experience backlash; an extremely painful phenomenon that is quite common among mages of any type, and can result in permanent changes to the body, and mana core. Two examples of this are: changes to the user's hair (rapid hypopigmentation or hyperpigmentation), and damage to the mana core, ie: cracks.
While enhancers and conjurers are the two basic types of mana manipulators, very rarely will another kind of mage called an emitter be born; highly sought after cases of people who are able to emit, or rather, transfer, their own mana into another living being. Emitters have a unique property to their mana that gives it restorative abilities, and so are occasionally called healers.
They are characterized by a green aura whenever they awaken, unlike the other two.
*flip*
…Incantations are often used by conjurers to help with the imaging and shaping of the spell, and act as an automatic trigger for magical energy, and once finished they tend to channel it through an appropriate conductor (a staff, wand, ring, etc.)
The longer the spell incantation, the stronger the spell, as the mana becomes more purified within the mage's mana core.
*flip*
…Each mana manipulator—or rather, mage—has a way of measuring their strength. It involves the color of their mana cores. There are seven stages to the mana core, and each stage has three phases.
Black, bronze, silver, platinum, diamond, white, and iridescent, which is the highest.
The idea is to get your mana core more "purified."
Additionally, the more purified your core, the sharper your features become, or "attractive" you become, as your body's impurities are purged. Improving the stage of your core can also greatly affect your direct health, sometimes known to even cure illnesses.
The differences in strengths between enhancers and conjurers are said to blur the stronger the mage.
Discrimination is prominent amongst people in the said "metal ranks" (below diamond.)
Finally, there is no required age limit before one is capable of using magic.
So long as they complete these three processes, they will undoubtedly be capable of wielding magic:
Possessing a formed mana core, building up enough mana to cast a spell without triggering backlash (which can be done with meditation), and finally, so long as they understand the processes behind wielding magic, though this part tends to be the tallest wall to climb, and is a reason—among other reasons, such as expenses for magic teacher or mere beliefs—why child mages aren't the most common of things to see.
Talk about one hell of a review, hm?
While this did help to review my knowledge of magic, this did also bring rise to a new interest.
Technically, I could learn to use magic at my young age, right? All I'd have to do is wait for my core to form, which, by my estimates on how it's looking now… should be within the next few years.
I sat in silence for a few minutes, pondering this.
Hmm… Maybe this next book will help give me some closure on this—!
"There you are, Young Lord!"
A familiar gossamer voice stops me in my tracks.
"Seriously, you mustn't continue to sneak out whenever you want—it's impolite! At the very least, wait until I'm finished with the laundry," Esil complains, lifting me gently into her arms.
"Ladies won't like a guy who runs away from them while they're doing something important."
Crap…. Oh well, I internally resign.
Guess I've gotten caught today. I'll just play along until I find another opportunity to escape and begin testing this idea of mine.
Sorry for causing so much trouble, Esil.
***