Undisclosed location in the German Reich, Neues Reich…
Main Von Albert levitated a piece of chalk before hurling it at the child who was daydreaming in the middle of his lesson.
"Ouch!" the child yelped in surprise.
"Oh, does it hurt now? Well you should be paying more attention. Reach Rank 1 and activate your passive spell, stuff like this will not be able to harm you."
"I just started learning Magic a year ago! How do you expect me to reach Rank 1 so quickly?!" the child exclaimed in defiance.
"Listen to my lecture boy!" the old man huffed before restarting the lecture.
"Th world is made up of fundamental forces. The first one is Gravity. It is the energy that is created from the existence of matter, and it is what holds together the same matter. It is the same force that keeps us on the ground, and the same force we must overcome when our balloons take to the air."
"The second force is the electro-magnetic force. It governs interactions between charged particles; responsible for the light we see and don't see, the magnetism we see in magnets, as well as the electricity we have created using those magnets."
"The third force is the attraction and repulsion force that holds together the smallest particles, and is also responsible for the breaking of unstable particles into more stable and smaller particles."
"The fourth force is the exact opposite of the first force. In a similar way to how the third force comprises of both attraction and repulsion forces on the particular scale, the fourth force is responsible for the repelling force that is constantly pushing everything away from each other. Of course, this is just my theory, and had yet to be proven to be true, so we shall leave it unnamed until it is proven right."
"And finally, we have Mana. This on, my grandson so graciously named after my, is the force we Jerries were gifted by the Almighty Sun. It was also expressly given directly to every citizen of the Great German Reich by the Almighty Sun."
"Yes, yes, Teacher Albert, I know this. We have been over this three time already!" the child mumbled under his breath, causing another chalk to bounce of his blonde hair.
"And yet, in every test I have done after explaining this to you, you have failed to even recall 60% of what I told you. Sometimes I truly find it remarkable how one of the most talented Jerries in recorded history, in terms of Mana affinity and capacity, turned out to be mentally deficient," The old man sighed before picking up another chalk from the bucket of chalks he had behind him.
"Now, listen carefully. It is possible for Jerries, especially those from the German Reich, to cultivate Mana without our souls. To do this, you must empty your mind, and allow the mana from the surroundings to flow into your soul, thus increasing the amount of Mana."
"This amount of mana, once increased through meditation, would become permanently increased. You can spend the mana within your soul on spells of various kinds, but the maximum amount would no decrease, and even without meditating, your soul would naturally absorb the surrounding mana up till the limit."
"Remember, each soul has a limit on the amount of mana it can hold, and when someone reached the maximum threshold, they can break through to reach Rank 1. The larger this soul limit, the stronger the talent and mana capacity of the mage, and it is the first thing we check when testing the talents of prospective Magi."
"Rank 0 spells can be used by all citizens, and are essentially really simple in nature. From basic conjuring of water for drinking or cleaning purposes to moving around small rocks and pebbles. All individuals can use the spells of all different kinds, especially at Rank 0."
"However, things change at Rank 1. In order to advance to this Rank, you must first take all the mana within your soul, and compress it. Mana is naturally in an ethereal gas form that is invisible to the naked eye of other Jerries. Those from the German Reich can see it, but that is not the point!" the old mage coughed as he brought back the conversation to the topic in question.
"Compressing it into a fine point, as long as enough gracious mana was present before the process is commenced, will result in a single droplet of liquid mana being formed. This single droplet would allow your soul to now absorb mana from the surroundings and produce droplets of mana on its own. These droplets, however, would allow you access to Rank 1 spells."
"Like fireball?" the child exclaimed in eagerness.
"Yes. However, you must remember, while compressing your droplet of liquified mana, you must also inscribe a passive spell rune into your soul. This spell will utilise almost a tenth of the mana as other spells. You could chose to select a defensive spell like the most of us, which would allow you keep it active at all times, just on a fraction of the normal rate of mana recovery your soul would have. Other chose offensive spells, like fireball, which would allow them to cast almost instantaneous spells with the use of barely any mana, turning them into human gatling guns."
"Like the ones we have on the walls near the borders?" the child made a connection to something he had seen a year ago, when a monster of the night was easily dealt with by a single Rank 2 Mage that threw out lightning bolts in a continuous stream, as though water, until the creature was cooked medium rare.
"Yes. Though I will suggest you to always pick the defensive spells, it makes it such that in a one on one, nobody at the same level would be able to harm you."
"…" The child felt sullen at the thought on not gaining access to the rapid-fire spells.
"Getting back on topic. At Rank 1, it is important to select your element. This would relate to your affinity. Some have affinity for fire, while others for water, and others for earth of lightening. It is completely individualistic, and it is the second thing we test for to determine the talent of potential Magi. You have incredible affinity for almost all elements, much like myself, but far greater. So much so that nobody else even bothered to try and teach you magic as you would surpass them within a few years at most. They all just gave up and sent you my way after a bit of trying to teach you… though in hindsight I suppose it may have been due to your… ineptitude in learning."
"…" the child pouted while lowering his head, causing the old man to sigh while continuing with his repetitive lecture. No matter how bad the child was at learning, as long as he repeated the same things over and over again, at some point, it would become ingrained into his mind.
"Using spells you have a higher affinity for means you would activate them faster, with less mana consumption, which is vital in combat or research alike. Of course, you can still use spells of other elements, but they would use more mana and take longer."
"This restriction does not apply to Jerries like you and I. we can use all elements as though they are our own, with minimal mana and time. This however, comes at the cost of having to learn an infinitely greater number of spell runes, memorising them such that we can create them within our souls using mana and activate them."
"More learning!" The child sighed exasperatedly.
*Thwack*
Another chalk found its way onto the child's head, though somehow not a single mark was ever left on the child.
"The same goes for Rank 2. You simply compress all the mana until a semi-solid mana is formed, like honey. Rank 2 spells are far more powerful than Rank 1, almost doubling in power. Rank 3 is also pretty similar. You compress the semi-solid mana into a solid crystalline form, with Rank 3 spells being double as powerful as Rank 2 spells."
"And while advancing at each Rank, you must inscribe another passive spell rune into your soul, either defensive of offensive, but generally of your own elemental affinity. Though the last part does not apply to you or me."
As for Rank 4, I am still working on that part. Being stuck at the limit of Rank 3 for so many years, I have only uncovered that the mage must comprehend a special runes. These are similar to spell runes, but infinitely more complex, and pertain to domains beyond the normal elements. One of these elements is space, while another one is time. I have already understood time is simply impossible for me, so I have put all my focus on space runes. Once I can create those runes, I should be able to advance to Rank 4!"
"Yay…" the child displayed a less than enthusiastic display of joy, causing the old man to simply sigh in defeat, "Alright, Eric. Get your focus on the topic. You must learn all these spell runes by the end of the year."
"Whaat?!!!!" the child; Eric, cried indignantly.
"Oh stop with the melodrama. You have already spent the last year learning most of these runes. I just need you to recall the rest before we can move forward. Hmm…" The old man paused for a moment before smirking, "How about this. If you can learn these spells and collect enough mana before the age of 14, I will allow you to select an offensive spell for your Rank 1 passive spell."
Eric's Eyes brightened immediately as he turned his focus towards the thick book of Rank 0 spell runes of all different elements that his teacher. Main Von Albert had personally selected for their varied utilities in offense, defence, and research.
{AN: Sorry for the super long chapter. People wanted an explanation of the Magic system, so here it is. The Berserk system is still being developed by the Triple… no Dual Monarchy of Franz-Austria, and the technological system is what it is. I should not have to explain much in that aspect. I am not proficient in mechanical, chemical, or any other form of engineering or design, so please give me some leeway in terms of technicalities of the technological system, since it will not be as detailed as the magical system that I can just make up from my imagination.}
{AN: Please comment and leave reviews! I need to remove my own reviews!! PLEASE}
Word count: 1790 words!
{AN: Almost a double chapter in one! Hope you all enjoy. I did not wish to split this into mutliple chapters.}