Learning How to Mage

| ~2000 B.C. | Chief's Tent | Xia Tribe | ??? |

"Now son, are you ready to learn the basics of being a Mage?"

With a new day dawning and morning sun shining down upon the Xia Tribe, father and son were within the Chief's tent about to begin discussing the basics of mana, elements, and magic.

Xing looked confused, "Wait- Mage?"

'Why is my father calling them mages? Don't tell me he's a reincarnated person or something!? No wait, calm down, this is only the first time I've heard him say something questionable; maybe there is a perfectly reasonable explanation.'

"Mage is another way of referring to a Shaman and if I got my way it would be how every Shaman is called. Why might you wonder? Well, the term Shaman has been used by our ancestors for hundreds-of-years to refer to the supernatural, but we now understand a lot about mana, the elements, and spells that it is no longer necessary to use the term. Mage is the new name for our kind; I heard it came from tribes to the north, they got the name from some intelligent species called Elves, and it has started spreading all over the plains. Of course, there are some who don't want to change and are being sticks-in-the-mud."

Zheng cleared his throat and wet his tongue, "Ahem… that's enough about that, now let me repeat myself, are you ready to learn the basics of a Mage?

"Of course, father! I've never been more ready in my life, I will finally have more up my sleeve prepared for the harshness of the world."

"Hoh, I see. Why exactly have you been so tirelessly drilling yourself?"

"I know how wild this world truly is; humans are basically at the bottom of the food chain. If one wants to survive they obviously need the training. Also, I can assist you and mother in the future with whatever it is that the two of you have planned for the tribe." Xing looked innocently at his father while thinking, 'I also don't want to die so shamefully like the first two times.'

Tribe-Chief Zheng looked at his son impressed, "Having the capability to survive in this world is indeed a good thing, I don't know how you were able to infer the state of humanity without having ever left the tribe, but I'm impressed."

Expression turning serious Zheng continued, "And while it's fine to think about helping us parents, that is a topic for the future so wipe it out of your mind and focus on learning and experimenting with magic. Now let us begin with the basics."

'Just what are my mother and father planning? Every year they bring in more and more small tribes as-well-as the tribe-less and then incorporate them into the Xia Tribe. The only reason I can think of why they would do that is for manpower, but why would you need more people in a Stone Age tribal life? Could it be war?'

Xing's musing was interrupted by his father beginning his lesson.

"First of all, is Mana. Mana is everywhere around us, it is in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. It is sightless unless gathered tightly together, soundless, and the only way to feel mana is when it is crystallized into glowing blue rocks like this." Xing watched as his father took out a blue shining gem-like stone.

"Unoriginally they are called mana-crystals, and they are naturally formed when mana gathers together for extended periods of time. They are most often found underground in ore-like deposits, that doesn't mean they cannot form above ground, but if they do they are taken quickly by wildlife. Sometimes a human may get lucky and stumble across one but that would be quite rare, we humans get ours from within the ground as there are only so many intelligent creatures that would bother digging. Those wild and unruly Centaurs, for example, do not bother with mining, they raid and hunt for their mana, whether that is from man or beast. Of course, the Centaur don't focus on magic so they don't need many."

When he stopped to take a breath Xing cut in, "Father what are they used for?"

Coughing, Zheng looked at his son embarrassed, "Ahem, we humans use them in many different ways, spell formations for example, but the main way they can be used is as a source of mana. As I previously stated mana is everywhere: you will draw mana in no matter where you are, or what you are doing, but it is slow, you can speed it up by drawing mana out from a mana-crystal, filling your body back up. Remember that you can't use the surrounding mana in spells if you do not have mana within your body, so having a crystal to draw from is most helpful."

"They can also be used to increase your bodies mana capacity, but doing it that way is worse than a natural increase, and it is dangerous: think of it like using brute force to open a tent flap, if you're careless you'll knock the tent down."

Xing looked like he had an epiphany, "I thought that was the case. I've seen so many Warriors and Shaman resorting to brawls over those stones proclaiming they need them to get stronger; if that were the case then why did you never give me any? I had guessed that they have been some problem with using them, that's why you never gave me any right? You didn't want me using them to force my mana capacity higher?"

"That is correct. Using those stones ruins your foundation, and you won't be able to rank up higher in your later life if you look for easy gains now. Which brings us to the next point in our lessons: Ranks, how do you know what rank you are, what they are, and how to rank-up. But first, a drink." Zheng walked over to the table grabbing a wooden cup and dipping it into a wooden bucket full of water scooping the liquid into his cup.

After he quenched his thirst he began again by asking, "Now, when you were in your Mindscape did you see a giant energy circle in the sky, pulsating with elemental energy?"

"I did, and I was going to ask about that during this learning session, there was also another one forming just next to the fully formed circle," Xing told his father.

Placing his half-full cup back down onto the table, "Well, those circles indicate what rank of Mage you are. One fully formed and pulsating circle means that you are a 1st-Circle Mage, the forming circle shows how close you are to becoming a 2nd-Circle Mage. You may not have noticed but each circle is different from the other, and different for each Mage, just like a Sigil. The reason for that is because they can be used similar to a Sigil where you can call out the symbol, and you will be able to use a spell that you have bound to it instantly without needing the use of your Sigil and the spells Spell-Model."

"Now, for an example." Zheng placed his hand on the ground and an Earthen Spike shot out of the ground stopping head-height right net to Xing.

"Woah, I didn't see any indication of the spell at all," exclaimed Xing.

"That's right, and you won't see any signs unless the spell you have bound requires more mana than you have in your body, in which case surrounding mana will be drawn in." He removed his hand from the ground retracting the spike back into the ground making it look as if it were never within the tent in the beginning.

"Finally on the subject of Ranks, and most importantly: how to rank up. To complete a circle outline is as easy as storing mana in your body, and raising your personal Mana-capacity. Doing that will not complete the circle, however. To complete the circle you need to gain an understanding of the Elements which will light up the circles outline with pulsating elemental energy, look at your first circle for reference."

"What rank are you father?"

"I am a 3rd-Circle Mage, or for the traditionalists: a 3rd-Circle Great-Shaman, hence the title. I have expanded my bodies Mana-capacity twice, and have gained a deeper understanding of the Earth Element. I am close to completing my fourth circle, but the Elemental Energy hasn't even reached one-fourth around the outline; so I don't see myself going much further in my lifetime. Now before we continue onto Elements let me take a seat."

Zheng walked over and sat on a chair at the head of the table, "See? I'm getting so old that I can't even stand around for an extended period of time. Haha, just kidding I wouldn't be Tribe-Chief if I were that feeble; come sit down Xing we still have a bit to go."

As-soon-as Xing sat on his chair his father carried on the lecture, "Where were we? …Ahhh yes, Elements. Now first thing is a common misconception about Elements: which is that Mages are locked to their own Element and can't use others, and that would be incorrect. Mages are able to use other Elements; the reason is that like Mana, the Elements are all around you, some places have more of one Element while less of another, but no matter where you are, you can be sure that all Elements are present. You obviously won't be able to use the other Elements as skillfully or as masterfully as your main Element, you also won't be able to create spells for them either, or cast high-level spells."

Zheng took another drink of water before continuing, "Most Mages and Warrior get the 4 most basic Elements: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water; as a result of this those four are the most known, resulting in a lot of reference material when learning. There are many more Elements that are rarer, and as I am sure you're aware, make them less known- like your Dark Element. You also have the spells that use raw Mana without adding any Element, they are classified as the Mana Element; while if you want to get technical a Warrior using raw Mana in their attacks is called the Normal Element, both don't matter too much as they have no influence over your circles."

Stopping, Zheng reached over to a pile of beast-skins on the table, upon closer inspection they each had writing scribbled on them, "The known Elements the Xia Tribe has records of, apart from the basic four, are as follows: Ice, Life, Mineral, Spirit. Life is recorded to deal with healing magic, and I happen to know of a Life Mage within the Shan Tribe- a tribe larger than ours to the south-east; there are only records of Spirit but they say that the element messes with the minds of others; Mineral is similar to my Earth Element except instead of the ground itself, it uses minerals from the ground; Ice is the manipulation of frozen water and while there are no Mages with the Element in the tribe, your mother has the Ice Element on-top of her Air Element. It is what is causing her fading hair color, and icy temperament around any but family."

"Do we have any Mages with those rare Elements within the tribe?"

"No, there are none, and no Warrior either for that matter. Well, I mean we do now you've got two unknown Elements: Dark and Light. It is recorded that rarer elements are more powerful than the common ones, but the downside is that you'll be on your own in learning them, and creating your own Spell-Models; which brings us to our next topic."

Xing's father placed the records back into the pile taking out another beast-skin, this one with an intricate drawing inscribed as neatly as possible, "This is the Spell-Model for the spell Magic Missile, it's nothing fancy just raw Mana brought together and shot out like an arrow." He handed the skin to Xing, "Now watch me and then try and follow along."

He started drawing Mana out from his body and willed it to form into a complicated artwork of translucent letters, runes, and shapes in front of him, "As you can see just this Rank-1 Spell-Model is already quite complicated, you can imagine how profound higher rank spells get. Now, I first use pooled Mana to draw the Spell-Model design as accurate as possible, the more precise the better the power or effect. Then lastly I will etch my Sigil into the position dedicated to it, again using Mana. And… done!"

In a few seconds, there was a completed Spell-Model floating in mid-air in front of Zheng. He pointed the luminous design diagonally downward toward the floor and willed it to shoot.

A small bluish arrow of condensed mana formed in the middle of the Spell-Model and sped outward toward the targeted ground, hitting the ground with a crackle and sending dirt flying a few meters. After the fallout, Xing inspected the epicenter and discovered a small hole left behind as if an arrow had been stuck in the ground previously.

"There you have it, a full-fledged spell. I'm sure you can already imagine how difficult it is to perfectly form Spell-Models to use, now imagine creating your own. And you have two never before seen Elements so you're going to have a lot of work cut out for you." Zheng looked at his son with an expression of pity, he himself had a few tutors to teach him the beginnings of using the Earth Element, but his son would need to do everything on his own.

Xing saw his fathers look but didn't think much of it. He came from a future world with an abundance of imaginative works detailing what magic could look like: whether they be books, games, or movies. These sources gave him quite a few ideas on just what to make, the hard part would be figuring out how to make the Spell-Models themselves. He guessed it may be similar to computer programming: using a language that the Mana understands, then giving instructions for the Mana to follow.

"Thanks for everything Father. I'm sure I'll be fine with learning on my own, I wasn't called a genius when I was younger for nothing." Xing bragged.

Zheng was relieved that his son did not get discouraged, "Mhm, good attitude son. If you have any questions about the Mage discipline I'll be here for you at any time. Now get out there and start practicing, I've got a tribe to manage."