Mana Nodes

"Firstly, what is magic." He asked rhetorically before answering by himself.

"Magic in the most simple explanation, is the act of using mana to reshape reality through will, guided by structure."

"And to cast magic, you need two very important things. One- Your mana nodes, and two- Spell models," he listed off his fingers.

"Without these two things, a person can never cast magic. This is why your mana core needed to be awakened after you all came of age. The purpose of doing that was to excite your dormant mana core into life. In the process, your first mana nodes also becomes active. These mana nodes are your spell executors. They process and decipher spell models as you visualize them, and execute them... among other things..." he trailed off with a small, knowing smile.

"But for now, all you need to know is this; Your mana core is the storage for the mana you need to cast magic. Your mana nodes, located within your mana core, are the casting executors. And spell models are carefully crafted steps or processes used to cast magic in a particular way."

"For example," the old man said, lifting his walking cane slowly.

Gasps and murmurs of excitement rippled through the auditorium of recruits as they saw flecks of magic begin to gather and shimmer around the old man, drawn from deep within his core. Within a few seconds, a small phoenix made entirely of fire took shape, hovering gracefully in the air around him.

"Whoa—"

"That's crazy—"

"That must require some real skill, right?"

The recruits murmured amongst themselves with awe.

Even Zephyr's eyes widened slightly as he watched, unable to look away.

"This is magic," he whispered with a barely audible voice.

The old man smiled as he began to explain. "This spell here is called Vulkan's Phoenix. Named after its creator, Grand Master Vulkan," he said with a tone of respect.

"This is an advanced spell and it requires a high level of skill because of continuous processing. You need to know what you want it to do beforehand and send that intention through without delay, all while making constant, minor adjustments to keep the spell stable." He guided the fiery phoenix to fly around him for a bit, drawing gasps around the auditorium before gently dissipating it, much to the disappointment of the enraptured recruits.

"Unfortunately, even I still have a long way to go in mastering that spell. Don't be fooled by its simple appearance. When someone who has truly mastered it— like a Grand Master—casts it, its full power is unleashed. It's still one of the most deadly attack spells publicly known."

Then, with a mischievous glint in his eye, he added, "...And the spell model is available right here in this camp for all of you to learn... if you earn enough points to access it."

The room instantly burst into a loud chatter. The old man had to stamp his walking stick on the ground several times to quiet the crowd before he could continue. "But even if you do earn enough points to acquire the spell model, well... first off it's a spell far beyond your current level, so it's more like something you memorize for the future. And even then, most of you still won't have the number of mana nodes required to cast it."

"Which brings me to my next subject; Differences in talent," he said, his eyes scanning their now serious and attentive faces.

"The painful truth is, some of you may never be able to cast that spell in your lifetime... ever."

"In particular, those of you who awakened with only two mana nodes..." His words drew a wave of quiet dread. A few recruits looked down in despair, while some others looked distant, as if they already knew where they stood.

The old teacher pressed on. "If you awakened with four mana nodes, you still have a chance if you're talented and if you work hard enough."

"With eight mana nodes... well, congratulations. You're destined for at least moderate levels of greatness... as long as you don't slack off. So yes, you'll be able to wield this spell one day."

"Now, if you awakened with a sixteen-node mana core—"

"Do we have anyone like that here?" He paused to ask.

The room fell into silence. Everyone glanced around, waiting for someone to raise their hand but no one did, much to the relief of some of the merchant family kids seated at the front.

But just as the old man was about to move on, a single hand rose slowly into the air.

"What?! There's someone?!—" Gasps of exclamation echoed across the auditorium as everyone craned their necks to see who it was.

It was the red-haired girl. Kathelyn. She raised her hand with her usual passive look as every eye locked onto her. Beside her, Jet stared at her in surprise, then a grin spread across his face as he raised his hand too, triggering even louder gasps and exclamations.

The room buzzed as people started searching the crowd for the others who hadn't been knocked out during the combat training in the morning. It seemed a pattern was beginning to emerge here.

Cedric, sitting nearby, felt the stares as people looked at him expectantly. But he didn't raise his hand. Jet, seeing this, shot him a smug, goading look.

Zeke, seated at the front, narrowed his eyes as he stared back at Kathelyn and Jet, deep in thought. He too, didn't raise his hand. Anna, sitting with Helga, just watched everything unfold with her usual excitement without raising her hand also.

And Zephyr?... Well, Zephyr tried to keep his face neutral as people stared at him, but inside he was in a turmoil, berating himself.

'Damn you, Zephyr. Why'd you have to go all out today? Now you've drawn exactly the kind of attention you didn't want...'

'Well... whatever expectations they may have would get dashed soon enough during the practical spell class,' he thought, trying to calm himself.

The old teacher let out a soft chuckle, rubbing his white beard as he looked at Jet and Kathelyn. "Well, it seems we've got some prodigies in this year's batch. Highly unusual... but I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later."

"What are your names?" He asked, and they introduced themselves to the class.

"You've got a huge leg up on your peers already. It's certain you'll be going places. Your futures are looking very bright..." He nodded as he looked them up and down.

"You have the right to feel proud. Even I only awakened with eight mana nodes."

That admission at least gave the rest of the talented recruits some sense of comfort.

"But don't let it get to your heads. While I won't argue that you're prodigies, remember that that's only on the scale of commoners. Among the noble-born, it's not unusual to awaken with a sixteen-node mana core. So instead of looking at your peers here as competition, your competition should be the noble-born." He finished, then turned to the rest of the class.

"With all that said, I believe you now understand what a mana core is, what mana nodes are, and what a spell model represents."

"Now, we are going further." He said, walking back to the lectern.