After his horrible duel, Jack felt like crap. Chad had made him feel a little better, but for the first time, he found himself missing Gant. Gant had quickly become someone he could look up to and he felt safe with him around. Jack dragged his feet into his next class. The classroom finally looked like what he expected it to look like. The room was normal size, with basic writing desks for each student and a chalkboard at the front of the room. He didn’t know anyone in this class, so he sat down and pulled out his notebook. Eventually class started. The teacher was an older-looking lady who walked slightly hunched over, but she had fierce eyes and spoke with the voice of someone half her age. Her name was Ms. Verna Payne.
“This is magic 101. I’m sure many of you think you know something about magic. I’m sure you don’t.” She looked around the classroom encouraging anyone who would disagree to speak up. No one met her gaze. She instantly reminded Jack of Fineus. “Now who can tell me where magic comes from?”
The class was silent, and she looked around. After a couple of moments of awkward silence, Jack decided to speak. “Magic emits from the elemental plane in a substance that is known as mana.” The teacher instantly spun and stared at Jack.
“That is correct. What is your name boy?” She walked over and tapped the desk with her cane.
“Jack.” The woman stared at him; Jack quickly realized he forgot to use his last name. Most citizens cared about their stature and their stature came from their surname, so it was usually much more important. Jack swiftly tried to recover. “Warwick”
“Warwick hmmm?” She looked at him. “I’ve never heard the name before, but yes. Mana is a non-specific substance that is completely neutral in every aspect, and yet it somehow has mass, force, and energy. Mana is measured in units and is measured by the density found inside a person’s body. As a person becomes more adept with magic and raises their max mana capacity the body is becoming more resistant to the elemental plane allowing for more mana to be held within the body. When a person casts a spell, they expend the mana in their body. Slowly over time, we are able to replenish our mana through our connection to the elemental plane, otherwise known as the magical plane.”
“The elemental plane is spoken of as if it is a location that can be accessed but that is not possible. The mana can only flow one way and is leaking from another plane into ours. The earliest recorded use of magic was thousands of years ago and actually happened on our continent. The recorded use of magic on the other continents isn’t until much later. It is theorized that magic started here in Lidad and was brought to the other lands. The first famous mage you all know was Merlin Firedrake. The man who started the calendar and many other essential building blocks of our society today.”
“Of course, back then they didn’t use rituals, so he had absorbed his element naturally." Jack reached down and touch his thigh. He could feel the scar through his pants and scratched it. Sometimes the scar got itchy when he thought about it. “Merlin absorbed the light element first. Does anyone know how mana is converted into each specific element?”
She looked around pausing on Jack with her eyebrows raised. He shrugged slightly. She continued gazing around the class. “Mana in fact does not convert into each element as everyone assumes. It is seen as its own element for academic reasoning. Mana is by far the most studied element and yet we still know very little. When a person is born, they are naturally born with a small connection to the elemental plane where they can access a very small amount. Once a user absorbs an elemental core their body now becomes able to access that specific elemental mana along with the ordinary type. This does not mean you now have twice as much mana. The body can still only handle so much power and your body naturally collects roughly 80% elemental mana with roughly 20% being plain.”
“A first-year’s mana measures around 75, second-year measures around 400. The third year’s average is around 700. Fourth years strive to reach 1000 by the time they leave for mandatory military service.” Jack had been extremely proud of his 200 mana. He didn’t have much and when he finally had something that he was seen as above normal felt really good. So, when he heard the second-year numbers were supposed to be twice what his current mana level was, his stomach dropped.
Damn, I have a long way to go. He thought to himself.
“While we are not considered at war with the other nations, we are constantly fighting battles through smaller states. The average elemental user on the battlefield can measure anything between 1000-3000. Some rare and famous individuals have even reached 5000. Now, who can tell me about elemental stones and how they appear.”
A girl raised her hand and then spoke. “Elemental stones are advanced formations of stagnant mana that coalesce into crystals that can allow an organism to gain access to a specific element.”
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“Right you are. Now, what is the difference between a partial elemental core and the 3 higher refined levels.”
The girl answered again. “A partial elemental core is an incomplete formation of said element into a more pure form.”
“A good answer but that is a common misconception. A partial elemental core is more of a relative concept. In fact, one never actually absorbs a partial core, they inadvertently slowly absorb imperfect mana all around them. Mana is occurring all around us at all times. With some advanced machines, we are able to view and analyze it. The long-standing theory for a time was that there were actual partial cubes. Eventually, it was proven to be wrong, but the correct answer is relatively close to the same. They have found the new concept much harder to explain so the old concept is what is normally taught. I believe it is wrong to teach impartial or wrong information. Normally this concept is not taught unless you went to more advanced theory, but I want to ensure you all have a solid understanding of the basics. You can’t build a great building without a strong foundation. Now, who can tell me what enchanting is?”
Jack got very excited to finally learn about enchanting in a class environment and he immediately put his hand up. “Enchanting is the process of applying mana to an inanimate object giving it a new property or trait.”
“Indeed it is. An object just like humans, animals, and plants. Can hold and maintain mana. This can be a highly specialized field that people spend their entire life following. The study of how different molecules and atoms interact with mana is a subject for more advanced classes. That is just the surface of the knowledge that is enchanting. Who can give me an example of a common enchantment?”
A boy raised his hand and said. “Endurance enchantment on a shovel.”
“Yes! A great example of a common enchantment that many will have seen. This is a great example, thank you, Kyle. Where is the best place to enchant the shovel?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. The blade?”
“Right again! Always try and apply the enchantment as close to the intended target as possible. How does one apply an enchantment?”
A girl raised her hand. “a combination of utilizing a medium and applying an external mana to that medium with the intention of applying an augmentation through advanced magic manipulation.”
Even the teacher was a little amazed by the student’s answer. She slowly turned wide-eyed at the girl and said. “Yes, indeed Ms. Gorfan.” The teacher slowly looked around. She had been walking in between their desks as she taught. It was a little weird to Jack, but when she was walking behind him, he didn’t know if he should be looking back at her or the front of the room.
“Today we will be looking at basic enchanting and some common types and applications. The history of enchanting is highly argued. No one is sure when the process originated. Some believe it started before Merlin Firedrake. Others say Merlin was the first to create an enchantment. The origin is not very important, what is important is the techniques used. The early techniques were very crude, cost a lot of mana, and barely did anything. I recommend going to the museum and looking at some of the old items that at the time were seen as incredible geniuses of work. The first academically recognized technique worldwide was the Terdan technique. This technique is still used today due to its simplicity and convenience. The technique requires the enchanter to have a sufficiently large item so they could literally scribe runes into the item. While scratching the item, the enchanter would force their mana into the item through the scratched rune marks.”
“The second recognized technique is the application of a separate magically infused substance being joined with an item. For example, applying an advanced ink or paint that has been infused with magic. This is a very broad style and is what is normally used in scroll enchanting.”
By the end of class Jack’s, the mind was abuzz, he had never felt so stimulated and interested. The magic they had just learned was incredible. Jack’s understanding of magic had completely shifted and he was now realizing how bad Phineus was as a teacher. The man had been absolutely horrible and had gotten mad every time Jack didn’t get something instantly. This teacher was entirely different, she was more descriptive and had a way of describing things that just made sense. As she taught the class Jack noticed she was subtly manipulating the students to find the answer on their own by asking them the right questions. She was a master at her craft and had everyone interested in the class and participating happily. The large boy from his dodgeball class was also in this class and he got to hear the boy speak for the first time. His name was Trent. Trent seemed to be pretty average in everything but size as he barely fit into the chair. Trent had answered a few questions. He had only gotten one right showing he wasn’t a magical genius, but Jack couldn’t help but think he must have some skill to be able to block so many balls in class before.
After class, Jack was back in his room playing with Pyke. He had taught him a couple of tricks and now he was running through a little obstacle course Jack had set up on his desk. Once complete Jack gave Pyke a small screw as a treat. The book didn’t have much information, but it did have basic feeding information for mechanical creatures.
Depending on which they are they can survive off any number of materials, but the best bet is feeding them a simple material with a basic atomic metal structure. Jack was able to find a big bag of screws cheap and happily found Pyke would eat them right up.
While flipping through the book Jack learned some interesting things about mechanical creatures. There was a surprising amount of variety. Mechanical creatures were by definition a piece of an inanimate object that has been infused with enough mana that it gains a soul. The style and type vary wildly. There has been a long discussion about ethics when it comes to these creatures. Due to some people using and abusing their creations. They argue they don’t have feelings and can’t feel pain. Apparently when being created their personality depends a lot on the creator’s intent for the machine as they build it. Jack looked down at Pyke and wondered who created it.