(Author: Hello all. Someone hoped I wouldn't give Seti too many abilities. As far as the elements are concerned, only a hero may develop more than one magical tattoo. Any tattoo is allowed to evolve upon certain levels of mastery and expand its application. An example would be an earth mage who becomes able to control sand or wood. An ice mage could also learn to control wind or water. It all depends on gaining an insight and applying it so long as the new element contains traces of the element they can currently use. This chapter will revolve around the introduction to magic and how the meteor energy affected Seti. As you can tell, he won't start out OP but he will have the potential like Adam, but not on the level of Logan and Rebecca and other geniuses among geniuses and the remaining four heroes. Enjoy.)
----------Chapter 2: Starting the Lessons-------------------
Seti woke up with his body feeling light. He reached for his covered clay cup and accidentally shattered it. Time seemed to stand still and Seti's mind became curious as the shards and water seemed to slow down as he retracted his arm and tried to stop the mess. Time continued to flow again and the shards of clay and water spilled on his dresser and the floor. Seti stared at his right hand, his eyes widening as it regenerated the scratches caused upon breaking the cup.
"What happened to me?" Seti asked. "Is this an effect caused by awakening my magic? It couldn't be. Eldest brother was naturally gifted physically, but big brother, Adam, was not and seemed ordinary. Could this be an effect caused by the meteor's energy when it entered my body? Enhanced strength, regeneration, and reflexes. According to my studies, those who obtain magical tattoos gain a separate gift besides magic. Bear tattoos, like the one Logan has, grants enhanced physical strength, while the dragon tattoos enhanced one's magic power and decreased the amount of mana required to cast spells. The magical tattoo of my sister is an anomaly and there is no record of a winged unicorn tattoo. Why do I have enhanced strength and reflexes? How strange."
Seti tore of his shirt and stared at the reflection of his back on the mirror. It was indeed an ordinary phoenix tattoo as they always had two colors. For magical phoenix tattoos of fire, it was ordinary for it to be red and orange. Seti concluded that the meteor was the cause and took a bath before changing into new clothes. His mother was no doubt waiting for him in the dining hall to eat breakfast and begin learning about magic. He took some time to begin regulating his application of his profound strength and reflexes before he was able to decrease it to the output he had prior to the meteor crash.
"You woke up late today Seti," his mother noted as Seti entered the dining hall two hours after he usually began eating breakfast. "Were you reading a book again? Today you will learn about magic. You must study well under the tutor I have for you. He is one of the mage guards in the palace and is also a magus of the fifth rank. You remember the three levels of magic and their ranks are right?"
"Yes mother," Seti said as he sat across from her on the table as the maid gave him a plate of sliced hash browns, sausage, and eggs. "As soon as you awaken your magic, you are become a mage. There are three levels of magic. They are beginner, intermediate, and advanced. You are a magus if you awaken your magic and gain a magical tattoo. They are the pride of any nation as they can manifest and manipulate a single element in any shape they choose with a variety of effects. However, they can only use magic pertaining to that element while a mage is more diverse but will is constrained due to the parameter of a spell like a fire ball or a ice javelin. I don't know much about ranks save for that most mages can master four elements while a magus has his tattoo evolve on the eighth rank. As for warrior ranks, I do not know. They use mana, but it is more like an enchantment for their armor and weapons as well as a tool to augment their physical capabilities. A talented warrior is born with a magical tattoo at birth, but cannot use mana other than to augment their bodies until the fifth rank. Then, they can develop blade auras and enchant their armor and weapons with their element based on the tattoo."
"You really love reading. It makes me wonder if you're really seven years old," his mother sighed. "Do you know about the characteristics of a magical tattoo?"
"Yes mother," Seti answered. "Magical tattoos are manifestations of a mage's inner spirit that takes the form of a magical tattoo, turning them into a magus. Each magical tattoo represents and animal or mythical creature and grants the owner a gift. My magical tattoo was that of a red and orange phoenix. Not only can I manifest and manipulate fire, I also received the gift of regeneration. A magus is usually identified with his element and tattoo and only has one tattoo."
"That was true except for two things. One happened yesterday. Your sister developed a second tattoo. This time a gold winged unicorn magical tattoo and now wields both light and lightning. The second is the evolution of tattoos. Once you gain a sudden insight, the beast of your tattoo changes and you can control another element with an attribute synergetic with fire. An example would be wind, lava, and even water. Fire devours wind and wind makes it stronger. Fire combines with lava and is the essence of the world. Fire and water create steam while an intense increase in heat in the atmosphere, can create clouds that bring rain," Queen Snow said. "Most people with fire gain insights and choose to control wind to increase their power. Lava is a rare element that is rarely seen, while fire users capable of fire and water are the most powerful as they can control their own elemental weakness. Your tutor will tell you more. Quickly eat your food and join him by the lake."
Seti ate his food and waited a few minutes for it to digest before heading to the lake. As he walked by, he could already see several magus in the forest, repairing the damage caused by the meteor. He saw wood magus regrow trees, earth magus restore the ground and crater, and even several water magus who restored the lake and even made it purer and bigger. Seti saw a wooden cabin built where the crater had been. No one lived in the forest as it was both protected by the knights and guards as well as a hunting ground further in towards the mountains. His tutor was a magus of the fifth rank, that meant his teacher controlled two elements. He wondered how the magus was categorized under the three levels as they could manipulate their element to take any shape.
A young man appeared from the cottage wearing the azure robe of a water magus with silver seams and cuffs. He had vibrant red hair and brown eyes and was nearly six feet tall. He smiled as he saw Seti approach him. He gestured at the camp fire in front of his cabin with various long rocks where they could sit and chat. Seti sat down and waited as he felt the rank 5 magus study him.
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"Well now. A phoenix fire magus. Very good. Those with dragon and phoenix tattoos can't be harmed by their own element. Her Highness must have told you about me. I will now tutor you on the path of a magus. My name is Flint Wills," the magus said. "Your mother said you were an intelligent kid. I am a fire magus whose tattoo evolved into tiger and gained the water element. Tell me. Do you know why your brothers went to the Royal Academy?"
"Because they were both a magus?" Seti answered.
"Indeed. The Royal Academy only accepts magus as well as those extraordinarily gifted mages and naturally talented young warriors," Flint nodded. "I'm just letting you know now, it will be a hard life for you if you go to the Royal Academy. Most magus awakened and got their tattoos before they turned six, your brothers and sister half the normal age and at birth! You awakened your magic at age seven and it is one of the four basic elements. Tell me Seti. Do you know how elements are categorized?"
"The four basic elements are earth, fire water, and air. The variant elements are lightning, wood, sand, ice, lava, and metal. Finally, there are the two celestial elements of darkness and light," Seti said as he remembered reading them in one of his books. "Light is the supreme element but cannot evolve and has the greatest power over healing. Darkness is the most versatile element and a magus of the darkness element could learn any of the other elements save for light. Lightning is the fastest and most destructive element after light and could only evolve to darkness. Earth and water are the most strategic elements while sand and lava are the most mysterious as people rarely choose to use their insight and gain those elements."
"As well-read as Her Highness claimed," Flint said with a smile. "This is good. Now, a magus and mage are different. Mages can use all the elements but cannot shape it at will. Mages can use two elements at the most except for the heroes. For example, your sister has light and lightning. Once your sister gets an insight on fusing lightning with darkness, she'll gain a third element and could use both separately or together as she wishes. Mages are determined by the three levels of magic which determine what spells they can use. Magus are different. We are measured by our understanding of our element and the scale upon which we can control it. A magus of fire can shape fire at will, but making it too big and unable to control it, the mana in your body will run rampant and will spontaneously combust. In other words, you burst in flame-like mana and explode. It's not actual fire as it is mana and all the mana bursts from your body at once. Many a magus and mage died trying to perform magic on a scale beyond their capabilities. The three levels of magic do not apply to us as they pertain to mastery and use of magic spells. Our beginner, intermediate, and advanced level magic are determined at how versatile we are at using our element. An example would be comparing someone who can fight using daggers of fire compared to someone fighting with two long swords of fire as well as using a whip or even teleportation. Teleportation is a rare ability among magus as only those with the fire, light, air, and lightning element can use it."
"So it is like that," Seti muttered as he committed the words to memory. "I see."
"Fire magus increase their capabilities by absorbing fire essence. This means meditating and emptying your mind to become one with the environment. This will allow you to increase your focus and see the fire essence. Fire is on of the four basic elements. It is easy to learn the essence of fire. Fire is what allowed man to be warm. Fire allowed us to fight back against the dangerous beasts and monsters. It is through fire, that the sun is made and how we gain obtain light, even in the darkest of caves," Flint began. "Sit down and meditate. First keep your eyes open as you need to stare at a medium of fire and sense the fire essence. Stare at the sun and look for the violet essence. It is a fire essence of the highest order. Most fire mages say that you should meditate surrounded in a circle of lit candles. They are wrong. A fire mage must meditate under the sun during the day. It is the greatest medium of light and fire. Violet essence is also the purest and most powerful for a fire and light magus."
"Won't I be blinded by the rays of the sun?" Seti asked.
"You have a magical tattoo of fire and the sun is just a large ball of fire and earth, spinning at its core. You can see upon it without fear," Flint said. "When you decided to ascend to the Immortal Plane at the eighth or ninth rank, best to ascend at the ninth, you can venture to other planets and galaxies. In the Mortal Realm, we all live in a single galaxy with many universes. At the eighth rank, you can venture into space but only immortals can leave the known universe. Mages and non-talented warriors are considered weak once you reach the eighth and ninth rank and truly realize the difference between talent. They are restricted to learning spells and using magical items and treasures to increase their rank as they cannot cultivate mana essence. You will spend the next fifteen days absorbing violet fire essence. We must have your body used to fire essence before starting any type of magic. Heroes are the exception for reasons, you and I will never understand. They are like the next phase in an evolutionary chain and only look like us. You have much to learn to catch up with the geniuses in Royal Academy. The more work you put in your lessons, the easier it will be to cope in the Royal Academy where Her Highness will send you when you become ten. As instructed by Her Highness, I will teach you teleportation. You are the son of the king. Royal academy accepts talents from all over the world, but that does not mean they will not try to kill you. Your two elder brothers have already learned escaping magic using their element and your sister can teleport with either element. For now we start small and then see which branches of fire magic studies you'll learn. You don't need to learn healing like I did as you can instantly regenerate. The phoenix magical beast is a rare tattoo, but it is not among the most powerful. It is more suited to survivability. You will never be as strong as your siblings but you have a better chance at surviving and that is the best one could hope for in this dangerous life of ours. I've talked too much already. Begin sensing and absorbing fire essence. I will teach you after fifteen days and prepare you."
"Yes teacher," Seti said and began staring at the sun.