I hate being a prince. Granted, you get to live in a beautiful castle, get waited on hand and foot by hundreds of servants that adore you and all. But all-in-all, for someone like me, it is a terrible life. I guess I should explain. I live in Tel Dalla. A bountiful world of monsters, knights, and magic. Sounds magical, doesn’t it? But it isn't all that it's cracked up to be. You see, normal people can’t use full magic, they can use a type of magic called Echo. Echo is a type of physical magic that enhances a person’s ability, be it for battle or trade, to where they can be uncontested. But for those who can, the ones called Mages, magic is second nature to us. 

Mages use the energy of the world to cast spells, enchant items, and quite simply see into the future. However, for a mage to use magic, said mage must understand the Fundamental Laws of Magic, the Law of Nature, the Law of Time, and the Law of Death. 

The Law of Nature simply says that a mage must not alter the very fabric of nature itself. While mages push the boundaries of nature, all fear Nature's power in all of its glory. The Law of Time makes it forbidden for a mage to travel through time. This law was made to stop idiotic mages from changing the past for their benefit. The final law, and the most crucial, is the Law of Death. This law states that a mage must never bring back the dead, for Death does not like to be cheated. I bet you are wondering how I became so knowledgeable about this kind of stuff. It's simple really. I’m a mage. 

My name is Markus Valerion. Prince Markus if you want, though I’d rather you didn’t. Unlike my brothers, Crowned Prince Roland and Prince Grant the Valiant, I have no desire to become the king of the small kingdom, Cyrus. Or any kingdom of the kind! The reason for that is because my magic teacher, Master Varik, says that a mage should never be a king. Something about the power of rule corrupting the magic in a mage. And believe me, I have no complaints. See, while my brothers dream of running Cyrus, the western most part of the Western Alliance, I dream of traveling the world, enhancing my magic, and working on my spell craft. 

The Western Alliance is only one of Four Countries in Tel Dalla. To the north we have the Norther Kingdom of Ulveskare, where the High King of Wolf Rock sits upon his throne. To the east is the Eastern Empire of Tàiyáng, a land that combines magic and technology. And to the south are the Southern Isles, hundreds of islands where, at the largest, the Great Sea King resides. Humans aren’t the only races that inhabit these four lands. There are the Beast-kin, human-like creatures with animal features, like tails, ears, and, in some cases, horns, elves, dwarves, and many more. Each with their own culture and religion. 

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For the Western Alliance, we're kinda monotheistic. Our god, Theiard, is our primary source of worship. But as a mage, I'm supposed to be open to all forms of religions. I mean, take the dragons for instance. Their concept of a god revolves around how strong a dragon actually is. Not a bad concept if you ask me. However, I can't really openly say my views on religion, since it's considered heresy in the eyes of the church. Hell, even mages are banned from the church for their, "Ungodly misuse of Theiard's great blessing." That being said, Master Varik has me stay away from any churches, unless unforeseen circumstances have me enter those kinds of places. 

As for mages, it is hard to tell a mage from any other person in our world. Though, most of us stand out by wearing pointed hats, robes, and pointy shoes. Some even carry staffs and wands, though they aren't really needed to cast spells. But the surefire way to show who is a mage and who is not, without having them cast a spell, is to make them bleed. When magic permeates a living body, it changes the person's blood from red to gold. Any race in this world can use magic, but not everyone can have it. Only a rare few in each generation are born with mage blood, so new mages aren't very common. The weird thing is that when someone finds out that they are a mage, they stop using their echos. Not that they loose that power, they just get into the mindset that magic is much stronger than echos. A fact that Master Varik has constantly told me is an outright lie. According to him, when a mage uses up all his magical energy, they become powerless and vulnerable. So, to compensate, we mages have to either resort to physical attacks, or, in the off chance we remember about our echos, use them. Often times, the echo is something common like a speech enhancement or a better memory. But very few mages have echos that enhance our strength. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. You're here for a story about adventure, danger, and, hopefully, a bit of romance. Well, sit down and relax, as I tell you the story of how I ended a century old war, fought in the greatest battle of my life, unlock the greatest secret of magic, and got the girl in the end.