So you've begun to go through Appertity. Your Gates are coming in and you're excited to begin using Magic- flying around all over the place, lifting boulders, breaking the rules of physics....then your parents/guardian hand you this booklet.
What's all that about?
Well, young Mage-to-be, Magic is a lot more complicated than any of the adults make it out to be and has to potential to seriously harm both yourself and those around you if you're not careful. Nobody wants that, right? (right?), so you'll need to learn the basics before you can go out spell-slinging.
So please take a minute or two to read me and you'll be feeling a lot more confident about ensuring the safety of those around you, as well as your own when taking your first steps in the world of Magic!
BUT WHAT IS MAGIC?
Humans have the incredible ability to Telekinetically control their own Flow, filtered from their blood through their Gates, Transmute it into an Element, and have it undergo Property Alteration.
This is the textbook definition of Magic, and this booklet will explain every single one of those terms. (Except Property Alteration. You'll learn about that in school.)
APPERTITY, FLOW, AND GATES.
Appertity is the point in your life when you become able to use Magic. Most people go through Appertity around the ages of 14-16, but you may have friends who have gone through it much earlier; some children have even been able to use Magic since birth!
Hormones (chemical signals) in your body cause parts of your skin to become Gates.
Gates are a special type of gland, like the ones that make you sweat, that release Flow from inside your body. Gates are deep black in colour and can appear anywhere on your body. Just like your fingerprints, the patterns of your Gates are totally unique to you - even if you're a twin! Be proud of yours!
(If you've woken up to see that your blonde, brown, or red hair has become black overnight, do not be alarmed! Hair that grows over Gates becomes black in colour, regardless of what it was before.)
When first coming in, Gates are weak and have little darkness and no patterns. Do not worry, these will improve the longer you use your Magic. A person's Magical prowess can be estimated by the condition of their Gates: How much Flow a person can release from their body can be gauged by the Darkness of their Gates, and how well they can control that Magic by the complexity of their Gate's patterns.
Use Magic often enough and your Gates will be the talk of the town, so practice every day!
In case you forgot, Flow is the second most abundant component of air: A blue, smoke-like gas that all life depends on for survival.
(Fun Fact! Flow only turns blue when agitated: it is colourless in the air, and gains its signature glow when being used for Magical purposes.)
So be warned! Flow is a shared resource. Your body needs Flow to stay alive just as much as you need it for Magic.
The less you use Magic, the harder it becomes to use. Abstain for too long and your Gates will close up, becoming barely visible and making it look like you haven't gone through Appertity yet, leaving you unable to use Magic at all for several days.
MENTAL LINKS (TELEKINESIS), TRANSMUTATION, AND ELEMENTS.
Now that you have a grasp on how you are now able to use Magic, it is time to learn about what you can actually do with it! The fun stuff! Yay!
Despite what books and television may show you, Flow is controlled purely through "Telekinesis"- that is, using your mind to make it do stuff. Could you imagine a world where you actually had to use hand signs, wands or spells to use Magic? It's fun to watch or read, but it'd be entirely impractical to do so in real life.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Flow on its own...cannot do much at all, which is where the concept of Transmutation comes in. If you concentrate, you can transform your Flow into one of eight different things: Fire, Steam, Water, Ice, Wind, Sand, Earth, and Lava. These are the Elements, the most important part of using Magic.
An Element will remain as such until that piece of Magic is not being controlled by anyone, where it then dissolves back into Flow and returns to the air.
(WARNING! Please be aware that the Elements created from Flow are VERY DIFFERENT from their real counterparts. You cannot drink Water Magic, nor can you breathe Wind Magic. Fire Magic cannot be extinguished with regular water. Steam Magic will not condense into Water Magic. Mixing two Elements will not create another. Etc. Please be careful.)
MAGICAL AFFINITY
Please look at this.
Test [https://i.imgur.com/Wo106DE.png]
You may have seen this symbol on a Passport or a Personal Value card before, but do you know what it actually is? This handy little picture is an "Affinity Graph", and we use it to show what a Mage's Magical Affinity is at a glance.
"But what is an Affinity?", you ask?
You see, every Mage has an Element that they are naturally best at using.
That Element is known as their Affinity; using it, you can figure out what other Elements a Mage can and can't use.
Have a look at this Affinity graph now and think about what it shows.
Test [https://i.imgur.com/VlRQGDY.png]
Do you see the difference? Only one of the sections is filled in entirely which shows that this person has a Wind Affinity. The sections representing Sand and Ice are half-filled, showing that those Elements are Secondary Affinities. Similarly, Earth and Water are quarter-filled - Tertiary Affinities. The sections representing Lava, Fire, and Steam are empty, meaning that this person cannot use those Elements.
What Affinity you gain is mostly random, but can be influenced by that of your parents. If you do not have the Affinity you were expecting, do not worry, no one Element is strictly better or worse than the others. Skilled Mages are not limited by the Elements under their control, be proud of your Affinity!
PROTECT YOURSELF, AND KNOW THE RISKS!
So far we have covered the absolute basics of Magic, and right now you may feel like closing this booklet and running outside to try out your new powers...but be warned! Using Magic comes with several risks that you must be aware of unless you don't mind being bed-ridden in a hospital for months- or worse.
As you may recall, Flow is a shared resource. Your body needs it to survive and uses it for Magic. So what happens when you use up too much of your Flow slinging out fireballs and tornados?
Flow Deprivation is what happens when your Flow levels fall to dangerously low levels. Those suffering from it experience shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and temporary loss of sight. On top of that, your Gates will close- leaving you unable to use Magic until you recover enough Flow. Imagine if you run out of Flow whilst flying several hundred feet in the air; this is not an affliction to be taken lightly. You could very well die from it.
(Doctor's tip! Pomegranates and Mangoes are incredibly rich in Flow! Eat them when Flow Deprived and you'll recover in no time!)
Magic is controlled with the power of your mind, but that power has limits and you'd do well to know them. Overexert yourself by attempting to control Magic with a level of precision that you cannot handle, and you'll have given yourself a Mind Crush. Most of the time you will merely feel slightly disorientated with a minor headache, but the most severe cases of Mind Crush will leave you bleeding out of every hole in your face and falling into a coma.
A firm understanding of your limits as a Mage will prevent this from happening to you. This may seem discouraging at first, but you should view Mind Crushes as an indicator of your power. You'll know that you've grown into a fine Mage when it takes considerable effort to get a Mind Crush- try your best and practice every day!
If you try to release too much Flow out of your Gates at once, you will become Flowsick. Just like during a bout of Flow Deprivation, your Gates will close the moment it hits you, although during an episode of Flowsickness this happens INDESCRIBABLY FORCEFULLY. The sheer overexertion of your Gates causes unimaginable pain that will not subside until you are no longer Flowsick, which may take several agonising minutes.
Although less lethal than the first two afflictions described, you'll want to avoid becoming Flowsick just as much to save yourself the trauma of getting what is the equivalent of a skin cramp. How do you stretch out a cramp on your skin, which has no muscles to stretch the cramp out of? As long as you are patient when releasing Flow from your Gates, this will never happen to you.
Only Mages who engage in reckless Magic usage will ever experience any of these afflictions. Please be responsible.
CONGRATULATIONS!
You have reached the end of this informative booklet on safe and responsible Magic usage!
Now get out there and be a teenager, crazy kids!