Chapter 7: A Quest

When the magic finally faded, it took Alexander several minutes to return to his senses. It took several more for him to read through all his notifications. Once finished, he smiled and commented, "That was incredible." He then thought for a moment and clasped his hands together before adding, "Thank you, Corellon. I'll do my best."

He then received a notification:

image [https://imgur.com/AlGRcfD.png]

Blain, who already appeared shocked, barely managed to stammer, "Were you just Blessed?"

The Elf looked over happily and nodded, "Yeah, by Corellon. It took my mother almost seven years to get his blessing." Looking at his arms, he found they had become more muscular, and his skin had become whiter. He felt full of life and energy, and a new sense of warmth radiated from within him. Growing curious, he tried to manipulate his Mana as he had done before when his fairy friends were feeding.

He willed the energy within him to flow from his core and out of his body into his palm. The next moment, a radiant flame of Mana appeared in his palm, and the Elf felt as though his Mana were gushing out of him. It wasn't pleasant, so he focused harder, trying to restrain the fire. The fire condensed downward, and after exerting more willpower, Alexander managed to force it into the shape of a ball. His Mana was no longer leaking as rapidly as though he had formed a scab over a wound.

The youth smiled widely, loving the feeling of controlling magic. It was as though the ball were a part of his body, an extension of his will and mind. He got creative and tried changing the shape of his ball into a square. The edges were hard to form, but he got the hang of it after a couple of moments.

At this point, he received a notification,

image [https://imgur.com/Z4zC4wE.png]

At this point, Balin finally came to his senses and blurted, "Lad, how in Eru's name are you doing that?"

Alexander looked over now, with a pyramid in his hand, and responded, "I'm just thinking, and the mana does it." After considering, he added, "I also have the Mana Manipulation skill, which is probably helping."

The Dwarf was still in awe and blurted, "But the Mana consumption must be incredible; you aren't even using a spell."

The Elf checked his status window and found he had used up 2000 points of Mana already and quickly retracted his Mana while commenting, "Wow, you were right. I almost used up half my Mana."

As the Dwarf fainted, he received another notification:

image [https://imgur.com/VSSGLD7.png]

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When the Dwarf awoke, he staggered to his chair and, after sitting for a moment with a dark competition, eyed the Elf and stated, "Lad, I thought you had what it took to be an Archmage…" He let out a sigh and corrected, "I now see I was wrong. Your potential is beyond anything I have ever seen before."

Alexander rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit embarrassed, and responded, "Thank you, but I really don't feel all that special." Focusing on the task at hand, he asked, "What should I do now?"

Balin looked towards the skies as if offering a prayer in the name of the ignorant child before him, though soon refocused. Coughing into his hand, he explained, "Of course, let me explain." The Elf happily grew attentive while the Dwarf began to bounce with excitement and blab, "We'll it truly is a shame that you weren't born 300 years ago. That was the end of the golden age of magic. Then the 100-Year War of the Gods began, and the great magics of the past were lost. From the ground up, we had to rebuild, and only recently have we begun to understand the concepts behind Advanced Magic." He let out a sorrowful sigh while shaking his head.

Still, he regained his enthusiasm suddenly, "But worry not because we live in an age of discovery. There's always much to do. As a magic practitioner, it will be your task to provide magical solutions to people's problems and research the nature of magic." Stroking his flowing beard, he continued, "As a Magi, you have Awakened your Mana and manifested your magical talents as Sparks. If you study well and practice the magic basics thoroughly, you can grow these sparks into symbols, each containing great power. Once you form a Magic Symbol, you can be promoted to a Magus. However, I must recommend you form as many symbols as possible before this as it will become much more difficult to form anymore after this."

Nodding to himself, he went on, "Once your knowledge of magic grows deep enough, you can evolve your Symbols into Runes, becoming a true Mage, and with enough Mastery over Magic, you can elevate Runes into a complete Magic Circle, becoming a Magician. Only once you transcend the limitations of Magic Ciriels and can freely control the fundamental principles of magic will you become a true Wizard." Noticing the Elf's intrigued but clueless eyes, the Dwarf grew embarrassed about over-explaining and cleared his throat before refocusing, "Anyways, for now, you must learn the principles of magic and practice your Beginner Spells."

The Elf's face lit up as he nodded happily, "That sounds great."

Balin grew confident as he waved his hand, and nearly twenty books flew from the ground to his desk. Moving the stack aside, he patted the stack and explained, "I prepared these just in case you agreed to join the Order. Ten are relatively common, while the others are from my private collection." Eyeing the Elf, he continued, "I'll issue you a Guild Membership Card. If you read all of these, you should be set to take the Beginners Magic Exam. After that, you can begin to accept Missions as a Guild Recognized Magi and earn some real Experience."

Alexander wasn't too intimidated by the stack of books, though he couldn't help but ask, "What about spells."

The Dwarf smiled, understanding the young Elf's desire, and responded, "Normally, Guild members need to wait till they pass the Beginners Magic Exam to receive a spell, but as my Junior, I can afford you an opportunity." Two more books flew up from the floor and landed on the table. He placed a hand on these two and stated, "These are two spells from my collection. They are rudimentary, but if you master them, they can advance to higher grades." He rubbed his nose with pride as he stated, "Advancing these spells from Beginner to Intermediate Grade has been one of my life's greatest works."

The Elf grew excited and asked, "What spells are they?"

Balin nodded and answered, "Earth Softening and Metal Softening, and they can advance to Earth Moving and Metal Bending." Patting the stack of books, he added, "I also can't just give you these Basic Spells. You'll need to earn them. I have some friends who could use the help of these magics. If you take these spells, you must go and help them."

Once these words were spoken, a notification appeared:

image [https://imgur.com/OK55HQO.png]