I sent my best man to investigate, a bastard made of noble blood and cattle. His loyalty has always been questionable, but he’s given me better results than pure-blooded nobles.

----------------------------------------

The purple fog rested upon the seemingly soft ground, both stretching as far as the eye could see and even beyond. The glass-like sky above glistened with the splendor of a thousand stars, which shone upon the few things that existed in this world. In the middle of this space stood a building, cubic, with an inclined roof made of brown tiles. They were broken, filled with cracks, and covered in moss, which spread down on the outer walls, creating long curves from one end to the other.

Inside this building, the sharp sound of rapidly flicking pages bounced off the countless books, that sat upon shelves that were as tall as the ceiling. In the middle of the library, a thin boy with skin as white as bone, and a head full of silver hair, sat down at a table. He leaned his head on one hand, while the other flicked through the yellow pages of a dark book. Some words were missing, and the smell of rotten paper filled the room as particles broke off the already damaged pages.

His red eyes scanned each word, carefully ingraining them into his brain. Hours passed, and the boy finally reached the end of the archaic book. Carefully, he closed its thick covers and took one last look at its title, smudged and faded, yet readable. <>

Kai let out a sharp breath as he stood up, his crimson eyes gleaming with excitement. The title is stupid at first glance, but the contents are… fucking amazing! However, even as he thought that a sigh couldn’t help but leave his lips. Too bad I can’t use any of this information, I’m far too weak! I need to have at least three stars to even begin thinking about it. He placed the book down, and made his way several rows to the left, then picked up another book, the cover of which made him gasp.

It had a tar-like color, decorated with countless red diamond shapes, and a small golden flower at the bottom. Its title, written beautifully with a handwriting Kai couldn’t forget, read <>.

“Mom!” Kai muttered out loud as he looked at the book, his entire body shaking with emotion. A warmth spread out from his heart, and he almost dropped the book after the first glance. He sat down where he stood and opened the book, the first page revealing the same title, written with a beautiful, gracious calligraphy. Unlike the previous one’s yellow pages and smudged letters, this one’s black, sharp lines of ink contrasted beautifully with the white pages. Below the title, a heart was drawn, as well as a signature, above which read “With love, for Kai.”

With a quick sniff, Kai turned the page, greeted once again by Elena’s beautiful handwriting, this time opening directly into a chapter.

<>

<

Chanting is required to guide the mana, however, higher-level mages can simplify the chanting to a few words, and also say it under their breath, depending on the spell's difficulty. On that note, it’s safe to mention there are different levels of spells, each of which grows in power and mana cost the higher they are. I will not go into detail right now, but up until a Five Star Mage, spells are considered low to barely scratching the medium level. The mana cost increases, and so does the level of purity and control you must have over it.

(...)

There are a lot of spells a Two Star Mage can cast, and if their core and star size permit it, they can go as high as low-level Rank Four spells, which correspond to the fourth star. The spells are going to depend, of course, on the elements they have affinities with.

Simple spells are: Fire Circle - Similar to the fireball spell, but you summon them in a circle, not hard, right? This requires a certain level of control, hence they are placed at a Two Star level instead of One Star. In order to cast this spell, you must say its name, followed by ‘Grant me your strength, Lord of Fire’, and then the number of fireballs you want to summon. The maximum is twelve, but I heard stronger mages can double or triple that number!

Wind Arrow: The name is self-explanatory but it creates a thin, strong gust of wind that flies with precision toward the target. (...)

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Rock Wall: Raises a wall of earth around you. (...)

Fire Net: Creates a fishnet-like formation of fire to trap someone>>

(...)

As Kai read it, he stood up and very carefully walked toward the table, whereupon he sat down and slowly took in the contents of every page. It didn’t matter that he already knew the subject, his trembling pupils regarded the pages with the excitement of a young child. He yearned for knowledge, but more than that, he yearned for the voice of his mother.

Reading each word with great attention, tears streamed down his cheeks, however, none touched the pages as they fell, instead disappearing into the void. In his mind, he saw his mother with a quill and ink, sitting down at this very table, writing each sentence with as much love as she could. Next to her sat Ray, circling the table, talking to her with a stupid smile on his face, and occasionally hugging her from behind as he too, read his wife’s words.

<>

And with that, the first chapter ended.

Kai took a deep breath and lifted his gaze, willing the remaining tears away from his face. The information written in the first chapter alone proved valuable, and each spell ingrained itself in his brain. Closing the book, he put it to the side, then stood up, looking for something else. His gaze lingered on the book, however, and a comforting warmth spread out from his chest. Forcing himself to look away, he went to the deeper parts of the library, analyzing each title until a certain one stood out.

<>

Perfect! He thought, then took out the book and quickly skimmed it. Dust flew out from within its pages, prompting Kai to cough a couple of times. With a smile, he rushed toward the table and immediately started reading it.

The book explained the requirements to be a Body Mage, its advantages, and disadvantages. However, those were the basics, and that’s all that Kai knew about.

<>

Kai took a step back upon reading this passage, a look of surprise visible on his face. Interesting… However, he kept on reading, until finally it reached the part he was most interested in.

<>

<<, Unlike Mages, Body Mages have no ability to cast any Onkos spells, and that is because of their lack of elemental affinity. As one would know, all magic in this world is tied to an element, however, our ancestors figured out a way to overcome this problem by using our body as a catalyst.

You see, unlike Mages, it is a Body Mages’s body that determines our power. Most creatures are born with a Mana Core, but a small part of them do not have Mana Veins. So, in order for us, normal people to use magic, we must first create our Mana Veins.

For millennia this ordeal was thought impossible. That was until the first Human Emperor - The King - created a technique that would allow us to strengthen ourselves. Using this power, he fought against the oppressing forces of -̷̉͜-̵͍̰̊-̷̧̰͉̓-̵̗̜̓-̴̻̒-̷̝͑̓͜-̶̼̩̈́͝-̷̙͎͛͜-̸̤͍̽-̷̠͓̑̕͠ͅ-̷͇̙̇. Eventually, he took over the continent and instated an era of peace.

The technique to create Mana Veins has been studied, modified, and improved over the years, such as the success rate being almost one hundred percent, and for the most part, painless.

(...)

Now, as for spells, a Body Mage has several low-level techniques he can employ, such as enhancing their base strength, speed, endurance, etc. Each technique has a different multiplier, and the higher it is, the more mana it costs. Spells such as Speed Buffs, Strength Buffs, and the like have an upper limit, however, it all depends on each individual Body Mage.

For the more advanced Body Mages, a range of spells will be open to them that go beyond Inkos and may even thread the realm of Onkos.

Firstly, using your body as a catalyst is useful, that is using your entire body, which will divide the available mana. The best way to cast spells is to concentrate mana in a single point in your body, such as your legs or your first.

Now, with that covered, besides the basic spells, there are several that can, to some extent, release mana outside one’s body.

Spells such as ‘Flaming Fist’, whilst it won’t cause actual fire to appear, can give such an illusion due to the heat forming as one punch. To use this spell, all it takes is concentrating mana on your first, then moving it in a rotating pattern, which in turn creates heat and strengthens your strike. The same goes for ‘Flaming Kick’, except instead of rotating the mana around a concentrated point, you rotate it throughout your entire leg. I know, the names are not very original. We try.>>

…

Kai’s eyes widened in surprise as he finished the chapter, and his body shook with expectation. He jumped to his feet and clenched his fist, sending out a swift punch. However, nothing happened, besides his sleeves moving about.

He sighed and lowered his head, but quickly picked his spirits back up. Alright, I have enough knowledge to train both my Mage Spells and Body Mage Spells… that’s a mouthful. After this, I should have a better grasp of my magic. Rubbing his neck, a translucent version of the purple necklace appeared, shining with a dark light.

After placing the book in the same place he found it, he sent a wave of mana toward the phantom - necklace around his neck, then promptly disappeared from the library. Time to do some magic!