The Art of Magecraft

The Fundamentals

CHAPTER THREE
THE BASICS
Edward gave a loud sigh, equal parts relieved and triumphant. His journey to magehood could finally begin in earnest.
I did it, he chanted internally. I did it.
The sound of the door opening brought him back to reality. “So, how’d it go?” George asked. Finn and Edward responded by showing him the light. George smiled. “I guess this means we’re finally roommates, for real this time… but what about him?”
It took Finn a few seconds more to realize that he was referring to the blonde kid, who had yet to wake up. As if on cue, he opened his eyes slowly and raised his head.
“So, did you make it?” Finn asked enthusiastically.
“H-Huh?” he responded drowsily, obviously not fully awake yet. “I dunno… I guess I did.”
“Uh, okay” said Finn, not convinced with his response. “Oh, that’s right! Can you do this?” then he produced the orb of light from his left hand. The blonde, seeing his demonstration, clenched his fist in front of him and unclenched it
And nothing happened.
He did the same thing with his other hand, and the result was the same. His eyes became filled with despair. “I think mine is broken.”
“Sorry man” said George nonchalantly. “You didn’t make it.”
“That’s ridiculous” the blonde retorted sharply. “There’s no way I’m not a mage. My parents are mages, and their parents before them…”
“But not you” George replied.
“SHUT UP!” he snapped, shocking Finn and Edward. “I’m a mage! I am a mage! I- I just need time…”
Attention all students.
The announcement boomed into the room, taking everyone by surprise. No one could even guess where the sound came from. You are to assemble at the Grand Hall at 0800 hours. Congratulations on your Awakening!
“0800 hours… that’s an hour away!”
“Then we better get ready” said George. Then he turned to the blonde. “What about you?”
“I just need time…”
George gave a worried sigh. He almost wanted to drag him out of the room, but he really didn’t feel like going through all that trouble at the moment.
“Okay then. We’ll be off.”


Meanwhile, in the girl’s dorm, the dorm mistress walked into the room to see Lora in the middle of the room, panting, while two of her roommates lay unconscious on the floor.
“My goodness” she gasped. “What happened?”
“It… it wasn’t my fault” said Lora in-between gasps.
“Calm down, girl” said the mistress reassuringly as she embraced her protectively. “Now tell me what happened.”
And so she did. She told her how, as she woke up, she saw her two roommates standing around dejectedly. How, as soon as they lay eyes on her, they pounced on her, yelling about how she stole their magic. She showed the woman the cut on her neck that came from one of them almost stabbing her with a hairpin. Finally, she told her how, using Elemental magic, she knocked them both out with powerful blasts of wind, shortly after which she entered the room.
“I tried to warn them” said Asoka, whom Lora had not even realized had entered the room. “Witches are bad luck. It’s a good thing I left when I did, otherwise I’d be one of them.
Tears began to fall from Lora's eyes. “Now child” said the mistress, trying to comfort her. “This wasn’t your fault” she turned angrily towards Asoka “despite what others may think.”
Soon after, the announcement came to them. “You should both get ready.” The mistress chirped “and try to get along, will you? The two of you are going to be sharing this room until you graduate, so it’s best for the both of you. When those two wake up, pass the message to them.”
With that, the dorm mistress made to leave, but not before giving one final instruction. “I don’t want any more ruckus from this room, is that clear?”
“Yes ma’am” they replied in unison.
“Good”
Lora wanted to say something to Asoka, but the venomous glare she gave her quickly quelled that thought. She almost started crying again.


“So George, when did you become a mage?”
“Actually, it was only a few months before the entrance exam.”
Finn and George decided to spend the time it took to get to the Hall chatting amongst each other. Edward simply walked silently beside them, happy with the fact that he was now a mage. All around them, other students moved in pairs, chatting merrily amongst themselves.
Of course, as Edward noticed, much more people were either ranting to other students about the unfairness of it all or just brooding silently. Some we’re just walking forward, their faces blank and listless, like zombies or people who had lost all purpose in life.
“Hey, guys look.” The others turned in unison to see what George was pointing out, and they stopped in their tracks as soon as they did. It was an owl, bigger than any owl any of them had ever seen, bigger than any owl had any right to be. It was as tall as a person, and its left wing was outstretched, as if it was guiding them. Stranger still was the fact that some people were following the owl's direction.
“What the heck is that?” Finn asked.
“I’m not sure” said George. “Hey” he said to another student walking by herself. “Can you see this giant owl thing?”
“What? What’re you talking about? Get away from me!” she responded, after which she scurried off.
“Well that was awfully rude” Finn snorted.
“I see” said George. “It would seem only people who Awakened can see the owl, meaning it was conjured by some sort of spell.”
“Oh” said Finn, the light of realization dawning on him. “Wait a minute, what if a non-mage just walks in anyway?”
George shrugged. He didn’t quite know the answer to that.
“I guess they probably have other fail-safes in place” Edward replied.
“Oh, well that makes sense” said Finn, a twinge of sadness in his features. He quickly shrugged it off, however, and replaced it with a grin of determination.
“Alright. Let’s go”


Anna cast her gaze on the crowd of students in front of her, her expression cold as stone as she waited for the message she wanted to hear. Soon enough she could feel the presence of her little messenger- a tiny Ifrit- at the back of her mind.
“So, how many?” she said via telepathy to the spirit.
“Exactly one hundred and fifty students, milady” it replied coyly.
She smirked. That was less than a quarter of the students who were admitted. Less brats to deal with.
“So small compared to yesterday, don’t you think?” said the student’s former tour guide from behind.
“You tell me, Ember” Anna replied smugly. “This is less than a quarter of the previous number.”
Ember sighed. “Well, it was to be expected.” And with that, she gave an extremely loud whistle that silenced the restless crowd.
“Alright, everyone, listen up. You are all novice mages now. Forget all those other losers; they didn’t Awaken, so they aren’t your problem anymore. For the next four years we’re going to shape you into real mages. It’s gonna be tough, but you can leave anytime you want to. So while you’re here, you either put up or get lost! Got it?”
Everyone responded in unison, a bit shakily, admittedly.
“Good. Now go to your dorms, and have a great rest of the day. The real fun begins tomorrow.
The hall emptied in under a minute.
“Lovely speech there” Anna jabbed.
“Why thank you” Ember replied, ignoring her mockery.


The dorm master was a tall, burly man with a fearsome visage. Seeing his scarred, unsmiling face was enough to scare most of the male students into their rooms. The ones who were bold enough to defy him even after a stern reprimand quickly lost their nerve when he lifted them up by the collar with one hand. He was about to do the same thing to Finn, George and Edward when he saw them just outside their room, but gave pause when he saw the shock on their faces.
“What’s going on here?” he barked. He became truly concerned when none of them reacted to that. He figured that what they were looking at was truly shocking, so he decided to look for himself.
“Oh my God” he gasped.
Inside the room, still dressed in his finery, was the blonde kid. Judging by his appearance, he had been hanging by the neck for at least an hour. His body had already gone stiff and his face was frozen in a state of shock, hinting that his death was long and painful. The scarf that he used to hang himself suddenly snapped, unable to take his weight any longer, sending his lifeless body to the ground. The sight almost made Finn retch.
“You three, go to the common room” said the dorm master in a hushed tone. “l will get the infirmary” he cast a sad glance at the corpse “and his family.”


Several of the teachers were gathered in a large room, sitting at a long table. At the head of the table was Headmaster Zerastra. Standing beside him was the Assistant Headmaster Malachi. At the other end of the table stood the dorm master and mistress. Despite the fact that today marked the beginning of the academic year, the mood in the room was sullen, as it was every year.
“So” Zerastra began “how many?”
“Fifteen suicide attempts” the mistress responded “of which four were successful.”
“Eight of those attempts were by nobles” the dorm master continued. “That includes all four successful attempts.”
“Well that’s just perfect” Ember ranted. “As if there wasn’t enough bad blood between us and the nobility.”
“That’s quite enough, Ember” Lee berated.
“Still, that’s an awful lot of suicide attempts. That’s like, almost twice as much as last time.” That came from Zober, a tall, burly and dark-skinned man with long dreadlocks and a goatee. Unlike most of his peers, he wore a simple green sleeveless shirt with brown trousers.
“I know. I wish there was something we could do about it.” That came from Cassandra, the youngest teacher in the school, just nineteen years old. She wore a simple black gown which further accentuated her youth. Her Dusty blond hair was done in a bun and covered almost completely by her witch's hat.
“Regardless” Zerastra cut in “we will proceed as usual.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them. “Zober, Cassandra?”
Both of them indicated their attention. “The two of you will be in charge of the students for today.”
“R-Really?” said a flustered Cassandra. “B-But I’ve never…”
“Relax” said Zober reassuringly. “That’s why you’re tagging along with me. It’ll be fine.”
“Alright then” Zerastra continued. “In the absence of anything else, you are all excused.”


The events of yesterday shook Finn much more than he would have liked. Even now, in the enormous classroom surrounded by noisy students, the image of the dead blonde wouldn’t leave his head. In his defense, he could never handle death well. He cried for days when his pet dog died when he was eleven.
“You okay man?” that came from George. Edward was just beside him.
Finn sighed. “No, not really.”
“It was pretty jarring for me too” said Edward “but I believe we should simply move on.”
“Move on?”
“Yeah” George's eyes darkened. “When someone you know dies, mourning is useless. All you can do is try to do right by them.”
“But we didn’t really know him, did we?” said Edward.
George was about to retort, but before he could, the hall suddenly became silent, alerting him to the presence of the two teachers that had entered the class.
“Hello, little ones” Zober chimed. “I’m sure you’re all excited to be learning about magic. Before you do, though, there are a few things that you need to know; some background knowledge, to put it succinctly. My name is Zober and this is my partner Cassandra, and we’re here to teach you the fundamentals.”


Alright. I suppose I should start with the tiers of magic. I believe that is the easiest part. There are five tiers, called the first, second, third, fourth and fifth tiers. Each Path of Magic is divided into these tiers which connote the level of mastery in the path. The first two tiers are called the Beginner tiers. The second and third tiers are called the Advanced tiers while the fifth tiers is called the Master tier, the highest tier.
There is also a tier above master, called the Archmage tier. We’ll get back to that later.
The next thing we will talk about is perhaps the most important part. Magic has a wide variety of uses and can do a whole lot of things. We’ve condensed all these things into what we refer to as the Paths of Magic. There are seven Paths, and although each one has a specific identity, they have a wide variety of uses. The Paths of Magic are as follows;
Elemental Magic allows its user to control the four basic elements, namely fire, water, earth and wind. Though it is possible to master all the elements, most people specialize on just one or two elements. Masters of Elemental Magic almost seem to become the elements they have mastered, if they specialized in one.
Most mages learn this Path first thanks to the immediate destructive power it brings.
Spatial Magic grants the ability to manipulate space- be it the space between two objects or the area in which something exists. A Beginner in Spatial Magic would be capable of such things as short distance teleportation-a few feet at most, pulling close objects towards you by removing the space between you and it, and magical scrying, which, in my opinion, is the most underrated spell ever.
An Advanced user would be able to create portals leading to anywhere in the world she has been, or just instantly teleport there with a thought. He could even create a spatial distortion to keep things or trap people inside. It’s called the Invisible Room spell. This is also the level where mage can summon things that aren’t spirits.
A Master would be able to do particularly spectacular things like create entire pocket dimensions, summon entire locations and teleport to another plane of existence. You never truly appreciate the power of Spatial Magic until you see a Master summon a castle or a desert out of nowhere.
Mind Magic gives its user power over the mind, be it his mind or another’s. A Beginner would be capable of small things like enhancing their mental capacity slightly or improving their senses. An Advanced user would have more standard psychic powers; telepathy, telekinesis, mind control, creating illusions, you name it. A Master would be able to do really terrifying things like completely destroy-or recreate- a person's psyche or bring illusions into temporary reality.
Nature Magic confers upon its user power over the natural world; flora, fauna and everything associated with those. It can even be used to advance one’s own body. If you see a mage that’s older than he looks, it’s most likely the work of Nature Magic.
A Beginner can only do simple stuff like make an animal familiar, change some superficial aspect of their appearance, like their hair or eye colour, or do the same thing to other animals and plants. An Advanced user, on the other hand, can do all sorts of things like change their skeletal or cellular composition, make forests bloom out of nowhere, call whole hordes of animals and even subdue magical beasts like Gryphons. Masters can do things like transform their bodies on a genetic level, bestow a living organism with immense vitality- or take it away. Masters of Nature Magic have been known to create completely new species, or wipe out existing species by creating a new pathogen. Do not underestimate Nature Magic.
Did I forget to mention that it can also be used to heal? Yeah, that’s important.
Spirit Magic gives its user power over immaterial beings, namely angels, demons and fey spirits. This is one of the most valuable Paths because of just how versatile it is.
To be able to control and summon spirits, you first need to be able to interact with them. This is what you learn in the Beginner tiers; how to see, touch and communicate with spirits.
At the Advanced level, practitioners gain the ability to summon and bind spirits. At first they can only summon weak spirits, but they begin to summon stronger entities as they get better. At this stage, the practitioner also learns spells designed specifically to harm immaterial beings.
A Master can summon the strongest spirits, literal forces of nature. A Master can even travel into the spirit world.
Before you ask, no. You can’t travel to Hell or the Underworld with Spirit Magic; well, you can, but there’s no guarantee that you will ever come back.
Alchemy is my favourite Path. Sure Nature Magic let’s you control life, but Alchemy lets you control everything else. With Alchemy, you can control the chemical and physical properties of any natural substance.
Even the Beginner powers are awesome. Sure it only let’s you make superficial changes like make steel softer or water hotter, but think of all the possibilities! An Advanced user can go even further, changing the boiling or freezing temperature of water, creating crystals that grow, or turns ng your clothes into a weapon! My favourite spell is my “Tin Soldiers” made of a special poisonous substance that reacts to magical energy.
And when you get to the Master level, your power over substance is complete, as you change anything's chemical composition on a molecular level. Most people tend to underestimate the power of a Master, until he turns the ground you stand on into lava or the air you breathe into poisonous gas. Alchemy becomes even scarier when you realize that, fundamentally, everything is a chemical.
Last, and definitely not the least, is Arcane Magic. While the other Paths give you control over other things, be it nature, space, the mind, the elements and so on, Arcane Magic grants its user power over magic itself. This Path allows its user to manipulate raw magical energy and use it to affect the world directly.
The two most common uses of Arcane Magic are Counter magic and Boost magic. If you fully understand the makeup of a spell, you can use Arcane Magic to either alter, disrupt or completely unravel it. You can also combine it with another Path spell to improve the spell's power or longevity. As such, these are some of the first things you’ll learn.
When used by Advanced users and Masters, however, it becomes a truly terrifying force. Since magic permeates not just all physical things, but even non-physical concepts like time, fate, probability, fortune, yin, yang and the like, they have power over all these things as well. Arcane Magic is the most powerful Path, as well as the most difficult to learn.
At this point, Zober could see that he was beginning to lose the class's interest, so he decided to round things up.
Alright, how about we close off with one last thing; the Ranks. What they do is simply show how advanced you are in the mystic arts. Each rank requires you to meet certain minimum standards. Right now, most of you are unranked, but you’ll receive ranks once you meet the following requirements:
Initiate is the first rank and to achieve this rank you must have at least reached the first tier in all seven Paths.
Initiate Major requires that, along with the conditions for Initiate, you must have achieved the second tier in at least four Paths.
Adept is the third rank and to get it you must have reached the second tier in all seven Paths and the third tier in at least three. Cassandra here is an Adept
Adept Major is the fourth rank. To achieve this you must have reached the third rank in at least six Paths and the fourth rank in at least two. Yours Truly is an Adept Major.
The fifth and final rank is the Master rank, which belongs to those who have reached the pinnacle of human mastery. To qualify, you must have at least reached the third rank in all the Paths and the fifth rank in at least one, in addition to the requirements for the previous rank, of course.
There is also a special sixth “rank” which is not so much a rank as it is a state of being, the rank of Archmaster. What is it about, you ask? Well, if a Master has reached the pinnacle of human mastery, the Archmaster has gone beyond that. An Archmage has gone beyond the scope of mankind and approaches the Divine.
Zober stretched. “Well, that’s all for today kids. Have a nice day, you are dismissed.”