Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Leo

Berlin, Germany

Leo did not know what to think or feel. On one hand, one of his childhood dreams was coming true - magic was supposedly real. On the other, if Heidi was to be believed, he was in a bad situation. What she had told him did not inspire optimism. Having had a rough childhood, he was cautious to get his hopes up just because someone told him something he liked to hear.

Leo gathered his bearings and stood up from where he landed on the floor, not staring anymore at Heidi with disbelief, but with a serious expression, now that he had witnessed firsthand that what she said contained some truth. However, he needed to get all the facts, before taking an informed decision to run away.

“Alright, let's say I believe you,” Leo began.

“What is exactly wrong with me then?” he asked, sitting back down on the stool he vacated.

“Not exactly wrong,” Heidi answered, sitting next to Leo and grabbing her coffee mug. “Your body is forcefully undergoing changes that are not documented. Those changes should form a natural mana core within you. It will enable you to cast magic that is not restricted by any of our traditions.”

She signed, before continuing, “Let me explain in simpler terms and give you a bit of our history.

“Mages have been around on Earth for hundreds of years, as far as we know. No one knows where or when did the first one appear, but our records indicate that they were around when the pyramids were constructed and maybe even before that. And no - it was not the aliens who moved stones to build them, but us - mages.

“Our more or less mage-modern history started to be documented around the 12th or 13th century when the first mage clans were formed and proper disciplines were established. Clan Aer is one of the few oldest clans on Earth currently.”

“Why clans? I mean it sounds like an outdated feodal structure,” Leo asked, entertaining the idea.

“Well, yes, I suppose that is true. Clans were formed back in the day as a way to secure mage-born children and raise them, without having them join the Church's cause. Much of the modern history taught in mud schools is plain wrong or lied about. The Church did not attract people to its banner. They took them,” she said.

“The church? What do you mean? Like Jehovah's witnesses?” Leo asked, chuckling, noticing that Heidi was not joining him.

“No, there is only one Church, despite what they might make you believe and they serve only one man, the Pope. But that is a topic for later. For now, what you need to know is that Christianity was founded by the Church and with time it was split up into various factions. The main players never changed, nor did their agenda.”

“Alright, alright, now this is starting to sound a bit crazy,” commented Leo.

“I understand how it must sound,” Heidi said, considering for a moment. “Sorry, I did not ask this before, but are you religious?” she asked.

“Not really,” Leo replied. “In childhood, I had my fair share of religious exposure but it never stuck.”

“Alright, that makes things easier then. As I said, mages have been around for a long time. Initially, they appeared naturally. At some point in their lives, they gained the ability to interact with the mana around them. That enabled them to achieve great feats, such as living for hundreds of years, moving things around with their mind, growing entire forests, or healing people from deadly diseases. Everything you can think of as a miracle - was done by magic.

“As more and more humans started to walk the Earth, more mages appeared naturally until their number reached a saturation point and the ambient mana did not awaken many more such natural mages. At that point, a method was discovered, allowing the Church to awaken a mana core in the human body. This method was discovered by a Church mage and is still used to this day.”

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“A core? You mean like in cultivation novels?” Leo asked.

“Well, not exactly, but close enough. I am surprised you have read those…,” Heidi said, looking Leo up and down. “You see, a core is an organ that allows us to gather, contain and channel the mana around us. Sure, the mana is not as dense as it was hundreds of years ago due to pollution and other factors, but it is still there, around us. A core acts in a similar way to how your lungs would. It enables you to gather the mana around you and store some part of it, by holding it in.”

“Alright, so how does this affect me?” Leo interrupted. “I do not remember being a subject of some church ritual or something similar. Why are you saying I started to form a core?”

Heidi frowned, not sure how to explain this part, as her father was not clear about this as well, so she decided to go with what she knew from her childhood and said, “Core naturally forms when the saturation of mana within the body reaches a certain tipping point, which acts as a catalyst.

“Nowadays this happens rarely, as mana is not dense enough in nature. It is not clearly understood how. I also gained my core naturally. Though you and I, we are different in a way that I was brought up in a mage family and exposed to large quantities of mana to trigger my core formation, while for you I have no answer why it happened.

“Next, for you, it seems that the mana did not start to form a core in the place it should be located. We do not know why. What we do know is that your body continues to gather mana, and when it reaches a saturation point, it disperses it, similar to breathing. Though this process is not smooth, it is fairly volatile and we are not sure how you are still alive or walking as a matter of fact. We believe that the dispersion will not last and at one point you will just burst,” she finished.

“So you are saying that something triggered the changes I am undergoing now? And you have no idea what exactly. And basically, I am dying?” Leo said, his mood souring rapidly as this was not the way 'you are a wizard' talk should go.

“In essence, yes, but we still have time as the bracelet I gave you should manage the changes, for now. You must understand the basics before we try to fix what is wrong with you, as the fix itself will heavily depend on you.”

“Great. So basically it is a ‘sit tight’ situation for me now,” Leo said, leaning on the table and grabbing his head with both of his hands, to think.

“No, it is a ‘learn as fast as you can’ situation because you are putting not only yourself but also my clan in danger,” Heidi answered.

“Why? I do not understand this ‘clan and church’ business. It sounds like there is some great danger posed by me,” Leo commented, eying Heidi suspiciously.

“Let me give you more background to understand your situation. Clan Aer specializes in air magic. There are four main types of spell affinities: air, fire, water, and earth. There are others, but those are extremely rare. Affinity means the way how easily mana in the spell manifests in the world around us.

“An affinity means that some types of spells are easier to cast, while others are harder for the mage. Casting is a structured interaction with mana around us, through means established in spell forms. These forms are discovered and honed in the clans, as well as in the Church.

“When mana core forms, it gains an affinity, though, with time and training, it is possible to gain another affinity, enabling mages to cast different spells more easily or even combine them.”

“Wait, so clans are like scholars focusing on certain magic types instead of a field of science?” Leo asked.

“At a very high level, yes. Next, along with an affinity, the core, when it forms, gains a mana saturation level. These levels are what sets us mages apart. The core usually starts at gray, which is how it looks to us when we meditate and concentrate on our core, visualizing it in our mind’s eye.

“Next, it grows with time to brown, red, green, blue, purple, and white, in that order. There are some exceptions, though. White is the purest of the cores, basically pure mana. As far as we know no person alive has a white core as it is considered to be the realm of gods,” Heidi finished.

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