Chapter 9: Do you believe in magic?

The next class was his last core class of the day before Ben and Illyana went to Magic class together. Of all the classes in the school, this was the smallest class as there were only 4 students, including Ben, that were capable of using magic. Mrs. Braddock was once again teaching this class and began to go over the basics with everyone once again. 

Luckily for Ben, he already knew some advanced concepts thanks to his cousin so he was already more experienced than the two students beside Illyana. 

Most magical abilities could be divided into 3 broad categories. Bloodline, pact, or self-study. This order was also how the mages using the powers were ranked. 

Bloodline magic was magic aptitude and abilities granted by one's race or members of one's families. Gwen and Meggan were both members of this category. Meggan was half Fae while Gwen was in this category as she became a pure Anodite when she had awakened her spark. Anodite's were capable of manipulating mana around them in such a way that it could be considered reality warping at the highest levels. Those with bloodline magic also had an easier time learning magic through self-study. 

Pact magic was the next type and it was magic or magical aptitude that was granted by a being, object, or place. Illyana was mainly in this category and also the perfect example of it. Those who used pact magic were usually limited to magic related to the pact. If one made a pact with a god, they were limited to using that god's type of magic. If one was connected to an item or place, they would become more powerful the closer they were to it.

Illyana was sent to a dimension called Limbo and part of her soul was bound to the place. She was at her most powerful when she was in Limbo, to the point that she could be called a god in that dimension. Another part of her soul was also bound to a weapon called the Soul Sword which was pretty much a magical anti-magic weapon that boosted her magical abilities when used. If she was not in Limbo or holding her weapon, her magical abilities were greatly diminished. 

Lastly was self-taught or general magic. This covered the majority of magic users and magic types ranging from mana to Od to chi. The benefit and weakness of this was that anyone could learn it as everyone had some talent in magic. Where the issue came was that not everyone was born equally. 

Some individuals had a large amount of talent and could quickly learn spells or cast powerful magic such as Dr. Doom and Dr. Strange while others could feats that could barely be considered magic like creating a flame the size of one on a candle. 

This was also why the magic class had so few students. The other students had such little talent in magic that they figured it was in their best interest to take up another elective that could serve them better. 

Out of the four students in class, only Ben was the self-taught user while the other 3 were all pact magic users. Meggan was the only person in the school that was an actual bloodline magic user. 

Besides Ben and Illyana, the other two students were part of the Corsairs and Paragons teams. Megan was a member of the Paragons and got her magic when Illyana had gone mad once and accidentally ripped out a piece of Megan's soul. 

Unable to place the piece Megan's soul back into her body normally, Illyana created the Soul Dagger which was similar to her Soul Sword. It was weaker and smaller though. 

The other student was Callie whose mutation allowed her to manipulate and grow plants. She was able to forge a pact with Gaea, one of the few remaining Elder Gods. Thanks to her pact, she had powerful healing magic and her mutant abilities were boosted to an even higher level. 

Everyone in the class had a large amount of talent. Both Illyana and Megan were both potential Sorcerer Supreme of Earth while Ben had great talent that's to his partial Anodite bloodline. Even if he did not awaken to become a full member of the race, he still had more talent than most humans thanks to it. 

Ironically, the one who was blessed by an Elder God had the weakest talent in magic but she was still well above average. If any of them ever lost their mutations, they would all still be powerful magic users. 

Meggan taught the class seriously, unlike Elementalism. This was partially because she was well rested but also because she knew just how dangerous magic could be.

It was the Hero Paradox but for magic. Like how if one became a hero, they were more likely to have random people they interacted with become super villains that hated them. Those with magic, naturally attracted trouble of magical beings. Devils, demons, gods. All of these beings would try to user mages as pawns to further their own agendas or increase their personal power.

If any of the students were not careful, they could end up accidentally signing their soul away or getting dragged into a war they had no part in. 

Dr. Strange was the best example of this. 

While originally being a simple self-taught mage, he would eventually make a contract with several gods in order to acquire more power. He became so powerful that it took the effort of other actual gods to defeat him. 

But these powers came at a cost. Some corrupted his soul while others made him do things he would not want to. One such thing was when he was pulled into another dimension where time passed differently. For those outside, they thought that Strange had only disappeared for a month. 

But to Strange, he had to participate in a thousand-year long war against the champions of other gods. This war broke him to the point where after he survived it, he would break off all of his pacts, returning the power that was bestowed upon him. Even after doing so though, he was not free of the gods. 

The more neutral gods he served made him pay a price such as giving away some of the magical artifacts he collected or owing him a favor. There were other gods though, who gave him powerful curses that had yet to all be broken. 

So even though Meggan was usually very whimsical, she knew that this was one such situation that she could not slack off in. 

After going over the basics, Meggan let the other students practice while she planned to help Ben. 

"Do you have an arcane focus, Ben?" she teacher asked

"Yes, ma'am," Ben replied while pulling a ring out of his pocket. Ben passed it over to Meggan. It was a golden signet ring with hieroglyphs on it, showing that it was Egyptian. 

"Excellent quality. This will serve you well," Meggan told him as she passed the ring back. Arcane focuses were items that helped one focus when practicing magic. They were not like pact weapons that gave the owner powers or had mystical abilities of their own but instead helped one focus their abilities and perceive mana. 

The general rule was that the older an item was, the better it worked as an arcane focus. It also helped if other magic users had used the item. Gwen gave it to him as a birthday present the previous year. The ring was nearly 30 centuries old and had been used by several powerful magicians which made it the perfect tool for Ben. 

"Since you have this, I am assuming that you have been taught well," Meggan probed when she realized just how good the ring was

"Yeah, that's right," Ben told her honestly. "My cousin is way better at it than me since she is an Anodite but she still taught me enough to know the basics and gave me a grimoire full of spells to use."

Hearing that Ben had a cousin who was an Anodite, Meggan raised an eyebrow. There was only one Anodite that she knew of that currently lived on the planet.

"Is your cousin perhaps, Gwendolyn?" Meggan asked. And when she saw Ben nod, the look in her eyes became much gentler. "I see such a coincidence. Your cousin has done me and my husband a great favor when they stopped a cult from corrupting our son. If she has taught you, then I am sure you already have a safe path to travel down."

Meggan walked away from Ben after saying this before going over to the other students one by one and seeing who needed assistance with their spells.