24 The Magic Concept

[Battle Arena: Land of Snow]

In one instant, Green felt the comfortable atmosphere of Jack's office change to that of a very cold and snowy place.

"Kh!"

Green shivered as a very cold gust of wind whipped his face.

"What!? I said that I want to train not to die!!"

"This is where we'll be training till you leave the school"

Jack said proudly with a smug smile on his face, he stood with his hands folded in front of Green, the cold didn't seem to affect him at all.

"Where is this place? Are we even still in the school?"

Green asked, he had his hands wrapped around his body in a futile attempt to keep himself warm.

Jack facepalmed,

"Damn... I haven't told you about battle arenas yet."

The empty snowy horizon suddenly changed to a circular room in a cold ice castle with a huge round ice table in the center surrounded by ice chairs. Everything was made of ice inside the ice castle.

"Woah"

Green's mouth hung open at the impressive architecture and speed of transportation.

"Have a seat"

Jack said as he sat down on one of the ice chairs.

Green sat down as he rubbed his hands vigorously in order to get some warmth,

"Before we begin any training of any sort, I want to explain the concept of magic so that you can have a basic knowledge of this power"

"Okay..."

"There are two types of special humans on Earth, the magic users (mages) and the ability users.

....The mages like us use magic energy to cast spells and manipulate the elements.

There are 4 main elements namely; Air, fire, water, earth, while the rest are sub elements like gravity, sound, ice, lightning, vegetation, light, darkness, space and time.

Normal mages can wield at most three of the main elements while talented mages can wield at most four main elements and three of the sub elements..."

"Wait... How many elements can you wield, Mr Jack?"

Green interrupted him,

"All"

Jack replied casually,

"What!? How?"

Green interjected,

"I come from a family of very powerful mages and once in a generation. A rare eye called the Sunōai is bestowed onto one of the offspring, the Sunōai has the ability to enhance the magic ability of the user enabling him/her to be able to use infinite number of magic techniques and elements, it also has the ability to enhance the user's magic power by 500% when activated. Fortunately, in my generation, I was the one born with the Sunōai and it had enabled me to master all the elements."

As he talked, he briefly activated the Sunōai so that Green would believe him.

"Wow... So you're basically the strongest?"

Green asked, admiration shining in his eyes.

"Yes"

Jack replied snappily,

"So back to the magic concept...

.... There are five levels to grade the strength of mages namely;

Novice, Beginner, Competent, Proficient and Expert. Each of these skill levels have sub levels namely; light, mid and thick....

For example, a newly awakened mage like you will be around Light Novice, you'll have to level up to Mid Novice and then Thick Novice before transcending into the Light Beginner stage...

The strength of every mage on Earth is measured using this leveling system including me who is currently at the Mid Expert stage."

"How is the magic strength measured?"

Green asked,

"Though the citizens of the world are still oblivious of the existence of magic, there's an international organization of mages called 'The Mage Association' that possesses a device called 'the Globe' which is used in measuring the amount of magic energy in a mage's body."

"Ohhh"

Green nodded gently to show that he was following then he asked another question,

"So how does one level up from one stage to another?"

"Smart question"

Jack replied,

"In the initial stages of a mage's awakening, he can transcend stages by mere practice and training, one can transcend from Novice to Beginner within a space of one year, from Beginner to Competent may take three years and that is where most mages stop leveling up because as one approaches the higher levels, it becomes more difficult to transcend. If the mage is lucky, he may end up reaching Light Proficient before he dies."

"Oh... Is that so?"

Green replied weakly, he had frost bites all over the parts of his body that were exposed.

"Yes, but there is another way to level up faster than training.."

Jack said,

"How?"

"Consuming magic stones"

"Magic stones?"

Green asked, the world couldn't get any more weirder than this. Even stones were magic.

"Yes, if a mage consumes magic stones, he can get stronger in less time than those who do not consume magic stones"

"Really? Like how less time?"

"Like two stages in a year"

"Did you say two in a year?"

Green's eyes lit up with a mischievous glint and a crazy idea entered his head,

'If I consume these magic stones, I can get as strong as Mr Jack right?'

"Where can one get these stones?"

Green asked while rubbing his palms together like a super villain.

"Well, a heavy restriction have been placed on these magic stones by the Mage Association to prevent people from leveling up quickly and causing harm to others with their great power so one piece of a magic stone is around half a billion Kobos..."

Jack replied,

The staggering price of the stone resounded in Green's head and he blinked repeatedly, that was an outrageous price!

"Wow..."

"But there is still a limit to how much you can level up with stones. After transcending two levels, you won't be able to transcend again no matter how many stones you consume"

Jack ratted on,

'I can't imagine myself sitting down to consume 500 million Kobos like I don't have more useful things to do with the money. Nice try TMA'

Green thought before asking,

"But where can one find these magic stones? Or are they manufactured?"

"Magic stones are found inside Donjons. Donjons are pocket dimensions that contain magic beasts and items. The strength of the magic beasts are ranked using the same ranking as the mages so if you look an Expert magic beast, you'll get a magic stone..."

"Wow.. Donjons, tell me more about it"

Green said,

"When excess magic energy gathers in one place, a gate or portal opens to a limited part of another universe, that part is called a 'Donjon'. Every donjon has a boss and if that boss is defeated, the donjon will close within a few hours of the boss' death..."

Jack explained,

"What if someone doesn't leave the donjon closes?"

Green asked,

"Well... I guess the person will disappear to wherever donjons disappear to"

"Oh...

But are stones the only things that can be found in donjons?"

"Nope... The corpses of magic beasts, magic crystals, seals and many other items can be found inside donjons. It varies from donjon to donjon."

"Wait a minute... How can one person carry out all those items before the donjon closes"

"No, you're getting it all wrong. One person cannot clear a donjon by one's self (unless you're Sung Jin Woo XD). Donjons are cleared by hunting parties made up of groups of mages and ability users belonging to guilds affiliated under the Mage Association."

Green nodded to show that he was following,

"So that's all you have to know about mages, in case there's anything that I left out, you can just ask me about it...."

Jack said,

"What about the ability users?"

"Ahh! I knew that I forgot something.... The ability users"

Jack exclaimed,

"The ability users are just humans with special abilities like super speed, super strength, shape shifting like the werewolves, ability to use borrowed power, witchcraft, vampires and many others. These ability users too are also affiliated under the Mage Association but they have their own power ranking systems"

"Really? Then that bully in my class is an ability user!"

Green exclaimed,

"Exactly"

"Even the director of security and the principal too are ability users!"

Green added,

"Yes, ability users are much more common than mages and their ability can be transferred. For example, a vampire can turn a normal human into a vampire but a mage cannot turn a normal human into a mage. To be a mage, you have to be either born with magic or you're fortunate enough to awaken it"

Jack explained.

"Wow, wow... All this information is just so... Useful in dealing with the people in this school for social rejects"

Green said,

"Yes, exactly...."

"What?!!!"

Green screamed,

"What is it?"

Jack asked,

"Look!"

He said and showed Jack his identity watch,

"It's almost time for evening roll call! How long have we been here?"

"We've been talking for quite a long time"

"I didn't even notice. I guess I was so immersed in the discussion. I have to go now"

"Okay, but I want you to promise me something first"

Jack said with a serious tone,

"Which is?"

"Bring that boy, Derek with you when you're coming tomorrow"

Green shot Jack a hostile look,

"Derek? Why will I bring that inconsiderate slob to you?"

"Woah... Is that how to describe the boy that saved you?"

Jack said,

"Saved me? He told me that he didn't help me"

Green was now confused,

"Oh, he did. But I guess he didn't want to look soft, maybe that's why he didn't tell you"

"Oh... He knows that I now have magic"

"Yes, you should know that he's a mage too. Probably around the thick beginner stage which is pretty high for a first year high school student"

Jack said,

Green felt a twinge of jealousy in his chest, he knew that Derek was strong after seeing his performance at the physical ability test but he didn't know that the boy was almost a high ranking mage at his young age.

"Oh... So if Derek is that strong, why is the principal going after me and not him?"

"Well... I don't know if you have noticed, but you don't have a magic affinity. You just have that green energy that carries a lot of power with it. Flame prodigies are common but you're a one in a million type of mage"

Green felt his ego swelling as Jack praised him and his earlier jealousy for Derek melted away.

"Alright, I'll be going now"

He had barely finished speaking when the battle arena disappeared and they were back inside Jack's office.

"Don't forget to come with him!"

Jack yelled after Green as he ran out of the office,

"Okay!!"

A small smile of triumph appeared on Jack's lips,

'Green... Derek... I've got big plans for you both'