Magic

"Everyone in this world is capable of using magic as mana flows through us all, and all living things are made up of mana. It is just about tapping into those forces of energy that is inside of you." Lily begins to calmly teach about mana and magic.

"Everyone can use every element at least to a basic level, but every person also has an affinity that elevates their talent towards a specific element. For me, it is illusion mana that I have an affinity towards." She says as she demonstrates with a wave of her hand, making it ethereal in nature. 

"Oh, how do I find out what element I have an affinity for?" Arthur asks eagerly as the prospect of magic entices him a lot, as it was always something fantastical to him on Earth.

"I am getting to that. We will try it after I explain the basics of it all." She chastises real quick at his interruption. 

Arthur quickly shuts his mouth as he focuses on listening to her for now, as this is something he is really intrigued by overall. 

"Now, there is a pool of mana that everyone can take from within one's body; though limited in nature, it can be replenished with time to rest. This is how most people use magic, and by using it repeatedly, one can increase the size of their mana pool. Other than that, mages can use the mana of the atmosphere to utilize magic. This is usually what those less talented do to make up for the lack of mana within them." Lily states as she draws some things in the dirt between the two of them.

"As seen here, there are two ways mana can be used. From within and from outside. They both have pros and cons to use. But, one thing to note is to never draw the outside mana to the inside of your body, as if trying to fill up your mana pool yourself. This can corrupt your mana pool and turn you into a mindless monster. You can only let your mana recover naturally. After all, the ambient mana is wild and chaotic. it is fine to use but not intake." She advises about mana and its uses. 

She then draws even more pictures in the dirt, illustrating the ranks of mages and the classification of spells. "Mages also use the adventurer rank system, from E-rank to SS-rank. No one has ever been seen at the SSS rank or divine rank, so they don't officially exist. Spells, however, are ranked as follows from lowest to highest: Novice, Adept, Expert, Master, Ritual, Forbidden, and Divine." 

"Divine magic has never been used by mortals, at least that is known by society currently. Forbidden-level spells are the highest achievable, and I can't even use any of them yet, though I do know one. I can use ritual-grade magic spells; however, I only have two of them I can use. A way to help understand the grade of damage, a Ritual ranked spell can affect a city, a Forbidden grade spell can affect a nation, and a Divine ranked spell can affect the world." She says, continuously drawing in the dirt as she explains it piece by piece. 

Arthur himself is attentively listening as he occasionally nods to show his understanding, though he undoubtedly has questions on the matter and is eager to try them out for himself. 

"This is about it for the basics of magic understanding and theory. There is, of course, more advanced knowledge, but it could take literal days just to discuss it, let alone delve into it deeply. A lot of magic study is just practicing and experimenting anyways. But, this about covers what you need to know to be introduced to magic." She concludes as she finishes up what she wanted to explain. 

"So fascinating! I can't wait to try it out!" Arthur says excitedly as if a child ready to try out a new toy he just received. 

Lily smiles in return, obviously happy to see something he is interested in other than battle. "Alright, let's see what affinity you have first. Place your hand on mine here. I will thread a small amount of mana into your body to tap your mana pool, which should ignite a natural response, having it come out in its natural form, which will reveal the affinity." She holds out her left hand. 

Arthur immediately puts his right hand on top of hers as he sees a small glow encapsulate both of their hands. He then feels a small prickly feeling go into his hand and travel up his arm. 

Lily herself shows a slight struggle to make her mana go through his body, as it is a lot tougher than she could have expected. His body is made up like a wild monster, full of irregular paths and networks that normal humans shouldn't be like. It was like a quagmire that she struggled to push through to find his mana pool.

"Fuck, it is like trying to force mana through an ingot of steel! What is your body made of?!" Lily shouts out in complaint at the difficulty of the task at hand. 

But she is finally able to make it out of his arm and into his torso, where she can begin to look for his mana pool, something that all living beings possess. Something she should be able to find easily now that she is in the center of his body, though it is still tough to move through. She perseveres nonetheless. 

Alas, things are not always meant to be, as she soon has a confused and flabbergasted look adorned on her pretty face. She can't seem to find what she is looking for as if it never even existed in the first place. But to her, that shouldn't be possible, as it doesn't make sense. All living things should have a mana pool, so why can't she seem to find it?

"Uhm, are you alive?" She timidly asks as if she is asking herself that question, too, completely confused by the entire situation. 

"Yes. I believe I am. Unless I am dreaming." Arthur replies with a straight face as he looks down at his body as if to make sure he is indeed alive. "Why do you ask?" 

"Err, well, you don't seem to have a mana pool. Which should be impossible, so I don't quite understand what is happening." She says, withdrawing her hand and her mana in defeat. 

"What?! You mean I can't use magic, then? Fuck! There goes my hopes and dreams." Arthur yells out in despair, and a crestfallen look is shown on his face, as if he is about to break down into tears. It was as if all hope had left his body. 

But, like it was never there, to begin with, he quickly reverts back to normal, completely recovering himself, or maybe he was just faking it to begin with. Emotions do seem to come and go with Arthur these days. 

"I am sorry. I don't know how this is possible, and there is nothing I can do about it." Lily says apologetically as if it was her fault, though they both know it wasn't.

"No, this is probably because I am not from this world but another. I guess it makes sense that I wouldn't have a mana pool or be able to use magic. Of course, that shitty God would not grant me the favor of allowing me to use mana." Arthur says with a sigh before he grits his teeth in anger at the thought of a certain God. 

"Eh?! Not of this world?!" Lily suddenly exclaims in pure confusion and shock.