Mmanuell knocks on the Monntiba household's door first, but to no answer. Aunty Sharla normally sleeps through the whole day, so Kkele probably snuck out early to collect bugs or dead animals again. Mmanuell shrugs, Ah well, we'll show Essam first, he's gonna be so psyched! A swift hop lands him in front of Ssamuell's front door, and after clearing his chest, Mmanuell leans forwards and screams through the letterbox: 'MRS AND MASTER WILLIAMS WE HAVE A CODE 1-2-4-4! ONE TWO FOUR FOUR, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY THAT REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTIO-', Aunty Nneena, who Mmanuell has also taught his special codes to, slams her front door open and slaps Mmanuell in the face with it by accident.
'Oh, sorry dear, haha! you okay? What's the emergency, Ssamuell's eating his breakfast.'
'Ow, nah I'm okay. Can I just come in, it'll be better if I show you both in person.'
'Of course, come!' Nneena joyously motions for Mmanuell to step out of the cold and into her and Essam's house which is, structure wise, a carbon-copy of his own. Every house in the cul-de-sac are exactly the same, as a matter of fact.
Ssamuell, suspended withing a cloud of Solid Steam Magic as usual, nonchalantly nods at Mmanuell when he crosses into the kitchen/living room combo, clearly too busy reading his book and stuffing his face with cereal to pay him any attention. '1-2-4-4's are never that serious. What's up, though?'
'Me in a minute, brudda! Look at this, didn't I always say it's a matter of time?' Mmanuell pulls down the collar of his jumper and gives Ssamuell and Nneena a peek at the dark spot on his shoulder.
...
'You get bruised from yesterday?', Nneena asks.
'Wh- NIGGA NO THESE ARE GATES!!' Mmanuell yanks his top layers off in one swift motion and spins around, managing to drag Ssamuell's eyes off his book. He gives his mate a small round of applause.
'Don't swear young man, and wow!!! Happy Ascentday Mmanuell!' Nneena claps and gives Mmanuell a hug. 'What? you're gonna finally catch up to my boy now, eh?'
Ssamuell rolls his eyes, 'We'll see about that mum, hold on Mmanuell, I've got something for you', Sam floats into the room where the conservatory would be if it were Mmanuell's house; the Williams family have a library there instead.
'Meanwhile, I've got something of my own for you, Mmanuell.' Aunty Nneena starts fishing through the cupboards above the sink until she finds a nondescript jar of preserve, sealed with cloth and a string tied around the rim, and stuffs it in Mmanuell's bag for him.
'More of dad's jam?'
'My own, actually! Thought I'd try my hand at it even though baking and sweet stuff isn't my speciality; tell me how that tastes after you're on the verge of Flow Deprivation from all the fun I'm sure you're gonna have today, but save some for your parents too!'
'Oooh thank you, Aunty! Let's have some of that now, actually. I actually passed out from touching some Pallobalt for too long for the first time this morning,' Mmanuell says as he helps himself to Aunty Nneena's bread and kitchen utensils. 'You know that big crate I could deal with because I hadn't got my Gates yet? Yeah, out cold in seconds. Lucky I only passed out for a minute, could have been the end of me, haha.'
Aunty Nneena is shocked, so much that she has to laugh, 'I have no idea how you can say such a serious thing so nonchalantly, ha!..Except I do, you're just like Sam. I'm assuming you didn't say something so worrying to Teegan and Ttala?'
'Pfft, course not. could you imagine?' Mmanuell snickers as he digs in to the first of the dozens slices of jam toast he made in less than a minute and almost immediately he can taste, feel, the energy from the food sift through his mouth and into his..it's the bloodstream that Flow is stored in, right?
Didn't realise you could feel that. Feels great though.
Ssamuell returns from the home library and hands mmanuell a run down leaflet that looks like it came out of a doctors waiting room. it says "Appertity and You" on the front in cheesy, bold text and has comic-style art of a dude in a lab coat with scarily impressive Gates patterns. The liberties of modern art.
'S-, Sam what the hell is this? ' Mmanuell is, just confused.
'Just- have you used Magic yet at all since you woke up?'
'Nah.'
'Then that was your parents taking off I heard a few minutes ago?'
'Yeah.'
'Okay, trust me, it looks stupid but that's probably the most concise abridgement of the Flow System's basics I've ever read. I'm not awake enough to teach anybody anything right now, so taking into account how easily you catch on to things, you'll be good to go before you parents get back preparing for your Ascentday. Happy Ascentday, by the way.'
'Essam you might as well be giving me a puberty infographic and condoms.'
'Just read it while I finish my breakfast. '
...Mmanuell will entertain this. 'Sure.'
So you've begun to go through Appertity. Your Gates are coming in and you're excited to begin using Magic- flying around all over the place, lifting boulders, breaking the rules of physics....then your parents/guardian hand you this booklet.
What's all that about?
Well, young Mage-to-be, Magic is a lot more complicated than any of the adults make it out to be and has to potential to seriously harm both yourself and those around you if you're not careful. Nobody wants that, right? (right?), so you'll need to learn the basics before you can go out spell-slinging.
So please take a minute or two to read me and you'll be feeling a lot more confident about ensuring the safety of those around you, as well as your own when taking your first steps in the world of Magic!
But what is Magic?
Humans have the incredible ability to Telekinetically control their own Flow, filtered from their blood through their Gates, Transmute it into an Element, and have it undergo Property Alteration.
This is the textbook definition of Magic, and this booklet will explain every single one of those terms. (Except Property Alteration. You'll learn about that in school.)
Appertity, Flow, and Gates.
Appertity is the point in your life when you become able to use Magic. Most people go through Appertity around the ages of 14-16, but you may have friends who have gone through it much earlier; some children have even been able to use Magic since birth!
Hormones (chemical signals) in your body cause parts of your skin to become Gates.
Gates are a special type of gland, like the ones that make you sweat, that release Flow from inside your body. Gates are deep black in colour and can appear anywhere on your body. Just like your fingerprints, the patterns of your Gates are totally unique to you - even if you're a twin! Be proud of yours!
(If you've woken up to see that your blonde, brown, or red hair has become black overnight, do not be alarmed! Hair that grows over Gates becomes black in colour, regardless of what it was before.)
When first coming in, Gates are weak and have little darkness and no patterns. Do not worry, these will improve the longer you use your Magic. A person's Magical prowess can be estimated by the condition of their Gates: How much Flow a person can release from their body can be gauged by the Darkness of their Gates, and how well they can control that Magic by the complexity of their Gate's patterns.
Use Magic often enough and your Gates will be the talk of the town, so practice every day!
In case you forgot, Flow is the second most abundant component of air: A blue, smoke-like gas that all life depends on for survival.
(Fun Fact! Flow only turns blue when agitated: it is colourless in the air, and gains its signature glow when being used for Magical purposes.)
So be warned! Flow is a shared resource. Your body needs Flow to stay alive just as much as you need it for Magic.
The less you use Magic, the harder it becomes to use. Abstain for too long and your Gates will close up, becoming barely visible and making it look like you haven't gone through Appertity yet, leaving you unable to use Magic at all for several days.
Mental Links (Telekinesis), Transmutation, and Elements.
Now that you have a grasp on how you are now able to use Magic, it is time to learn about what you can actually do with it! The fun stuff! Yay!
Despite what books and television may show you, Flow is controlled purely through "Telekinesis"- that is, using your mind to make it do stuff. Could you imagine a world where you actually had to use hand signs, wands or spells to use Magic? It's fun to watch or read, but it'd be entirely impractical to do so in real life.
Flow on its own...cannot do much at all, which is where the concept of Transmutation comes in. If you concentrate, you can transform your Flow into one of eight different things: Fire, Steam, Water, Ice, Wind, Sand, Earth, and Lava. These are the Elements, the most important part of using Magic.
An Element will remain as such until that piece of Magic is not being controlled by anyone, where it then dissolves back into Flow and returns to the air.
(WARNING! Please be aware that the Elements created from Flow are VERY DIFFERENT from their real counterparts. You cannot drink Water Magic, nor can you breathe Wind Magic. Fire Magic cannot be extinguished with regular water. Steam Magic will not condense into Water Magic. Mixing two Elements will not create another. Etc. Please be careful.)
Magical Affinity
Please look at this.
You may have seen this symbol on a Passport or a Personal Value card before, but do you know what it actually is? This handy little picture is an "Affinity Graph", and we use it to show what a Mage's Magical Affinity is at a glance.
"But what is an Affinity?", you ask?
You see, every Mage has an Element that they are naturally best at using.
That Element is known as their Affinity; using it, you can figure out what other Elements a Mage can and can't use.
Have a look at this Affinity graph now and think about what it shows.
Do you see the difference? Only one of the sections is filled in entirely which shows that this person has a Wind Affinity. The sections representing Sand and Ice are half-filled, showing that those Elements are Secondary Affinities. Similarly, Earth and Water are quarter-filled - Tertiary Affinities. The sections representing Lava, Fire, and Steam are empty, meaning that this person cannot use those Elements.
What Affinity you gain is mostly random, but can be influenced by that of your parents. If you do not have the Affinity you were expecting, do not worry, no one Element is strictly better or worse than the others. Skilled Mages are not limited by the Elements under their control, be proud of your Affinity!
Protect yourself, and know the Risks!
So far we have covered the absolute basics of Magic, and right now you may feel like closing this booklet and running outside to try out your new powers...but be warned! Using Magic comes with several risks that you must be aware of unless you don't mind being bed-ridden in a hospital for months- or worse.
As you may recall, Flow is a shared resource. Your body needs it to survive and uses it for Magic. So what happens when you use up too much of your Flow slinging out fireballs and tornados?
Flow Deprivation is what happens when your Flow levels fall to dangerously low levels. Those suffering from it experience shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and temporary loss of sight. On top of that, your Gates will close- leaving you unable to use Magic until you recover enough Flow. Imagine if you run out of Flow whilst flying several hundred feet in the air; this is not an affliction to be taken lightly. You could very well die from it.
(Doctor's tip! Pomegranates and Mangoes are incredibly rich in Flow! Eat them when Flow Deprived and you'll recover in no time!)
Magic is controlled with the power of your mind, but that power has limits and you'd do well to know them. Overexert yourself by attempting to control Magic with a level of precision that you cannot handle, and you'll have given yourself a Mind Crush. Most of the time you will merely feel slightly disorientated with a minor headache, but the most severe cases of Mind Crush will leave you bleeding out of every hole in your face and falling into a coma.
A firm understanding of your limits as a Mage will prevent this from happening to you. This may seem discouraging at first, but you should view Mind Crushes as an indicator of your power. You'll know that you've grown into a fine Mage when it takes considerable effort to get a Mind Crush- try your best and practice every day!
If you try to release too much Flow out of your Gates at once, you will become Flowsick. Just like during a bout of Flow Deprivation, your Gates will close the moment it hits you, although during an episode of Flowsickness this happens INDESCRIBABLY FORCEFULLY. The sheer overexertion of your Gates causes unimaginable pain that will not subside until you are no longer Flowsick, which may take several agonising minutes.
Although less lethal than the first two afflictions described, you'll want to avoid becoming Flowsick just as much to save yourself the trauma of getting what is the equivalent of a skin cramp. How do you stretch out a cramp on your skin, which has no muscles to stretch the cramp out of? As long as you are patient when releasing Flow from your Gates, this will never happen to you.
Only Mages who engage in reckless Magic usage will ever experience any of these afflictions. Please be responsible.
Congratulations!
You have reached the end of this informative booklet on safe and responsible Magic usage!
Now get out there and be a teenager, crazy kids!
