“KARYX!” Keldon yelled,

  …but nothing happened.

  Slightly disappointing. But somewhat relieving as well. It was the morning before his departure from Greenhearst. He was practicing his magic in secret at a dead mining site nearby. A few years back there was an explosion at this mine site, essentially rendering the area useless. Few people came by and it was relatively monster-free due to Ruhiel’s particularly effective purging of the area.

  He had wandered a good 15 minutes into the mine, finding a secluded spot with plenty of noise insulation. At first, it was pretty nerve wrecking; he honestly had no idea to what degree he’d be able to wield that potent magic. There wasn’t going to be a lot of time he would have alone on the two week trip to the capital so he thought he should at least test out the waters first. Admittingly though, he had hoped for a bit more proficiency than this.

  “Okay, breathe Keldon… steady the mind. Imagine the ocean waves crashing against the shore… Dammit, I’ve never seen the ocean though.”

  He picked up his fresh copy of “So You Want to Become a Skill Orb User too” that Morty had given to him and flipped back to chapter 3. It was a going away present after he told him he was leaving for the Grand Academy. Morty didn’t seem particularly choked up either, he just laughed and told Keldon that it was about time. The book was one from his personal collection and said that even if he couldn’t use a skill orb, that it’d be wise to familiarize himself.

  Mrs. Maithier had been a bit more… dramatic with her farewells. She cried when she heard the news, going on about how the Hissings was going to go to hell without a sweetheart like Keldon. She had wanted to throw a party for Keldon for finally “graduating” fromhere , but he had to leave tomorrow, so he had to politely decline. He did, however, receive a hefty bag of treats for the long road ahead.

  “I’d be damned if I let you eat prison slop for the next two weeks.” She'd said defiantly. She gave him a cloth satchel filled to the brim with chocolate, various goat cheeses and fistfuls of pork sausages. There was even a small pouch sewn into the side filled with roasted coffee beans. He knew it was strange, but Keldon loved crunching on roasted coffee beans. It was bitter and gritty, but it reminded him of the few happy memories he had with his old friends.

  Anyways, he hadn’t expected the secrets to the universe, but he’d hoped at least that maybe the basics of skill-based magic would at least provide some kind of insight into figuring out his own.

  “Speak the names huh?” Keldon muttered to himself. There was something fundamentally different about the magic he had used and the skill-based magic within the empire.

  But what was it?

  He flipped back to the beginning; he had to be missing something.

  So you want to become a skill orb user huh? You’re going to read this book and get into the grand academy right?! Well too bad dumbass, that’s not how this is going to work.

  Keldon rolled his eyes a little, it doesn’t seem like the author wrote this with him being the target audience in mind.

  Contrary to popular belief, it’s not as easy as the elite make it seem. Sure, back in your hometown you were a prodigy, you learnt the basics with ease! But welcome to the real world kid, you are nothing, and you were always nothing.

  But maybe, if you can put away your ego and start from nothing, strengthen the foundations you ignored, Well maybe there’s hope for you after all.

  First off, what is a skill orb?It was an invention of marvel first created by the first emperor Sun-K’aal-Sun. Up until the skill orb, magic was a tool exclusive for the select few, who hoarded their knowledge from the world. But Sun-K’aal-Sun wept, seeing the inequality in his empire. Three times he tried to mediate relations between Mages and non-mages, and three times he failed. But then, it struck him.

  As long as only the chosen few had access to the wondrous magic, there would always be an imbalance among the people.

  So he set off with a plan. Using his impeccable genius, he reverse-engineered the fundamentals of magic, deconstructing them, creating new ways of magic using the skill orb as a catalyst. Before, only those who were born with a natural aptitude with magic could cast a spell. But now, with a skill orb, the need for a natural aptitude had vanished, using the skill orb as a medium.

  Then why is this important? Because it explains the fundamental usage of Skill orbs, you see, Sun-K’aal- Sun decoded spells, into languages. Before the skill orb, a spell was a sequence of words in divine language that tapped into the natural aptitude of the mage. The words bent reality and natural inner mana fueled it.

  This was it. This was the final confirmation that he’d needed to know that he’d used illegal magic. Obviously, he assumed so, but this was the nail in the coffin. Keldon’s body produced less mana than the average woodland creature, rendering him unable to use even a single skill, meaning he had to have used magic outside of Empire law.

  However, remember dear readers, skills are not omnipotent, they cannot create or destroy matter, but rather to enact their effects upon the world, they take the natural mana from within, changing it into new forms.

  Keldon paused from reading to look at his watch, and it seemed his departure time was growing close. He packed up his things, taking one last look around the dead open field at the entrance of the abandoned mine before leaving . At least he could spend the time walking to the meeting place reading.

  So this leads into the basics dear reader. Skills can be separated into five categories based on varying degrees of effectiveness and mana consumption. Lesser, Untitled, Greater, Superior, and Supreme. However, the difference between a lesser skill being used by an apprentice mage and a Grand Magister is night and day. With experience, knowledge, and control, while an apprentice mage may only be able to use the skill “Lesser Control Flame” to light a candle, or to start a campfire, a Grand Magister uses Lesser control flame to its utmost, able to wield fire like an arrow, piercing Bulwark like paper.

  Without proper control, an apprentice mage that haphazardly uses skills beyond his means risks mana rebound, resulting in great damage to the body, the corporis leylines that produce mana, and even death...

  Keldon just closed the book at this point. This wasn’t really getting him anywhere. He wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to do at this point. In all honesty, he was downright terrified to use illegal magic, knowing what they would do to him if he was found out. But, deep down inside he was somewhat thrilled. That even despite the laws of the empire, he’d used magic at all, just like his dad.

  But where to even begin?

  Hopefully the libraries at the Grand Academy could provide some answers. It was rumored the Grand Academy had the single greatest archive in the west continent, even surpassing the royal family’s.

  Finally Keldon had arrived at the meeting point, just outside the entrance of the town gate. He found Bertram sitting on an old bench with peeling paint, underneath a broken street lamp that no one had bothered to fix. Screws, wires, and tools surrounded him, as he worked on the stability of his newly acquired leg, and upon seeing Keldon, waved him over.