254 Training I : The Intricacies Of Studying Magic!

We've been in the realm for about roughly four or five days, and while we wanted to hurry back home, our dragons had assured us to wait, and learn. Time worked very differently here, and there wouldn't be any change to it, until the realm starts expanding by assimilating pieces of the real world, so for now, time in here was faster than it was outside.

But either way, I was frantic, and really wanted to hurry up with this whole 'learning' experience. I didn't just loose my skills, I also lost the knowledge of them, of how to use them, of what they even looked liked. So truly as Adamas had said, we had to learn, to be stronger, and smarter than before. At the very least, I supposed I would have a better foundation than before.

"I'm not exactly sure what you have in mind, but I believe the first thing you should learn about, should be magic. Right now you have incredible physical strength, resilience and speed. Your body is not just on par with a dragon, at tier nine it's on par with a demigod. Once you cross the 1000 mark, you automatically cross into graded levels rather than tiers. At that point, it becomes incredibly hard to increase your physical abilities, not without truly becoming a lesser god in every aspect of your stats. But that's not something for you to worry about.

The fire Queen, is also focusing on magic, at least for now. I understand you're more physical and confrontational with your style of fighting, but I believe that should be your trump card. It would be better for your enemies to underestimate you and not know about all your true capabilities.

Now it would be better if magic was the trump card, I mean that's exactly what every other person would do. But because it's what every other person would do, we won't be doing it. So you need to learn magic, and to do that, you need to know what type of magic, what class, and which school and discipline you want to learn from."

"Okay I'm confused, what do you mean by which class, or school?" I asked Adamas, as I skipped from the branch of one tree to another, running through the woods wantonly with my new found speed.

"There are two types of magicians, if I'm allowed to use that term, there are Channelers and Naturals. Now Channelers can sense magic, they can feel it, and grow to new levels with it, and even store it in their body. However they can only channel the energy, not shape it, or give it form. Most of them would usually have an innate skill of some sort, or be able to affect the world with their magic when they're under emotional duress. But to the only way they can cast spells, or bend the forces of nature and reality, is by channeling their magical energy, whichever source they're using, through their bodies, and finally into tools that would help with the manifestation of their spells. And those tools are not limited to wands, staffs, casting tools like medallions, rings, alchemical circles, brooms, and the bones or body parts of certain magical creatures.

The classes that fall under the Channelers are, Wizards, Witches, Warlocks, Hedge Witches, Elementalists, and many others. Though there are witches who are actually naturals, rather than Channelers.

The Channelers have quite a few distinct advantage over the Naturals. For one they hardly worry about a lack of Mana or ether, or Prana, etc. And that's because they take in magical energy from their surroundings, and channel it into their tools to cast spells, also they mature faster than naturals reaching great heights of power, and are most times stronger than Naturals of equal rank in a fight. And finally they're the most in tune with the spiritual aspects of magic, making them better Summoners, and the only type of magicians capable of using Hexes, Curses, Divinations, and Conjurations."

I landed in a clearing, and in front of me was the library, and at the moment quite a few dragons were going in and out of it, some of them even seemed lost in thought. I turned to Adamas still perched on my shoulder and asked him

"With all this advantages, aren't Channelers stronger than the naturals? They seem to be very good at a lot of things."

"On the contrary your majesty. Channelers have weaknesses of their own too. Without a proper mediation and Mana purification and assimilation technique, they can get poisoned by the large amounts of Mana that they draw into their bodies every day. This also makes them the most susceptible to magical illnesses, and energy poisoning. They have weaker physiques, and are almost never conversant with close combat abilities.

But for the Naturals, they're different. This brand of people are born with magic in their blood, their bones, even to the depths of their soul. And that's what you are, even before your Awakening, you were already a natural with the ability to use magic from inside you, rather than outside.

And to put it lightly, you are a freak of nature, with the sheer amount of energies you can manipulate and control, I'm surprised you never exploded, even as a vampire. Naturals, are usually born attuned to a certain aspect of nature, so most of the time their classes are chosen for them from birth. Most naturals are mages, born attuned to either one, or two, or more of the elements.

There are also sorcerers, sorceresses, Sages, Druids and many others. Their magic comes from within, past a place called the magic gate. It gives them direct access to the origin of their magical energy, and depended on how many gates they have open, their magical energy could also be endless. They're more connected to the physical aspects of nature, and apart from being mages, they're also Aquamancers, Geomancers, Pyromancers, etc. More often than not, they don't need incantations or tools to cast spells, but they can actually use it to amplify the abilities of their spells and skills, giving them an edge over the Channelers who can't use magic like them.

They're also quite good in the physical aspect of things, as the element of particular orientation of magic they've chosen usually makes them stronger, giving them innate physiques and talents the Channelers can't compare with. Also they can to limited and varied results imitate and use the spirit spells the Channelers are famed for, heck there are some spirit spells specifically tailored for Naturals that are so powerful, the Channelers can't compare.

Both types of magic, keep the other In check, meaning there is a balance, just like nature. And than there are the schools. There's too many to count, as each school is based on a particular magical class, it's the discipline they choose in learning that truly defines what kind of magician they will be.

There are the Manifestation discipline, the Conceptualization Discipline, and the balance discipline. Based on their names alone, you should have an idea of what those disciplines entail. The Manifestation mostly has the naturals as it teaches spells that affects nature and the surroundings. From battle spells to building spells, and even summoning spells, all of them fall under the Manifestation discipline. The Conceptualization Discipline deals with the unseen, and the unreal, the aspects of magic that could not be seen or touched, only felt. Curses, Divinations, protection spells, and healing spells fall under this category. And while it's mainly populated by Channelers, there are also very skilled naturals in this discipline, just like they're skilled Channelers learning under the discipline of manifestation.

And finally the Balance discipline. They're a jack of all trades and master of none, more often than not people who choose this discipline end up choosing to just give up this path and specify with either one of the other two disciplines. Not everyone see's it through to the end, and of those that do, not all of them actually master it. Which is why I know you're going to choose it." Adamas said to me

I raised an eyebrow at the miniature soul dragon as I made my way into the library and asked. "what makes you think that?"

"Well for one, I know that the idea of being a jack of all trades sits well with you, and whether you've noticed it or not, you like taking on insurmountable tasks, and proving the world wrong when you meet the challenge and actually pass it. It's who you are, and with the very reckless nature of a dragon running rampant through your body, I'm very sure my guess is spot on." He said to me as he jumped from my shoulder and lander on my head, choosing to move me around, like he was steering a vehicle.

"So where do we start from Adamas?" I asked him, as I waved over Soren and Bobo, who had been reading something from one of the jade tablets, at the other end of the library.

"Well first you must raise your mental energy. A stronger mental energy and mind, means your mind can handle more spell models, think and calculate faster, and helps you withstand even more of nature's backlash than you can withstand now. Your mind has to get stronger."

"Okay, so how do we do that?" I asked him again.

"Come with me." And then he jumped off my head, flying towards the northern side of the library, where a staircase seemed to lead to the next floor, a floor which to be honest I've not seen yet.

The library looked like a single huge domed building, with no extra floors whatsoever, but it had staircases all around that stretched up and just suddenly came to an end. I followed behind, climbing the staircase with Soren and Bobo also joining us.

When I got to the end of the staircase, I wasn't seeing nothing, instead I was looking at an entirely new library, and the staircase seemed to continue upwards, coming to another abrupt end. I was confused, but this was magic, so that explains much.

"The library is a hundred times bigger than it seems, with floors reach all the way to the clouds itself. There are so many knowledge and words of wisdom within it, many of them lost, and many of them yet to be discovered. Anything you would like to know, from something as mundane as a brochure for a spa, to as intricate as the spell circle required for the reanimation of a recently dead person, calling the soul back and bonding it to it's vessel once again, you can find it here. Thought to be honest you would have to search for a while, you need to get a librarian. Or ten thousand of them anyway."

With that said, he led me to northeast corner of this new floor, midway there, Soren and Bobo seemed to be fascinated by something, so they turned their attention somewhere else. I followed Adamas until we were standing in front of a tall bookshelf, and after flying upwards for almost fifteen meters, he came back down, with a polished marble tablet that glowed gold.He deposited in my hands, and then took a step back, leaving me to read what's written on it.

[THE CODEX OF DRACONIC MIND EXCERCISES.]

"Seriously, you guys couldn't come up with a better name than this, you should have made it cooler sounding at least."

I complained as the golden tablet suddenly turned into a very thin looking book. I opened the book, hoping to just flip through it, but the pages kept on turning without end, and as they turned they cause a sort of optical illusion that made my eyes and head hurt. I closed the book with a bang, and then turned to Adamas.

"I would actually reprimand you for saying such things, but based on the heavy amount of pain you're about to go through, I'll say your punishment is well deserved. There's a private study room at the back of this floor, you can use it for your practice. Also Your Majesty, don't fight it, embrace it." And with that he just flapped his wings and disappeared in a shower of blue lights. But he left me with a question.

"Don't fight what?"