I awoke once again in a familiar bed, staring at a familiar ceiling.
De ja vu two, electric boogaloo.
"Cecily he's awake!" a fluttering green fairy announced my awakening; the audacity.
"No, I'm not." I promptly shut my eyes again, "I died for real this time, leave me alone."
My attempts for peace of mind were expectedly thwarted by a gentle hand tapping my cheek.
"Medicine. Consume."
"Tell Madame Velhiem to prepare my gravestone, I've not long for this world." I crossed my arms into a mummy-like posture.
"You shall have to help me pick a color then." I snapped my eyes open to catch a glimpse of the Madame sitting by the doorway, was she here the whole time?
"I was not dear Lucas, just fortunate enough to pay a visit at a most opportune moment." she commented nonchalantly as she flipped a page in the book she was reading.
"I didn't realize mind reading was one of your abilities." I sat up a little better to get a better look.
It must have been a special day because the Madame was in the fanciest outfit I've seen her in yet. She was in one of those fancy gowns you'd see in an old-fashioned fairy tale book and wore a black and gold witch's hat adorned with elaborate lacework.
"Deciphering your thoughts is no great feat, unlike what you've accomplished during your awakening." she rose and faced me, putting away a book she was reading, "I say these next words once with magic and thenceforth with pride, so listen carefully."
She picked up a wooden staff she had laid beside her, and the gem embedded within it started shining. With a tap against the ground a dull ringing noise sounded in my ears. I could see magical carvings that I never knew existed in every corner of the room and they slowly lit up in an amber glow. Particles of a deep yellow streamed out from these carvings and culminated in front of me before coming together and forming the shape of a wand.
The light faded away and on my lap was a plain brown wand.
"You've done well Lucas." she closed her book with a soft thump.
I had no words, for I was still caught up in the moment.
As she turned to leave, she gave me a reminder, "Cecily will elucidate your upcoming schedule. As of now, you would do well to adjust to your, shall we say, avant-garde mana circuits."
"Ah yes," my brain finally decided to start working again, "thank you so much Madame Velhiem."
She turned an eye towards me and curled her lips ever so slightly, "You should wipe that foolish grin off your face, you look quite naive for an apprentice mage."
The door shut on its own and I could hear the faint clicking of heels as she walked away.
"Congratulations Lucas! You can use magic now! Well, I mean, you could use it before as well but not exactly safely or effectively which is why I'm congratulating you now so-" Emmy started rambling in praise and she flew in figure eights in front of my face.
"Good Work. Lucas." two arms held a tray to my face containing some familiar, but unpleasant medicine, "Medicine. Consume."
"Thanks, you two." I grasped the wand with my left hand, it could easily be mistaken as a nice-looking stick, but it felt sturdy and powerful.
Or maybe I was just under the placebo effect.
[Twig of the Soul Tree/ Excellent magic conductivity]
Woah woah woah, wasn't the soul tree something crazy important? Did she just hand me a fabled relic or something?
Small sparks started flying from the tip of the wand as if to ascertain my assumptions.
"Guys, I think I want to be a Worldweaver."
Mages are generally ranked on what school they belong to and the rank and element of spells they can cast in succession. To be a mage of a certain rank you must be able to cast five spells of that rank or one spell of the rank immediately above it and also pass a knowledge test based on the rank (I believe higher ranks also have combat tests as well). For example, if you were to claim you were a Lord Class Evocation Fire Mage, you would have to be able to cast at least five lord class fire evocation spells in a row or one royal class fire evocation spell.
Of course, most people don't say their full classification because it's a mouthful.
There also exists other titles like the apprentice mage given to those yet to be tested, or the court wizard given to those who have passed all the royal rank knowledge tests and are serving under the royal court of a kingdom.
A Worldweaver is the most prestigious title a magic caster can have, and its requirements speak for themselves: approved by the council in Darinstone Academy, Argon Institute, the Imperial Mage University and another reputable magic institute; approved by at least ten nations, at least half of which must be 'of large influence'; be a Deity ranked mage in at least four classes and two elements while also passing all the Saint ranked knowledge tests; participate in at least four wars of medium scale or higher or one great war during which you must save at least two nations; and optional, but recommended, suppress a Calamity.
Yeah, absolutely insane, isn't it?
The list was modelled after the original Worldweaver in the party of the Divine Hero that saved the world from the Apocalypse a really long time ago.
And this is just the list of requirements from the humans, to be recognized by the other races is even worse. I took a glimpse at the list from the fairy race, and I think I saw 'be at least two centuries old' and 'died at least three times'.
I'm sorry you what?
There has been just a single other Worldweaver in history from what I've learned: the one who founded the current Scarlet Empire, the leading human world power. And he's only recognized by the humans and the dwarves.
"Wow, a Worldweaver?" the fairy started flying around my head, "That's going to be hard you know? The current fairy queen hates humans."
"Medicine. Consume."
Yeah, the more I think about it the more unrealistic it sounds.
"Yeah, it's probably impossible, but it's good to have a goal, no?"
"Yes! Go Lucas go!" Emmy cheered.
"Medicine. Consume."
"By the way," Emmy stopped and tilted her head, "I'm surprised you aren't freaking out over your right arm."
"What about it?" I asked, as I raised my arm... or at least tried to until I realized I couldn't move it, "What the?"
I tore off the covers with my left arm to find my entire right side wrapped in a translucent purple substance. A bed of flowers had bloomed on top of it in colors of yellow and blue.
What really scared me was that I couldn't feel my right side at all, it wasn't even that it was numb or anything, I literally could not even notice it was gone; it felt like the right side of my body didn't even belong to me and had just attached itself like a foreign entity.
"Uh Emmy, am I going to die?"
"Hahahaha," she jingled in the air, "No silly, you created some really strange magic circuit that nearly blew up your arm so we had to put it under stasis until you can learn how to control it."
"What do you mean strange magic circuit? You guys didn't even give me instructions, how am I supposed to know it was strange?" I yelled.
"Listen I don't know the specifics about your weird mana channel but the reason no one told you anything about awakenings was because the formation of your initial magic circuits depends on intuition." she crossed her arms and continued, "Since everyone is different, the most optimal way to form your initial mana channels is tied to how you feel deep inside your core. If we told you what to do or the details behind it, the knowledge would taint that instinctual urge and you wouldn't feel it as strongly. Of course, people still direct others on how to form their mana since a wrong move can cripple your future prospects as a mage, but I guess the Madame felt you were talented enough to forgo it."
"I'm sorry you had me at 'cripple my future prospects as a mage'." I commented in disbelief, "you mean if I got that wrong, I wouldn't be able to use magic? Is that what happened to my right arm?"
"No no, actually your right arm can use lightning magic too well its almost frightening." She flew over to it to inspect it, "What did you do to it?"
"What felt right like you told me." I replied.
"Oh, I'm glad it was helpful." she gave me a cheerful smile.
"Don't change the subject, my future as a mage was in jeopardy moments ago."
"I-I'm sorry, but I only did what I was told." she shrunk at my accusation, and a tinge of guilt hit me.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to blame you. I just got a little heated there for a second my bad." I apologized and bowed my head.
"Ah, no no, I don't know that much so I might be getting things wrong, you should talk to Madame Velhiem or Cecily if you want the right story. I'm sorry for worrying you." she bowed in apology.
"No, please, you don't need to apol-"
A tug on my sleeve interrupted my sentence.
"Medicine. Consume."