"In the land of nothing, there lived Nihil, the god of nothing. Since he possessed nothing, he brought his friend, Goddess Mana, with him and urged her to create something so that the land of nothing becomes the land of something.
The Goddess hummed 14 Divine Principles. They intermingled to form the air we breathe, the water we drink, the fire we kindle, and the earth we live upon; the forest and the trees, the flowers and the shrubs, the animals and the beasts, the humans, and all the races in existence.
That's what we will learn, the Principles of magic, without which, we cannot perform it."
"Will we be able to create anything like the Goddess if we master all of them?" Lyle asked.
"Well, not quite. Actually, we know only three of them. We will learn the first one today." Barbara said and enthusiastically continued,
"To the magic we know, there are only three essential things. When we dig deeper, we find only two things. But if we dig even deeper, there is just one essential thing."
"How deep do we have to dig?" Lyle asked quizzically.
"That... you will understand later," she said with a wry smile.
"When I'm big enough?" Lyle said in a mocking tone.
"Uh, yeah..." Barbara deeply cleared her throat and continued, "So, only one thing enables us to use magic, without which one cannot perform it. Can you guess what it is?" Barbara swept her gaze over the students present: Lyle, Daisy, Goru, Luth, and Derek. Because of the calamity, Luth and Derek were a year late for the basic training everyone receives, whether they want to become a mage or not.
"Mana?" Daisy said.
"It could be. Mana enables magic, but alone, it cannot let you perform magic. It needs something, something stimulating, to transform its nature."
"Humming?" Lyle asked with a poker face.
"Uh… Correct." She cleared her throat again, knowing that she fucked up the question. She wanted to lead the answer to 'the chord'. "Ahem, let me rephrase my question."
"Okay, you rephrase your question till we return after playing." Lyle stood up and urged Goru and Daisy to do the same.
"Tsk. No one's going anywhere. Sit down, Lyle," Barbara sternly ordered.
He grumbled and sat down. "But it's so boring! Teach us magic already."
"Do you think performing magic is that easy? First, show me that you can access your chord, then we will talk about magic."
"If it's that hard, then what's the point in wasting time here? There are far more important things for me to do, like searching for the 'juice'." Lyle stood up once again.
"Alright, alright, I will teach you magic right away?" Barbara raised her hands in panic. "There are five principle hums to conjure five states of mana: Aum, A'm, I'm, U'm, and R'm, and they conjure Current, Consolidate, Crystallize, Condense, or Combust state of mana, respectively. These five are crucial to perform a magical technique."
"Current corresponds to Kinesis. Consolidate, as the name suggests, hardens the mana. Likewise, Crystallize, Condense, and Combust do what their name suggest and change the properties of mana."
Barbara explained it in such easy words that everyone flatly stared at her. Obviously, it all went over their head, so Barbara cleared her throat and said, "These are the 5 Principle Cs of magic. If you don't understand them, just ignore that for now and pick an element you like." They did not need to explain the elements as they had witnessed them working in real-time with their own eyes.
"You can pick only one element that resonates with you and is easier for you to master."
"Why only one?" Goru asked.
"Because when one resonates, others won't. So, pick wisely. Today's class is dismissed. Come with your choice tomorrow."
"But which is the strongest element?" Lyle and Luth both asked simultaneously and then flashed a sharp stare at each other.
"There's no such thing as one element being stronger than the other. When trained and mastered, all elements are equal. Similarly, in a fool's hand, any element is weak in performance. If you train smart and wise, the one you train can become the strongest!"
With that, the class was dismissed.
…
"Mom, which element should I pick up?"
"Element? Real men pick up swords, not elements, and slash any magic to oblivion. Whahaha!" Val boisterously laughed.
Lyle gave her a flat stare. "Uh, I mean, Which one should I choose to master?"
"I don't care which element you choose, you are not escaping your sword training." She shot him a stern gaze, folding her arms.
Lyle flinched and wormed away from her presence. Off he went to his aunt Barbara, since these Spirit trainers weren't going to help him.
Along the way, he remembered his aunt Malinda's advice about the Dark element being the strongest. His eyes lit up, and he strode towards his destination with great enthusiasm.
Slamming the door open, he announced, "Aunt, I have chosen my element! Tell me quick, what's next?"
"Huh?" Barbara stared at him, stupefied. She was sure what element he had picked. She realized that she missed teaching one thing yet again. One of the most important things about elements.
"Lyle, you cannot choose either the light or the dark element. They choose you, not the other way around." And she poured cold water over his soaring excitement.
"What the hell?" He jumped a step back and shot her an ugly expression. Even chewing a bug would be better than this revelation.
"Why?" He asked in defeat.
"Because, you cannot stimulate the chord to its tone unless your chord does it by itself."
Lyle was speechless for a few moments before he opened his mouth. "Okay… then how do I make the dark element choose me?"
Barbara sighed. "As I said, you don't have to do anything or go anywhere for it. The element will come to you, and you will find your chord resonating with a unique hum."
Dejected, he asked what was left after this. "Then which one should I choose?"
"Why don't you visit our village's mages and gather their opinions?"