Huh… why do some skills have letters at the end and some have numbers? Axel thought.

“Tsk, stop wasting our time and get on with it”, yelled Neveen.

Axel looked at him uninterested in whatever he wanted. “What are you waiting for”, Axel responded.

“What are your skills, you fool?”, said Neveen.

Axel turned to Dia. “Am I required to state my skills?”, he asked.

“No you're not required to, but… it was done by the other members of your family who went through the process”, replied Dia.

“I see…”, Axel smirked. “Well I won’t be revealing anything to those I know wish me no good. Neveen your job is over, get out and you will have no reason to return. Lady Dia thank you for coming today”.

She nodded to Axel and gave her salute to Odeus and the other family members. Dia then began walking towards the door and Axel was about to walk back to his father’s side. However, before either of them got to where they wanted to, Neveen’s anger got the best of him.

“You wretch!”, yelled Neven, creating a scene. Everyone stopped and looked at what was happening. “Your constant defiance of the main family won't be tolerated any further. You are an adult now, don’t think that actions can’t be taken against you. If you won’t state your skills I’ll just look at them myself. [Appraisal]”.

Neveen used his skill on Axel but what happened next surprised everyone. Axel sensed the malicious intent from Neveen and his [Inspector] skill activated itself. Sparks started flying between them and converged on Neveen stunning him, he fell to his knees. The appraisal skill is supposed to be a skill that can be done covertly. No one was expecting such a reaction.

“Insolence”, said Axel as he looked down on Neveen.

“Y-you dare attack an envoy of the grand duke”, said Neveen as he tries to catch his breath.

“Your perspective is skewed, you distasteful old man. It is you, a commoner working under a noble who has attacked me… an actual noble”, said Axel.

Neveen came to his senses and realized what he had done. He looked beyond Axel’s cold condescending gaze back at Odeus who stood behind him. Odeus was livid, his veins could be seen bulging from his forehead. Neveen’s gaze snapped back to Axel who was smirking.

“When you were leaving I was going to say something clever like ‘Let's not meet again too soon and trust me when I say that you won’t like me when we meet again’, however…”. Axel chuckled. “You didn’t give me a chance to… and I won’t be seeing you again”.

Neveen gasps, suddenly a shadowy figure came from behind Axel and Neveen’s head went flying. Only then did everyone notice that Odeus was now on the opposite side of the room. 

One bastard off my list, Axel thought. He looked towards Neveen's guards.

“Are you going peacefully or…”, said Axel.

“W-W-We’re going, we’ll leave”, they said frantically.

“I’ll report the events as they transpired today. Neveen had what was coming to him, so this should be the end of this”, said Dia as she left.

The guards and the other high magician left quickly right behind her.

Axel made a beeline back to his room where he knew a special book was waiting for him. It was a book that contained the basic principles of casting magic. Books like those weren’t stored in the library to prevent children of the family from discovering them. Wendi had promised to keep it in his room so he could read it right after the ceremony.

Before Axel could reach his room door he felt a large hand slam on his shoulder, it locked him in place. Axel looked up behind him. It was Odeus and he looked annoyed.

“And where do you think you’re going?”, said Odeus with an Ominous expression.

“I’m tired father, I must rest…”, said Axel trying to convince Odeus.

“Do you think I don’t know about the book Wendi left for you”, said Odeus.

“Hehehe”, Axel laughed nervously.

Odeus sighs. “Read your little book, you’ll find that IF you have the aptitude for it, basic magic is easy to learn but being able to use magic doesn’t make you powerful. Come to my office in 2 hours, I have something to give to you”, said Odeus as he left.

As soon as Odeus was out of sight, Axel ran to his room. He saw the book on his bed, he grabbed it and began reading immediately. The book explained the basics of how magic worked and a little about how to use it.

Magic in this world is categorized under 6 Major schools. Destruction, Fortification, Illusion, Conjuration, Restoration and Mysticism/Void. But before any magic can be cast, one must assess which natural elements they are compatible with. The elements are Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Shadow and Light. Usually, a person is compatible with at least 2 and at most 4 elements; then they have a high affinity with at least 1 of them. This Axel had already learned from his lessons with Aerrax.

What he didn’t know was that before anyone can learn a spell from the elements they must know the most basic spell of that element. Then from there, they can add different properties to the basic spell to create more advanced spells. If the higher spell they come up with already exists, the system will automatically name the spell. 

Chanting is only necessary for new magicians who are just learning spells. The chants are created by the magician. If chanting is being used the ignition word is normally included. When a magician becomes proficient with an element they can choose to omit the chant and ignition word, they may use the skill name if they chose to but it too will be unnecessary; the ignition word is the same for everyone. It is from an ancient language passed down over generations.

“Ooh, I get it. The book even lists the ignition words, great!”, said Axel as he continued reading. The key to chanting is visualization, the words only matter because they create an image in the user's head. Here is a simple chant, if you are compatible with the water element this chant may work for you.

“Finally, umm, let me not get too excited. Hehehe”. Axel crawled across his bed and opened his window. He placed his hand outside and recited the chant. “Aquos, the power that nourishes life, gather before me. Create a stream of water that splashes away my foes.[Aqua Shot]. 

A small ball of water fell from Axel’s hands.

At the start of the chant, Axel could feel something welling up inside him. By the time he yelled the name of the skill he felt the power released from his body, it made him just a little bit weaker than he was before.

“This is magic!?”, yelled Axel, “It feels awesome!!”.