The orb of pure mana was floating about, giving off its radiance throughout the room. But at the center of that light blue ball was a core so deeply darkened one would think it's a tear through the world and an entrance to the void. Is this normal? The book hasn't mentioned anything about the cores of the mana orbs, only that by touching it we would understand what our affinity is. I go reach for it again but it dissipated, my tiny fingers going straight through it like it was merely an illusion. The glow in the room darkened until it was back to the same window-lit room.

I'd love to continue to experiment with this new found power, but I still have a little more to read on. Turning my attention to the open textbook, I reach for the next page and flip it, revealing images to the prior mentioned points made. There were even little foot notes sprawled about, but nothing mentioned the color of the cores. Whatever, it might not be anything of importance anyways. But what did grab my attention was a small note, only further confusing me with my current predicament.

"...A child normally starts off with 1 to 2 tallies, however there are very rare cases where it exceeds to 3. These children are typically more sought out as their affiliation to the abundant mana around is much higher than others, and also because these children are much stronger as well as they can wield more MA."

I have 3 tallies which means I am in the minority. Hopefully this lands me some sweet opportunities with whatever comes in my way.

I flip the page and am greeted with another set of images, but this time there are mostly words inscribed. Mana Art Classes is whats written on the top of the left page, and what I assume follow suit are all the different types of people who wield it differently?

"...There are 3 classes when it comes to utilizing Mana Arts; Spellbound, Summoner, and Striker. Each have their own properties and was of utilizing MA and are unique in their own way. Spellbound are users who can cast spells that do not enhance themselves. Ice mages are a good example as most ice MA are spells cast from longer ranges. They use the Mana inside of them to cast these spells, which can greatly limit those who have low Mana Pools. Next are Summoners, users who use their own and the surrounding Mana to summon espers to aid them in battle. While they can still perform spells and enhance themselves, they are far less effective as their natural body is not suitable for most enhancements nor spells. They can still be enhanced via other users however, allowing their focus to remain completely on creating and utilizing their espers. These espers can come in all kinds of forms, it is all up to the users mental link to their mana pools. Finally are Strikers, users who can enhance themselves with MA to boost their abilities in combat. They use mana from the surrounding area to enhance themselves, while using mana from their own mana pools to perform MA. While they don't have the same capabilities as a Spellbound, Strikers are still able to cast spells but at the cost of fatigue. Not every striker has the ability to cast spells either, it all depends on what affinity they have and how strong that connection is."

"...There are a few ways to figure out what class you are in, but the easiest method is simply by trying to use Mana. For the Spellbound test, simply try and shoot out mana from your mana pool. For the Summoner test, use your imagination and try to reconstruct it onto the living world. For the Striker test, try to insert mana into your body to see if you get a scolding reaction. If you do, you are most likely a striker. The most surefire way to find out your class is to summon your mana orb and release your mana into it and watch to see if the shape changes- cube for summoners, diamond for spellbound and triangular prism for strikers- although this will use up all of your mana so be cautious."

Curious to figure out my own. I got up again and stretched my hands out infront of me. Focusing with all my intent, I do the same thing I did before, opening my eyes to the comforting blue hue of the room. The mana orb looked exactly the same. Actually, I might want to to this later but I'm too lazy to finish reading. The attention span of a toddler shouldn't last this long, but my curiosity is killing me. On second thought, let me do a quick scan to find anything about the color of the markings on my back.

Sitting back down, I flip through the book as fast as I humanely can with these toddler hands. There is a lot in here, but after a certain point I would only be met with blank pages, which I assume is because of my insignia level. Nothing in this book about the colors from what I can see, must be in the other one.

I reach for the 3rd book and go to open it, but it would not budge. Either this thing is glued shut or once again it's because of my insignia. I should come back to this at a later date.

I get up and turn my attention to the fluorescent orb. I stretch out my hands once more, reaching for the orb, but this time I made contact with it. The ice-cold feeling was painful, but I pushed against it harder and began to pour out my mana. It was almost like instinct, tensing up whatever muscles I had and feeling that burning sensation from where my insignia was located. Before my very eyes I saw the shape of the orb changing, pulsating at first but then as every second passed it stretched out and transformed into a different shape. 

Trying not to lose consciousness too quickly, I step back and fall over from my legs being tired out. The sound of footsteps were also getting louder and closer, signaling my mother was coming back to take me away. The painful sensations started to escape my body, so I try looking back up at the rapidly fading hue one last time before I lost my consciousness. 

A pyramid-like prism hung in the air for around 2 seconds before completely fading away, revealing to me that I am a striker.