"Mana Signatures? Passed when? Meewa? I have so many questions right now." Seven pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes. His questions begged answers that would bring with them more questions.
"Patience, young one. I will teach you all you must know with time. Now, let's begin with the first signature, elemental. An Elven Covenant, or Meewan Grove, holds an infinite amount of Elemental Mana. Are you following so far?" Theloseus conjured several saplings from the ground, twisting and forming a chair that he sat upon and began his lecture.
"I mean this with respect, but not fully, no." Seven replied honestly.
"Okay then, moving on. Elemental Mana can be broken down into seven Sub-Signatures. For elves, their main signature is Elemental, but you will notice that they all use specific elements more than they use others. For instance, Elvidia has a three-fold signature. Wind, Earth and Light.-"
"Ah fuck!! Why is it always seven?" Seven interrupted Theloseus' lecture with a yell of frustration.
"Seven is a perfect number. A prime number, holy and perfect. Look upon yourself, the perfect incarnation of Mana. You harbor the number 'Seven', as you are even named after it. Now, interrupt me again, and I'll beat the ever-loving shit out of you. Are we understood?" Theloseus continued with his mentor-like tone throughout the speech, but the last bit ended with a look of displeasure, rage glinting slightly behind his emerald eyes.
"Uh, y-yes." Seven sat on the ground, his jaw clenched slightly and his mouth sealed.
"Mm. Anyway, the three-fold signature of Elvidia's is quite impressive. Not rare, but the mixture is. Folds are what we term a multiple signature being. For instance, I am a 6-fold elemental. I can not use Darkness. But everything else in the Elemental category is easily usable for me." Theloseus demonstrated his abilities by growing a fire pit from tree roots, earth, and lighting it with a flame. All with a minor flick of his hand.
"But I'm not confined to one signature. As it happens I have three main signatures, a tri-fold Mana User. Mana User refers to those who have two or more Signatures in the Main Seven." Theloseus deepened the lore behind Mana.
"That's … a lot of information to digest, but I think I understand. The more types of Mana Signatures one holds, the more unique or powerful the user, righ-" Theloseus jumped up from his seat and brought his fist down on top of Seven's head. Seven's spine bent with his head from momentum and force, the angle was beyond his flexibility and his head bounced off of the ground with a dull thud.
"OW WHAT THE FUCK?!!" Seven shouted and held his head, where it throbbed hotly under his hands.
"You interrupted. But to answer your question, yesn't." Theloseus sat down elegantly and returned to his lesson. Seven rubbed the freshly forming lump on his head.
"I will only go into the Elemental Signature in this lecture. The seven Sub-Signatures are as follows;
Fire Mana: Born from the heat within.
Water Mana: Born from all that is, and ever will be.
Earth Mana: we are born from it. It is also the only Sub-Signature that all beings have in the Elemental Signature.
Wind Mana: Inhaled and Exhaled, it gives life to all.
Lightning Mana: When the four elements collide, a flash and echo leaves its trace.
Light Mana: With it, all things see.
Darkness Mana: Without light, this is all that is seen." Theloseus showed each element individually, the lightning one causing a lingering blotch in Seven's vision with a persistent ring in his ears. The only element not shown was darkness, the only one Theloseus was unable to use .
"Now, you are free to speak." Theloseus ended his lesson and looked upon Seven with patience and eagerness for Seven's curiosity to be brought to his attention.
"Well… I'm still confused as to what you meant by 'yesn't'." Seven replied, his eyes slightly squinted as he fought a migraine setting in with the throbbing of his head.
"Good question, let's begin with the yes portion. Yes it does make your mana unique with more signatures. The more you can use, the more versatile its applications. You can combine the signatures or use them individually. Each combo is different, and has its own trace. As for the no portion, it does not necessarily mean more power. There is a proficiency grade within each Sub Signature. Rated F as lowest to S as highest. Do you have any questions about that?" Theloseus gave a detailed explanation, arising many more questions within Seven's eager mind.
"Combine? Grades? This sounds like arithmetic and high school." Seven sighed, one lecture on one signature was already overwhelming.
"Good, let's focus on combining. First, let's get you grounded with earth mana. Close your eyes and empty your mind. Feel the earth under you, not just physically, feel it in your heart. Everyone feels it differently, the feeling also coincides with grade. Tell me when you feel something and what it is you feel." Theloseus began instructing alongside the lecture.
Seven did as he was told, trusting the process while also fearing the consequence of not. His confusion continued as all he felt was the slightly cold, leaf strewn, mossy ground beneath him. He emptied his mind, focusing only on what laid under him. The scent of fresh soil, cedar and pine. Earthy aromas of moss and damp decaying leaves. The sounds of insects chirping, birds singing, the rustle of foliage as unseen critters scrambled away. A distant roar of a predator that caught its prey, and the prey's cry of finality as its life was extinguished.
Within all of it, was life and death. What dies gives life to another. A cycle both cruel and beautiful, but natural all the same.
"Boundless." Seven muttered, not of his own accord, just instinctively. Theloseus stared for a moment, a proud look on his face hiding a hint of fear layers beneath.
"That's the most profound feeling hidden so simply. Seven, your affinity with the earth is just as boundless as it is." Theloseus praised Seven, though the undertone spoke like a warning.
"I'm not quite sure what I understand anymore. But, I do feel something different…" Seven trailed off, noticing the look on Theloseus' face. His eyes flickered with awe and horror. They stared intensely at everything around Seven. Where Seven sat, the grass grew brighter, greener, full of life.
All around him, every leaf, tree, blade of grass seemed to bow to Seven. As if Earthen Mana itself submitted to the bewildered boy. The noises within the forest went silent, filling the forest with a sense of eerie calm. As if all life within it surrendered to the potential of the one who holds the crown. Theloseus looked sarcastically horrified and in awe of the scene, as if he expected exactly this.
"It's impressive to see nature itself react this strongly, but as I said. Your affinity is as Boundless as the Earth is. That's the realm beyond grades. It's the Extra, the Core of the Earth Mana. This is something only you can demonstrate. I am an Earth Spirit born from Meewa's life giving breath. The day we first met, I felt the potential within you, and my purpose was revealed– well, mainly to keep you from doing anything stupid like build an ego–!" Theloseus smacked Seven who had an arrogant grin as he primed a stupid remark to interrupt with.
"MOTHER FU– Mm, nope. My bad." Seven quieted down and humbled himself.
"Now, I can teach you how to use Earth Mana. Don't expect success, as you may be an internal enhancement user rather than an external Immiter user. Yes, I know I didn't teach that along with the other over detailed and complicated lesson. But! I believe in demonstrating the knowledge of the first lesson before jumping into lesson two!" Theloseus was now on his feet, raising up rocks from the ground and moving them into a circular structure.
"Enhancer or Emmiter?" Seven asked while rubbing the bottom of his jaw, where the smack had landed heavily.
"Yes. One who uses magic on their body or an object, is Enhancing. One who uses magic outside of themselves, is Immiting. I am an Immiter, but I can do basic Enhancement too. It's incredibly difficult to do, as it defies the natural structure of my signature. Now, feel your natural structure, 'Boundless', and manifest it however it feels right." Theloseus summoned a rock with colorful gems embedded within it to his hand from somewhere deep in the earth.
Seven focused on the feeling of boundlessness, the earth rumbled beneath him, the soil climbed around his body, forming a roiling earthen armor.
"Enhancer, that is very true to your character. This is the hardest of the two to master. Now there are pros and cons to both. Immiters claim that Enhancers have more cons than pros, but as one who does both, I can say it is in fact the opposite. Immiters and cast faster, with less precision but higher area of effect. So the power is dispersed in return for faster casting. Immiters make up ninety-three percent of Mana Users, I only mention this in case you ask." Theloseus began his lecture with demonstration. He lifted a ball of Earth and it spun in the air, forming multiple small needles that he launched into a tree, where they buried themselves an inch into the wood.
"On the other hand, is Enhancement. The power is not dispersed, it's concentrated, its ability depends on what the intent is. Destruction, defense, distraction or creation. Earth is a summoning Mana. When one conjures spirits, they use Earth as its medium and pour into it any type of mana. Immiters cannot summon a creation, only Enhancers can. It's their one form of outside capabilities. That's the creation and distractions aspect." Theloseus grabbed a stone, in his hand it melted into a molten puddle, which began to form a small figure. Soon, a small lava man was walking along Theloseus' palm.
"I– I think I understand? You chose Fire Mana as the power source while using Earth as the core. But there is one thing where I get confused. How come everyone who can use Mana, form furniture from the Earth if creation is an Enhancers trait?" Seven pointed out a flaw in the lecture.
"That is different from this. Yes, creation is only an Enhancer's ability, but that ties only to spirit manifestation. Giving life to that which has not. Conjuring a chair is pure Earth magic that all can use." Theloseus pointed between the golem and the chair as he explained each point.
"Hmm, but the chair is alive, yes? You grew it from the ground with multiple saplings. Then that would not be 'pure Earth magic', it's manipulation of life itself. That should transcend just basic Earth right?" Seven began connecting dots, logic tying into the illogical. His questions caught Theloseus off guard, he hadn't pondered the foundation of creating from plant life, he only took what was known as truth.
"I see now why Elvidia seemed so distraught. You have a very uncanny ability to make ones beliefs falter." Theloseus sat upon the chair, the question was too deep to ignore.