Aric stayed at the library the whole day, only going home for lunch, and left the library in the evening as he couldn’t stay until 8 pm anyway. After coming out, he went to a vacant alleyway and teleported.
He was able to get a general picture of the world after spending so much time in the library. The magical world was basically a place which had landmasses and continents just like Earth. Like Earth, there were confirmed two continents attached to each other. The continent he was currently in was named Azurea, and the other was named Faerunia.
Their continent was again divided into 5 different portions: the North, the South, the East, the West, and the Central. Each portion had multiple empires. Though it wasn’t implied, the general belief and fact were that the Central continent was better than the others.
Very little was written about the continent of Faerunia, but it had a large number of islands and the human population was 55% on the continent while the rest was ruled by magical beasts, elves, dwarves, and other species which the book didn’t provide any information about. Aric was surprised that there were elves here too.
"Why am I surprised? Maybe the interstellar library will have elves too. I need to look for them."
Now came the magic part. This was where it blew Aric’s mind. Magic was very fundamental in the society of both Azurea and Faerunia. In fact, while on his way here, he could see that magic had its roots. As he passed through the stable where the horses were kept, he saw a man close his eyes for a second before waving his hand, which led to the horses getting rid of the dirt on their bodies.
It was a slow process, but he was still amazed by what he saw. Until the age of 15, one could only go and learn the runic circles with which one could perform magic. For example, the one Aric saw at the stable was some form of cleaning magic. In order to do that, one needed to know the runic circle, and the magic would do the job.
In order to learn the runic circle, one could go and read books. Of course, not all runic circles would be available to the public, and some kept this knowledge hidden. One could also invent their own runic circle and sell them after proving that the runic circle was a working one.
So why was the age 15 a big watershed? It was because only at the age of 15 and onwards one could go far and beyond. Until the age of maturity, one couldn’t progress in his or her magical capacity. It was fixed from birth.
Only after the age of 15, one could go beyond, as at that age, one would be able to learn the different techniques in order to increase their capacity to hold magical particles in their body, or in this case, the magic particles that one would consume to further one’s progress and it was called mana. Of course the capacity of mana wouldn’t determine their level, it differed from person to person.
Each level started level had a name for itself. The first level/realm being the Acolyte, followed by Neophyte, Adept and so on and so forth. The techniques were being taught at different school, with each school having their own techniques and methods of advancing in their realm. The schools would come each year to test children who would want to further their career with magic because magic stood supreme in this world.
It was not wrong to say that "Magic is might".
Another reason why the schools would come to recruit was because after the age 15, one would be able to learn elemental magic. There were different kinds of elements magic. Fire, water, earth, air, light, lightning, ice and even darkness. After the age of 15 one would be able to test the affinity of person and also the degree of talent one had.
Basically, the age of 15 was an watershed by a major degree. Not only one person would be able to move forward in his/her magic career but also determine the talent and the affinity with elements. Aric was two years short of 15, so there was still time but the more he read about the schools and the different forms of magic, the more he was determined to join one school after 2 years.
Aric had used the lens to take clear pictures of the pages he had flipped and later read as much as he could at night. It took him two days to read the array of necessary books from the library.
It might seem unbelievable but the books in the library weren’t too many. There were very few pages in each book and thus it didn’t take him much time to finish. Aric was mesmerized as he read the books and got a more clear picture of the world around him.
At the moment he was in the North Continent of Azurea, under the Oakwood Empire. The Empire wasn’t some powerful empire and it had borders with Riverlands Empire and Sunlit Shores Empire. Though magic was a part of parcel of the lives of people around and they used it, actually very few of men could enter a school and learn proper magic.
From what Aric understood, out of 10 only 2 or 3 would ever be able to enter a school and learn. Progressing in realms was also another tough part for a mage and thus even after entering a school some couldn’t even become an Acolyte, forget about the other high realms.
The schools held huge power in the empire but they would mostly refrain from entering the politics. This was what the books had written but Aric was pretty sure that schools would have their hands in the court of an Empire.
If it was not for power, then it was definitely for the resources.