Becoming a Wizard

Every human has magical potential. Almost no one knows how to use it. The origin of this power remains hidden, and learning to wield it properly takes years.

A wizard learns a system. Movement and words are only aids; visualization is the spell's core. The caster must hold an exact image—a key, its bit and bow—then draw it from the mind and manifest it. Many fail only here. The art resembles mathematics: some grasp it intuitively, while others follow a method that guarantees a result when every step is respected. Cerberans prefer refining spells for flight, healing, or battle to studying numbers, leaving that ground to the dwarves.

Classes. Magical power ranges from seventh class (novice) to first class (master). A fourth-class wizard is an intermediate apprentice. The title mage begins at third class; “wizard” applies to everyone. Archmage is reserved for a first-class wizard who leads a great magical family. Lucius Stoneheart bears the title.

The Cerberus Academy. For generations, Cerberus relied on descendants of the great families to produce mages, limiting the nation. The State recently founded a school open to everyone. Entry requires an invitation, and few commoners who receive one pass the following aptitude test. A baker's son may sit beside heirs of the houses and feel the difference every day. Each student chooses a teacher and joins a class.

The curriculum lasts four years. During the third comes the Tournament of Discovery on Pharan Island, where every dueling technique is permitted and lives are at risk. It attracts mainly mages from minor families with nothing to lose and everything to prove. The winner receives a stipend, the Cerberus Red Mage Robe, and entry directly into the fourth year—a privilege almost no lowborn mage has earned.

Self-enchantment. Regular exposure to mana eventually gives the body natural resistance not only to magic: a blade that should cut an experienced wizard's skin can slide across it without a mark. This is not a spell, but a consequence.

Innate power. Some are born with an ability that is neither learned nor cast, such as invisibility or transformation. It requires discovery, then mastery, rather than study.

The desperate curse. A completely untrained person driven to an extreme can sometimes cast a curse. It is a high-level spell, and it endures. Only a powerful Abjurer can undo it.