POV Change - Max

There are three races that are considered people. They are the Humans, Titans and lastly the Halflings.

Now all three of these races look pretty much the same anatomy wise, but their general appearance is vastly different. Humans are well human in appearance, not much to mention there.

Halflings look quite a lot like humans. The main difference is their height compared to humans. Unlike humans their average height is only at four feet, three inches, with the tallest halflings reaching a height of four feet, eleven inches.

Another difference is the skin. Which is usually on the paler side of things, no matter how much sun they get every day.

Though I have heard that they get sun burns easily. So I am glad I am not one.

Titans also look quite human. And the main difference is also the height. The average height of a titan is six feet five inches. I heard that the tallest titan is roughly seven feet.

The other differences of a titan compared to humans is the darker skin. They look like they have just stayed outside too long out in the sun for so many generations that the tanned skin has been passed down to their kids.

So there is one more difference that both the titans and the halflings have. And that is a elemental tattoo.

A elemental tattoo is something that every titan and halfling is born with. Usually the tattoos look like spirals with parallel lines that have a bunch of random characters written between the lines.

The most common spots for the elemental tattoos appear on is the arms, back and legs. In both cultures of the titans and the halflings, the larger the tattoo the stronger the titan or halfling.

I heard before that the current leader of the titans has a elemental tattoo across both of his arms and the upper part of his back. The back tattoo makes it so the tattoos on both of his arms connect together to form one massive line from one hand to the other.

He is a man that no matter how strong I become, I will not be able to beat. According to the stories about him.

These tattoos don't grant the person in question the ability to make their own elements around them or anything like that though. When someone has their tattoo on their arm for example when they use internal magic the effect that the mana has on the arm is increased.

So instead of doubling the strength of the muscles, it will triple the strength of the muscles. This is not the real values, but it gives a good enough example.

Then when someone uses external magic near their tattoo it lets them have easier control over the elements that are close to the tattoo.

So in the case of titans and using external magic. These elemental tattoos are the only things making them able to use external magic with any kind of control. All titans talents when it comes to external magic is complete garbage, taking years to get to a level comparable to a human's basic level in control over their external magic.

I think I heard of a fact once that halfling can only get the normal effect out of their internal magic if the part they are sending mana to is near a elemental tattoo.

If there isn't a tattoo near by the effect that internal magic has on their bodies is very small. A little below half of what is considered normal amount of strengthening when internal magic is used for a human.

There isn't any kind of natural boosting effect on titans though.

Currently the world is in a state of peace after the last massive war that included all of the races about one hundred and fifty years ago. Every race has a different name associated with it.

We humans call it The Great Mistake. The reason why is because humans should have never entered that war.

We were just not a match for the armies of titans and halflings. They were able to fight each other at full force and still took the time to destroy the human armies that tried to step into the battlefields.

With humans losing the war that we shouldn't have entered, the titans and halflings were allowed to take most of the lands that humans once owned. If the small amount of history lessons that we got were correct, we currently only have about a quarter of the land that we once had.

Any ways, where was I? Right! I was thinking about me being half-human and half-titan. I wonder how I got on the subject of the Great Mistake?

Well there are many people that blame the titans and halflings for everything that is currently wrong with the human kingdoms, which has lead to people like the jerks that destroyed our fort because of the racism that comes with that much hatred.

Oh, right! That was the reason why they destroyed our tree. It was because of me being a half-titan. How could I forget that? Who cares what those jerk faces think.

The majority of nobles and uneducated humans are the ones that have the most racism. Pretty much the rest of them just don't care as long as another war doesn't break out.

Can you guess what group those jerks faces are in? If you guess correctly, you just need to remember that they are in the same situation as me, so they are not nobles.

With the human population being only half the size of the halflings and titans populations, it is good that the majority of people in the bigger cities that have schools in them are not super racists like the people in this village. Which is making it so there won't be another war, hopefully.

With me being a orphan, you would think that I wouldn't know what I am, but you would be wrong. A big reason to why I know I am a titan is my talent that hasn't been seen in humans, is one that I have.

Another reason why is I have a elemental tattoo just like a titan. It is actually on both of my hands and both of them only reach a little past my wrists. Since I am a water mage, the tattoo is also blue in colour.

I am not sure if it is because of me not being a full titan, but I have never heard of titans or halflings having a elemental tattoo that is in two parts. The only elemental tattoos that I have heard of only ever appear on one arm, or leg unless we are talking about the titan leader, but he is a very rare case.

Either way I am glad for it so I can use external water magic near both of my hands instead of just one.

Back to thinking more about the elements and less about me!

So for external magic there is many things that can be done, so the advantages and disadvantages for each element can be mitigated quite a lot. It all depends on how a mage uses the elements around them to cast spells.

This is not really the case for internal magic though.

Each element when it comes to internal magic all have their advantages and disadvantages, with each one being better at one thing and not being so good for other things.

First off we have internal fire magic.

It is the best at increasing the amount of strength one can use with their muscles. While it is the element with the worst amount of defense boosting effects. To make it so it isn't the element that all internal magic users want, it has a crazy high mana usage rate.

The amount of mana needed to get the same amount of effects compared to the other elements is quite high. I am not really sure why this happens, but I am not a fire mage so I am not complaining.

Next on the list is internal earth magic.

This magic is pretty much the opposite of internal fire magic. With its greatest advantage being defense instead of offense.

In other words that means that the effect that this magic makes is the skin and bones are even harder to break compared to other types of magic that try and do the same thing. Which is why Emerald is able to just block most of our attacks without caring for injuries.

The only downsides that internal earth magic has are a very small increase of strength compared to other elements that use the same amount of mana to get those effects. Also the other downside is earth magic has the second highest mana usage rate.

So let's talk about internal air magic next. I will leave internal water magic last since I am a internal water mage. And I have a lot more to say about it then internal air magic.

Internal air magic is a lot like internal fire magic, the main difference is the advantages aren't as good, but the disadvantages are also not as bad. So there is also another big difference between the two elements, but I will get to that in just a bit.

Now like internal fire magic, internal air magic focuses more on offense then it does on defense. So like I just mentioned, the advantages of internal air magic are less then internal fire magic, making it so the increase in the amount of strength a mage gets from using internal air magic less then internal fire magic.

So with that being said, there is one more difference when it comes to the increase in strength. For some reason that no one has publicly figured out, when a air mage uses internal air magic, they are able to move around a lot faster.

And not just by the increase power of the muscles, they just get faster with their movements of everything. This makes it so internal air mages are quite hard to catch in a one v one fight.

Again like I said about the disadvantages of internal air magic being less than internal fire magic, the mana usage of internal air magic is a lot lower. It places third in the rankings of mana usage rates.

Last, and least we have internal water magic!

What can I even say about internal water magic? Well lots, but there is just too much that I want to say that it would take at least a week for me to finish my ranting about this magic.

So let's just try to simplify it down as much as I can.

I hate it! There I said it.

I don't like internal water magic compared to any other type of magic The reason is quite simple actually. Internal water magic has the worst advantages and disadvantages of all the elements.

I will talk about the advantages of internal water magic first so I can leave my angry rant to the end. There isn't much to say when it comes to the upsides of internal water magic, the only thing that I have been able to come up with is it has the lowest mana usage rate out of all the elements.

That's it. I wasn't able to come up with anything else after sixteen years.

Now onto the negative parts when it comes to internal water magic! Oh, how fun.

Taking a few deep breaths, I calm myself down somewhat so I won't show my anger on my face so Jason or Emerald won't question me on what I am thinking. So far it has been like only five minutes since we left the small pond.

None of us are talking still while we are all keeping a look out for a big tree or at the very least a clearing in the forest of a decent size. Anyways, I think I am calm enough now that I can rant in my head without them noticing what is going on with me.

So where to even start?!

Internal water magic does the same effects that the other elements do, just not as good. The ranking system for mana usage has already been laid out, so I won't think about it anymore. But the other ones I really haven't talked about yet.

This seems to be a good time to explain them. First is the strength increase of the elements for internal magic.

We got internal fire magic at the very top, internal air magic taking second place, water magic being third and last, but not least we got internal earth magic.

Next we got the ranking for the increase in durability of the skin and bones.

In first place is the obvious internal earth magic, next is water magic, and for third and fourth place is a tie with internal fire and air magic.

With this ranking system in place, the people unfamiliar with it might think that the ranks aren't that far from each other and with enough skill the ranks can be bypassed easily. Well this way of thinking is flawed.

At least somewhat.

Now this is where I start to hate internal water magic. The difference between fire and air magic in the increase in strength rankings is quite a lot, but it can be forgiven considering the speed increase that internal air mages get.

Like the old saying goes, speed equals strength. Once past a certain point obviously, but this saying still can't be over looked.

In the same ranking, we have internal water and earth next to each other. You would think that the difference would be quite a bit, but no. The difference is very small, making it so the difference in strength between a water and earth mage comes down to their base strength.

There is earth below everyone making it so external earth mages are more popular, so I don't really mind it too much. Plus I am a half-titan making it so my base strength is greater than the average human who hasn't had years and years of training.

Like most adventurers, but I won't be fighting them in this small village. There just isn't any reason for them to come near here.

Next we have the ranking for the defense increase of internal magic. Earth magic is the all time ruler of this ranking. And water being in second place is still a far shot from beating it.

Internal fire and air magic are still quite far from internal water magic, but it doesn't matter because of the special traits that fire and air magic both have.

The internal fire mages don't need the defense if they can just unleash a strong enough attack to end a fight right then and there. Sure this won't happen all the time, but it does happen during sneak attacks quite often.

Next is internal air magic. What is the point of having better defense if the person that you are fighting can't even hit you in the first place? No reason, so that makes the ranking of increased defense pointless for fire and air magic.

So with that part of my rant finished, you can see that internal water mages don't have any role to fill in a fight. The only role that they can fill is a quick replacement for a better member that goes down, or wasn't able to join the fight to begin with.

Sure, I can win against Emerald if she goes on the offensive because of the time limits that we set up for our spars because of her not putting much mana into increasing her defenses. But it still really hard for me to face Jason because of how I am always forced to defend against him and can't counter attack that often.

Onto the next thing now! BAM!!

I am currently sitting down on the ground after I walked into a tree and whacked my head hard enough that I actually fell down from it.

Luckily neither Jason, nor Emerald seen it since they are still walking in a new direction now. Wait, weren't we walking the way that I am facing now?

Why did they suddenly do a ninety degree turn for no reason?

Whatever it doesn't matter anyways. I will just follow them and see where they take me.

Rubbing my forehead still, I get up and jog slightly to catch up to both of them. After about another five minutes walking we finally end up seeing a good sized clearing, that isn't entirely empty.

It has two trees in the middle of the clearing.

So far it looks like this is going to be a good place based on just looking at it for just a few seconds. Rushing into the clearing I notice that the amount of mana in the air is quite dense for some reason.

"Hey guys, hurry up already. Feel how much mana is in the air!" I yell out to Jason and Emerald who didn't run into the clearing with me.

"Wow! This place is perfect!" Jason says in a really loud as he walks into the clearing. Emerald doesn't say anything, but she is giving a very happy face right now.

I run up to the two trees and look up to them. They aren't the biggest trees in this forest, but they are very close to one another. Close enough that even one big branch from one tree is against another big branch from the other tree.

This makes it so once Emerald takes the time to create a stone platform that can hold our weight, it is going to go right there. Looking for a few more minutes I notice two other places to put more small platforms.

Jason was right. This place is perfect!

We shouldn't waste this opportunity, this kind of place is the best place to train our control over the elements around us, and the denser than normal amount of mana in the air will make it easier to increase our overall mana capacity.

So we all take out the elemental crystals that we have had since we were ten years old, so we can summon out our respective elements. Humans, titans and halflings aren't able to make their elements appear next to them like certain monsters, we can only control them.

Those kinds of monsters are called magical monsters, and are not only able to control their element around them, they can also summon out their element. Making them quite dangerous in a lot more situations.

The mana cores of the magical monsters are where we get elemental crystals. Once outside of a monster, we call them differently.

Normal monsters are only able to control their elements, making it so these kinds of monsters are only really dangerous when they are surrounded by their element. Unless they are a monster that focuses entirely on internal magic, but most monsters are balanced until pasted a certain level in strength.

Regular mana cores act just like mana crystals mined out of the ground, or formed in certain areas that we don't have to mine. Which means they are pretty much just dense mana that can be absorbed over long period of time.

If big enough or if there is enough of them, they can even be used in formations. Which are pretty much fancy drawings on things that give off special effects or even spells once mana is pumped into them.

When a person turns ten years old they are gifted with a elemental crystal of their element. Making it so once they send mana into it, they can summon their element. In my case it is water, but the kind of water that gets sent out isn't like normal water.

There isn't a special name for it, but when you use a water crystal, or any other kind of elemental crystal, you not only can control the water like normal water. But since you used your own mana to make it, this water has some sort of connection to yourself, making it easier to control.

Which is perfect for people that don't have that much control over the natural elements around them. Or if there isn't any fire or water nearby for fire and water mages.

So that is how Emerald made the stone platforms on the old tree. And that is how she will make stone appear around her so she can place them in the new trees.

Making enough water around me to cover both of my hands, I just start to spin the water around my hands. This is how I, and many other internal mages practice their external magic control over their elements.

Looking over for a second, I notice that Jason is doing the same thing that I am. But instead of just having the fire close to his hands, he has it in a ball in front of him.

It is spinning quite fast, meaning he has a lot more control over his fire compared to how much control I have over my water. That is the basic measure on how good someone has gotten with their elements, the spinning speed.

Past a certain level though there is other measures, but I am not sure what they are. I will learn that once I get to that point. So I don't care.

For the rest of the day we all just train like this. In the middle of training, we did do a couple of sparring matches against one another, but for the most part we mainly just trained our control over the elements.

With the mana in the air being so dense, we were able to get three days worth of training in just one day. Which is amazing. Only schools with lots of power are able to be in places like this.

After a while during our time training, we never noticed because of how gradual the decrease was, but the amount of mana in the air kept getting less and less. To the point that it was just as dense as everywhere else.

We wouldn't figure this out till the next day though. Either way it was a nice day.

All of us got a good amount of training done, we found a new place to hang out. The only thing that is missing is the chance to punch those jerk faces in their jerky faces.

"Hey guys, lets head back already. I don't feel like sleeping on anything but my bed tonight." I yell to the both of them, while I yawn right after words.

Emerald gets up, stretches and yawns. "Yeah, let's head back, I was just thinking that anyways."

And Jason just pumps more mana into his fire crystal, increasing the amount of fire that is near him. While thankfully taking control of all of it. He then moves the half a meter wide fire ball above his head and lets it disappear into thin air as he stops pumping mana into it to keep it going.

"You better have enough mana left to stay awake and walk the whole way back. We aren't carrying you." I say, really hoping that he doesn't just pass out from using up all of his mana. That is the last thing that I want to do right now.

"I am fine, I can make it back." He says while getting up very slowly.

So with that we start walking back. When we had about ten minutes left, Emerald pats me on the shoulder and tells me to bend down slightly.

Giving her a weird look I do as she says and bend my back forwards. After which she hops on my back, and falls asleep then and there. Making it so I will have to carry her the rest of the way back.

With me being the strongest out of the group, and with me having my mana all ready to go, I was the only one able to do it out of me and Jason. So I just send some mana into my legs, making it so I don't slow down at all.

Even going a little faster to be honest. I guess I sent too much mana into my legs. With me being a internal mage, even I don't even have perfect control over my internal water magic.

I look over to Jason who looks like he is ready for bed and say while pointing my head back at Emerald. "Wasn't she the one that said 'don't get too close to anyone'?"

All he does is give a slight giggle in his tired state. And just keeps walking.

If he wasn't tired he sure would have laughed, not too much though because of how I get to carry Emerald. We both know that both of them like each other more than me and Emerald like each other. Both of us are just friends.

Finally getting back to the orphanage, I sneak into Emerald's room trying not to wake up the other girls in the room. And drop her off on her bed, I didn't tuck her in though in fear that one of the girls would notice me in here.

The guys are not supposed to be in the girl's side of the orphanage. Especially the older girl's rooms.

After which I get into my bed and try to sleep. With me having to carry Emerald, my legs have started to hurt from carrying too much weight, not that she is a big girl. I am just too tired right now after today.

Almost falling asleep I realize that I just wore two shirts the entire day. At one point I even thought to myself that it was a lot hotter than usual today.

Laughing at myself silently, I make a mental note to not do that again.

It is going to be a good day tomorrow and the next few weeks when we all hang out at our new hangout spot.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

So now I would like to ask you guys a question. How did you like the magic system so far? I know that I haven't made anyone fight with magic yet (or at all), but this should be enough info on weather or not it is a okay system or not.

Word Count: 4350