Alright, I need to apologize. I ended that last chapter in a manner that you might misinterpret solely to create a pseudo-cliffhanger. It was a weak cliffhanger to begin with, and it doesn’t do anything more than confuse you by putting it that way. I am sorry, and I won’t let it happen again.

You see, when I say that ‘Keidra screamed’, I am exaggerating. At best it was a shriek. Well, maybe more like a sudden cry. An exclamation? A gasp. A gasp! Yes, let’s go with that.

So, Keidra, upon seeing the tattoo on my back, gasped. It wasn’t a loud gasp or anything that might have been mistaken as anything louder than a drawing of breath. Just a gasp.

Phew.

This fourth wall is probably going to get pretty abused in the future.

Ahem.

Now, after gasping, Keidra fell silent. I attempted to turn around and look at her but she put her hands on my shoulders and ordered me to stand still. A moment later, she finally said, “I can’t believe it, you’ve got the ‘Thunder Body’ mark.”

“Is that good?” I asked. Thought I thought it probably was good, due to her not acting disappointed or revulsed or screaming at its revelation, there was a quality to her voice that left me unsure. She seemed somewhere between mystified and confused, and I would have expected her voice to be tinged with excitement if it truly was a good mark.

After a moment’s pause, she shook her head as if to clear it and turned me around to face her, “Yes, of course it’s good,” she said, assuaging my fears. “It’s actually a very famous mark in my clan’s history. It was one of the two marks the founder of my clan bore, and is easily one of the most powerful marks in my clan’s archives. It’s just very surprising seeing it on an outsider in the clan, especially since no one since the founder has born this mark.

“The ‘Thunder Body’ mark allows its bearer to transform physically into lightning. With sufficient control, even a lethal wound can be avoided by turning just the targeted area into pure lightning. Additionally, using the ‘Thunder Body’ mark, the founder was said to be able to maintain body-enhancement magic indefinitely, and with no cost to his reserves of magic.” As she spoke, I could feel my excitement building.

“Unfortunately,” she continued, “the ‘Thunder Body’ mark, while a high-ranked mark, is a growth-type of mark, meaning that for the current you, it has few uses. Right now, you likely only have access to its most basic ability.” Upon seeing my sudden swing of disappointment, she hurried on. “That’s not to say its most basic ability isn’t powerful, though, as for the ‘Thunder Body’ that means you are immune to any kind of lightning or thunder based damage, which includes sonic damage.”

“How do I grow the powers of my mark then?” I asked.

She shrugged, “It varies depending on the mark. I can say that most marks of the growth-type simply grow in power as your font increases. But, until I look at the record we keep back in the clan, there’s no telling whether that’s the case for you mark or not.”

Well, this is definitely an exciting revelation. Though I’m a bit disappointed that I won’t get the full benefits for the time being, knowing that I have such a power to look ahead towards is rather motivating. I just hope I don’t have some ridiculous requirement to grow my mark.

“So my follow-up question would then be how to increase the amount of magic in my font.”

Keidra shrugged again, “It’s mostly a time thing. There is an exercise I can show you to help your font grow, but it really only improves its growth speed by a few percent. And that’s only if you practice it daily.”

“Time, huh?”

She nodded, then clapped her hands together, “But enough of that, now that we know your mark isn’t the type to push your training or development in a specific direction, let’s see what you’ve already come up with.”

I tabled my thoughts on the idea of a mark pushing someone’s development in a particular direction and stepped forwards, willing my power to my fingers. I said, “So, I’m not sure how your clan and all the other sorcerers do it, but I’ve got a total of five spells, three of which are simple, easy to use spells, and two of which are more complex and draining, but more powerful as well.”

“Oh? You’ve already figured out the difference between lesser spells and their standard counterparts?”

I stopped my manifestation and looked at her, “What?”

“We tend to divide spells into three broad levels when it comes to sorcery. Unlike wizards with all their circles, a sorcerer generally can power up any spell to whatever power level they want simply by feeding it more power from their font. The three levels are more a way to refer to spells that are quick to manifest, spells that require concentration to manifest, or spells that require collaboration to manifest.

“We call these levels lesser spells, standard spells, and greater spells accordingly. That’s not to say a lesser spell could not be cast in collaboration, or a greater spell couldn’t be practiced enough to become equivalent to a lesser spell. It’s just guidelines, because mortals like to classify.”

Alright, so that means I had three lesser spells and two standard spells. “Well, then here are my lesser spells.” I quickly demonstrated my ranged, melee, and defensive lesser spells, then looked to Keidra.

She was nodding her head approvingly, “Very good, you’ve got three lesser spells down in such a short time with your powers. Most newbies take a lot longer to get them that practiced. Let’s see the standard spells.”

I demonstrated quickly my two standard spells, and she again looked pleased. Then she asked a question I wasn’t prepared for. “What names have you given them?”

I looked at Keidra blankly. “Names?”

She nodded, “Yup, naming your spells is important if you ever plan to work with an adventuring party. Unlike wizards, we sorcerers each have unique ways of handling our magic. For an adventuring party, this is a lot harder to plan around than a wizard who can write out a spell list of standardized spells for their allies to peruse. I could tell you the names of the techniques in my family that your spells are closest to, but your spells are all different, so you’d be best off coming up with your own names.”

“Why don’t I just start using your family’s spells? Are they a closely guarded secret?”

Keidra shook her head, “Not really, but I wouldn’t recommend changing. For a sorcerer, discovering your own ways of magic is the best way to promote growth. In the past there were clans that tried to force strict regimens and standard spellcraft upon their descendents. What they quickly discovered was that sorcerers raised in this way stagnated in their growth very early on. Each sorcerer’s magic is unique, so their spells should be as such, too. Even the family spells I just mentioned are only references, I don’t use any of them myself, though they are decent naming inspirations, I’ve found.”

Names, huh? I looked down at my hands, remembering the five spells I had come up with, but no easy names leapt to mind. After a few moments, I looked back up at Keidra, saying, “I think you’d better tell me those family spells you mentioned. Something tells me that I’m bad at naming things.”

“Then, as a way of training, I’ll show them to you in a live combat situation,” Keidra said. She held up her hand and lightning coalesced around it.

I gulped. I suddenly had a veeery bad feeling about this.

Keidra smirked.