"If there is one thing I admire about you, Earthlings, it is your wild imagination," Professor Burbank stated while sighing to himself. In preparation for his ascension to the 4th ring, Professor Burbank's teacher tasked him to create a 3-ring spell that uses electromagnetism to control bio-electricity in a body. Unfortunately for him, things were not proceeding smoothly. He has modified and created spells before, but nothing that requires such subtle manipulation.
One day, while venting to a friend, the latter suggested that he check Earth's data on the application of electromagnetism. Burbank's first reaction was to refuse. After all, according to the rules, if he wanted access to Earth's information — the part not granted to him during their training — he needed to pay a price, a steep one at that. But his friend convinced him, and out of desperation, Burbank did it.
The result was astonishing. In their fiction, the Earthlings have imagined countless applications of electromagnetism. Forget manipulating bio-electricity, they have even thought of using it to manipulate blood, nuclear fission, dimension warping, and even time manipulation. For these earthlings, these ideas are pure speculative fictions, even fantasy, but for mages, they are inspiration.
"Well, don't worry too much about it," Professor Burbank said, not wanting to dwell too much on this subject. These earthlings will one day discover how valuable their culture is, but now is not the time to talk about it. So, Burbank walked back to the board and continued writing definitions under the other fields.
"Life magic involves all aspects of life — including the body, mind, and soul. Life Mages are the healers, doctors, veterinarians, and agriculturists since animals and plants also fall under the category of life."
Professor Burbank paused for a moment, "Just because they are a nurturing group, do not think for a moment that they cannot fight. A good Life Mage is also a mage who knows how vulnerable life is; vulnerabilities that they can use and exploit. So, for your own sake, don't piss them off or look down on their fighting abilities."
"Did he learn this from experience?" Zane thought, giving the professor a strange look.
"Subcategories include Plant Magic. Blood Magic and Alteration. Plant Magic is dangerous because of its strange and terrifying poison and acids. I once saw a Life Mage who turned someone into a living dead with an unknown poison. I'm not good with words, but you could not fathom how disturbing it was."
Professor Burbank's body trembled; he immediately shook his head to remove these terrible thoughts from his mind.
"However, plant magic also has many benefits, including accelerating the growth of crops. A single Apprentice Life Mage can feed a town of more than 10,000 individuals with only a few spells."
"So, professor, what you're saying is Plant Magic can end world hunger?"
Mr. Burbank looked at the student who spoke and shook his head, "World hunger is a structural problem, not technological. Without this dimension's current development, it could easily have solved the issue, but that would require countless countries working together to achieve peace and unity. But, you know what's not going to happen, don't you?"
Zane sighed to himself. It was an odd feeling when another civilization — an even more advanced one — judged Earth's current situation. He didn't know about others, but he felt great shame thinking about the state of the world. Unfortunately, there is nothing he can do at the moment.
"Let's continue. Blood Manipulation is a form of magic often associated with vampires. However, their version is a combination of Life and Dark Magic, not pure Life Magic."
"Can Life Mage learn Vampire's Blood Magic?" a student asked.
"Yes, but that can easily lead to their soul being corrupted," Professor Burbank nodded. "Vampires are, after all, cursed creatures. Their state of being has a significant impact on their magic, so to any Life Mages with such ambitions, be careful and tread carefully."
Professor Burbank gave a glance at a few of the Life Mages in the class before continuing with the lecture.
"Alteration — also called Polymorph Magic — is the art of manipulating and transforming the human body's life energy to mimic other living creatures, including magical beasts. It is one of the primary forms of combat that Life Mages use, and honestly, it's one of the most powerful forms of magic once mastered."
"How powerful are we talking about?" someone asked.
"How can I put it in a way you can understand? Ah, I got it. Madam Barbara Odom is a master of Alteration; she can turn into a pure-blooded dragon, which makes her one of the most powerful Grand Mages of the tower despite being only 5-ring."
"The Director of the Life Division?" Zane thought, remembering that name from the orientation video that introduced all official members of the tower.
"Are you saying that a 5-ring mage is more powerful than all the 6-ring mages?"
Professor Burbank glanced at the speaker. "It's far more common than you'd think. In single combat, it's impossible for an apprentice to defeat a 1-ring mage, or a 3-ring mage to defeat a Grand Mage. However, it's possible for a 1-ring Mage to defeat a 3-ring, and for a 4-ring to defeat a 6-ring. Of course, only true geniuses can achieve this."
"What about a 6-ring Grand Mage and an Archmage?"
Professor Burbank looked at the student who spoke: "In my class, there is such a thing as a stupid question."
The class laughed out loud, which made the student turn bright red. Luckily for them, Professor Burbank continued his lecture:
"Where were we? Ah, yes, Life magic. I'm going to give you all some advice based on my personal experience: make friends with all the Life Mages you meet, and if you can't make friends, don't piss them off."
"Healers are indeed crucial," Zane thought, taking notes of these words.
Professor Burbank took in the students' reaction before nodding: "Any questions? Yes, Mr. Skylar."
"I have a two-part question," Zane said. "Do Life Mages use a unique variant of mana similar to Elemental Mages?"
"Yes, their mana contains vibrant life energy, which drastically boosts their healing spells."
"How is their mana different from mana channeling?"
"Great question," Professor Burbank smiled. "Energy Fusion is a profound topic. Each energy has unique properties, so fusing two of them will result in a different outcome depending on how it's done. Mana Channeling prioritizes life force over mana, and its combination results in the creation of physical energy. As the name implies, physical energy originates from your body, and its characteristic is to enhance your physical stats.
"Life Mage's mana, on the other hand, prioritized mana above life force. Their fusion focused on adding the characteristic of [vitality] from life force to the mana, granting it healing and nourishing qualities. Did that answer your question?"
"Yes," Zane nodded.
"Good. Two points to you," Professor Burbank nodded. "Anyone else?… In that case, let's move on to Death or Necromancy. By converting mana into negative energy, Necromancers can raise the dead, manipulate souls, and corrupt the body and life itself. There used to be a stigma about Necromancers — and many dimensions still do —, but in the current epoch, they are viewed as just another branch of magic. Of course, only if the Necromancers follow the proper rules for acquiring their undead."
Professor Burbank finished writing a few words under the Necromancer category on the board before focusing on the class. "There are no officially recognized subcategories of Death Magic. I won't speak on the unofficial one since they are considered taboo, too macabre, or niche. Questions?"
Zane waited for a while before raising his hand.
"Mr. Skylar again. Go ahead."
"Necromancers use negative energy. What effects does it have on mana channeling?"
"It weakens life energy," Professor Burbank responded.
"Interesting. I wonder what the effect of mana channeling of all specialized mages is."
"If you are truly interested, I recommend you read [Spectrum of Mana Channeling] by Zori Malousi. He not only talked in depth about your question, but he also experimented with channeling with more than one energy."
"Thank you," Zane nodded as he wrote the book's name down.
Professor Burbank nodded before continuing: "Light is the element of positivity and purity. They used the variant of mana called positive energy, which has many functions: body enhancement, healing, detoxification, purification, and attack. Subcategories include Sun Magic, which uses the heat aspect of light; Illusion Magic, which bends light to create visual effects; and Electromagnetic Radiation, which focuses on the energy aspect of light."
"If both light and life magic can heal, which is better?" a student asked.
"You have no idea how much of a loaded question you just asked," Professor Burbank replied with a smile. "Those two fields have been fighting against each other since the dawn of creation — well, I'm exaggerating, but you understand what I mean."
"Professor, don't evade the question," someone added.
"I had no stake in this argument, so I have no issue giving you an unbiased answer," Professor Burbank remarked. "In general, Life Mages are better healers, but only against ordinary Light Mages. Sadly, they paled in comparison to Clerics. And before anyone asks, Clerics are Light Mages who are followers of a True God and have received their blessing."
Professor Burbank gave them a few seconds to digest his words before continuing: "Relatively speaking, Clerics are small in numbers, so Life Mages often dominate in the healing department. However, Light Mages are the best at purifying curses and dealing with undead, a fact which Life Mages found an eternal shame since Life Magic is supposed to be the antithesis of Death Magic."
Professor Burbank watched as many students nodded in understanding, and, as always, he asked, "Any more questions? Yes, Mr. Rosetti."
"Why do Necromancers use negative energy, but Light Mages use positive energy? Shouldn't it be Life Mages who use positive energy? Or maybe, Dark Mage should be using negative energy and Death Mage should use death energy?"
"I told you Life, Death, Darkness, and Light were connected, with many people believing they were one field," Professor Burbank shrugged. "But, to answer your question, that's how it has been called since ancient times."
"Is there really a secret between these four fields?"
"I have no idea," the professor shook his head. As the earthlings said, such a question was beyond his pay grade.
"Anyone else? In that case, let's continue with Dark Magic. In your earthling's description of darkness, you view it as merely the absence of light. However, darkness is more than that: it's the dark side of the human heart, the evil of man, the cruelty of the world, the endless vacuum of space, black holes, and so much more. Subcategories include Curse, Spatial Magic, Gravity Magic, and Shadow Magic."
"The laws of physics do not limit magic," Zane thought, writing it down. He had known this truth, but it became clearer when the professor described the field of dark magic. While many people were still reeling from Professor Burbank's earlier words, his amiable demeanor suddenly grew more solemn, making all the students sit up straighter.
"I must warn you. The stigma around Dark Mages is even more severe than that of Death Mages, and it's for a good reason. Unless a Necromancer turns themselves into an undead, they will not be corrupted by their powers.
"Meanwhile, it's easy for Dark Mages to be corrupted because they can enhance their spells by absorbing negative emotions. There is no issue if a Dark Mage only uses their own emotion, but the moment they begin using the negative emotions of others, then a countdown to their corruption begins. So, to all the specialized Dark Mages out there: take my advice and be very careful."