"Hmm... I will tell you everything, but before that, you have to know about the truth that was always hidden from you. The Arkenhall never told you that. How much do you know about the levels of a mage?" Vael spoke.
Ren narrowed his eyes. The winds were still. Behind him, Kullon Lake shimmered like a sheet of silver glass under the fading sun. And in front of him stood Vael...the man with silver hair that reached his shoulders and eyes darker than night, standing tall near the edge of the lake, arms folded behind his back.
Ren's jaw clenched. He understood what Vael asked him. Then he didn't replied his question but he gave answers in understanding.
"I thought I knew enough. Awakening, mana training, surface level classifications. But if you're saying there's more..."
Vael raised his hand slowly, cutting him off with a calm gesture. He too understood that Ren understood what he tried to asked.
"There is more, Ren. Much more. What you've seen is only the skin of the truth. What you've been taught. It's nothing but the dust on the tip of the iceberg."
He walked a few steps forward, his boots crunching softly on the grass. His tone was low, weighty, almost reverent.
"Tell me, what did you feel when your heart barrier broke for the first time? Don't ask me what is heart barrier? The heart barrier is kinda a barrier that protects your heart from the unwanted and evil energies. That you don't handle. It's a gift to all living beings from the nature. When it's broke than you are able to use that powerful energy. A mana or anything."
Ren hesitated.
"A rush. Pain. And then warmth. Like something entered my chest and spread everywhere. That was the first time I cast true magic."
Vael gave a slow nod.
"Exactly. That was your first Awakening. In that moment, a sliver of mana passed the barrier and formed a seed inside a small chamber of your heart. That's where it all begins. The first stage.... ordinary mage. From there, the mana flows like blood during casting. You're barely scraping the surface."
His gaze turned distant.
"But that's only the beginning. When a mage grows stronger, the mana begins to touch other chambers of the heart. More areas get filled. Your casting becomes faster, denser, more controlled. The second stage... Surface level mage."
Ren took a step forward, quietly absorbing every word.
"And then?" he asked.
"In the third stage... Sky level mage," Vael continued, "the mana goes deeper. Not just into the chambers, but into the very core of your heart. It starts pulsing with every beat, mingling with your life force. Your spells become instinct. Your aura changes. Your body responds to mana without you even thinking."
He glanced sideways, his voice lowering slightly.
"Then comes the fourth stage... National level mage. It spreads to your spine. You begin to feel every flow, every ripple of energy through your back, like a river running through a canyon. That's when your movement changes. You become faster, lighter, sharper. The body becomes a weapon guided by mana."
A soft rustle came from the tall grass nearby, but neither of them turned. Hidden behind the thick stalks near the edge of the lake, Elara crouched silently. Her breath slowed, her ears sharp, listening.
She had followed Ren here, confused by the whispers and the appearance of the masked man. But she hadn't expected this. This strange man. Vael was explaining something no one at Arkenhall had ever spoken of.
"Then," Vael said, his tone sharper, "in the fifth stage... Continent level mage, mana reaches your vital organs. Your lungs breathe magic. Your stomach digests it. Your liver purifies it. All except the mind."
"And then the mind?" Ren asked.
Vael nodded once.
"Yes. The sixth stage... Planet level mage. Mana seeps into your brain. Your thoughts become clearer. You see through illusions. You remember every detail. Time seems to slow. You begin to perceive magic at a new layer. But your body is still flesh."
He turned, fully facing Ren now.
"The seventh stage... Interplanetary level mage is the transformation of the body. All of it. Your bones, your skin, even your blood vessels. They become conduits of magic. Not carriers. Not channels. Conduits. You're no longer casting spells. You are the spell."
Ren's breath hitched.
"And after that?"
"Your soul awakens," Vael whispered.
His voice grew quieter, but heavier. Elara leaned in from the grass, barely daring to move.
"The eighth stage... Eclipse level mage is the soul itself becoming a source. You no longer draw from external mana. You begin to create it within. The world begins to change around you, not because you will it to, but because your existence disturbs the balance."
Ren felt a chill across his spine. Vael kept speaking, his eyes distant, like recalling something ancient.
"In the ninth stage... Inter ecliptic level mage, the awakened soul allows you to understand the universe. The fabric of reality. You begin altering it, gently at first. Space bends. Light obeys. Atoms respond. Your body begins to change. Your skin is no longer skin. Your bones no longer bones. They become mana constructs, living architecture forged from magic."
Ren took a shaky breath.
"That sounds... impossible."
Vael almost smiled.
"That's what the Surface Mages say when they reach Sky level. But we are not done. In the tenth stage... Galactic level mage, your vital organs are replaced. The heart, liver, lungs. They become mana cores. You don't breathe to live. You breathe to cast. A single heartbeat could destroy cities."
"And the eleventh?" Ren asked, quieter now.
"The inter galactic level mage. Your blood and all internal fluids turn to mana. Liquid light. Every drop contains death. Every cell is conscious. A wound heals itself with a thought. But the pain..." Vael's voice dropped. "The pain of this stage is unbearable. The body doesn't just change. It dies and rebuilds, screaming."
"And then the twelfth...?" Ren's voice shook.
Vael turned his back to him, staring over the lake.
"The twelfth stage is called the Rebirth. The cosmic level mage. Your entire being breaks. The body becomes new. No flesh. No bone. You exist as a shell of cosmic magic. But this stage has layers too. First is the transformation at the atomic level. Then at the quark level. And finally..."
He hesitated.
"Chronos."
Ren frowned. "Time?"
Vael nodded slowly.
"You gain awareness of time as an energy. Not a concept. You begin to see backward, forward. Not travel. Just know. Know too much. Feel too much. That's why most go insane at this level. If you can survive it... the path to something beyond opens."
Elara's hands tightened on the grass.
"And the levels?" Ren asked. "What levels correspond to all of that?"
Vael turned back, his voice now like steel.
"Listen carefully. This is what the Arkenhall never told you."
He raised a finger.
"First are the Awakened. Ordinary mages. They touch mana but barely understand it. Second are the Surface Mages. They've begun building spells with structure. Then come Sky Mages, who can fly, shift weather, crush enemies from above."
He walked in a slow circle around Ren.