The worst thing about the world of wizardry was that you cannot control the results of the dice rolling around to declare your future. It had nothing to do with your class or your bloodline. Many blue bloods suffered humiliation because they had awakened no elements.
"Fate? What a fucking nonsense… but what's that?"
Lock furrowed his eyebrows as he suddenly sensed something off and unnatural.
Noticing something off than usual, his golden eyes cautiously sized the room, as though someone was hiding behind somewhere he could not see. The feeling sent shivers down his spine when he thought it was a ghost, but he remained alert and ready, like loaded cannons ready to fire.
After repeatedly shaking his head and thinking again, Lock can't believe in the existence of ghosts and can't logically agree that someone could have snuck into his royal chamber to take his life…
"No way that's true…" he chuckled nervously.
Not bothering himself with the fact that there was probably something or someone suspicious in the room other than himself, Lock walked onto his bed.
"No way that's true," he said again, "If I remember I have that magic artifact installed."
This royal chamber was supposed to be imbued and protected by some magic artifact that negates all evil intentions or something. In fact, most royal chambers in the royal palace were something like that. But the strange atmosphere was still banging against his internal alarm.
"TV on."
In order to shrug his worry, he opened his mouth and ordered the television to turn on just to create background noise.
As soon as he spoke the magic words, a magic hologram appeared in the opposite wall. The screen was of an irregular shape, its outlines waving like the sea, and it seemed like an abstract. However, the resolution and definition were extremely realistic to ignore.
In the world of Wizardry, the development of technology wasn't so advanced compared to the mechanics of a sci-fi movie, however it hadn't been left behind even with the existence of magic. There were still cars and technology.
That was as far as it goes, though. The space was off-limits and ignorantly setting one's silly ambitions to explore the domain that lies beyond the deep sky would only mean suicide. It was impossible to explore the outer space, and no one knew why—just that doing so would mean you die. Could there be monsters up there or something close to that? No one had ever found out, and most were so terrified to try.
"Good morning everyone! This is Royal Gossip! Today, we're visiting the Royal Palace because the Awakening Ceremony of the rumored perfect prince is finally going to hap---pen!" A reporter cheerfully intoned as she emphasized the last word of her opening introduction.
As expected, the TV channel was turned to Journal News, the so-called only media network monopolizing the media-business in the Letters Kingdom. It was owned by the Duke of Journals, who managed a large territory in the southern part of the country.
Lock lazily slammed his body against the warm bed covers while still hearing the explanation in the background.
"The awakening ceremony awakens the talent of wizards. But we can rule that out, since we are talking about the royal family. Royals are probably the luckiest and blessed people. The greater question here is, what grade of magic energy will the third prince awaken?"
As the female reporter explained in a calm and professional tone, another screen showing a chart of the different grades of magical energy was being projected...
The screen showed a video of a seed in the ground slowly sprouting to a green leaf until it bloomed into a flower and became a fruit…
[Harvest Stage (5th Grade)
Flowering Stage (4th Grade)
Vegetative Stage (3rd Grade)
Germination Stage (2nd Grade)
Seed Stage (1st Grade)]
The Five Stages of Magic Energy pre-determined the amount of potential a wizard has. Like that of the five stages of a plant cycle, wizard growth was specifically similar.
In the plant's growth cycle, Seed Stage was the stage that handled the reproduction of a plant, making it the lowest potential magic grade.
Germination stage was when the plant grew from the seed and produce the familiar parts of a plant, including the roots, stems, and leaves. If a wizard awakened the germination stage, one can produce spells naturally faster than those who had the seed stage.
Third, Vegetative stage was the stage when the plant has finally sprouted and produced its first green tendrils. During this stage, the plant would start to mature, and produce more foliage until it would become taller, bigger, and healthier. Naturally, the magic of wizards who awakened the vegetative stage had much more potential in their magic than the previous two.
Fourthly, there was the Flowering stage where it was the time plants started itself to bear fruits or show some flowers. Similarly, the magic of wizards who gained this stage was more powerful.
Harvest stage was when the leaves of foliage were finally available to be picked, or when the fruits are finally big and ripe enough for consumption. Naturally, this was the highest magic grade, making those who awakened it the most powerful wizards.
The magic in this world was always compared to the plant cycle, as the plants were where magic lives in, just second to the moon. It was where it sticks itself and wizards just had to gather it to combine it to their mana.