*Important blue screen info in notes will be added as soon as I can after submission acceptance*

Time magic is the best magic. Everyone who dreams of adventure knows that. Of course throwing fireballs is still viscerally cool even if pyromancy is several "tiers" below chronomancy. And without group support and exceptional trust raw combat Talents require less emotional, social, and financial overhead. Only the exceptionally lucky receive a Tier 0 or even Tier 1 Talent as their Aleatory Talent. Rich or poor, brilliant or blockheaded, it doesn't matter. You don't get to choose. If you've read this far you've seen the title of this memoir. Always put the most important word first in your title.

I didn't know my A-Talent was time magic of course, not until I entered the Academy at age 8. Everyone is born with 2 Basic Traits, Talents that only have 1 tier and provide only attributes. You also get your Aleatory Talent at birth. I have listed the Basic Talents and their bonuses above. Each provides 8 attribute points. There are 16 attributes and if you did, in theory, take all the Basic Talents you'd have 4 in every attribute. The attributes are described in a footnote below.

I was born with Intelligence and Focus:

Intelligence Attunement +3 Retention +2 Sagacity +1 Rigor +1 Will +1 Focus Attunement +1 Retention +1 Sagacity +1 Rigor +3 Will +2

It is probably good for society that you go your first 8 years with just your basic traits. Keeps people humble, at least for a little while. You get your Childhood Trait at age 8. This is based off how you spend your time but is restricted by your Basic Traits. It is selected by the world from the "Core Traits". These traits can also be learned during your education and they differ from Basic Traits in having attribute requirements.

For my Childhood Talent I got Schooling:

Schooling Retention +4 Sagacity +2 Acumen +2

I could have gotten Schooling, Ritual, Thaumaturgy, Discipline, or Resistance based on Intelligence and Focus. Conversely starting with Intelligence and Wisdom I could have received Thaumaturgy, Ritual, Faith, or Doctrine. Typically Family Talents are a combination of environment and Basic Traits.

My childhood was pretty average, since my parents were mid level scholars. Most people go their whole lives without advancing beyond their core 9 traits. All children are educated formally starting at age 8 and finishing at 16, after which they achieve majority and activate their Aleatory trait. Education culminates in receiving 1 Basic Trait and 2 Core Traits. Core Traits have attribute requirements while basic traits do not.

Upon finishing your time at an academy you gain a Capstone Trait. This can either be a Knowledge Trait or a Training Trait. My Capstone Trait was Manasophy as one the key Capstones for casters. For those who didn't receive a Magical Talent as their Aleatory Talent it allowed for some magical abilities. It was also a trait for efficient mana use.

Manasophy Attunement +2 Retention +2 Ingenuity +2 Sagacity +2

I wanted to be a caster so I chose to pursue Awareness for my first Basic Trait and then I took Intuition to qualify for Crafting as my first Education Trait.

Awareness Perception +3 Ingenuity +2 Sagacity+1 Celerity +1 Precision +1

My core traits were Thaumaturgy and Ritual:

Thaumaturgy Attunement +4 Retention +2 Rigor +2 Ritual Rigor +4 Attunement +2 Will +2

During the last year of education when you have your Capstone trait but not yet your Aleatory or Arbitrary Traits you are taken into the first floor of the Academy dungeon to practice combat. The vast majority of students where I studied had Manasophy like me. The following is an example of a level 1 creature:

Flame Rat Level 1 Health 50 Mana 50 Movespeed 5m/s Scratch 20 damage | 2s Flame Chomp 20 dmg + 5 fire damage | 2s

Tier 1 Manasophy provides the following Abilities(Spells are magical Abilities):

Manasophy Mana Boost Permanent Passive +50 mana Mana Efficiency Permanent Passive -5% mana cost Mana Strike(Staff) +1 magic dmg per attunement Boost +1s strike time 10 mana Mana Bolt 25 magic dmg Single Target Range 20m Cast 1s 40 mana

These numbers are a serious issue because the average pure mage student has a whopping 40 health. Here are my stats at the time:

Human Mage(Youth) Health 40 Mana 68(+50) Movespeed 5m/s

The mana boost is from Manasophy. I have no Brawn and 12 Attunement so a Mana Strike would cost 9 mana(10 -.5(rounded up to 1)) and hit for Base(10)+12 damage or 22 damage. It would take Base(1)+1 seconds for a full staff strike with mana damage on it. Alternatively I could put off 1 mana bolt first. Mana Bolt would cost me 40*.95=38 mana. Leaving me 80 for mana strikes. I would hit for 25+44=-19 health on the rat. I'd get off the bolt free and hit the rat with a strike right away with staffs having reach, and take 1 hit from Scratch or Chomp before finishing my second strike and having 62 mana remaining.

Of course things would change as soon as I got my Aleatory and Arbitrary Traits.

Finally I got my first true Talent, when I turned 16 and officially graduated, compared to what most people refer to as Traits, Chronomancy:

Chronomancy Attunement +5 Perception +1 Rigor +4 Retention +3 Celerity +2 Precision +1

Chronomancy was considered a Tier 0 Talent in Elder Magic. As such it provided 6 attributes of varying amounts totalling 16 points. This was very valuable because it meant that I could skip some of the low level Talents/Traits. It wasn't ideal because I wasn't going to be investing in Precision but all the other attributes were valuable. Attunement and Retention got large boosts and even Rigor was good for a caster. Precision was good for crafting if not quite as key as ingenuity and Perception was a good trait for any adventuring class. Celerity provided a small movement bonus at higher values. As Elder Magic Chronomancy had very large attribute requirements but fortunately for my Aleatory Trait I didn't have to meet them.

Finally I was able to select one Talent arbitrarily on reaching majority, bringing me to a total of 9. This was possible due to an essence gift society provided to every fresh adult in a ceremony overseen by the priests. Unfortunately I had to meet the attribute requirements of this one. I skipped over the Corporeal Traits for obvious reasons and looked at Low Magic. I only qualified for it due to being gifted Chronomancy.

I wanted to fight in a party as a support mage. Either with buffs/debuffs or control. Unfortunately my attributes limited my current options:

Attunement 12 Retention 11 Rigor 10 Ingenuity 4 Perception 3 Precision 1 Sagacity 7 Acumen 2 Celerity 1 Will 5 Insight 0 Fortitude 0 Style 0 Zeal 0 Tenacity 0 Brawn 0

Low Magic require 8 in Attunement and 8 in either Rigor, Will, or Retention. Or 8 in another stat for special cases.

My options were as follows:

Attunement & Retention

Limusomancy Lutomancy Stratomancy Defigomancy Spodimancy Mud Filth Area Singlular Ash

Attunement & Rigor

Pyromancy Aeromancy Umbramancy Tenebromancy Fulmenomancy Fire Air Shadow Darkness Lightning

Attunement & Will

Lumenomancy Hydromancy Geomancy Intonomancy Light Water Earth Sound

I did not qualify for the Enhancement Magic Traits.

Corporomancy Body Attunement/Brawn Roboromancy Fortification Attunement/Fortitude

I decided to take Lutomancy because it provided both damage over time magic and debuffs which synergized with my Chronomancy. Limusomancy would have provided healing over time and buffs.

I've skipped over my time before adulthood because if you are reading this you are probably 15-16 already if not older. Who wants to hear more about school and training when they could be learning the real story of adventure? As you know I got lucky in that I had 3 casting Talents right as I set out. I had far more to contribute than the average aspiring magic user.

My Background Traits were:

Intelligence Focus Awareness Thaumaturgy Ritual Schooling

For those who are not yet adventurers or are not casters I'll detail my Talents with active magical abilities:

Chronomancy Time Stop Stasis 2s Single Target Range 20m Cast 1s 40 mana Stagnation Slow 4s Single Target Range 20m Cast 2s 40 mana Quicken Haste 3s Self Cast 1s 40 mana Accelerate Haste 3s Single Target Range 20m Cast 2s 40 mana Manasophy Mana Boost Permanent Passive +50 mana Mana Efficiency Permanent Passive -5% mana cost Mana Strike +1 magic dmg per attunement Boost 10 mana Mana Bolt 25 magic dmg Single Target Range 20m Cast 1s 40 mana Lutomancy Slime Pool 2x move cost AOE 20ft Range 20m Cast 2s 40 mana Grime Ball 20 dmg +1 mark Single Target Range 20m Cast 2s 40 mana Mana Leech 40 mana dmg Single Target Range 20m Cast 2s 20 mana Filth Spray 1s distract+1mark Single Target Range 20m Cast 1s 20 mana

My goal was to be a control mage with a secondary focus in support. At the academy I met a lifelong friend who synergized with me. Most aventurers were involved in a "Full Party" of 8 though other numbers were viable, especially at lower levels. "Swarming" was possible but obviously limited loot shares. Regardless I was elated to graduate and being my adventure.

Students were directed to one final dungeon fight after graduation. This time I'd be facing 2 Flame Rats. I'd fought up to 2 Giant Rats before graduation which were weaker but still difficult for an Academy Student due to our low health.

Thankfully I had gained 9 Attunement for an extra 36 mana from my brand new Talents. I had also received a Mage's Staff. These particular staffs were crafted and enchanted by the Academy and gave tailored bonuses. +20 mana and 1/2 damage per attunement to Mana Strike. Every Academy graduate had Manasophy so that was a potent boost.

I lead off with Quicken reducing my mana from 12*4+50+20+40=158 to 174-(40*.95)=136. That initiated the fight at the rats began to charge from 40m away. I cast Slime Pool for another 38 mana taking me down to 98. Slime Pool at max range had a 20 meter diameter, a 10 meter radius, and a 20 meter range. The area from 30 to 10 feet away from me took twice as long to move through. With a 1 second cast under Haste + the 1 second cast from using Quicken the rats reached the edge of the pool and begin to crawl across. I moved 10m in 1 second to the edge of the pool under Haste. The rats were 5m into the pool as I cast a Hasted Mana Bolt. By the time I finished the rats had entered my maximum range and 1 rat took 25 damage. I was down from 98 to 60 mana. I waited until they were 2 seconds away and began a Mana Strike with my staff. With 21 Attunement I was dealing Base(10)+0*Brawn+1.5*Attunement(21)or 42 damage rounded up. The first rat died to my swing.

I began my second swing without mana strike. The rat was half way through scratch when it took 10 damage. A followup swing with mana strike finished it off for 42 damage before the second scratch came through. In the future I will provide more descriptive battle passages and put the details in the appendices.

Other mages worked in parties of 2 to finish their rats. A capable melee fighter could have soloed them like I did using their higher health pool and stronger attacks but at the Academy that wasn't likely. Sadly dungeon fights were primarily practice and didn't boost your attributes unless you finished a *Challenge* or absorbed a *Young* Dungeon Core. But you did get a handle on managing your resources, whether that was time, mana, health, or distance.

Probably in the future I was far less likely to get into melee although I had a better chance to hold my own than most mages. It was time to link up with my friend and begin trying to fill our party.