[Legacy Chapter]

Chris sat on his bed thinking over what had happened at the tree. He knew that had been him, he was Chris, he has always been. For all 21 years of his.... ‘No that's not right, I'm only 8 or 19???... 8 + 19 isn't even 21'

The pain resurfaces and he has a moment of clarity as his mind struggled to generate a hypothesis to explain his duality.

‘Assuming reincarnation has been proved possible and this event happened at my birth the brain of my current self may have not been fully capable of supporting an adult intellect and so only pieces of my former self have been passed over.’ He rattled off a quick statement in his head.

He doubled over in pain as a headache manifested itself in his temple.

It was quite possible, considering how he was behaving that little more than bits of knowledge and habits had been passed over. He looked down at his hand and saw it cracking his knuckles in turn.

‘Okay definitely some habits, but why now. Was it the trauma to the head.’ or perhaps when he fell from the tree and his life flashed before his eyes. Could that have triggered the memories? Or perhaps still further Mystra the god of magic and knowledge spoke to him and gave him this gift.

‘Okay his explanations were getting more and more ridiculous, I am a boy of science. Logic shal dictate my path, and knowledge is what I seek.’

He decided to ignore the fact that an 8-year-old boy saying those great words didn't have the great impact of a white-bearded old man standing in front of a crowd of thousands. He looked down, frowning.

‘The only audience I have is 3 cockroaches and a stuffed Direwolf mother has enchanted with a [Soft Sleep] spell. He doesn't even look riveted by my majesty.’

He put that depressing sentence behind because there was something he could do to improve that, get himself some of that sweet sticky magic.

Chris picked up the book on Blooding for the 7th time in about 5 minutes reading the same words again.

“‘To unlock one's magical potential it must be seeded, find the location of greatest mana concentration within the body and plant a Mana Crystal. Make a small incision with a blade preferably enchanted with [Minor Bleed] to keep blood flowing around the crystal. Once this has been completed you must with haste find a magically augmented creature (MAC). This must then be killed in the near vicinity of the seeded. The life essence of the MAC then flows to the seed causing it to radiate mana into the nexus of the participant making them magically aware of the mana as fire running through them. Should the participant fail to grasp there mana [Greater Restoration] is advised to prevent mageburn. The blooding can then be repeated at a later date. This does not come without other dangers….’”

Chris stopped and went back to the beginning again for the 8th reread of the ritual. Most kids his age could read the basic text and understand basic numbers but he had always been a fast learner for literature and mathematics. Now he knew why they were learned once but forgotten. Well perhaps not truly forgotten just looked over as a small detail.

‘I will attempt the ritual soon, I just need to locate my nexus’ Chris thought as he pulled out a small pot from his bedside drawer. This pot contained a self-made monofluid, the official name for a mana conductive liquid. Although he looked more like a mud pie. He slathered the brown mud paste on his arm and clearly stated “[Minor Restoration]” while thinking about his headache and visualizing the pain fading and himself smiling. The spell did not trigger but it was not meant to, saying a spell chant and visualizing would excite a small amount of mana to leave his skin and seep into the Mud. It was a special mixture of basil honey and mud that would turn green when mana was passed into it.

He was currently in the process of systematically testing each spot on his body for the area which would turn greenest, indicating his nexus as it would leak the highest concentration of mana.

The elders of the town would completely cover him in a better fluid when he went to the trial but he wanted to know sooner. ‘And spare me the shame of smearing myself in honey, ohh Mystra, the bees... there in my eyes… ahhhhh’ He let out a giggle. Not very many but he couldn't restrain himself.

He would continue until he found his nexus, and spare himself the bees.

About 2 hours and 12 jars of Mud, Highly advanced monofluid, he smelled a lot like basil and a bee was tapping on the window. But as he looked down he saw a vibrant green patch of basil paste softly glowing on his right breast. The glowing faded as the mana stopped flowing out.

“[Minor Restoration]” He intoned

The glow reappeared, stayed for a couple of seconds and began to fade. He has found it. It was a rather unusual place to have a nexus and was going to be painful to complete his blooding. His mother had hers in the palm of her dominant hand and still has a small scar from the incision. It may have been true that the hand was a more convenient place to condense magic from but...

“[Minor Restoration]” He said again, just to see the glow. He was doing magic. ‘Not really, but it made stuff glow and that counted in his book’

The palm may have made for easier skin contact close to the nexus but a skilled mage learned how to condense magic from any part of his body so he wasn't worried.

‘Except for the pain, damit’ Yeah, he was not looking forward to having a pea-sized rock pressed against his lung.

Excerpt From “Graduate William Al-Shinefold’s The Blooding - Magic Ritual And Dangers: 1218 MD”

Chapter 1 (The bit Chris didn't read)

Should the participant fail to grasp there mana [Greater Restoration] is advised to prevent mageburn. The blooding can then be repeated at a later date. This does not come without other dangers, such as the possibility of an impure mana crystal failing and in rare cases exploding. Honey based crystals are ill-advised as they contain many impurities. Beast generated or sugar glass crystals should be used if the nexus is located in a sensitive area.

Do not attempt this at home as MAC’s can be dangerous, even a rabbit could break a bone or crush skulls. Supervision from a Tier 3 Graduate or higher is advised. Make sure they possess the T2 Spell [Greater Restoration] to counteract mageburn.