"And now…you are one of those Descendants."
"You speak as though that much wasn't obvious." Caster remarked rudely only to receive a knock on the head.
"A Wolf of Royal bloodline you may be, but as your teacher, I demand you show some respect." Thorne said coldly as he looked down on Caster.
"..." Caster looked back at the older wolf with a bit of unwillingness; however, a snort from the elder seemed to have him grovelling on the floor.
"The fault might be from your abrupt awakening without prior knowledge and training, however, that is no excuse." Thorne said coolly and retracted his aura.
"There are nine stages. In the world of Elaria, magic is an inherent part of all living beings, and their strengths are categorised into three major stages, each divided into three minor stages. These stages reflect the level of mastery and power a being possesses."
"For humans, the Major Stages are Novice, Mage and Archmage. The Novice is then divided into Apprentice, Adept and Practitioner. The Mage is divided into Aspirant, Sorcerer and Wizard. The final Realm, the Archmage, is further divided into Grandmaster, Sage and Magister."
"Since that's the case for Humans, and you've mentioned that Werewolves are neither Humans nor beasts, what's the classification we use?" Caster asked, and to his question, Thorne nodded with an impressed expression.
"I was getting to it. Good question though." He said. "For the beasts, their Major Stages are the Feral, Savage and Primal. The Feral stage is divided into Cub, Juvenile and Adult. The Savage stage is divided into Hunter, Predator and Alpha, and finally the last stage, the Primal Stage is divided into Elder Beast, Ancient Beast and Primordial Beast."
"From their names, are Beasts stronger than Humans?" Caster asked.
"Not at all. Those are just names. A magister and a primordial Beast are still in the same level of power. However, several factors affect their battle prowess." Thorne replied.
"Several factors?"
"Don't worry too much about that. As you grow stronger, you'll come to understand."
"Alright then. How about Werewolves? Are our classification similar to that of beasts?"
"No." Thorne replied curtly. "The Werewolves stages are Awakening stage, Ascendance and Eclipse. For the Awakening stage, there are Newborn, Lunar Initiate and Moonlit Warrior. The Ascendance stage is further divided into Lunar Hunter, Lunarch and finally Ascendant. As for the Last stage…Eclipse."
Thorne paused when he got to this stage and Caster could feel his emotions all over the place. 'He's sad.' he thought, but as though those emotions were a lie, they immediately disappeared as Thorne puffed out his chest proudly and continued.
"The Eclipse stage is divided into the Blood moon Sage…which I happen to be, The Champion, and finally the Moon bound Sovereign."
"Hmm." Caster only nodded with a hum as Thorne finished.
"Wha- What's with the lacklustre reaction?!" Thorne cried out. "I'll have you know that as its name states, the Eclipse stage is a stage that eclipses all other realms below it."
"Is that not the same for the Archmage and Primal Beasts?" Caster asked with an innocent and confused expression.
"Eh..? Well, yeah, but no! An Archmage and a Primal Beast may all have touched upon the Pinnacle of Magic, but Unlike the Eclipses of our Tribe, they still remain bound by their race."
"And as we're neither Humans nor Beasts, we're not?"
To Caster's question, Thorne shook his head and corrected. "As we're both Human and Beasts, we surpass them in all aspects."
"Is that the same for the Dragon and Phoenix?" Caster asked and he nodded.
"The Dragon and Phoenix races are as unique as we are. At their peak Just like how a Sovereign is bound to the moon, making them Eternal, A Phoenix becomes Eternal and truly unlikable; The Celestial Phoenix. As for the Dragon they become unrestrained by time and are thereby Timeless and Ancient."
"..." Caster's face scrunched up as he tried to make meaning out of what Thorne just said. To him, things like Eternal and Timeless were concepts he couldn't truly grasp.
"I've told you, all will be revealed as you grow." Thorne said, as he felt Caster's confusion.
"Oh…Then, what stage am I at now?"
"You? You're already a full fledged Warrior with the knowledge of a newborn Awakened." Thorne replied while looking at Caster with a pitiful expression.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that despite how strong your Magic is, you'll be beaten in less than a second by a 6 year old newborn." Thorne replied.
"I don't understand."
"From birth, every werewolf is considered Awakened. They're trained to fight as soon as their bones are strong enough and are taught theoretical knowledge as soon as they can speak." Thorne said and looked at Caster meaningfully.
"And I got none of those."
"It's good that you have a bit of self awareness." Thorne nodded.
"At the age of six, every Newborn is expected to have Awakened their Magic and on their Sixteenth birthday, they are expected to consciously transform into a werewolf, signalling the completion of their Awakening Stage." Thorne explained.
"You, on the other hand, skipped all these stages while unconsciously and forcefully transforming into a werewolf on your sixteenth birthday." Thorne said sadly.
"From your expression…that's bad..?"
"Hmm." Thorne hummed in acknowledgement. "You made the right decision not to go back to the human village. If you had, I'm afraid you would've become a murderer."
"Huh?"
"At the moment, your magical energy is chaotically running around your energy channels. This could lead to any one of your abilities suddenly going into a hyper mode."
"And that could lead to me going berserk…"
*Clap!* Thorne clapped in excitement. "It's good that you're following."
"So we'll be training to get these energies in control, right?"
"Hmm…that and more."
"More?"
"Yeah. What? Did you think that with you regaining control, everything's over?" Thorne asked and scoffed disdainfully. "I came down to this area due to feeling the surge of your magic upon awakening. Do you think I'm the only one?"
"Huh..? I'm in danger?"
"Ehhh. Not the kind of danger you're probably thinking of, but yes. You are in danger." Thorne replied.
"Then why are we still here?" Caster asked as he stood up in haste. "We have to get out of here."
"Have you forgotten what I said earlier about this place?" Thorne asked with a smile. "This is one of the many places where the abundant magical energies of Elaria converge. As long as we remain here.."
"We're Hidden from the outside eyes." Caster completed the statement as his emotions gradually calmed down.
"Well then…shall we begin?"
"I feel like you've said that before." Caster murmured only to receive another knock from Thorne.
"I was talking about the training this time."