"So what are the five other schools?" Greg didn't try and argue. Instead, he once again focused on his initial question.
"The first and most straightforward is the school of the elements," Olivia answered. "Here you can find mages that deal with all kinds of elements. From common elements like fire mages, water mages, wind mages, and earth mages. To rare elements like light mages, shadow mages, time mages, and space mages. To more esoteric elements like lightning mages, sound mages, blood mages, ash mages, and the like," Olivia spoke. "If you want a deeper dive than that, you'll need to speak to your teacher," She went on.
"Next on the list is the school of body and mind. Under this school, you'll find three major groups of mages. The first is those with abilities that lean more toward the mind. Oracles, dream-delvers, illusionists, memory seers and erasers, mind controllers, and so on. The second group in this school uses magic to reinforce their bodies and physical abilities. Here you'll find mages with superhuman strength, and speed. Mages with bodies that are invulnerable to almost any kind of physical damage. Mages with senses so sharp that they can observe the pattern on the wings of a fly from fifty miles away. Mages with bodies so malleable, they can squeeze through a keyhole and so on. The final group in this school of magic is the bloodline mages," She stated. "These are mages that combine their bloodlines with those of one or more magical creatures," She explained. "You were wondering what the monster essence blood was, weren't you?" She asked, reminding Greg of this section of the magic shop that he hadn't been all too sure about. "A successful fusion of bloodlines can grant the individual some of the abilities of the creatures whose bloodlines they have fused with, things like longevity, the ability to recover from certain magical maladies, access to various kinds of magic that humans have no access to like draconic magic and so on," She explained.
"The third school of magic is the school of summoners and beast tamers. Both deal with magical creatures, the only difference is where they get them from. For a beast tamer, they have to be in the same plane as the beast that they hope to tame. A beast tamer on this plane can't hope to tame an abyssal creature or an elemental from the elemental plane and so on. A summoner, on the other hand, is only limited by the plane they are in. A summoner on this plane can summon creatures from the abyssal plane but not from this plane. If they were to cross over to the abyssal plane, then they'd be able to summon creatures from this plane but not from the abyssal plane. Both groups have their strengths and drawbacks. Beast taming isn't as easy or as fast as summoning, especially for stronger beasts. However, once a beast is tamed, the bond can last a lifetime. On the other hand, while a summoner can instantly summon a creature from other planes, with very few exceptions, most summoned beasts can't stay long on the plane that they are summoned to. If anything, the stronger the creature, the shorter the amount of time it can stay on a foreign plane," She explained. "Once again, you'll learn more from your healer," Olivia informed him.
"Are you a summoned creature?" Greg couldn't help but ask at this point. Olivia had only come into existence through the system after Greg bought her. This naturally caused Greg to wonder about her origins. Greg wouldn't have any problems with her even if it turned out that she was indeed a summoned creature. His only worry was that she would be banished from this plane after some time if she was indeed summoned.
A smile spread on the familiar's lips at this question. "Unlike beast tamers whose ability to tame creatures is dependent more on skill and their affinity with the said creature, summoners rely on the strength of their soul. The stronger the creature they wish to summon, the more powerful their soul has to be before they succeed," Although it wasn't a direct answer to his question, Greg didn't interrupt the familiar. The more he learned about each of the different schools of magic, the better as far as he was concerned. "That's why summoners are simultaneously the class of mages with the most powerful souls and also the class with the most soul injuries. Along with their magic spells, summoners have to train their soul strength in order to lessen the burden of summoning. If they were to summon a creature that their soul can not anchor to this plane, their souls may fracture under the strain. Other soul-related issues like fragmentation, dissipation, and corruption are also commonplace among summoners," Olivia explained.
"To answer your question directly," She continued. "If I was a summoned creature, then you wouldn't have anywhere near the soul strength required to summon me," she stated. "Just the attempt would shatter your soul into a million pieces," She added. Greg understood this to be her saying that someone without magic couldn't possibly summon a creature with the strength of a mage of the second tier. Little did he know that even if he was at the same tier as his healer, Alena, he still wouldn't be able to summon Olivia's original. At tier eight, depending on how powerful his soul was, he had some slim chance of doing it, but not without a very nasty backlash afterward. Only at tier nine would he be able to confidently make that attempt and not fear an almost crippling backlash afterward. Olivia, however, didn't try and correct the misunderstanding. She just calmly continued with her lecture.
"The fourth school of magic is the school of life and death. The members of this school do not see eye to eye, almost as much as those of the final school. As far as they are concerned, they should be in two different schools. On the life side of this school are the healers. Possibly one of the most revered branches of magic. Whether it be natural diseases, physical injuries, magical maladies, accidents in the practice of magic, dark magic like curses and hexes, or even diseases that affect magical creatures, no matter what issue it is you are facing, having a powerful healer in your corner may mean the difference between life and death," Olivia explained. "Something I'm sure you can attest to," She added with a smile. Greg couldn't argue. The only reason he was currently breathing was exactly because he'd been attended to by a powerful healer. If, instead, Greg had only had an average healer to help him, he very much doubted he would have still been alive.
"On the death side of this school are the necromancers," Olivia continued with her answer. "They that have the power to call to souls that have crossed over to the beyond and to raise the bodies of the dead. That can call on to the power of death and decay to fight on their behalf," She stated. A look of confusion crossed Greg at the familiar's words. In his mind, try as he would, he could not see how healers and necromancers could be lumped together. It might sound poetic to speak of the school of life and death, but how exactly could someone that cures diseases and one who deals with death be grouped together?
His confusion wasn't missed by Olivia and she spoke to it. "Like you, many have been confused by how these two groups could fall under the same school of magic. And like I said before, many of the members of both groups believe that they should be in two different schools. Towards this age-old dispute, however, the only thing I'll say on it is that life and death are more intertwined than most people know or are willing to admit," She offered cryptically. "To be a good healer, one must become intimately acquainted with death. One must find out all the ways that death can claim the living and then figure out how to counter it. To be a great necromancer, one must study the mysteries of life and death and try to breathe a new kind of life into those that have already lost their first one," she went on. "At your level, it would be very hard for you to understand any of what I've just said. However, if you pursue any of the branches in this school of magic far enough, you'll quickly come to find out that the line between life and death isn't as well defined as you might have otherwise thought," She laid out.
"While the members of the school of life and death may not see eye to eye, there is no inherent hatred between the two groups. Healers and necromancers may not eat and drink at the same table. You won't, however, find healers hunting necromancers, or necromancers targeting healers in particular," she explained. "The same, however, can't be said of the final school of magic," She went on. "The school of sorcery and faith magic is a contentious one that has centuries of bloody history to it. What sets this school apart from the other schools is that rather than using their own innate magic, the members of this school of magic call on powers beyond this plane to grant them the power they need. These powers can be gods, devils, good or evil, sentient or not, it hardly matters. So long as they grant some form of power, you will find someone somewhere that calls to them," Olivia explained.
Greg couldn't help his shock and disbelief. Given that this was a world of magic, it shouldn't have been that much of a leap of logic for there to be religions and other such things here. Heck, religion had been there in the more mundane world that he'd left behind in his previous life. To hear of gods and devils should have been much less shocking than Greg was currently finding it. And yet, somehow, he couldn't help but ask, "Are there really gods in this world?" he questioned.
A smile crossed Olivia's lips as she considered the question for a while. "I suppose only a seventh tier or above priest or priestess can fully answer that question in a satisfactory manner," She said. "Though to be honest, it might be pointless to ask. I don't think anyone that has gotten that far by believing in a certain entity will turn around and tell you that they don't exist. Conflict of interest and all that," She continued in an amused manner. "What I can tell you, however," Olivia spoke up, all the humor and levity completely leaving her voice. "Is that there are powerful forces out there that you would do well to tread carefully around if not completely avoid," She stated. "Just drawing the attention of some of these entities may spell out disaster for you. It may even be enough to do you in," Olivia cautioned in a grave tone. Greg could see it in her eyes that she was being dead serious. Clearly, it didn't matter what Greg did or did not believe, to try and poke at the unknown would be a very dangerous and foolish thing for him to do.
"The members of this school who serve more benign powers are often referred to as priests and priestesses, or sorcerers and sorceresses if they are not part of an organized religion. If, however, the entity that they serve is malevolent, then the word dark is added before their title. As such, if you hear that someone is either a dark priest or a dark sorcerer, you should probably keep your distance. Ninety percent of that lot is bad news," Olivia advised.
"This school is less reliant on spells and focuses more on prayers and rituals. Just because you don't see them slinging spells, however, doesn't make them weak in the least," She cautioned. "An exclusive of this school is the ability to cast boons and blessings, hexes and curses on objects and living beings. They also happen to be the only school that can cast spells on targets that aren't presently before them or anywhere close by. So long as they have an item that belongs to you, they can easily sic the entity they worship on you, and if it's powerful enough, then even if you are three continents away, they can target you," She stated. "It's a lucky thing that that type of magic ritual requires a very large offering before it succeeds. Otherwise the members of this school would be quite the menace," She added, more to herself than for Greg's benefit.
"Anyway, that briefly sums up the five schools," the familiar once again turned her attention to Greg. "Anything else you want to know?" She asked.
Greg was silent for a long time as he mauled over all that he'd just learned. Olivia didn't try to rush him, quietly giving him space to sort through it all. After a few long minutes had passed, Greg concluded that he still didn't as yet know enough about the different schools to favor one over the others. The only school that he could dismiss right from the start was the final school of sorcery and faith magic. Greg had taken heed of his familiar's warning and didn't look down on those who practiced this school of magic. He, however, didn't want to have his power depend on the whims of some outside entity. If he was to be powerful, it would be through his own efforts and abilities.
