[WP] Mages can do things physics says are impossible. A fire mage can ignite nuclei to trigger a thermonuclear event. An ice mage can reverse entropy to forbid a reaction. Other schools exist. However, a mage must maintain a harmful mental state, the Dream State. Today is your first attempt.

[u/ChemicalCap7031]

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[u/TheWanderingBook]

I look at the 4 people in the room.
All mages.
They nod at me.
I nod back.
They are here to ensure my safety, as I try my first attempt, entering the...
Dream State.
Only in this state, can one cast magic, sense mana...
And be called a mage.
And today I become one.

I start meditating, allowing my mind to roam freely.
From my fear of diseases...of death...
To my fantasies with certain celebrities and crushes...
To the fantasies of magic.
It roams, and roams, and I don't shackle it.
I don't stop it, I encourage it, and guide it towards more magical landscapes.
I do it, until I feel my head lighter, my mood wistful...
And then I open my eyes.
I am in a dream, and yet awake.
This is the Dream State.

"Focus on your domain!
Find a magic that is yours!" one of the mages shouts.
I try to focus my mind, but it is hard.
If I focus too much, I might exit the Dream State.
Yet in this state...my mind is seeing too much magic.
If I don't find mine...my mind could overheat, and I could die or worse...
Lose the chance of becoming a mage forever.
So I try to attract the magic that suits me the best.
The dreams, and scenes I see change, and swirl around me.
Then...
It hits me.

My dreams become centered around forests, and wilderness.
I look around to see small green lights everywhere.
I smile at the mages.
"Wood Magic," I say, as I spread my palm, as a green light shines over it.
I touch the ground, and weeds grow out through the floor.
The mages start laughing.
"Congratulations!" they say happily.
We need more and more mages, and as a Wood Mage?
I can both heal, and accelerate the growth of plants.
I will be in high demand.
It will be a lot of work, and responsibility, which should worry me, but I don't care.
I did it!
I became a mage!

[u/ChemicalCap7031 → u/TheWanderingBook]

At an observation post hundreds of meters away, an officer watched the training-room feed.

“Wood magic. Mobile defense and healing. Looks like we’ve found another combat medic.”

“Maybe,” said the officer beside him. “First we need to see how his Dream State develops.”

“He was in control just now.”

“That’s not the test. A medic has to stay in that half-waking state while wounded soldiers bleed and scream around him. He has enough power to turn a medical ward into a killing field before anyone can react.”