Keys of Divinity Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Ultimecia was the 'big evil bad' of Final Fantasy, and her main title being the Goddess of Time was a good reminder of the fact that even before she got access to ALL of the magic systems of the Final Fantasy extended universe. She could still bend the reality of time and space at will.

In the couple of days I had been here at the Foundation, I had already seen dozens of gods, world breakers, and people with the power to end countless lives. But this Ultimecia screamed danger to my senses beyond anything else I had remotely felt.

And I had already seen a Planet Breaker Hulk who was walking arm in arm with an Absolute Wonder Woman. 

"Magic... Magic comes in all forms, and all of whom are at the most dangerous to the user if they are fools." Ultimecia spoke with a husky velvet voice that tickled my ears.

The classroom was filled with dozens of other students. Some of whom I could recognize from various different universes. Especially other Final Fantasy universes and Slice of Life universes.

Ultimecia's gaze wandered over our forms before she continued to speak. "My name is Ultimecia. I was a 'bad' Ultimecia and was redeemed via the Foundation's care after my calculations in pulling the timeline into a paradox led to my mind breaking and I almost destroyed my own universe in doing so."

"While many civilizations say the Math is the universal language. I very much disagree. Magic is the language to bend reality to your own will at a cost of your own choosing."

Ultimecia shifted as she folded her arms under her rather exposed breasts due to her very open dress before she continued. "But other magic systems are not why we are here. The Final Fantasy Multiverse's magic system may not outwardly be the 'strongest,' but it has the lowest point of entry."

A clatter rang out, and across every single desk in the classroom was what looked like one of those weekly pill containers so old people could keep track of the pills they were supposed to take and on what day.

In each of the closed-over containers was a glowing crystal orb which I recognized as materia. With Ultimecia confirming my speculation as she explained.

"I am merely here to teach the primer for the various 'forms' of magic. Though I admit I also have little interest in teaching Time manipulation spells, as too many people have managed to kill themselves or invite some horror beyond space and time into the Foundation."

"Now, each of these orbs is called materia, and while they are a wonderful little crutch for muscle-headed fools to augment their swords to explode on command. They are wonderful for allowing a novice to understand what kind of magic calls to them innately."

A loud crack rang out followed by a yell as some dumbass across the class had already opened up the box of materia and had managed to electrocute himself.

Ultimecia literally didn't even glance in their direction as she continued to speak in a calm measured tone.

"Magic in the Final Fantasy System can be said to follow a more 'class' based magic alignment. People learning the magic will naturally fall more into a certain class of magic use, rather than merely being good with just 'fire' spells for example. No, they will almost certainly, in that case, be good with all Elemental or Black Magic. While also being notably less talented with Healing or White Magic."

"These Materia in front of you are based on the most common magic classes. And based on how they react when you ONLY lay your palm atop them and don't remove them from the isolating magic chamber they are within. We can easily see where you would learn at least the quickest."

Ultimecia then lazily waved towards us and said calmly. "Now, I suggest you open up the isolation boxes and see which materia orb calls to you. And once you find the orb type you are most suited for. Write it down, and tomorrow you will have a teacher specialized in that field teaching you." 

The first orb was the Elemental Orb, which was obviously related to black magic, the second orb was the Status orb which went along with healing, buffing, and debuffing magic. Next was the Summoning Orb, Then Blue Mage orb which consisted of using bloodline/biological magic spells mostly copied from monsters.

And so on and so forth.

The first few orbs gave me a rather sharp shock which I took as being. Don't fucking touch me without using your Keyblade as a conduit.

Then, as I touched the Time Orb, it didn't feel like I was being tased, or in the case of the Summoning Orb. A feeling of violation in the form of some invisible tongues going over the back of my neck.

Instead, it just felt right, like my hand on the orb was surrounded in a glove with the Time Orb sliding out of the container as I pulled back my hand without even closing my hand around the orb at all.

I raised up my other hand to get Ultimecia's attention and her bored gaze fell on me with her naturally seeing how I was holding up the Time Orb without it turning to dust or something.

"Go ahead... Jake Bariss, you had a question?" 

I nodded and asked respectfully. "The Time Orb seems to fit me best; at least it hasn't caused me any pain or anything. But is it normal for it to stick to my hand like this?" 

Ultimecia gave a raised eyebrow before saying. "It is merely a sign that you are well attuned to that class of magic in particular. I recommend for your own safety that you start learning the Gravity, Slow, and Silence spells in particular. Once you master those three, the rest of the magical spells and branching out will be far easier."

I nodded before jumping slightly as a thick magical tome landed on my desk, with Ultimecia being called by other braver students who after seeing me speak up to the scary-ass mage took their own turns asking questions.

And looking through the tome for the next good few minutes, I realized why she advised me to start with those three spells in particular. Time magic wasn't just about manipulating 'time' itself. It was about manipulating reality itself in it's totality.

Time magic covered BOTH space and time. But also the manipulation of reality itself as was shown in the Silence spell. It wasn't a spell that made someone unable to speak to be unable to cast magic.

No, its whole point was to point at someone and go. 'Yeah, no magic or magical skills from you.' It was a total denial of someone elses ability to cast magic that was based on forcing reality to accept that fact.

It wasn't a 'curse' from the Status magic class type. It was literally specifically telling reality that that person I didn't like wasn't allowed to play at the Wizard Duel game, and their mended butt crack needed to just go home and cry.