[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Manifesting at puberty correlates with other significant changes in the human body, which is probably why it is popular. In an East Asian style magical system, one should considered Yin and Yang. The magical training of women would seek to strengthen their connection to Yin (Metal and Water) while the magical training of men would seek to strengthen their connection to Yang (Fire and Wood), with the connection to Earth being equally important.

For example, you could have magicians taking up to Magery 4. For women, Magery 0 would give them access to Earth, Magery 1 to Metal, Magery 2 to Water, Magery 3 to Wood, and Magery 4 to Fire. For men, Magery 0 would give them access to Earth, Magery 1 to Wood, Magery 2 to Fire, Magery 3 to Metal, and Magery 4 to Water.

When children would first manifest their Magery, they would manifest the connection to Earth, though naturally more talented mages would manifest more difficult elements. A girl whe manifested Fire or a boy who manifested Water would be recognized as quite gifted, and would likely be given patronage to allow them to perfect their magic. Conversely, most mages would only manifest Earth, so they would likely only receive training in the local market village.

No. That doesn't work. What ability can be accessed depends on Sorcerous Empowerment (if they have it) otherwise they'd be stuck with a handful of spells they started with.