Magic is one of the more complicated powers in the game, so I'll give a rundown on what will be taught at the magic institute

Magic: Magic is utilizing outside energies of the elements or other sources that is absorbed into the body through concentration and exposure and directing that energy on the world around you. Thanks to the gifts, all sentient beings have the preternatural ability to accumulate small amounts of magic into their bodies through constant exposure to the element they are gifted in. For instance a man with the gift of fire who becomes a blacksmith would have a lot of exposure to fire and thus be able to use it in ways that people would not normally be able too, or at least manipulate fire and forge weapons easier. This concept is amplified through magical study. Those who remove the gift from themselves and relearn how to absorb energy would be able to draw from their surroundings as a whole, not just the element they were once gifted in. this is why Witches and Wizards who use magic like to stay in areas where the type of magic they need to use is available.
With meditation and focus, a trained magic user can draw in energy from the elements around him/her faster than if they are just being near it. However in order to access this power, they have to be able to speak their words of power.
WORDS OF POWER: It is a sentence in an dead language that describes who the character really is as a person, by understanding yourself fully you can draw on the energy you have accumulated and use it for your purpose, that is if you are trained in manipulating magic.
TRAINING: Even if you learn your words of power, which requires days of meditation, if you attempt to weild the magic without training the only thing that will happen is all the magic you have accumulated will seep through your fingers like water, proper mental control, word usage, mental imaging, items of power, ingredients, time of day, surroundings, and many other factors are needed for magic to work properly. the more powerful the spell, the greater the need for everything to be perfect. Masters that have gone through trial and error and learned from spirits have put their findings in books and tomes that can be read and taught at the magic institute or other places of learning magic. 
Combat magic: For spells you can access on the fly during battle, you need magical items designed to use a specific spell. These items can be wands, rings, jewelry, clothing, weapons, anything and everything. The design, shape, materials, incantations, steps, and place the item was created affect how the item performs and what it does. Like how Gifts funnel what kind of magic can be utilized, these objects are designed to focus the energy you put into it in a specifically programmed power. as long as the item remains in tact and is undamaged it will function properly, but if it is broken the magic will seep out of it and make the item barren.
NOTE: An item must be approved by me before you make it in the R.P, and their is a limit to one power per item, you can meld abilities with several items if your well trained, but that takes more energy than just using one item. Also, if you use another persons item or a magical relic, it will not yield to you as well as your own item would.
Familiars: animals and people working for you can gain magical ability from you in the same manner as magical items (this is in large part how GIFTS came about, you are born a Familiar to a god or dragon, and are bound to them till you break that bond), they are called Familiars and draw on some of your magic to protect you during long distance spells or help you during battles.

Long distance magic: The use of materials, rooms, cauldrons, voodoo dolls, glyphs, magical circles and Séances are all ways of making powerful spells work over long distances. They require a lot of preparation and accumulated magical power, and a mess up can cost the user his supernatural ability for quite a while, but if done right the affects can be quite staggering. if you want to do one of these spells, it is best to do it in a well hidden and/or protected area so people cannot tamper with the spell, if they do it could cost you everything.

Potions/alchemy: Similar to long distance magic and magical items, Potions are complex and powerful brews of magic that require a lot of prep work and proper conditions. Each and every ingredient in the potion must be raised and enchanted under the right circumstances like individual magical items and prepared for the actual act of potion making. The steps must be followed to the letter in order for the potion to work properly, and like magical items, your own ingredients will work better than another persons. Even the pot and fire used to cook the potion must be exact, or the desired effect will be tainted. These potions can accomplish all manner of things, from reviving a person from near death, changing their appearance, making someone super strong, longevity, go to sleep, the gift of flight, turn you into a vampire...I could go on and on, they are good for support magic and even crucial as part of a larger spell. Potion work is a craft all on its own and requires a studious and meticulous person to handle it. Standard potions are commercialized and are sold in markets, illegal potions are sold on the black market

Sorcery: With proper potions and conditions, a person can travel into the spirit world, using the accumulated magic they possess along with added benifits from items and potions to keep themselves tethered to the world. There they can either make a pact and become the familiar of great spirits, or subdue weaker spirits to become their familiars. It is a dangerous and illegal practice, it is vary easy to loose yourself in the spirit world, and a hoard of spirits can come into your uninhabited body and take it over, wreaking havoc on the mortal world. Those who successfully practice sorcery can access the spiritual powers of light and darkness, which are purer and more powerful than elemental magic, but at the cost of being detached from your own people and potentially loosing your body

Necromancy: the use of dead bodies to create vessals for a sorcerers familiars, making zombies and powerful Litches (Undead Magic users with phenomenal powers and high intelligence), the Necromancer is constantly under threat of being overpowered by his/her minions and must maintain a high level of Magical ability at all times.

I have a question, about the Magus Institute, by different kinds of magic does that mean the basic elements like water, earth, wind, etc., or does it mean special kinds of magic like say controling shadows?

Yes the acceptable forms of magic are based on the elements. Shadows would be dark magic obviously, so if your character were studying this he would have to be doing it in secret or with a shady teacher. If you need any help making a character though I.M me what you got and we can bounce Ideas off each other

Player's name: Unfortunate10

Characters name: Malice

Gender: Female

Race: Dark Elf

Age: Stopped at age 37

Guild/job: Malice is a dragon tamer, although only inferior dragons are able to be captured.

Intelligence: Although Malice is cunning, she tends to think brutally. She is always thinking about the current situation, and what could happen afterwards.

Goals: Her goal is to rid the realm of her enemies.

Speech pattern: Most of her speech is well thought- out. She loves to sound sophisticated. Malice will usually never speak unless spoken to. When spoken to, she seems kind.
 
Language: Multi-lingual, most fluent in Eyowin.

Back story: Malice was once a hated elf. The reason for that is she hated everyone. She expressed this hate by dark and dragon-related magic. She was banned at age 20. Malice found a small group of other banned elves, and joined them for survival. That group is now quite large, and prone to guerilla attacks and thefts. She was granted the privelage of taming dragons. Her life was taken by a "Witch Eater" dragon. Fortunately, her body has contracted the energy from the Witch Eater, and was preserved during the attack. Dark magic has been used to give Malice's body a conscience. It doesn't matter what race her enemies are. She tends to be calm. Her soul is the only thing that contains her rage; an elf spy "poisoned" the artificial soul. Her fury is quite fearful, but it is difficult to provoke her. Her skills include dragon riding and dragon magic. It is hard not to learn these skills when you spend so much time with dragons.

Friends, lovers, and Family: Her family resents Malice for her actions. Her family is likely in an army, rady to attack her. She never forgets an enemy. The list is much too long to state in a normal conversation, though. Malice has dark elf friends only.

Appearance: She wears armor and carries a spear to control dragons. Malice loves weapons, especially ones that have magic imbedded in it. Her armor is actually heavy. As a result, she is physically stronger than other dark elves.

Skills and abilities: Close-quarters combat with a spear.

Gifts and Soul: Her gift of electricity is quite useful when taking dragons out of the sky. The electricity is paralyzing, not fatal. Her magic is in her weapon and armor only. She cannot use magic, though. Malice's strong soul is a result of the artificial conscience.

I like your work, what gave you the idea to gender swap though?

Im good, since it was a misunderstanding n'stuff

Clearly I never saw that post, or I would of posted myself, as I had mentioned in the previous posts. however you confirmed that you were threatening to remove me

just answer me this, do you want me to keep going or do you want me to go

cause I will NOT have someone keep me on my toes like I did something wrong when all this was was a miss-communication

*gets mad and starts a flame war*

(below characters are going to be appearing in the R.P, If you want to take one of these characters as your own, or if you want me to help you make your own character, P.M me the request)
Boiolaro:
Gender: Male
age: 15
Race: Human
Guild: Magus institute
Intelligence: Above average, intuitive, hands on learner
Goals: To get a high ranking political position in the Council that advises Arcadian royalty
Speech pattern: Slight Peasant drawl, sophisticated vocabulary
Backstory: He used to live in a remote peasant village outside of Arcadia's borders, but his friendship with some goblins gave him insight into magic at an early age. When his superstitious community discovered his practice in rudimentary magics, they kicked him out of the village. he ended up going to archadia and started stealing for food, using what he learned to aid him, he ended up being caught by a Teacher at the Magic institute and was taken in as a scholarship student. He now wants to prove himself and get into politics, but he has a hard time kicking his peasant drawl.
Language: Common,
Friends, Lovers, and Family: He does not speak with his parents, (insert friends later), he has a girlfriend Chysiceli
Appearance: Red hair, average hight, baby faced

Skills and abilities: While his natural gifts arent all that, He has dedicated himself to the persuit of magic, and he is quite adapt in potion work and magic you learn hands on

Chysiceli:
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Race: Human
Guild: Magic institute
Inteligence: Extreamly smart with books, bad with people
Goals: To Become a full time reasercher in the Glorious library in the Castle
Speech pattern: Clipped, a little pompous sounding, can be vulnerable
Language: Common
Backstory: She has always loved reading, and when she got tested for NMA (natural magical ability) she was thrilled that she was qualified to attend. Her parents were tentitive with her joining, but when they learned that she could get high political offices, they warmed up to the idea:
Appearance: Glasses, taller than average, black hair

Family, lovers and Friends: Mother Laroret and Father Asicnem, she and Boiolaro are in a boyfriend girlfriend relationship, though its secret from her family

Cosilylois:
Gender: Male
Age: 14
Race: Halfling (elf/Human)
Guild: Warrior guild
inteligence: off the wall, weirdly wise
Goals: To be the first Part human Brigade leader in the knights
Speach pattern: Heavy elvish accent, giggly
Language: Elvish, Common with Elvish accent
Backstory: His mother was an elf that was thrown out of her tribe for practicing dragonian magic, she fell in love with a Bounty hunter and had a kid with him, that kid was Cosilylois. He is half elf, so he has some of their innate capibilities, including floating in the air and has a natural inclination to water magic, but he also is part human, but the curse of humanity seems to of been lessened on him, he looks a lot younger than he is. He is not as strong as other boys, but he is fast and and extreamly agile especially in the air, he joined the warrior guild on his 14 birthday to earn some cash for the folks, but he also wants to proove himself so he can get into the entrance exams for the Brigades of the Arcadian knights.
Friends, lovers and family: His father is older now, his mom looks the same age as when he met her, most kids were to afraid of the floating halfling to befriend him, though he is sort of a mascot of the Warrior guild now, sort of entertaining and decent in a fight.