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The Four Steps Mike Renner on 2009-06-22 @ 00:06:17 The art of magic is something most people can do, even instinctually. The idea behind using a magical ability is to create an effect using an element and one's mana, and once you've done that, you have the wait a certain amount of time before you can use your mana again. Some people can do it repeatedly, others need to pick and choose when they can use their magic. Around a hundred years ago, during the so-called "Magic Revolution" that gave us things like trains, magisters in the Magic Council began to theorize that the use of magic took place in four steps. The magisters broke down how to cast a magic spell into four steps. The first step is called "Bonding", sometimes called "Assimilation", and very rarely called "Calling". This is the step where the user prepares the element they're going to use, in other words, one of the Eight Powers. Every person has a single element they naturally specialize in, known as their affinity, but mana can be used with more than just the affinity. This is due to mana's malleable nature, but most people can't adeptly use more than one element, and very few can specialize in more than two. Aside from Seraphinia Whitewind, it's almost unheard of for anyone to adeptly use more than three elements. The second step is called "Internalization", which is rarely referred to as "Empowerment". This is the act of focusing a person's inner power (mana) in their body. This is frequently done through motions and movements that the user does in order to create the focus in the user's mind. However, some particularly focused people can do without such heavy-handed motions. The idea of this step is to move the body's mana to the point where it's needed. The third step is called "Externalization", or basically, just the act of the spell itself. This is the obvious effect of a magical ability, it's what we can see with our eyes. The ability takes the shape, in the element of our choice, into whatever we want it to be. Perhaps it takes the shape of a flaming sword, or perhaps just a mound of sand. Some people will focus on externalizing their element to the point that they only require minimal amounts of effort and mana to maintain the ability. The water sword technique passed down through the Yamamoto family of Terra is one such example of a sustained externalization. The fourth and final step is called "Cooldown", which is the period in which the user's mana "resets". It basically means that a user has to allow a brief period of time to elapse before they can use another spell. This period depends from person to person, but can be improved through more constant use of magic. Some rare magic users don't experience cooldown at all, but most do. Mastery of these four steps is required to become a powerful mage. |