My eyes go through the book with evergrowing emotion.

Magic, or as we in the community call it: “The Art”, manifests in many and mostly subtle ways. You’ve probably read it in books before, with huge blasts of magical fire, or instant teleportation across hundreds of miles. All of that is true, and very possible, but also quite complicated to pull off without making yourself explode in the attempt. As I said before, I am here to stop you from exploding, so you have quite a lot to look forward to! The possibilities are almost literally infinite.

A very important concept that you must understand is that ALL spells, every single one of them, share 2 very specific characteristics:

* Communicative Intention: You will not see spells that just throw away energy for no reason. All spells can be translated to phrases or intentions of some sort. There is order to the bombastic chaos of The Art.

* Mystery: Spells always try to make themselves complicated to understand, they hide behind smoke and mirrors. Appearance and presentation are everything for a mage.

So, if you have been paying attention, it is clear that “Magic”is the art of communicating messages as clearly as possible, while at the same time keeping the mystery of its methods.

It’s all about shock and awe! And this gets some strange fellows to develop entire personas for their magical purposes. We may laugh a little at their rather unorthodox position but, we can’t deny how effective such things are, so never look down on a mage for their theatrics. Trust me, most of them have it very well calculated.

Finally I am getting to the interesting parts of it all. My pen moves so quickly as I make a few little notes on my own notebook while reading the context provided by Gato. If I am understanding this correctly, magic shouldn’t be too different to writing or talking, but I have to start getting used to talking in riddles!

“It’s all about trying to make yourself sound interesting and mysterious.”

“So all mages are pompous assholes then? Oh boy, what a headache.”

I guess it makes sense, if this ‘language of magic’ really is the root of it all, and people barely even know it is a language at all? With a few nods, I continue reading down.

Speaking of arts, The Art is not just named like that for no reason. Magic seems intrinsically tied to human passion, and there is no better way to let said passion out and seen than through art. So, having a good, basic knowledge of the 7 Fine Arts may prove useful to understand the ways in which magic manifests:

* Literature: The most well known kind of magic comes from the writing of runes and effects, forcing reality to accommodate.

* Music: In the same way, magic can flow from the emotions one can harvest from others or one’s self.

* Dancing: Physical movement and expression is a valid way to practice magic, if you learn the correct glyphs.

* Artisanry: Magical objects can be created and curated by experienced mages, Miracles in our world.

* Painting: There are those who use hue and colour to cast their spells using their own artistic languages.

* Architecture: The understanding of patterns, both in construction and in nature itself, is fundamental for the casting of some of the most complicated spells out there.

* Acting: Domain over one’s body and emotion can prove incredibly useful when using spells that rely on certain moods.

Always remember that these different Arts can be useful to classify the ways magic manifests, but they are only one way out of many.

I can feel my eyes widen as my brain suddenly expanded. So that’s why they call it ‘The Art’ then, huh? This only got me more into it, I can’t wait to start writing spells! I wonder if making them rhyme has any interesting effects on the spell itself… if they don’t know it is a language, maybe no one has tried writing poetry with it, hmmm?

“Focus on actually learning how to do things without exploding. That should be your priority, idiot.”

Sure, sure.

Saints above, my excitement knows no bounds. I can’t even focus on reading anymore! I have to tell someone!

I go straight to the messenger again… people are talking! Reading up, I realize they were welcoming this new person to the group… ‘Jeepers creepers man’.

“Well at least Mort is consistent.”

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Aaaaaaaa!

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Hey everyone! n.n

Jeepers creepers man: hi there Tav

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: hey Tav! have you met Mort yet?

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yeah, he’s nice :3

Jeepers creepers man: Gal couldn’t keep his excitement about his new friend group quiet and I demanded to be included

Jeepers creepers man: hope that doesn’t bother you

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: The more the merrier n.n

“You say that, but I bet if they tried to include Souseiseki here you’d be crying like a baby.”

Shut up.

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I started reading the book today! >w<

Jeepers creepers man: the book?

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: gato’s guide

Jeepers creepers man: oh shit that’s right, you only recently woke up right?

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yeah… n.nUu

I blink for a second, smacking my own face. That’s right, I am not supposed say stuff about that. Fortunately, Gal seems to be ready for me to screw up! But that does make me wonder, exactly how much did Gal tell Mort?

Then again, how much could Gal tell? I haven’t been saying much of myself or my situation beyond what’s required of me, I haven’t even mentioned the book I am supposed to translate!

Stolen story; please report.

Should I do that?

“The book said not to.”

“Maybe we can do it, but only if we are stuck. No need to take unnecessary risks!”

Maybe, maybe…

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: So magic is like Art in a lot of ways, hmmm? o.o

Jeepers creepers man: yep yep, or well, it’s like the act of creating and expressing.

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: so art? lol

Jeepers creepers man: no no, not necessarily?

Jeepers creepers man: i wouldn’t call what i do art at least heheheh

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: What do you work with, Mort? n.n

Jeepers creepers man: artifacts, mostly

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Artifacts? o.o

Jeepers creepers man: eyeup.

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: mort is a weaver, he makes magical items

Jeepers creepers man: some people call them miracles, but i feel that’s a bit conceited

Miracles, eh? I wonder if it is too hard to make magical items like that…

My eyes go back to the Guide. There’s so much more to cover, I can’t help but feel a bit excited about it.

“If only you were this intense and motivated when it came to your actual studies.”

The First Law

Also called “The Law of Contagious Magic”, or more recently simplified to “Law of Contagion”, it is a very simple concept: The Art spreads like fire on dry grass, and easily inspires those who see it. Being witness to a Magical Event has a 99% chance to brand you as a mage ready to be born*.

Ah hah! So it doesn’t happen at birth, you contract it, like a disease! A particularly cool disease but still a disease! I guess that’s why they call it the ‘Arcane Infection’ and all that.

But it always is talked about with such contempt! Do mages hate magic or something? Or maybe it is way more dangerous than I realize.

Reading down, I realize there are footnotes. Mustafá and Giovanni already have something to say, huh?

* I apologize for the note, but I feel it’s important to make a little addendum here. You need to be a Direct witness to magic for the Infection to affect you. Digital means won’t cut it. There, just that. Keep on, you’re doing great!! =)

Huh. I don’t even have time to wonder about that… why doesn’t it work with recordings? I guess that’s convenient, means that being caught on camera doesn’t mean the birth of several other mages. Maybe there’s an element of physicality to magic? Tiny microorganisms causing the power to flow in interesting ways or something?

“No midichlorians, please.”

Hey, I wouldn’t discard the idea if I were you.

Anyways. There’s another note under that one.

* Also, the possibility of being branded is only 90.7%. There are people naturally resistant to the infection, those we call “Savants”.

Now that’s some strange trivia. I guess that like any sickness, some people are simply more resistant to it.

Once you have been branded, it is a matter of a few days before your ideas turn into inspirations, and these are not always benign. Your thoughts will grow louder, especially the intrusive ones, and magical beings of all kinds (including your fellow mages) will start taking notice of your presence. Machinery will start to malfunction in your presence, or behave strangely*.

Machinery? I mean, I haven’t been close to any industrial kind of machinery but… ah, a note from Giovanni.

* Sorry, me again. This manual was written in 1930! So its references may be a little stale… electronics will also start behaving strangely around you, so be careful next time you get on a computer!

… Now I look at my laptop, warily. I haven’t experienced anything weird since I ‘woke up’, and I have been giving the old girl quite the use these days! If anything was to happen, it should have happened already!

The rules of reality will become looser around you, and that will bring all sorts of problems. Iron will acquire the properties of rubber but only for a second, the wind will whisper things, people will get headaches more often looking at you. That sort of thing.

All will culminate in an event we call “The Awakening”. An idea like none other will strike you, inspiration that feels heavenly, and in what will feel to you like a flash of light, you will catch a glimpse of The Tree of Origins. Specifically, a Rune on its bark. Congratulations, that is your first Rune! The first magical effect at your disposal.

Ah. That’s why. I woke up almost immediately after witnessing magic, so I probably didn’t have time to destroy my computer or anything around me. I didn’t live through the unstable period between witnessing and awakening… sad.

“What do you mean ’sad’!? You could have destroyed our computer! This was a lucky break, really!”

I guess so… but a part of me really wanted to live the whimsical period of magic a bit more.

“You’re an ungrateful slut.”

My eyes narrow again at the book… there was nothing wrong with it, so call me crazy for saying this, but: it feels like something is missing. As if an entire section of the book had been erased and the remaining parts had been folded together.

“That’s a very specific feeling.”

I told you, call me crazy! But that’s just how it feels to me…

So things are simple so far, right: Be witness to magic, awaken and acquire your first Rune, then you learn to use it. But how does any of this happen? No one really knows.

But we have a theory.

Anvil Theory

Magic breaks the rules of Reality every time it is used, without fail. Of course there are people who don’t feel satisfied with this and actually want to know why and how, and the answers are… varied. To the point I’m writing this, the most accepted theory is the Theory of the Anvil*.

* If a new theory comes along and is accepted as widely as the Anvil Theory, I will note it here. If there’s nothing, just assume the Theory still holds… or I am dead.

Imagine there is an Anvil in your head, a base upon which every thought is forged. This Anvil is the thought of Reality as Mundane, the reliable feeling that things are just the way they are, and that they can’t change.

Magical Ideas hit this Anvil like a hammer, confronting and eroding it, but also creating sparks in the friction. These sparks are what we know as Astral, or Magical Energy. This is the energy that gets used on every spell you cast.

This is why it is said that every Mage needs to keep a bit of a Cynic inside of them,an inner Critic that keeps them grounded in reality: without the sparks, there is no magic, so if the Cynic disappears and you go completely insane, your magical effects will cease to be*.

* The opposite is also true! If your Anvil becomes too robust, from a lack of whimsy and self-belief, magic will cease to flow as well. Keep your sense of wonder!!

* But do not lose your objective view of the world. Magic is nonsense and you must remember this, keep it close to your heart.

The other factor in this is Emotion. The Hammer must hit the Anvil with enough strength to make sparks fly, and this can only be done with enough emotion put behind the swings.

Now in easier terms: You won’t cast the spell just by thinking lightly on the rune, or even drawing it on the mud or something. There needs to be emotion and focus behind it. Otherwise, there is no effect.

I take quick notes of this. Okay, anvil on the brain, that isn’t too hard to understand. I can picture the sparks flying and magic going wild… and it really makes me excited. To the point where I simply can’t take it anymore! I have to try it, at least once, before continuing my studies!

With haste I write the runes I know this far on a piece of paper: ‘Butterfly’, ‘Creation’, ‘The’ (I am still unconvinced on this one), ‘Touch’ (I am still unsure on this one too), ‘Negative’ and ‘On/Ignite’. That last one is the one I saw during my Awakening, and the one with the easier effect to understand… I will try that.

“Are you sure about this?”

Yes.

“Alright then, your funeral.”

Alright. I draw ‘On’ on another piece of paper, stand up, and hold it in front of me. Without being able to wait anymore, I enunciate.

“GOLTHOI!”

I put on as much emotion as I could, imagining… oh damn it I didn’t imagine a thing, I didn’t try to communicate a thing, didn’t I? I just said it! Oh n–

Before I could say anything more, the piece of paper bursts into bright green flames, before turning back to regular fire in an instant. By instinct I drop it on the floor, where the burning flames start to devour the carpet.

Oh no.