“So, I was wondering,” I began, looking up from the notes I was taking and cutting off Beltane’s lecture, “how does magic work, exactly? You keep mentioning Initiation, Expression, arcane circles, and incantations, but I don’t think I fully understand how they all connect.”

“Oh,” Beltane said, looking up at me in surprise, “I assumed you’d already know all that. Okay. How about this?”

Beltane walked over to some sand and began to draw a large circle with the end of his staff. As he drew the circle in the sand, he said, “Fundamentally, magic is the transformation of mana - the natural energy that suffuses all living things – into something that is useful for the caster. Typically, we call these things [Spells]. To cast a [Spell], you typically need to Initiate and Express it. This is not always the case, and you can sometimes cast a [Spell] without an Expression at all.

“But first, I need to explain what Initiation and Expression are, exactly. Initiation is the process of sending your mana from your cores to your points of Expression, which are your hands and lungs.”

Like a student at a lecture hall, I raised my hand. Beltane stopped talking and pointed to me, at which point I said, “Excuse me, cores? I assumed mana would all just be held in one place.”

“Nope,” Beltane said with a smile. “Every person on the planet has two mana cores: upper and lower. The lower core is larger, and it holds your mana reserve. The upper core is smaller, but you can only use mana in your upper core to Initiate spells.”

“How much smaller is the upper core?” I asked.

“It’s typically about ten-times smaller than the lower core, and it takes about ten seconds to refill. Good question. You’ll need a firm bedrock for later. Anyway, Expression turns the mana from your upper core into [Spells]. Expression comes in the form of incantations or transcriptions. These transcriptions, usually inscribed upon wands, allow you to cast within a heartbeat of the [Spell’s] Initiation. Staves, on the other hand, are typically used to empower certain schools of magic when used to Express a [Spell].”

I knew how staves and wands were used before Beltane described them to me, but I wasn’t going to interrupt him just as he was reaching his stride.

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“As you know, you need to hold the image of the applicable arcane circle in your mind when you Initiate a [Spell], though even this step can be bypassed with certain tools. These arcane circles are the basis of all magic, which is why the power of various [Spells] are typically listed as 1-Point, 2-Point, et cetera. For example…” Beltane gestured to the circle he had just drawn in the sand. A single water rune had been marked on the edge of the circle.

“The sorcery known as [Water Ball] is Initiated with a circle like this and Expressed with the incantation, ‘Aqua.’” As Beltane said the incantation, he simultaneously fired a sphere of water out toward the creek next to which we were sitting. “Such [Spells] require a minimum of 1 mana to cast, but they can be empowered to 5 mana. Naturally, [Spells] become more complicated as they get more powerful.”

Beltane drew a line across the circle, connecting it to the other side. Once his line in the sand reached the other side of the circle, he marked that side with a wind rune. “This is the arcane circle for the 2-Point sorcery known as [Water Cannon]. When you reach 2-Point sorceries, that’s when you reach [Spells] that can actually be used in combat. 2-Point sorceries require 5 mana to cast, but you can use up to 10 mana without breaking the circle’s structural integrity. Aqua tormentum.”

A small sphere of water appeared a few centimeters to the right of Beltane’s ear. Half a second later, a stream of water fired off toward a nearby tree. For a second, it was as if an extremely powerful water jet was being fired over Beltane’s shoulder. The tree that Beltane aimed at was completely covered in water, and a deep hole had been gouged deep into the tree’s wood. The hole in the tree was eerily similar to a bullet wound.

Without missing a beat, Beltane drew two more lines, creating a triangle enclosed within the circle. Where the two lines connected, he inscribed an earth rune. “Finally, we have the most complicated [Spell] that I can cast: a 3-Point sorcery. Water, wind, and earth runes together make the sorcery known as [Acid Arrow]. Such sorceries require 15 mana but can use up to 30 mana. Fuga acidum sagitta.”

The same tree that had been struck by a blast of high-pressure water a moment before was struck by a condensed blob of acid that expanded significantly upon making contact. Steam began to rise off the wood, and – within moments – the acid had cut through half of the tree. As I watched, the tree leaned dangerously before crashing to the ground with a mighty boom.

“The greatest sorcerers can use 9-Point sorceries, which can use hundreds of mana to cast, or so I hear. Do you have any questions?”

Naturally, I did, and Beltane spent the next two hours answering my questions until Solana came to the creek to drag me back to the manor.