The good stuff. Possibly one of the most redeeming parts of this world, honestly. Magic isn’t for everyone however. From my experience, some people rather not train their ley lines or waste the money on inscribing runes on their bodies. Regardless, knowing the basics of the system is important and can affect how you deal with magic users.
Learning Magic
Basics first. Learning magic boils down to one important step. Activating your ley lines. What are your ley lines? Well they are lines of energy that run throughout your body. Apparently, humans from earth aren’t all that different from the humanoids of Azura. You can activate these lines in your body by linking them with the main ley lines of magic that run through Azura’s crust, several miles below the ground.
As you can guess, it’s not that easy. For the fastest and easiest way to activate your ley lines, you’ll have to find yourself another magic user. Preferably an experienced shaman or wizard. They would have to perform a ritual that takes hours, linking your lines with the ones of Azura. If you don’t have access to a shaman or wizard, then you would have to do it the hard way. By meditating and studying for months or even years. Obviously, this is a route that would also require you to have access to certain books and teachers. You would have an easier time linking up the faster way.
Once linked up, you are ready for learning magical castings. Which can go into two paths. Both of which have some benefits.
The first and more traditional way of learning magic is to learn and study for months at a time with tomes and grimoires. Depending on your affinity, learning spells can take as little as a few months to as long as years of studying. You’ll also have to meditate (again) to exercise and get used to your active ley lines. This path takes the most work and time, but it also allows you to get used to your castings and increase reserves faster than the second path.
The second way of acquiring spells is perhaps the most painful and brutish way. If you don't have the patience or the time, then this path is for you. First, you’ll need a shaman or seasoned spellcaster who knows what they’re doing. Then, with whatever casting they offer to you, they place an outline on your body. This outline allows them a framework of your ley lines to work with. They then engrave the casting’s rune onto your body, burning it into your ley lines. It’s crude, painful, but it does give you a casting at the end of the day.
Problem with it is the limit. With the first option, once you’re able to cast magic, your spell reserves are usually at a respectable number. Which can grow with ease with more training and meditation. The second path, limits your castings to the bare minimum. Every person who takes this path will always start with only one casting a day.
Reserves, slots, castings, there are many names for it. Just know that every spell has a cost to them. Basic spells and most Physical Castings all consume roughly one magical reserve. Don’t try to cast a spell with no reserves, as it could yield very very bad results.
Casting magic and practicing is important, as the ley lines in your body are like a muscle. The more you use it, the more reserves you can grow.
Let’s explain magic in a bit more depth.
Spells
Spells are manifestations of magic that can be molded into various means. For example, a wizard can summon the magic from his ley lines to form a projectile. These can range from a powerful and devastating fireball to an accurate but deadly ice lance. Some spells don’t need to be in the form of projectiles. Some can be like Inferno, which is a fire spell that can engulf an entire area in a tornado of flames. Others can act like counters, like Temporal Parry or Reflect. Or even buffs, such as Basic Carapace. Spells are much more flexible and variable. They can come in many forms.
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Physical Castings
Physical Castings are much more limited than spells and incantations. They are entirely dependent on their user’s physical ability and endurance. They tax the user’s metabolism heavily and strain their muscles to an extent. Physical Castings utilize magic in a different way from spells and rituals. They are mainly used to enhance the user’s body, allowing them to perform superhuman feats. For example, Power Strike is a commonly used casting that enhances a user’s next strike, multiplying their strength two fold. Carapace is another Physical Casting that shields the user with a protective layer, increasing their endurance and durability to attacks. While Physical Castings can be very useful in a fight, there is a dangerous risk whenever they are used. These castings heat the body up, risking heat stroke, which is fatal.
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Every spell and casting must be casted with either words of power or formed runes. While rare, new spells can be created by a skilled sorcerer or wizard. The same goes for physical castings, as new ones can be created by skilled warriors. Very rare, though. From what Falrick tells me, the last person to create a new casting was roughly a century back. Even then, it had been a minor spell.
Magic is hard to obtain and expensive to improve. Either from paying for wizards to engrave spells onto you, or buying pricey tomes to learn more about the specific branch of magic you want to cast. And that’s not even delving into affinities. Which reminds me.
Affinity Types
Everyone has an affinity to a certain type of magic. The main affinities go as follows.
Fire
Water
Wind
Nature
Those are the main ones. As in, they are basically the roots for all magic types. Ice, Lightning, and such all stem from the main affinities. They’re like subgenres in a way.
Having an affinity to certain elements can affect the way you cast magic and improve on your skills. For example, having an affinity to something like Fire can vastly improve the way you use pyromancy spells. Of course, you don’t have to have an affinity to Fire to become a pyromancer. Affinities just boost what’s already there and have the potential to vastly increase the output of compatible spells.
Dahlia’s Notes
There are two affinities that I didn’t bother putting on the list. That’s because they're incredibly rare and I’ve never met anyone who had them
Light and Dark are two elements that seem… painfully generic. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re any bad. From what I’ve heard from Dahlia and Falrick, these two affinities are possibly the most powerful ones to be born with.
The Dark affinity allows one to be proficient with black magic and rituals. Necromancy, demons, undead , conjurations, the like. This also includes shadow type spells like Shadowstep or Shadow Bind. I’ve seen people without this affinity use this type of magic with scary good precision so it should go without saying that anyone who has an affinity to Dark magic will unsurprisingly be a force to be reckoned with.
Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be anyone like that in Valenfrost. At least, not to my knowledge. Hopefully.
The Light affinity is arguably just as strong if not stronger. Like Dark, Light boosts all types of magic that are related to it. Holy Magic, Healing Incantations, and even spells like Flare all get boosted to high heaven. The Light affinity can even boost someone’s basic metabolism, allowing them to heal without words of power or runes. Their blood is said to be enough to ward off evil spirits and cure disease, though I’m not sure how true that is.
Anyone born with a Light affinity is automatically a candidate to become a high cleric in any High God’s church. That’s how powerful it is.
Speaking of gods…