Energy Conversion in Magic Use
Gregory Blatmender
„I cannot believe this is what we signed up for.“ Karem wipes her forehead with the back of her hand, leaving a broad smear of mud behind. „It has been weeks, and we are doing what exactly? Gardening?“ With a groan, she pushes herself up, rolling her shoulders back shortly with an audible pop. A couple months ago we asked Master Ponthas for an apprenticeship, but recently our mentor has grown distant and keeps locking himself in his dwelling. Karem and I, we get sent out on one absurd errand after the next. Spell components, food, drink… And for nearly two moons now, the Master has asked us to collect and care for a vast number of tree saplings from the surrounding forest. Usually you would go out into nature to perform spells, not have the nature brought to you.
„He must have his reasons, Karem.“ At least I hope that he does. „Surely he is onto something. You know how he gets with puzzles.“ She scrunches up her nose in that weird way of hers. It makes her look old. „Gregory, you are too nice. The next time I see him, I will say something.“ Too nice? Perhaps I am. Now get in that pot you little tree. There we go. „What are you smiling about? Are you actually having fun with this?“ I look up again and notice Karem shaking her head in ridicule. „So what,” I reply. “It’s an easy enough task, and at least we get to talk to each other, instead of sitting in a hushed room with books.“ A quiet chuckle escapes her. „Ever the dreamer. You would be happy even if-“, she starts but then the Master’s door opens and he comes out, mumbling to himself. We just watch him quietly as he grabs another armful of pots, vanishing back into his chamber. „There we go again…“
Ten times. I make another tick on my list. Master Ponthas has teleported out of his chamber just to walk right back in ten times now within the day. Karem has left for supplies, I stayed behind to clean up a bit. No magic, the Master said. Tidying the compound by hand is more exhausting than in my memory. Perhaps this is what the Elder always lamented about, although he is like… 500 years older than me. At least. I don’t even know how old Master Ponthas is. I suppose something around 300 maybe? When I ever reach his level of expertise I will probably be old and grey.
„Gregory?“ I jump in surprise and turn around to see the Master scowling at me from his door. „What are you doing there holding onto the broom? Come in here and help me for a moment.“ This is new? I hurry over and for the first time in months set foot inside the- by the Titans. The room is littered with dead plants, piled up in the corners. From the sight I would have expected a smell of decay, but there is nothing of the like. „Master, what is this?“ „Necessary things, my son.“ He takes the broom from me and begins sweeping the floor. „I cannot thank you two enough for your exceptional work,” he says.
“Is this… necromancy?” My gut sinks at the sight of the chamber. Master Ponthas stops sweeping and looks at me. “Does it look like necromancy?” I nod. “Hmm…” He reaches up and scratches over his beard. “It is not.” He continues sweeping. I stare at him for a moment, waiting for an explanation. There is none. “What is it then?” He just calmly motions for his workdesk. “Have a look. It is still a bit messy, but I finished up as best as I could. I might need your assistance with further experiments, just to verify my findings.” Findings? I pick up the little book that lies open. There are just numbers. Calculations. These are spell sigils.
I trace my finger along some of the lines, trying to connect what I read with what we learned so far. Apparently, it is connected to the complexity of spells. I go back one page. He wrote down something about teleportation spells. ‘Final test confirms energy concentration at 5.2 saps.’ Huh. I glance over at him for a moment, notice him watching me with a look of childish excitement. Back a couple more pages. ‘Day 25: I have successfully recreated a conversion of 3.7 saps without source domain. The spell upheld as usual for the expected duration. Repetitions 2 to 24 successful. Trial number 25 disturbed by oatmeal.’ Oh yes, the oatmeal. He got so angry when we brought him his food.
The next pages are more numbers, tables, diagrams. Firebolt, 0.05 saps. A drawing of a sapli- “Oh.” He came up with a scaling system. “This is great, Master,” I say as I scan over some of the listings. He meticulously wrote down and calculated measurements of energy requirements. “What, just great?” Is that disappointment? I look at him confused, he meets my eyes in kind. “What?” We just stand there befuddled for a moment. “I expected more than just some praise from my student. This should revolutionise the world,” he says, pointing to his book. I swallow. “Master, I don’t think a couple of tables and numbers will cause that much of an outrage, although the other Elders will surely appreciate this. It will prevent unintentional harm to the forest, yes?” He looks angry. Why is he angry?
“You bumbling fool.” He visibly catches himself, swallowing what surely would have been worse words. I hand him the book as he approaches, broom still in hand. He searches for a moment, then hands it back to me on one of the early pages with a short “read.”
After studying the events of the Spark for the greater part of my life, the scriptures of our ancestors always left me unsatisfied. Physical evidence of the Senlon and the Titans provides a logical explanation for the inherent energy in forms of life, but I always knew that there must be more to all this. The Void has not bled into the realms. As such, there cannot be nothing. There always has to be something. I have dedicated years of study to this and through dedication to practice was able to achieve what my colleagues had told me was impossible.Ever since the Spark, the energy of the universe has been at unrest. Contrary to the beliefs of my kin, this energy has not been completely reshaped by the Titans. It remains, to this day, a chaotic force that permeates not only every living being, but also the very air we breathe. It is present in the very space between you and this text. The energy of the Spark is omnipresent around us and it moves around the planes like pollen, forming the basis of new existences when needed. Since the dawn of life on this plane, we have relied on harnessing the energy of our surroundings. However, only life forms were perceived as tangible source domains.It is a fact that the life force within plants is easily accessible, as is that of animals and our kin. In my travels I came upon a cave in the northern ice, devoid of life, but rich in energy. Going by common beliefs, there should not have been enough power for me to set up a comfortable fire. There was. Over the course of a month I frequently travelled there and back, proving my hypothesis again and again. In my workspace I set up an experiment to determine the difference between magic as we know and have practised for hundreds of years, and the Spark magic that uses the free energy. I found none. Many early attempts harmed the provided samples of plant life to the point of killing them, due to an overestimation of available resources. I will dedicate the following weeks to devising a classification system to prevent further such incidents.I hope that my insights will not only aid in unravelling the secrets of our universe, but also reveal further possibilities of magic use free of the limitations of our environment.
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