Individual Magic
In contrast with Enhancive Magic, Individual magic relies on magic cast upon oneself. This may involve manipulating one's own body or soul, such as in Transformative Magic, but the larger expanse of individual-based magics involve the long-term honing of some specialized skill or ability. This may involve one's ability to understand tongues, particularly with animals or extraterrestrials, or to project their own soul to perform some function (generally while asleep).
Unlike enhancive magics, which all stem from similar basic methods and types, Individual magic requires methods much more individually tailored to the type of magic being performed; thus, while a well-learned Enchanter may be able to perform a wide variety of enchantments, those practicing individual magic will often have one or two hyper-specialized functions. In addition, Individual magic requires much more extensive training than enchantments, save those within the Soul Magic subset; as a result, they are generally limited to those either raised within the nations or royalty. At the same time, Individual magic does not slowly drain the practitioner as does enhancive magics; as no energy is being transferred, there is no limit to its practice outside of the time and potential environmental requirements.
Similar to muscle memory, Individual magic is meticulously etched into the sort of muscles of the soul. Individual magic cannot be maintained without concentration, but due to the lack of energy drain, someone with great concentration may maintain it for much longer than an equivalent enchantment could be held. After repetition and study, certain practitioners of Linguistic and Transformative varieties may be able to hold this so well that it may as well be a passive effect (although under great duress or loss of consciousness, the magic would still likely fail). Only one form of magic may be held at a time, however, and much like constantly flexing, continual use of magic will begin to dramatically hinder the user; stretched too far, and it may give out, or begin to detriment the soul. In either case, it may jeopardize the user's physical health or ability to continue use.
In general, Individual magics cannot be classified by effect or strength. However, there are some practices which may come easier to a given practitioner, and some which require less study; this will mostly be discussed on a case-by-case basis. A few things may be said, however:
- Out of the three, Transformative Magic is the most onerous and most difficult1;
- Linguistical Magic is the most popular and easiest to master, with at least modest forms as a requirement for potential emperors of Darvaz2;
- and within more 'casual' use, weak forms of Projective Magic are most often applied to daily use[small3.
1 "onerous and difficult": as humans cannot 'bend' matter in the same way as they may modify souls, Transformative magic is limited almost solely to deities; what types may be practiced often involve painfully long-term practice with limited success, and has often lost out to modern surgeries or Health Magics. 2 "potential emperors of Darvaz": as new emperors are selected from a pool of highly qualified and trained individuals, those who have not learned at least rudimentary forms of Linguistic magic will often struggle with diplomatic function with the high number of extraterrestrial species within the empire; thus, it is required alongside (ideally) fluency in an assortment of Earth-based and extraterrestrial languages. 3 "most often applied to daily use": outside of Darvaz; within Darvaz' empire, Linguistic magic is the most popular.
Articles under Individual Magic:
- Transformative Magic
- Anakinesis
- Autoplasy
- Projective Magic
- Dreamwalking
- Necromancy (case study)
- Linguistical Magic
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