Gnarly

Waking up to the soft rustling of leaves and the distant sounds of activity within the goblin camp. Slowly pushing myself up, I realized that Zarra and Mackinzie were already gone, probably busing themselves around the camp. I stretched my arms, preparing to join them outside, bringing along my new book.

The sun was already high in the sky, casting a warm glow over the camp. I found a shaded spot near the edge of the camp under a tall, gnarled tree. It seemed like a perfect place to spend some quiet time with my new acquired book.

I nestled myself against the tree's rough bark, opened the book, and found its pages adorned with whimsical illustrations of magical creatures, strange symbols, and the author's peculiar notes about her journey leaning magic and her eventual spiral into perversion.

As I delved into the book, I couldn't help but glance up from time to time to observe the goblins and Mackinzie going about their tasks. Some goblins were tending to the injured, while others were busy with cooking, crafting, or maintaining the camp. Mackinzie, ever diligent, was helping wherever she could, her earnestness evident in her actions.

Returning my focus to the book, I read about the basics of magic. It started by explaining how magic was the manipulation of mana, giving it shape, and channeling it into spells. It continued explaining that mana is a mystical energy that flowed through all living things and the world itself.

After sifting through the mess of eccentric anecdotes and seemingly meaningless asides, I finally managed to learn something. Before someone can cast spells, they need to develop the mana manipulation skill by meditating and learning to sense the mana within them. When I awoke in this world, I already had the mana manipulation lvl.1 skill, but since I hadn't done the training I thought it would be a good idea to do the training to gain a better understanding of what I was doing.

Due to my mom's instance on me learning various forms of magic, spirituality, and occultism, I of course had practiced meditation. Closing my eyes, I began taking slow, deliberate breaths, and envisioned a void filled with inky blackness. Inside this void were four white squares with sharp corners and clean edges, gradually removing them one by one, the occasional thought surfacing, but letting them drift away until my mind became clear and empty.

With my mind cleared, I attempted to focus on the concept of mana. But never experiencing mana before my arrival in this world, it felt like trying to grasp smoke, shapeless and intangible. However, eventually, I began to sense a faint, tingling sensation, an invisible energy flowing through me, and gathering in a clump behind my navel.

Opening my eyes with a smile, I returned to reading. The book elaborated on how mana could be transformed into various elemental forms: fire, water, earth, light, and darkness, each with distinct properties and applications. For instance, light magic excelled at healing, while fire magic was often used to increase one's physical abilities, known as body reinforcement magic.

I decided to start with something simple to visualize. Closing the book, focusing on the idea of flames flickering to life, their warmth, how they burned, and danced with life. Slowly, I felt the mana I had been gathering change, feeling slightly warm.

Focusing, I willed the mana forward, shaping it into a spell. At first, nothing happened, but then a small, flickering flame appeared in my palm. As the flame burned, I sensed a trickle of mana being consumed. It was a modest, candle-like flame, yet it was undeniably real.

I grinned with excitement and extinguished the tiny flame. There was so much more to learn, and I was just beginning to scratch the surface of this magical world. Closing my eyes again, I contemplated the other elements and their endless possibilities.

After calming down, I returned to reading for several hours until Zarra came to get me for dinner. As I walked toward the cave with Zarra and sat down to eat. I started thinking about what I had learned and summarizing it for myself.

Casting a spell had three main components. The first being Mana which could come from many different sources like the caster's own mana, the mana in the environment, mana from magic stones that every living being forms after their magical abilities progressed to a certain point, or even channeling power from other living things with their agreement, or sometimes not.

The second requirement being visualization. The clearer an image the spell caster can form of what effect they wanted, the better the result. If the image was too vague, or too broad, the spell would either fail or require significantly more mana. However, after generations of trial and error, mages discovered that specific words or phrases could minimize or even eliminate the need for visualization, leading to the prevalent practice of casting set spells using chants.

According to the book, the last thing needed to effectively cast a spell was the drive to compel the mana to go against the will of the world. From what I was able to piece together from the vague descriptions and superstition, is that some agglomeration of desire, and force of will, that I could only sum up as manifestation, was required to counter a general resistance to change that was always present. It seems that this resistances was called the will of the world and had been coined by a long-forgotten mage, predating know history, But the concept had become so ingrained in magical studies that most mages considered it a fundamental truth.

The book later revealed that, strictly speaking, only two of these components were necessary for most spells to function. There were instances, known as death curses, where individuals with little to no magical training managed to cast spells driven solely by their powerful desires, destroying their souls by converting them into mana to fulfill their desire, usually unintentionally. Usually harming someone, hence the name, but the book mentions that it doesn't have to harm.

There were less extreme examples like monsters using magic without any understanding of magic theory or chants, or individuals with limited mana reserves casting spells through precise technique and strong manifestation to compensate for their lack of mana.

While eating the food in front of me on autopilot while lost in thought, I was brought back to reality by Mackinzie when she asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"I spent the day learning about magic and was just going over it" I said casually replied as I held up the book.

Zarra picked up at this and said, "Can you use magic? I don't know how to read, but I can help."

Having finished eating, I held up my hand and summoned the same tiny flame from earlier, and said, "This is all I have managed so far, but I can move mana around already."

She looked surprised before a saying, "That is good, follow me." Leading me outside with Mackinzie fallowing behind, Zarra began trying to teach me what she new about magic, and even though I struggled occasionally to understand what she was trying to say, it was good practice.

It was already late into the knight and Zarra's frustration due to the language barrier had been building, so we went to bed. Zarra and Mackinzie both laying down next to me as if it was the most normal thing in the world. While laying down thinking about what I had learned, ideas for possible applications, and questions of the mechanics behind the nature of magic already forming.