A Single Spark [open]

[upupatomway]

Who: Atom & you
What: Baby's first spell attempt. Please give him advice (or kick back with some popcorn)
Where: Outside on the beach near Flotsam
When: November 9, after lunch
Warnings: None


Atom balances a spellbook for beginners on one of the numerous rocks on the beach and raises his arms in front of him, facing out towards the ocean with a frown of concentration. He holds this position, squinting as he tries to do as the book instructed.

It's the simple task of summoning the ether energy to one's fingertips and then pushing it out to visually show the magic power, usually as some kind of spark or glow. His hands show no sign of any extra light, however. The book describes a sensation the magic has that makes this process easier to track for most readers, but for a robot any feelings in his body are limited by his sensors and his comprehension.

He squints harder, face scrunched and turning red. His creator had gone out of his way to make it so Atom could blush, though he probably didn't have this expression in mind. There's a sound, like a squeak, that might imply a spark, only for it to get lower and clearly recognizable as the robot straining.

Comments

[lightnovelexperiences]

Internal sensors? - Right, this must be the robot kid people were talking about.

“Can they pick up on your breathing?” Deedee asks. “Assuming you’re, ah, air cooled. The reason Mundane wizards are told to use magic words is as much about remembering to breathe out as it is focus.”

She cracks her neck, and stretches her arms, preparing to get in a casting stance.

“Hell. The words don’t matter much - they’re usually just saying what you want the spell to do - usually in a language you don’t use otherwise, so you don’t set the room on fire when you ask for toast.”

[upupatomway]

"Yes." Atom nods. "Temperature regulation is a big part of my breathing, and my internal sensors are mainly concerned with that."

He watches closely when she takes a stance. A demonstration is much better than just a book, especially with his photographic memory.

Atom laughs at the thought of a wizard setting their kitchen on fire with an absent minded spell. "Cooking with magic sounds like something Mr. Senshi would actually do."

[lightnovelexperiences]

“You’d think, but he seems to avoid using magic unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Deedee says. “I have seen fire mages learn by lighting rushlights or candles - some have more trouble with melting the candle than calling a flame.”

Deedee pauses, taking a deep breath, exhaling.

“On Mundus - the world where I learned magic - the power source we burned to cast spells was literally called Breath, by that or any other name - pneuma or qi or what have you, it all meant breath. Drawing in energy from the air - and dispersing it, catalyzing the spell, through the air, with spell words or a kiai or even just exhaling.”

She pauses for another cyclical breath, by settling bavk into a caster’s stance, the Azure Dragon stance.

“I don’t know if it works the exact same way here,” she says, “but I expect it’s similar. For one thing, my spells still work.. For another, ‘ether’ is another synonym for ‘air’ if not breathing.”

[upupatomway]

Deedee's description of fire magic makes Atom wonder about just how much control one could have over something like a flame. It makes sense setting a spark and maintaining a flame would be two different skills now that she mentions it. Could temperature be controlled? There is so much to learn!

But he gives her demonstration his full attention. He blinks in surprise at the mention of qi, not expecting to hear a word that had come up in stories, religion, and spiritual medicine in his own world. Typically it was a passing detail in his friends' conversations about the comics they were reading.

"Using magic is directly connected to breathing then?" he wonders aloud.

[lightnovelexperiences]

Deedee’s frown matches her scowl for a moment, then she puts a curled fist to her mouth.

“That’s how it worked on Mundus,” she says. “And I’ve been using the same techniques from there to power my willworkings here. I should REALLY get formal training here…”

“But yes, comcentrating on breathing and on exhaling or using incantations when you cast can’t hurt.”

[upupatomway]

"If I happen upon a good teacher, I can let you know. There must be several people in the Corsairs who might be willing." His smile goes a little lopsided. "I was hoping to confirm if I had the potential to cast spells before looking for anyone though."

"Could you maybe show me an example of a simple spell you know, so I can watch how you breath or speak?" he suggests.