heyfreemagic | Wandering the Streets

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Wandering the Streets

[In the aftermath of the events at the tower, Daniel has taken to wandering the streets. Heading in no direction in particular, he is building a map of the streets in his head. However, he does seem to be heading in roughly the direction of the old observatory, though this is likely only by chance.

As he walks, he is unconsciously and unknowingly fiddling with small pieces of machinery, small sparks of light fly harmlessly from the pieces as they bend to his subconscious whim.

Cam is sat, or as close to sitting as a tiny robot centaur can get, in his usual place atop Daniel's shoulder, keeping an eye out for any that might interrupt Daniel walk. Which is surprisingly easy when your head can swivel 360 degrees, as well as the fact that people are steering clear of the odd pair.]

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Ah, so it is much like a magical scroll, save... not magic. [That is both correct and completely wrong, but if the understanding serves, it will do, right?] And so then you ended up creating a magical version of a computer?

Sorta, yeah. That's about right. [She's close enough, so Daniel's willing to let the confusion slide for the sake of the conversation.] And yeah, I did. The difficult part was making it so it was both incorporeal and corporeal at the same time. That way, the ghost could interact with it while it could also interact with other computers at the same time.

That seems like something easily handled by a simple enchantment. I take it such enchantments are not so simple by comparison, then? [Of course, by Celestia's terms, many enchantments are simple that might not be considered so by others.]

Maybe in your world, yeah. The magic in my world likely works in a completely different way to the magic in yours.

[Daniel believes two things when it comes to magic in general:

The first; That magic behaves differently in different worlds because it's a force capable of literally breaking the rules of reality and is thus allowed to be a fickle piece of shit.

And second; That magic, despite working in ridiculously different ways between different worlds, Always has a flair for the dramatic because, once again, it's a force capable of breaking the rules of reality and is therefore allowed to be a fickle piece of shit.

Also, the waiter finally comes by to take their orders. Daniel orders a fairly simple salad and a coffee.]

Not the deep magics, certainly, but -- well, I imagine it must, considering you humans seem to lack any physical means to channel magical energy.

[In other words, no horns.]

[Oh hey, food! After a brief confusion in which Celestia establishes that hay burgers are not on the menu, she just switches straight to a salad too, with some bemusement.]

As far as I can tell, that also changes depending on the world. In my world, everything's starting to go downhill for pretty much everyone because basically anyone with the will to learn and the desire for power is capable of learning magic to some degree. Some very stupid people did something extraordinarily stupid and let something loose that the organization I belong to, as well as a few others, have been trying to fight for the last few years. Unsuccessfully.

I'll admit, the use of foci is common in the less skilled, but I do know quite a few people who can channel magic through themselves. Granted, only about half of them are even remotely human anymore, but hey, what can you do. Magic, at least in my world, has a way of changing a person. [Daniel shrugs, as if it's perfectly normal for such weird shit to happen. (Which to him, it is, but oh well.)]

So humans... require no anatomy to channel magic, but simply possess the capability naturally?

[Oh yes, she can SEE how that would lead to trouble. Rather than being surrounded with positive examples while your power develops along with your maturity and experience, you simply come across it at any point you desire...]

Many of us do, yeah, but like I said, the amount of power any specific person from my world can channel is tied to their mental strength. Also, the mentality of the person who is using the magic tends to affect the type of magic that comes naturally to them, though some magics are purely inherited via bloodlines. [Daniel knows the problems with his world, and the amount of stupid people using magic is actually a surprisingly small one compared to the big monsters out there who would glad snack on him and everyone he has ever known.]

Of course, that goes without saying. [At least human magic seems to be tied to their talents as well, not that humans seem to externally identify THOSE, either.] Still, I very much would like to understand the process that transforms mental energy into magical energy without the anatomic structure to do so. That would be like a pony digesting food without a stomach!

Well, it differs between people. Kara, another friend of mine, uses different metals to produce different effects. She calls the process of using them 'burning' the metals. For most of us, however, our abilities come through the application of Anima, which is the life force of our world, or at least comes from it.But that's specific to my world in particular, or at least as far as I am aware. I suspect that this may not be the case for humans from realities different from my own.

I see.

[That's a lot to take in, and frankly a little scary. Using the life force of the world to cast spells on a personal scale feels, to Celestia, like using a hurricane to mix your iced tea.]

Perhaps I should take up inquiries around here, and see what the other humans have to say. It might be interesting, if not necessarily revealing.

[Celestia is a little mistaken, anima may be the life force of Daniel's world, but it also flows through every living thing, as well as a few things which refuse to die. It's that energy that the people in Daniel's world use to perform magic. They use the anima within them, not the magic of the land, unless you're specifically trying to, as it's more difficult to tap the land for power, and a hell of a lot more dangerous.

Daniel nods, it does seem like something could be learned from seeing how magic works between the different worlds.] That seems like a reasonable idea. I'd be glad to listen to what you find out.

[From a pony's view, there is no difference. The world includes its inhabitants, after all!]

Well, allow me to start by inquiring of you?

What would you like to know? Anything in particular?

What magics are, or rather were, you capable of? [She leaves the question deliberately open, because what she would mean with the question might not be what he hears. Weather-control might be viewed as magic, even if it was the pegasi's natural gift and not active manipulation of energy through spells.]

Me? None. Never had the right sort of mind for it. However, any false modesty aside, I have a genius-level intellect. At least, on my world I do. I do not know the standards for measuring intelligence in other worlds.[This is not exactly true, though he doesn't even know they exist, Daniel does have abilities. However, they are so ridiculously passive they're basically undetectable. His natural abilities manifest though magic interacting with his intellect, making him what most call a technomage as in his own world, he can make pretty much anything if he can imagine himself building it.]

But yet you were able to develop a -- conputer system, that was capable of being interacted with by a noncorporeal being? [Intelligence is one thing, but that seems to cross a line, doing a thing like that without magic.]

[Daniel frowns a little to himself. That does make sense, but he's never consciously used magic. At least, to his knowledge.] Yeah, I planned it and built it, but I can't use magic. When I built it, I had help from people who could bind the magic needed in the way I wanted them to.

I see. That is, I think, actually more impressive than doing it all yourself. It is harder to work with purely theoretical applications of magic in that way.

[Being a ridiculous nerd who doesn't know how to deal with praise, Daniel answers this compliment by acknowledging it with a nod. Daniel doesn't really get much praise so he's uncertain of how to react, so the nod comes after a few seconds of a 'deer-in-headlights' look.] T-thanks. What's your next question?

[Really? That's downright adorable. She kind of wants to pat his head.]

[But she doesn't.] Why do you say you don't have the right mind for magic?

That's one of the things I haven't been able to work out. I fulfill all of the criteria to receive magic, but lack the capacity to use it. Maybe I'm simply deficient in some way that we can't figure out, or perhaps the capacity for magic was pushed out by my body in favour of increased intelligence.

In all honesty, it's one of the questions that I've been asking myself for the past 8 years. And I'm no closer to figuring it out than I was when I started. [It's clearly something that frustrates Daniel, he's surrounded by people who can use these fantastic powers and what does he get? His brain works at a slightly increased capacity than others. And even his blessing comes with a curse, as he's been plagued by migraines since childhood whenever he's not been working on some sort of project or other. It's no wonder he's such a massive nerd.]

Well, I would be happy to help you experiment to determine why, although my own ability to study is quite compromised at the moment. At the least, it would be educational for both of us.

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Wandering the Streets

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Sory about the late reply, I had a buncha things that needed to be gotten done, and then I moved ><

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