#nitroish

how he magic works :)! locke's magic is a Lot like legend's magic was in my weathered and wavering fic ? sorta sentient in a way. it's a reflection of its host (locke) and exists solely to keep him healthy and alive. even though it's basically a reflection of locke's ideals and personality, i think the interesting thing abt this is that his magic can Disagree w him

usually it's not a huge deal—like i've said after all, magic is always a reflection of their host. disagreements usually crop up when the host is doing something that damages themselves (pushing themselves too hard in a fight, using a spell that will drain them too much) or doing something that the magic thinks will get them killed

magic sorta teams w up that barrier in ur head that keeps u from taking the leap of faith over that ravine in the forest; that moment of hesitance where your legs freeze and you doubt the probabilities that you'll come out of this alive—that's the magic in ur system, pulling you back, begging u to take the longer, safer path. it teams up w fear as well; plants your feet to the ground when ur about to walk into something dangerous, urges u to turn around and tells u that it's not safe here. it's not doing it to burst ur bubble or anything, it's just doing it to keep u alive

BUT THAT'Snot rly the important part. the point is locke has magic that's almost like another Being in his system. everybody's magic is like this. it has intelligence and emotions, just,,, to a lesser degree than humans ? not sure how to describe it. it's somewhere between a human and an animal's intelligence. not quite as equiped as a human, but definitely smarter than ur average animal

locke can talk to his magic !!! they're buddies . the disagreement thing can also extend to instances where ur like,,, unsure of what to do ? or how to feel abt something ? magic is sorta the "physical" representation of that. locke thinks one way, his magic thinks another, and then they sorta argue it out and try to make sense of the mixed feelings. they're a lotta cool stuff u can connect that to :)

another general rule to this lil universe is that if locke enchants an object too much or too fast, the magic will sorta congregate and,, let the item gain sentience. that's why it's VERY important to never just enchant shit willy-nilly. locke is very careful not to reach that limit

(makes ya think . does that mean every living being is just a Thing that was given so much magic by mother nature that it gained a human-level mind and intelligence ..,, hm. won't sleep tonight)

the only thing he wasn't so careful with is his staff, since that was pretty much the first weapon he enchanted a Lot and he was young and unaware of the dangers. nowadays, his staff Does have some semblance of a mind !!!! it's very subtle, tho

the moments of awareness from his staff are few and far between, and honestly, it mostly helps locke out instead of hinders him. the staff is aware of its surroundings only sometimes, and it'll occasionally shove locke out of the way of an attack he doesn't see or nudge him to alert him of ambushing enemies he doesn't notice. it'll also very rarely stab monsters For locke if he's in a bind. occasionally it will swivel around to listen to the chain when locke's name or the staff itself is brought up, like it's perking up and paying attention (it freaks the chain out . VGEAIUV)

locke mostly just enjoys seeing its small moments of awareness, and he can tell the staff is fond of him. he's not dumb enough to enchant it more, cuz that could definitely cause problems, but he figures this is fine <3

another small thing: locke can read other people's magic and it can tell him a lot about them. he knows everybody's dark world forms (yes, he is immediately aware of the wolfie and twi deal). he can sense lingering magic on people based on what sorta spells and items they use (he doesn't even rly need magic to know the deal w four bc of his game, but his magic aids him further in knowing that there r actually four people in that little body . wow). again, he doesn't need magic to know this since he's already aware of what the fierce deity is and looks like, but it gives him proof that time's face markings are from the fierce deity mask itself and the deity's aura still lingers there a little

AND YEAH . YES. wars doesn't have a whole lot of magic and can't rly do any fancy spells beyond use a fire rod, but locke can definitely sense his. when they're sitting together locke likes to swirl his own around him and watch wars shift around and adjust himself trying to figure out what the fuck is wrong w his body rn GVYIEAGVIA he can sense locke's magic there, but wars isn't educated in the matter and doesn't Know that's magic, he just knows there's a Presence here and it's Fucking with him