Magical basics of the Phantasm:
I’ll elaborate on this in further posts, but the main difference between witch magic and wizard magic is that witch magic comes from an internal source and wizard magic comes from an external source. Witches cast spells from their internal fire and magical wells while wizards use the magic of the land in their potions. Casting a spell with a musical instrument is a loose mix of both but I’ll get to that.
All Phantasmers (beings of the Phantasm) have the potential to do any kind of magic, both external and internal. However, humans can only easily access external magic. Humans have no innate magical abilities. All Phantasmers have a natural, inbuilt well of magic within them due to being magical creatures themselves, humans do not. However, a human can perform internal magic if they are given an artificial well. For example, a witch could enchant a pendant, creating a well of magic within it, allowing a human to use it to cast spells. There are other ways of getting an artificial well but that’s ✨spoiler content✨ and shall not be discussed yet.
When multiple magic users use their magic in tandem, that magic becomes stronger. The more users working on a single spell, the more powerful it becomes or the more quickly it can be cast. Magic works by a transfer of energy. We’ll use mana as an example to explain what I mean.
So, imagine that a single user has 100 mana.
If a spell cost 2 mana to cast, it could basically be cast instantly and wouldn’t make a dent in the mana supply. If a spell cost 100 mana to cast, it would completely drain that user’s supply of mana and it would take a while for that user to transfer the mana energy into the spell.
Now say there were three users.
That’s three times the max amount of mana, three times the energy transference. The spell would be less daunting and could be cast quicker. Some spells even flat out require multiple witches, like a location spell for example.
“Magic is a living thing! It's not a power for us to use, it's an actual living force that responds to us just as we respond to it!”
As the witch Cassidy says here, magic is actually a living, invisible force that surrounds every inch of a magical dimension. Witches and wizards alike put their passion into their spells.
Wizards care deeply for their research and how they apply it to their potions. They care deeply for each and every potion they make, which ingredients work best to please the magic they’re trying to get their potion to respond to.
Witches put their passion into creating brand new spells or trying out ones that already exist. Casting magic for them can mean so many things. A magic battle can be like an elegant dance, built by knowing what spells to use not only to preserve their limited supply of magic but to fight to the greatest effect.
Into the Phantasm, above all, is a story about ideas, creativity and what it means to people. The magic system is the biggest example of this throughout the series. Wizard magic is sort of like practical work and witch magic is sort of like creative work. There are people whose minds work best with knowledge, research and learning and so too are there people whose minds are vastly imaginative, with the strength to create amazing things, and of course, there’s people who can easily do both. Neither one is less important or valuable than the other. Each one can be just as powerful as the other, and THAT is what magic is really about.
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