PART 1
"Father, why is this particular rock called the Cornerstone?" I asked.
"Huh?" he said, as if I'd caught him off guard. "You see, a seal's magic is all about the caster's understanding."
"What do you mean?". Was he trying say that casting seals depended on how the caster's mind understood the process?
"Well, son," he said, meticulously checking his notes. "The beautiful thing about mana is that it's an extension of one's understanding and knowledge. To put it simply, it's about the thinking pathway of casting mana itself."
Was Father trying to tell me that mana was solely based on thought, and that its manifestation depended on my understanding of those thoughts?
"So what you're saying, Father, is that mana tries to manifest itself as it's perceived?"
"Pretty smart, Astraga. You learn fast, just like your old man." He patted my head. "Not entirely correct, but yes. Let's take these rocks that hold these seals, for example. The most important question a manomancer would ask is why use four rock seals? Why not three, two, or one? What makes these four seals powerful? Would five seals make it even stronger? Ultimately, only the person who made it could answer that best. Spells are simply the most effective way to manifest mana, developed by someone else. And because of that person's understanding, we, generations down the line, can benefit."
It felt strange. Mana here was more or less studied like a science. They were making it less about mystical forces and more about hard-backed laws of mana manipulation.
"But Father, is manomancy really this direct about mana?" I asked, a hint of surprise in my voice. "It sounds like you're saying mana isn't magical anymore, but rather backed by laws of nature."
He looked at me, surprised. I might have said too much, and I braced for him to ask how I was able to grasp that concept so quickly.
"Wow, Astraga," he said. "You're pretty much right on the money. You see, most other kingdoms don't treat mana like this. In fact, manomancy isn't a generally accepted field of study. If it weren't for the king backing its existence, we would have been imprisoned or persecuted. People fear we would invoke the wrath of the Eternal Phoenix, the creator of this world."
"So we manomancers just focus on what we know will give us more freedom to research deeper knowledge on mana."
"Which is achieving Dragonhood?" I asked, knowing that was exactly what he meant.
"Yes. Like I said before, to be a great mana caster, you must have the most efficient pathway of understanding to casting mana. A perfect example is what they taught us at the academy. Let's take three men, for example. All want to start a fire for the night," Father explained.
"The first man has no mana. The only way he knows how to accomplish his task is by using his environment. So he joins two sticks together and rubs them against the wood underneath, with some dry grass around it. This process is called raw casting. The person is unable to use mana and has no choice but to use his body's energy. In all this process, he wastes energy, which is not effective. Even if he had mana but no understanding of how to use it effectively, he would cast a flame that could burn a whole house down just to start the small fire he needs for the night, and he would have wasted a lot of energy."
PART 2
"The second man has a form of understanding of mana through spells," he continued. "Spells are more or less a command-type method of casting mana."
"Command?" I asked. "What do you mean? Does it mean mana just follows the words of the mana user?"
"Command casting is knowing the action words that will allow an individual's spiritual energy within mana to manifest and complete the action they need. That's why spells are a thing. I can't think of a spell off the top of my head, and besides, I can't cast them. But he would use those commands to make fire appear."
"I'm sure you noticed something different about the second man," he said, winking. "Knowing how sharp you are, I'm sure you've already figured it out."
He was right. "The second man didn't waste physical energy, only spiritual energy."
"Bingo!" he exclaimed. "He didn't use any physical force to perform his task. But in the end, this man also wasted energy, as he would still use a lot of spiritual energy to compensate for the lack of physical energy he skipped. This is what spells are for they skip the physical energy required by using the enormous power gotten from spiritual energy. Because of this, some mana users can lift items they could never lift with their own bodies during mana casting."
"So, Father, the last man would then be someone who makes use of both physical and spiritual energy to perform his task?"
"Exactly, Astraga! That would require you to use fewer spells. As I said, the seal's words are alive. They are able to perform the most mind-boggling things, but there are steps that the caster must understand. As the last man, he would still get dry grass and wood. He might even get two sticks. But the moment he uses spells, as he rubs the sticks on the grass, he has simultaneously used both energies, which compensate and reduce energy lost from both ends, making him, I believe, the perfect mana caster. But most people don't share this reality with me. The rest would prefer the second method, as it all depends on finding the best and most powerful spells to get the job done."
"Alright, we're done with the seal check. Let's go check on my fish," Father said, a hint of excitement in his voice.
"But Father, what happens if a seal's letter changes? Would the seal weaken in any way?" I asked.
"Well, of course, Astraga. Imagine I put a seal on you to prevent you from using all four of your elements, and over the years, the wording changed in some way or its meaning changed. Then yes, it would. Seals and barriers are not my area of expertise, but I like to think that they are word-heavy enchantments. If people's understanding or interpretation of a word diminishes, why would the seal still hold what it's meant to bind?"
"So if I said, 'I want all your elements to start working,' even though you have a Quad-Affinity mana core, it would depend on how those words are actually best suited to seal something of that level. Which is why it's impossible to do that."
"But Father, have seals ever been used to stop a person from using mana entirely?" I asked.
"Well, in theory, yes, but it's complicated. That's why the Ashborns use their own language for making seals to reduce the chance of the words changing in interpretation and meaning."
Now it all made sense. But how was this Derrick Ashborn able to pull it off, creating his own language that would be powerful enough to evoke barriers and seals?
We discussed all this while we walked, finally arriving at the cave where Father kept his fishes. I wondered what kind of weird experiments he must be doing to create a mana beast.
A small cave opened up to reveal a beautiful fish pond. Father smirked. "I can't believe I'm bringing you here so early, but this is where you'll definitely not be left behind by Astraya. One of these fish holds the secret to fighting on an even playing field against an Authority."