towerofanimus | [open] // do what we must because we can

Entry tags:

[open] // do what we must because we can

Characters: Waver and open
Setting: Floor 27, cafeteria, dorm floors
Format: Either
Summary: Tea, science, and sleep are Waver's priorities. In that order.
Warnings: None yet.

[floor 27]

[Waver had spent the majority of his time in the laboratory; being the leader of the group researching the clear collar fluid, he might have felt obligated even if it didn't fascinate him. Luckily (for some value of the word), he was a researcher that often became utterly absorbed in his work to the point of forgetting everything else. 'Minor' things like sleeping and eating, for example.]

[Though he hid it the best he could, if the ponytail-wearing magus looked exhausted that was likely no one's imagination. Today he was looking over his own hastily-written notes and narrowing his eyes at the container of fluid itself as though it had perhaps insulted his mother, thin cloud of cigarette smoke hanging in the air in front of him.]

[cafeteria]

[It was a remarkably simple thing, tea. Last time it was available, Waver had taken quite a bit of it to store in his trunk (along with a whole lot of alcohol.)]

[Then, glamour failure. If asked for one petty thing Waver would never forgive the administrators for, he would always answer with that.]

[Needless to say, he'd finally dragged himself away from his work long enough to enjoy the shift in provisions. Today in the cafeteria one could find a magus in a black and green suit sitting by himself, looking over near-incomprehensible notes with a cup of tea in his hand.]

[And if one happens upon him in the evening, it's likely he's minding his own business and leaving with a bottle of wine or two, liquid mercury maid trailing a step behind him.]

[dorm floors]

[Only at some ungodly hour did Waver finally give up for the night and leave the laboratory, Volumen Hydragyrum behind him carrying two bottles of wine. If he was willing to stop at all, it was likely he'd reached his physical limit or damn near to it. Sure enough, it had been several days since he slept a full night--or slept, period. As a result Waver was pale and walking just a little unsteadily, but at least he didn't seem ready to drop dead.]

[Drop into a coma when he got to his room, sure. But not drop dead.]

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A Noble Phantasm is a Servant's signature weapon--occasionally it's possible to have several, but most have only one or two. You know, things like King Arthur's Excalibur or to use Diarmuid as an example again, Gae Dearg and Gae Buidhe.

Basically, it comes down to how much energy a given Servant uses in battle. Diarmuid's Noble Phantasms are passive effects, not some grand techniques like Archer's. Having a weaker magus as a Master would mean Archer could only use his Noble Phantasm once, if that. It'd be an enormous disadvantage.

Unfortunately Shion lacks most cultural references, so has no idea what Excalibur is, but he understands the concept though, sort of. And writes it all down.

"I understand, so it is a team effort, both the magus and servant have to be strong in order to succeed."

That's the essential concept of it, yes. A weak magus could in theory just brute force the whole thing with a physically stronger Servant, but that Master would still be an enormous weak point for them both.

[He nodded] So it is a balance, finding the best pairing for a team. [He continued to write] Diarmuid mentioned that Archer was from a slightly different world than him, do you know how many worlds there are with a system similar to your own?

I'm afraid I'm not sure. The operation of parallel worlds is sort of a field of study all in its own where we're from. There could be any number of them.

"It's a field of study? So it is something that existed at least in concept?" He blinks, another thing that was not thought of in his own world.

Kind of. At the very least, it's a concept acknowledged as existing. We call it Second Magic, and it's categorized as True Magic on the level of a miracle. Magic and magecraft like this- [he gestured to the mercury behind him] -are two entirely different matters.

[oh christ here we go]

"Second magic?" Shion wrote that down and began another set of notes. "So is that all first magic?" He hadn't thought of alternative universes like a magic before. "Do they have any idea of how it would work?"

No, it's rather complicated. First Magic is something even I'm not sure of. Second Magic is the operations of parallel worlds, and Third is the ritual that involves Servants. There are two more, but they're not quite as important. The five True Magics are all generally aceepted as being what one would call 'miracles', while magecraft is the everyday spells and thaumaturgy a magus uses in general.

"So summoning a servant is considered a miracle, and other magic such as your mercury maid are considered as everyday magic?" He nodded, still writing. "Does no one know what first magic then? Or is it just something you have not studied yet?"

Servants are something of a gray area--it's more to do with the Grail, and all that is on the whole considered a ritual involving Third Magic.

[Waver took a breath, beginning his careful explanation.]

The First Magic is generally believed to be lost--all I do know is that it's related to bits of Ether, or 'materialized nothing'. It's a difficult concept, even the best magi would be hard pressed to explain in detail.

Second Magic is, as I said, the operation of parallel worlds. To my knowledge, only a Magician by the name of Kishua Zelretch Schweinorg has mastery of it--it's said he uses it to travel between worlds at will. Zelretch himself is a strange individual, but obviously one worth admiration to be as skilled as that.

Third Magic is...complex. Simply put, it's summarized as 'materialization of the soul'. My understanding is that it makes the practitioner effectively immortal; Servants and the Holy Grail War are all more or less part of a ritual to actualize this magic.

Fourth and Fifth are difficult to explain, as not much is known about them at all. I hear it's agreed upon that Fourth Magic exists, but no one seems to know in what way or what it is meant to accomplish. Fifth...I'm actually not certain of Fifth myself. I've heard in the past only one line of magi were able to create or utilize it, but there isn't much I know past that.

[Shion scribbled as he listened, trying to understand everything even if it was a world away from anything he was used to or understood.] You met him, Zeltretch I mean? [Someone who could travel between worlds at will, it seemed like a very strange concept, but truly no stranger than anything else here.

My work with the Association means we encounter each other now and then, largely in passing. I surely can't say I know him well, or that we've spoken more than a few sentences to each other.

The Association? Is that a group of mages?

The Mage's Association, yes. Their headquarters is the Clock Tower, where I'm an instructor. Think of it as sort of a magical academy.

Is magic in your world inborn or can anyone learn how to use it?

...

[Waver paused at that, as though considering how to answer what sounded like a very simple question. It almost seemed as though the question itself had struck a nerve.]

I should say 'yes', but that...is difficult to phrase simply. Magic Circuits are what allow people like myself to use magecraft--think of them as a secondary nerve. One does have to be born with a number of them--an everyday magus has approximately twenty on average. While yes, one does need to be born with them in order to practice magecraft, there's a matter of debate regarding magical bloodlines.

It is considered common knowledge that a magus' power is determined by their lineage. For god only knows how long, the aristocracy has operated on this concept; arranged marriages, elistist bullshit, that sort of aggravating thing. But about a decade ago, a student came forth with a thesis that proposed another idea. In short, his research led him to believe that 'common knowledge' was flawed: that while bloodline did produce a measure of results as far as power and ability, mage society would be better served moving away from such archaic nonsense. That student proposed that effort and hard work could in theory produce magi on par with the aristocracy.

[Waver sighed, expression unreadable as he calmly took a drink of the tea sitting in front of him.]

Naturally, he was made into a near-laughingstock. Even if he was right, those in power in the Association would have either refused to believe it or flat-out gone to any lengths to be sure no weak-blooded amateur could match their generations of refined abilities and techniques.

[Shion wrote it all down, hanging onto his every word. So you did have to be born with magical power and within that there were more hierarchies, of families and bloodlines.

He understood the concept even if bloodlines were not something that existed anymore in his world, but the idea of elitism did.] So they did not accept that if all mages were taught the same even those who were not from such bloodlines could be just as good. Did he ever manage to get his point across to them?

...He's still working on it. I can't say whether or not the aristocracy or any others in charge will ever believe such a radical change in ideas.

Shion nodded, he supposed it didn't matter now that the worlds were ended, but if they were restored...

"I hope one day he gets the chance to prove them wrong."

[Waver had started to sound a little downcast regarding the whole matter, but in response he merely shrugged.]

I doubt he'll see much in the way of change regarding that sort of thing, but who knows.

Perhaps, even if restored the worlds may be different when we return.

...I hadn't considered that. Do you really think that could be the case?

It could be, things might have changed. If anything our perceptions have changed. I know I am not the person I was a year and a half ago. If we restore the worlds we will be looking at them with very different eyes.

Hm...that's a good point. I doubt my own goals will have changed, but my approach likely will.

(no subject)

savedbyasong - 2013-09-09 08:28 (UTC) - Expand

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