Magic Theory

The class was smaller than he had expected. Other than him, three other students. There were two almost identical girls who barely looked like they were older than twelve. The last girl was even younger than the twins and was busy drawing something onto a strange type of large digital pad laying firmly on her lap.

Unlike the younger girl, who didn't look like she was aware of his presence, the twins were both fixated on him with curious stares as he slowly walked into the room.

The room wasn't like any class he was used to. For starters, the seats were more like benches arranged in ascending rows of five, much like a lecture hall only difference is these were a lot closer to the floor. The youngest was at the bottom and front row while the twins were sat on the third row.

Raymond slowly went to the last row and sat down as awkwardly as he's height could deal with. Opening his bag, he fished out his own writing materials only to notice the twins still looking at him.

"What?"

"Welcome, Mr. Storm. I am glad you decided to join us."

A medium height woman who didn't look a day over twenty walked in dressed in a purple robe that flowed all the way to her hidden feet, giving her an almost gliding impression as she moved. Her hands were neatly tucked inside her sleeves. She had long, silvery-white hair that matched eyes.

She smiled. "I've been expecting you."

"Class, I'd like you to meet our newest member, Raymond Storm, he's from the Surface. Raymond, these will be your new classmates. The twins, as you may have noticed, are Myra and Lyra. The younger one is Alsie."

The youngest girl perked up as if now noticing Raymond before giving him a dazzling smile. The other two just rolled their eyes.

"What is he doing here, Hestia?" Myra, one of the twins, spoke.

"Just like you, Raymond is here to learn magic," Hestia replied like she'd been asked that question a hundred times.

"He doesn't belong here." Lyra joined.

"I decide who belongs or doesn't belong in my class. If you find it unbearable, the door is right there. I'm sure your mother wouldn't mind." Hestia chided. And that was the end of their little spar.

"Good. Now I believe you've all used magic in some capacity. You know what it looks like, what it feels like. I'm going to teach you how to properly use it. And as you further develop your understanding and ability, you will progress to higher levels, where you will learn advanced concepts such as spell structures and creation.

"To begin, all magic comes from one source, River Styx, located in Tartarus; a dimension just like Ouranos. Styx's origins can be traced back to creation and is considered one of the aspects of Kaos.

"Magic is also one of the three forces that can transcend all planes of existence, and the higher the plane, the stronger an Olympian's affinity becomes.

"Magic is also a unique force that allows one to manipulate reality to their desire. Though the concept is the same for anyone with magic affinity, however, the ability to achieve it is not."

As she spoke, Hestia moved towards her desk and picked up a glass cup. She then grabbed a jug filled with water before pouring it into the glass.

"Imagine three humans walking down a random street. The first human is a healthy man with no defects. The second is visually impaired and has to use glasses. Finally, the third human is blind but is being led by a guide dog.

"The first man can perceive the world around him using his natural eyes and react accordingly. The second man can do the same as the first man but has to rely on his glasses to perceive, while the third man cannot perceive the world around him using his natural eyes but can rely on his dog for that.

"Think of magic working under those three principles. The first principle uses magic to directly manipulate reality due to the ability to perceive reality through one's senses. Using your perception, you can guide your magic to do a certain action."

"It can be something as simple as levitating an object." As Hestia explained, a bright blue hue covered her entire body. She soon began levitating and, after a few seconds, came back down. The blue hue covering her entire body disappeared.

"The second man has a weaker perception of the world around him, but in order to make up for it, they use glasses. The reality they perceive is no longer through their senses but through a third factor. This factor in magic is called visualization.

"Not everything you use magic on can be perceived through your senses. Another thing to consider is that sometimes to perceive something, you have to have a certain level of comprehension—this where visualization comes in. Instead of using my senses to perceive my entire body, I just visualized my entire body.

"But visualization only superimposes actual reality. In this case, you have to use a spell that will allow your magic to use your visualization as a template. The key to visualization lies in ensuring the relationship between what is real and what is imagined is not drastically different. Otherwise, your spell won't take effect and may even backfire."

Hestia then uttered a short spell. The same blue hue reappeared again and wrapped around her body before levitating it. She then canceled the spell and dropped back down.

"The last man, on the other hand, cannot use his senses to perceive reality but strictly rely on external forces to the perceiving for them. In magic, you can still cast spells without visualizing or perceiving reality."

Hestia then repeated the same action but, this time, using a slightly longer spell before levitating.

"All three are ways you can use magic, but they each have different complexities. The easiest and the worst way of using magic is the third principle, and the hardest but the best way of using magic is the first.

"Using a simple levitating spell will not allow you to see the differences other than longer casting times, but as your spells become more complex, a qualitative difference will be seen. While the first principle may be the hardest, the speed of casting and efficiency is the best. In contrast, the last principle requires longer casting time to incorporate comprehensive commands and is less efficient.

"These three methods were developed after understanding the fundamental properties of magic. Magic acts as a conscious ability but is not well developed enough to act independently. It instead relies on you for guidance. That's where perception, visualization, and spells come in.

"Spells guides magic and tell magic what to do. This can also work with perception and visualization. The only difference is the former is purely through thoughts, and the latter is a combination of thoughts and words."

Hearing this analogy, Ray's first thought went to his healing magic. He didn't need to verbally use a spell for his magic to heal his damaged tissue as he could subconsciously perceive his entire body to the cellular level.

"To anybody who sat in a class of magic, a successful spell needs only three things; a source of magic, command, and intent. The best magic-users can alternate between perception magic and visualization magic. In contrast, the worst magic users rely solely on spell casting. What separates your average magic user from an adept is the ability of the latter to perceive or visualize their reality."

Hestia then muttered a spell, and the water in the glass began to fizzle and soon boil as vapor rose and disappeared above the glass. She mumbled another spell, and the boiling water settled down before finally solidifying into ice.

Hestia then grabbed four other glasses and passed them over to them before going around and pouring water into each. "At your current level, your senses are still not fully developed, so we will rely mostly on visualization. What I'm teaching you may not seem important for simple spells like this. Still, you will find that the more you visualize your reality, the easier and efficient your abilities will become."

Alsie's glass was visibly shaking as she finished, and almost all the water rapidly turned into vapor. "Raw power isn't the answer to everything, Alsie. Learn to control the flow; magic can only do what you intend it to."

On the other hand, the twins were more flawless as their water boiled and chilled almost immediately. "Remember, visualization is key and is what makes you an adept regardless of how much power you have," Hestia said while looking directly at Alsie.

"How about you, Raymond? I heard you're very good at spells." Hestia smiled.

"Um, I did one by accident, if that counts."

"Yes, the Sleeping Spell. Care to give this one a try?"

"I still don't know where to start."

"What do you know about water?" Hestia asked.

"In terms of?"

"States of matter, they teach that in your schools, I believe?" Hestia raised her brows.

"Yeah." Ray nodded. "Solid, liquid, and gas. Got it…wait, how is that going to help me again?"

"Each state of matter has particles in different levels of…excited states. The trick is to visualize these particles and increase their excitation while supplying them with magic to make it happen. The same principle works in reverse."

"Can I close my eyes?"

"Whatever works for you. Don't worry, once you get the concept, it will get easier with practice."

Raymond closed his eyes and visualized the water in his glass. It took him a while before coming up with an image of countless tiny atoms flowing in liquid form. He then made them vibrate faster than they initially were. Opening himself to his magic, he uttered the spell, and the familiar rush engulfed him.

There was a hissing sound followed by breaking glass forcing Raymond to open his eyes. All eyes in the room were on him. The water was all gone, and only a broken glass remained in his hand.

"A fine attempt. This time I want you to make your visualization a little bit slow and gentle. You want to be a surgeon, not a demolition expert. Remember, it is all about intricacy and precision over speed and power."

Raymond dug deep into his imagination again, this time trying to be as gentle as possible with the new glass of water he was given. Instead of rushing the atoms, he decided to slowly increase their excitation.

"Good, nice and slow." As Hestia spoke, Ray could feel small vibrations from the water. Opening his eyes, he was happy to find the water boiling in his hands.

"Now, I want you to slowly relax the particles as much as you can."

He closed his eyes and did just. The vibrations disappeared, and when he opened his eyes again, there was a nice block of ice nestled in the glass.

"Excellent. Now I want you to do it a hundred more times before I release you for the day." Hestia moved over to the youngest girl and began coaching her too.

Raymond smiled to himself, much to the twins' chagrin, who he couldn't tell whether they were annoyed by his success or that was just how they looked.

About thirty minutes and a hundred attempts later, Hestia told them to stop. "Now that you've got the hang of it, I want you to try something else. Cast the same spell but without visualizing your target

It was over an hour before he was done, even he had to admit, repeating the process over and overworked. It was almost second nature to him.

Outside the room, Raymond was mulling over the whole lesson to himself when he heard one of the twins speak. "Halfbreed, you do not belong here."

Ray turned only to have one of the twins pin him to the wall. Grabbing her tiny hand, he twisted her arm out of the way only for it not to budge. Myra gave Raymond a funny look as attempts didn't even bother her.

"I'm an Olympian, you idiot."

"Let him go." Alsie interrupted

"Watch it, Alsie, your mother isn't here to protect you this time." Lyra, who was standing aside when Ray was attacked, got between them to block her.

"I don't need my mother's protection to handle only you two," Alsie smirked.

"Stop it, both of you!" Hestia appeared in the hallway. Myra immediately let go of Raymond, and she and her sister moved to one side. "Alsie and Raymond, come with me. This better be the last time." She added while looking at the twins. Ray and Alsie obediently followed her, leaving the twins behind.