Magic Theory

The foundations underlying magic were quite similar to those behind science. As atoms linked together to create more complex compounds and structures, so too did mana combine together to form spells that induced phenomena. The only difference between the two was while we understood how atoms functioned to an extent, the same could not be said for mana.

Take, for example, the fireball spell: a rather simple formula, one of the few that could be easily derived from physics. By directing one's own internal mana outward while following the defined pathway, a ball of flames the size of a tennis ball would appear above the exit point. A few more changes and the ball could fly away, grow larger, track a unique signature, and so on.

Let's look at a different one -- the waterball spell, perhaps. The formula was exactly the same. The same went for the earthball. And the windball. In fact, this was true for all 'ball' spells. Then, how was the element determined? Well, nobody really knew. Sometimes the it would be baked into the spell, to which nobody knew how it worked, and other times it was just random.

At the moment, researchers believed that every person had an affinity for some kind of substance or element, which determined what spells they could cast. Though, there were some whose affinities had changed or had multiple, none of which could be properly explained, even after numerous experiments. Truly 'magic' in all sense of the word.

As for the Creator... well, she was definitely one of those edge cases.

Going up. dummm. Going down. dummm dummm...

"----------"

Like usual, she wasn't paying attention to the lecture, instead quietly working on her song. At first, she had tried to follow along, seeing if she could gain some sort of inspiration or spark of brilliance. But unfortunately, the professor just read the AI-generated textbook verbatim, passing it off as his own work. It was the norm of this time, but she still couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

As one who provided material for the AI to train off of, she was already well aware of how to create and cast spells. In fact, she herself had nearly ten thousand of her own -- some variations of existing spells, some completely original. Of course, the process was always more of 'feeling' than 'logic', leading to most generated spells being less effective or efficient than the source. There was rarely a point in learning such inefficiencies.

"M---I----!"

The sky is blue. dumm. The pavement's white. dumm dumm... no, I should add another 'dum' there.

So, she quickly lost interest, focusing on something else. Though, she should've been using this time to better understand societal norms, which was supposed to be the purpose of her attendance. If she had, then...

Maybe I could--

"Ms. Igita!" the professor yelled, snapping her out of her thoughts. At some point, he had walked over and slammed his hand on top of her desk space. It was an unusual sight; she couldn't remember a time where he had done so before. After all, he typically ignored her and moved on. However, her constant nonchalance and irritating attitude had finally pushed him over the edge, not that she ever noticed.

"Yes?" she asked, wondering why he came over.

"Is my class boring you?" His tone was clearly seeping with anger, something that flew right over her head.

"More or less."

"Haah... are you saying the fireball spell is too easy for you?"

"More or less," she repeated again, trying to get through the conversation quickly.

"Then, what kind of magic are you trying to learn?" The veins on his forehead pulsed.

"Teleportation magic. Are you interested in learning too? I have no idea how the coordinates are set, but I figure it works similarly to quantum mechanics, where..." she trailed off, noticing the class had started laughing.

Not even the teacher could hold back a chuckle. "Teleportation magic? We can't even do that with normal science at a large scale, and you think magic can do something similar?"

He wasn't wrong, per se, since the magic was completely unstable and unpredictable, but that was the point of research. Experiment and keep experimenting until you reached your goal. And as time passed, she would likely grasp that missing something that was just out of view, connecting mana and space together. Well, professors like him are the norm anyway, so it's whatever.

"Why don't you try paying attention to the spell we're currently reviewing?" the professor directed.

"Hmm? What spell?"

"The one on page... wait, where's your textbook?"

"What textbook?"

"...nevermind." The rage in his voice radiated outwards as he flipped through his own edition, shoving the page directly in her face. "This one."

"Oh, a fireball spell." If she could feel or even understand the mood in the room, she would've stopped talking right there and listened. But alas...

"It's a pretty good copy."

And the professor blew up.