2443 Cause and Effect (Part 3)

"That's because the root cause of our spells is our own mana and it does us no harm.  The effects, instead are produced when the spells interact with the external world energy. They are like the ripples produced by a stone thrown into a lake.

"We have control over the distance the stone travels and the strength with which it lands, but not over the ripples that originate from the impact. Let me give you another example."

Lith raised his right hand, producing such heat that soon everyone had trouble breathing, he included. The same happened when he caused a frost wave that made his teeth clatter.

"See? In both cases, my body is unaffected by the change in temperature that fire and water magic produce but the same doesn't apply to the effect they cause in the environment around me. Any questions?"  He asked.

"I have one." King Meron said. "During our visit to the Desert, when we discussed the terms of your ascension to Magus, you told us that fire and ice control speed. If water magic slows things down, then how come ice spells are second in speed only to air magic?"

"Excellent question." Lith gave him a nod of approval. "Yet once again, your confusion originates from mixing up cause and effect. Let me explain it to you with a practical example."

He put two glasses of water on either side of the King's desk.

"You are thinking this." A flick of Lith's finger created a trail of ice that reached the glass and froze the water it contained.

"Yet it's actually this." A wave of his other hand had the water in the other glass freeze on the spot without affecting anything else.

"What my mana is doing is draining the heat by slowing down the movement of the water. The ice is just the visible effect. Ice magic is fast because it's actually my mana that moves until it reaches the destination and causes the effect.

"On the contrary, fire magic appears to be slower because the flames it creates behave like natural fire and devour oxygen. That's why Light Mastery does it better."  A heat beam from Lith's finger punctured a hole in his own desk, spreading the smell of burnt wood.

"Using light instead of air as a carrier for the fire magic keeps it from wasting energy to produce flames and focuses its power in a single spot. On the other hand, however, mixing fire and air can create explosions, something that light can't do.

"But that's a lesson for another day. Any more questions?"

"Yeah. You said that we are mistaking cause and effect, but if the ice is the effect, then how come it doesn't hurt us?" A male student created a crystal shard that phased through his hand and yet pierced through his desk.

"Because that's not external ice but your own." Seeing the confused expression on his face, Lith rushed to add. "Let me show you the difference."

Lith opened both of his palms but while an ice shard similar to the student's formed above the left hand and floated there, another formed above his right hand, falling to the ground and shattering into smaller fragments.

"That's ice conjured by my cold." Lith pointed at the fragments with his free hand. "This, instead, is ice conjured by my own mana."

"There's a difference?" The student asked in confusion.

"Okay, let me ask you a few questions. Does normal ice fly?"

"No." The student replied with a scoff at the apparent stupid question before realizing how short-sighted he had been.

"Next, do you use air magic to make your water magic spells fly?"

"No." This time there was no mockery in the voice of the student who was now pondering his own every word as he spoke. "That would be a tier four spell that I have yet to learn. My water spells fly because they are comprised of my mana."

"And mana does whatever you want it to do. That's the difference." Lith gave the student a nod of approval while conjuring a piece of rock that floated as well, apparently defying gravity.

Just like the shard, the piece of rock phased through Lith but put a dent in the desk.

"What about light and darkness?" Marth asked. "Why does one work on ourselves while the other doesn't?"

"There is a subtle but vital difference between them." Lith nodded. "Darkness is destruction. Cause and effect match hence our own darkness spells can't hurt us. Light, instead, works in the same way as air magic and changes its effect based on how it's applied."

He conjured a hard-light knife.

"This is pure light element that I conjured and as you see, it can't affect me." Lith stabbed at his palm a few times to prove his point.

Then, he opened a small cut in his own hand with an enchanted knife.

"If I return this to pure light element, however…" The energy that formed the knife lost cohesion, seeping into his hand and healing his wound. "Light is the cause, hence a construct can't hurt me and its radiance can't blind me."

Lith generated a strong light that forced everyone but him to shield their eyes.

"Healing, instead, is the effect so it works on me as well. Light stimulates the body and the metabolism, that's why we can self-heal. Cause and effect. As soon as you grasp the difference, you'll be able to learn Void Magic."

King Meron raised his hand and Lith nodded for him to speak.

"My question is not about Void Magic but since we are discussing the causes and effects of the elements, I was wondering if you could give us a demonstration about darkness magic as well."

From Lith's speech, Meron had gained a deeper understanding of how fusion magic worked yet he couldn't speak openly about it.

Only the upper echelons of the Kingdom knew about the existence of the Awakened whereas the exclusive branches of magic they could employ were still a well-guarded secret.

The Awakened wanted to maintain their edge over fake mages while the Royals wanted to avoid breeding envy, fear, and hunger for those powers. History was a good teacher and Meron was aware of the truth about the legendary Werepeople.

Were the Mage Association and the army to learn about fusion and Spirit magic, their most radical factions would set up black facilities where to conduct human experimentation and hold magical beasts and plant folk to discover the secret of their abilities.

It would have been the end of the fragile alliance between the races and probably marked the end of the Griffon Kingdom.

'It always baffled me how darkness fusion stops pain. Yet no matter how many funds we invested in my "theory" to use darkness magic to replace heavy sedatives and all the risks they imply, even the White Griffon dismissed it as unfeasible.

'If Lith is right and fusion magic is just the effects of the elements on ourselves, then he might have the solution.' Meron thought.

"It was going to be the subject of a future lesson, but since we are already here…" Lith took a scroll out of his pocket dimension and handed it to the King.