It's not shouting Latin and hoping the elements listen. It's not waving a wand and praying the universe obliges.
Magic is physical. Mental. Trained. And brutally specific.
Every licensed caster — guild, Combine, or freelance — learns the same truth early:
Gesture is the grammar. Emotion is the ink. Focus is the breath.
You want to cast?
You move. Precisely. Repetitively. Until your fingers remember better than your brain does.
There are three core elements:
1. Gestural Sequences
Like martial arts katas or sign language, each spell is formed from a sequence of gestures — tight, deliberate, and practiced.
An inch off, a second late, a single finger misplaced? The spell can fizzle... or fracture.
"The difference between Light and Fire is one wrist twist and two broken fingers."
— Combine Field Manual, Vol. 2
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2. Emotional Calibration
Spells require emotional charge — but not chaos.
Too little feeling, and it collapses. Too much, and it corrupts. That's why grief-casting is dangerous.
It bypasses control.
Guild mages use focus rituals — mantras, objects, visual anchors — to stabilize their mood mid-cast.
Freelancers often use ritual drinks, scars, or sigil tattoos.
3. Focus Object (Optional)
Some mages use rings, bracelets, or etched gloves to channel energy more efficiently.
Others — like Calen — were trained bare-handed.
Focus tools don't make spells stronger.
They make spells repeatable.
Combine field drills often start at age 13. By 18, a mage-in-training is expected to perform 27 core sigils without shaking.
By 20, your fingers know more languages than your mouth.
By 22?
They know pain.
EXAMPLE
Spell Name: Aether Drift
School: Support
Tier: Basic
Effect: Temporarily reduces caster weight, allowing for gentle descent or short glides (used often in Outer Island cliff rescues or vertical ruins).