'Okay, I'm getting off track again.' Collecting his thoughts, Eldrian finalized his answer.
"Lifeforce isn't needed for the healing part of the spell. At least, I don't think it is always needed to perform the healing itself. Mana should be enough for that." Which didn't mean that it didn't play a part.
"I think that the lifeforce in the equation of divine magic isn't used to fuel the spell. Mana is converted into energy to heal, but I can't imagine the same being done with lifeforce. Perhaps in the case of resurrections or soul damage, but those are more extreme cases."
"So, instead, lifeforce is probably used to connect with a person's self." Eldrian had experience in this area himself. After all, his soul had been damaged, repaired, damaged again, repaired again, altered, corrupted, attacked..... It had been through quite a lot.
And in that process, Eldrian's image of self had been changed. 'Actually, if GAIA really did tamper with my soul... Ugh, this is so frustrating.'
Not willing to go down that rabbit hole, to ask whether he was still himself, Eldrian kept his focus on the question on hand. Why lifeforce was needed to cast divine spells.
He felt he was on the right track, but he was still missing something. Lifeforce was certainly not the fuel for the spell, but it wasn't limited to being a guiding light, or rather, a blueprint printer, either. It was more a catalyst and guide. Improving the potency while ensuring optimal efficiency.
Which certainly made it sound amazing, and it was. After all, it allowed someone with no knowledge about human biology to heal a lost limb, bring the dead back to life, and even touch upon a person's very soul.
'Thinking of my own abilities. With Incinerate, anger adds power to the spell. But it also adds intensity. Those two might sound the same, but they aren't."
"The anger is the guide—which with Incinerate is to do just that, incinerate all in its path. Intensity is the catalyst. It increases the potency of the mana supplied to the spell. Elevating the effects of the spell past what should be possible with its creation. Yeah, that sounds right.'
In regard to healing, lifeforce would connect with the person's soul to figure out how their body ought to be. If there is severe soul damage, things will become tricky, but if not, the spell can simply copy the will of the person to fix their body.
'Still, I can already think of several problems with this theory. Souls aren't always images of self... But let's propose it and see what Ziraili has to say.' Doing just that, the goddess nodded.
Her lack of expression, however, made it hard to gauge if his answer was satisfactory, or met only the bare minimum to avoid a sigh.
"You aren't wrong. Adding lifeforce to any spell has an effect not dissimilar to catalysts. It takes the emotions and will of the caster and amplifies it in the spell—in fact, this is in large part the basis of dynamic casting."
"One might even argue that dynamic casting is the ability to use lifeforce subconsciously to connect with mana and bring forth magic." This statement made Eldrian think of Mageia, and he was quite certain his thoughts were right in that regard.
Mageia was some part of his mental 'lifeforce' which Eldrian could manipulate at will. Eldrian was sure of this. Why, he could only access a limited amount, that he had no clue on.
"In regard to healing, lifeforce adds the will for the patient to get better. And, as unscientific as it sounds, that indeed does make a difference. As you have certainly experienced yourself. The intent behind magic can alter it greatly."
"However, you are wrong about how we create the blueprint for healing."
'Huh... I thought for sure I was right on that part.'
Seeing Eldrian's contemplative look, as if questioning her statement, Ziraili continued. "It is a fault of the terminology we use. I know we've talked about it before, and you've considered in depth that our vocabulary limit our imagination."
"Eldrian, take out the life from lifeforce and what have you?"
"Force?" Eldrian replied, his mind going to a certain famous story. He quickly shook the thought from his mind. Lifeforce minus life is force, sure. The question then is what is force.please visit "Indeed." Ziraili replied, and Eldrian felt like tearing his hair out.
"Why is it so complicated, then? If everything just boils down to being energy, why the heck can't I control my auras?! Not to mention my bloodline? Why the heck can't I..."
"Because the simpler something is, the harder it is to understand. And to master it... becomes exponentially more difficult." Ziraili replied. A statement which threw Eldrian's understanding of things further out of the window.
"Things aren't complicated because they are so by nature. They are complicated because they exist of countless simple things working together to give form to them. And once they have form, they are simple again. Working together to make another complicated thing, which is again, in turn, simple when viewed from outside."
Noting that Eldrian wasn't quite following, Ziraili decided to give a simple example. Which was also complicated.
"For example, think of the human mind. Thoughts, they are simple, right? Moving an arm, a leg, breathing, it's all simple. Everyone can do these things."
"Sure?" Eldrian nodded, not following where Ziraili was going.
He wanted to argue that thoughts could be complicated, but he realized as soon as the thought entered his mind that they weren't. Each thought on its own was simple. It became complicated when there were too many. Just like Ziraili had said.
"So, we can agree that to breathe is simple?" Ziraili asked, and when Eldrian nodded, she asked, "Alright, so how do you breathe?"
"Ah... Umm..." A few ideas popped into Eldrian's head, but he honestly didn't know the details well enough. He knew it had to do with pressure differences, muscles, and so forth. But heck, he couldn't explain it right on the spot.
He could try, but... 'Wait, is that me and magic? I find it simple, until I try to understand it?' This realization shocked Eldrian.
"So, breathing ins't simple?" Ziraili asked, and Eldrian could only muster a defeated nod.
"What about moving?"
"That... is also complicated." Forced to admit as much, Eldrian flexed his own arm. He knew some of the difficulty related to movement thanks to his practice with his prosthetic. He could explain this better than breathing.
However, that didn't change the fact that it was simple. To move required nary a thought. Even his prosthetic—after enough practice—now moved almost on instinct. Eldrian no longer needed to think of manipulating the darkslime within to produce movements.
The same held for all movement. No human thinks to move their muscles to produce movement. They think to move, and they do. Unless, of course, they are recovering from some serious injury. Or trying to flex their muscles.
"I think I see what you are getting at." Eldrian mumbled.
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