Chapter 1224 Chapter 1224 Lily Starts an Argument
"I can't help but feel that really isn't how things are supposed to work," said Lily. "I mean, our bodies just aren't designed to work that way. Sure mana can make things go a bit wonky… but I just find it really hard to believe. Not to say you're lying. I'm quite new to mana myself, so I'm probably wrong… but just from the outside looking in, it doesn't seem like it should work that way,"
March shrugged and said, "I didn't exactly intend for things to turn out the way they did. Even if I was looking for bigger muscles, I had no idea my steam affinity would be such a big boost. In fact, it is partially a guess that it's my steam causing it… but I see no other obvious reason, and it makes sense to me,"
Marigold jumped in with, "More powerful people tend to be more… striking as well. Not necessarily more beautiful, but mana does seem to enhance their features in mostly subtle ways. Though of course, the person in question tends to like the changes, and a lot of people think that's part of the reason,"
Oditr cut in with, "But there's a fair bit of proof things don't work that way consistently. There is also the theory that as one gets more aligned with their element, they take on physical properties in line with it, and while that does happen sometimes, it's far from common,"
Marigold counter with, "But it does tend to happen in the most powerful. Ulf, doesn't have a single wrinkle on his face despite his old age, likely because of his regeneration affinity. I mean, look at all the fae running around. Their hair colour normally gives away their affinity. Even if it can sometimes be wrong, it's usually not. That proves mana, and your affinity has to have at least some affect on the body,"
"Fae might just be naturally susceptible to that sort of mana meddling," added Oditr.
*Oh dear. You seem to have really kicked off something here Lily.*
[Well it's not like I'm turning into paper or something. So I felt the question was warranted.]
*Lily, you're nearly as pale as I am and your hair looks like it's starting to absorb light. Let's not even get into the fact that your shadow seems darker than everyone else's. Your appearance is already being affected by your affinities. Sure I might be exaggerating a bit… but not by much.*
[Oh. Um… oops?]
*Oops indeed. Are you going to step in to slow this argument down?*
[No? That would require me getting involved and while I might have magical powers now, dealing with social stuff can still be a bit nerve wracking and I'd really rather just… not get in the middle of all that.]
Kat took a drink to hide the fact she was rolling her eyes but didn't say anything to counter Lily. People at the table were already saying enough. "Hmm… it's an interesting idea certainly," said Burnice, "I wonder if my scars have gotten more shocking over time? It's not something I've ever consider. Furthermore, would my wind affinity make them less or more obvious over time?"
"That's not how it's supposed to work," said Oditr.
"I don't see why not," retorted Marigold. "I did say 'more striking' not 'more beautiful' no offence Burnice. I love you, platonically of course…"
"Of course," said Burnice with a roll of her eyes, not unaware that Marigold would drag her off to the bedroom if she gave so much as a hint she was interested.
"… but you do have noticeable burn scars. Though… yeah I can't really say if they've gotten any more or less noticeable over time. I wonder how it changes things? I mean… those burns aren't really your skin? Or not your natural skin? Would that have any effect on how much the mana changes them?"
"I'm telling you, things aren't so simple. It only happens in rare cases," insisted Oditr.
"And I'm saying that those 'rare cases' are almost always powerful people, or people who become powerful. I'm pretty sure it starts to get more noticeable once we hit Rank 3. March might actually be quite close to Rank 3," returned Marigold.
*Does that mean you're getting close to Rank 3 Lily?*
[I have no idea. I didn't really notice going up to Rank 2. Or well, I mean. I didn't know I was close until it happened. I don't know that I could tell how close I was even if I knew what I was looking for, and I certainly don't know what I'm looking for.]
*Hmm… might be something to keep in mind. Perhaps you're closer then you think.*
[I haven't properly mastered the spells at my current level, I really don't need more things to lean just yet, and I can leave the stuff that really needs power to you.]
"Well, it's not I've changed all that much in appearance," said Oditr.
"Could be because you have multiple affinities?" offered Marigold. "Actually… I don't even know what your affinities ARE, so it's hard to say if that matters. Hmmm…"
"It's not that big of a secret, but my affinities are ice and metal," explained Oditr.
"Huh, I would've expected fire or something," said Marigold.
Oditr nodded and explained, "Yeah nobody is quite sure where I got the ice affinity from. I'm the only person in my family with it. Well, unless you count that one husband of a cousin of mine. Still, he's not related to me, he just married into the family. It's also not like he's particularly strong either. Oh, and I'm older than him. So really he can't have anything to do with it. Metal is somewhat common, even if earth is more so,"
"How would ice or metal even change your looks though?" asked Kat.
"What do you mean?" asked Marigold.
"Is it possible that it's at least partially mental? Even if the mana helps, if you don't KNOW what someone with ice, or metal, or whatever affinity it is SHOULD look like nothing changes? Could part of the reason March's technique works, and has such an influence on her body and looks just be because she thinks it's appropriate?"
Marigold and Oditr both thought about Kat's suggestion. Oditr was the first one to speak, "How would you even go about confirming or testing such a thing?"
Kat shrugged and said, "I'm not a scientist, I hit things. I just thought the idea might be worth thinking about. I have no idea how the heck you'd test something like that,"
Lily jumped in, because she DID have an idea, "Well I think it would be quite easy. Simply start using pictures of powerful mages with specific affinities and see if over time more and more people start to look like they do. If everyone has the same thing in mind when they think 'wind mage' or whatever, it should be self-reinforcing.
"Because the wind mages, assuming it's correct, would start to look similar. See that they look similar, and then start looking even more similar, or obviously similar at least. Assuming of course, that Kat's guess is correct,"
"Is that something we should be doing though?" asked Burgandy. "Seems a bit like fucking with peoples minds,"
Lily shrugged, "We're not telling them they have to look a certain way, or that they SHOULD look a certain way… just subtly saying that they can I guess? I doubt it would work on anyone who didn't want to pick up those traits anyway,"
"Still not something I think we should be doing," insisted Burgandy.
Marigold shrugged and said, "Honestly I could probably talk dad into testing it without much trouble. He'd probably be interested in the results… but it wouldn't really work with elves. We breed too slowly, so even if it did work, it'd probably only work on a few individuals and be forgotten quickly,"
"So humans then?" offered Burnice.
"Urgh, we won't be able to convince them to do anything like that. They'll think we're trying to undermine them somehow," said Oditr.
"To be fair, making all of their mages look the same so they were easily identifiable IS undermining them," offered Marigold.
*I feel as though this topic has gotten out of hand somewhat.*
[Yeah… somehow we want from, why I thought, was a perfectly innocent question to potentially manipulating the human population as an experiment to determine how much affinities shape a persons appearance. Is it weird I don't think it's a bad idea?]
*I'm… not sure. I don't think it's a bad idea either… the results would be really interesting to know and I'm sure the information could be used for something. Maybe it's because we don't care about the humans as a kingdom just as people? I mean, I probably care more about the dwarven kingdom because I know Oditr cares.*
[Yeah that could be it. I'm not sure how we'd test something like that, but you very much could be right.]
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