T : "Where's Deku?"
Totta looked up at the 'nice body' and rather smelly lady with blond hair tied into four braids.
B : "Who knows? He went out for a bit and took the whole library with him."
T : "What did he need the whole library for?"
B : "I don't know. I'm not Deku, so I can't say."
T : "... Oh."
The little girl looked at her brother, who was trying to nibble and suck on a piece of the small golem stirring the porridge.
T : "... That reminds me... Hey, lady?"
B : "What is it, brat?"
T : "Are you a mama?"
B : "What?"
Bael looked at the child in surprise. Of all the things she could have asked of, be it Bael's hair, or her stench, or her 'relationship with Deku', there the young kid was, asking something she didn't anticipate at all.
T : "I asked, are you a mama?"
B : "Wh- Why do you as that?"
T : "Because you look like my mama, and you smell funny like my mama. It's a different kind of smell, but maybe all mamas have different hair and different smells."
B : (Me, a mother? Of all the things-... Wait a minute. Mister Jiel's wife is a magechanic, isn't she? I remember her being a professor here at one point before I enrolled, where she taught how magic can be incorporated into simple objects and she often built things to demonstrate how magic can benefit everyday life... That's right, she built the Radalus Fitelle in the courtyard, didn't she?)
Totta's claim suddenly made a lot more sense. It's entirely possible that Bael herself resembles Totta's mother in some way, but what was that professor's name again?... It likely isn't coming up anytime soon without any prompts to help.
B : "... I'm not a mama..."
T : "I see."
Her honest and almost instantaneous reply sent a pleasant chill down Bael's spine.
B : (This girl... She's so, so... Pure! So cute...! She's like a doll I want to hug and never let go!)
Bael couldn't restrain herself over the young lady's delectable appearance, and embraced her tight.
T : "! Uhm, lady?"
B : "Yes, you precious thing, you?"
T : "... Well... Mama used to hold us in her arms and we'd suck her teat. But she won't let us do that anymore. Can I suck on your teat?"
B : "!! ♥ !!"
*** ***
And so, on that day, Bael experienced the joy of giving life and sustenance to a young lady.
>_<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>_<
Okay. Hahahahahahah. Well, that Deku Up! is a joke. It really is - Bael's not supposed to develop this way with Totta, but well, I can if I want them to >:D
Okay. In all seriousness, well, because Deku is absent, allow me to share the lore of this story - Image Power.
In Words of Power Quest, magic is a corporeal manifestation of image power, the sin of Man. Image power is the ability for the brain and eyes to visualize and picture physical images and visions.
There are two parts of Image Power - The visualization, where a person observes an act or coincidence, e.g. guy outstretching his hand with a bonfire in the background; And actualization, where the human fools his brain to the extent that the flame is actually coming from his hand.
If an ordinary human can spout 'fire' from his hand, then so too will the sinner be capable of such an act. Magic, in itself, is a great, big lie... A lie that actualizes and manifests itself as reality, and the person can actually spout flames from his hand simply by lying to himself so much that it becomes a truth, a reality. A good analogy would be a quote from Nisemonogatari.
"There's no reason a fake can't do what the real thing would. And it's possible for a fake to be more real than the real thing." - Oshino Shinobu
Because the precursor of that illusion is a human, you start thinking "Yeah, if he can do it, why can't I? He's not special or anything." And yes, you can actually become stronger based on your image of it. That's why image power is so hard to map, so hard to use, but oh so very satisfying if done right. That's also what I struggle with every week when I want to feature scenes with magic or the like.
It's not so simple, either, and there's a lot of complex things here and there. Magic is not so basic as having a single individual become so powerful that they can all become stand-alone mercenaries. Image power is influenced by every human, so think of it as a sort of collective conscious - The more people know and believe a story, the more powerful the effects.
For example, associating the color red with fire means that people will naturally assume that you are going to use fire magic if you wear red, thus your fire magic is strengthened by the very fact that you wear red clothes. That's the most common form of Image Power's applications, but of course there are other applications too.
For example, Image Power can also be used negatively, to reinforce your opponent's strength. The most obvious application is in actualizing magic, but image power can also be applied to skirmishing and dueling, picturing out the perfect victory and the most ideal way to end the fight, etc. Just like how a basketball player envisions himself getting the slam dunk, warriors and rogues can also envision the perfect outcome.
Image power is a sin, because it is the act of being dishonest and lying to oneself in terms of magic, and it is something that humans as a whole possess. The gods, without a physical form, have no 'brains' or 'eyes' for image power to become possible - Thus they are free of sin. The humans learn and hone magic in order to understand the nature of image power, and to cut themselves off from it completely (with death not as an option)
It follows Hempel's Raven paradox : All gods are incapable of using image power. Humans (who are not gods) are able to use magic (and are therefore not incapable of using image power) Therefore, humans are not Gods. (Not until they free themselves from image power)
Also, well, this is the limitation of image power. Though, the story won't focus too much on this - After all, image power isn't the scarier power to face; The Arts, now, those are horrifying. Arts are a way to absolve oneself from the sin known as image power, and it manifests in various forms. Most Gods, Dardicel, Soltak, Ilpoh, they too were once human and have mastered their specific Arts enough to become a God. But the humans who have yet become God, and yet train themselves to become Gods, are the Warlocks and Witches.
These are all confirmed, by the way : Warlock of Wind Byrh (pronounced Beer), Warlock of Sand Tholneus, Witch of Moon Lacuedia (yes, the -ia fetish is prevalent XD Roberia Slingeneyer, Melodia Fienharr, Cecilia Torste, Antonina, Silvia Gataretz, gotta love the -ia names. Mwa-hah-hah-hah-hah-ha!!), Warlock of Time (Nameless, better known in my reference works as The Withered King), Witch of Ideals R- SPOILERS
As if you can't tell by this point - There's only one character whose name starts with R.
OR... IS THERE?!...
Yeah, pretty much only one character who starts with the name R. Yep. Totally. Uh huh.
Well, till the next time.
Signing out,
Cozy
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