video;

[upshore]

[There's a man in his late 20s on the screen, and he looks tired. Not like he hasn't been sleeping well - though that, too - but like 'tired' is just generally a state of being for him. His hands are out of frame. He's going to keep it that way.]

Not to diss Raine and Heather, without whom I would be dead, and I am very grateful for their help, I've got a question. Out of curiosity, are there any doctors here? Gonna be clear here - I don’t mean maniacs with rusty shears, I don’t mean someone with a penchant for making people into unwilling human guinea pigs for whatever the fuck, I don’t mean Dr. Strangelove’s crazier Nazi cousin who’s trying to turn mental patients into batteries for nanomachines with more tubes in them than that one senator guy called the internet.

‘Cause before I let anyone come near me with so much as a stethoscope in future, I’m going to need to see some medical credentials.

[A pause, and then:]

Also, if anyone comes at me dressed as a priest, this is the only warning you’ll get that I am going to set you on fucking fire. It worked on the last guy.

Comments

[upshore]

A victim of some seriously unethical quote-unquote "medical" practices. I found something - said they stopped him doing some therapy that was really helpful to him. They made people worse on purpose.

[Then he stops.] Like...D&D mana?

[So close, and yet so far, Miles.]

[ruinsprofessor]

That's terrible.

[Raine assesses this without hesitation, and with genuine feeling in her voice.]

[In the next moment she's tilting her head, curious.]

I don't believe I'm familiar with 'D&D.'

Perhaps I didn't mention, before-- my world isn't an Earth. While I've had significant exposure to natives over the last few years, many of your cultural references will be opaque to me.

[upshore]

Oh. Okay. So, uh, why don't you just explain what you mean to me and I'll let you know if it's the same thing I was talking about.

[Don't blush, you little nerd.]

[ruinsprofessor]

All right.

[Raine's attitude definitely shifts. Now it seems like she's lecturing.]

Mana is the source of life, and is found in all living things, including the world itself. Without mana, the world would wither, and people would die. Certain people can sense it and learn to manipulate it, but for most humans, it's simply like... air, I suppose. Something you feel the effects of, but rarely see as its own discrete thing.

[upshore]

Hm. Okay.

[Not his paradigm, but it's familiar enough - kind of like Shinto. See, he knows things and stuff.]

So if you're able to sense it and manipulate it, that means that the bigger the manipulation, the more mana you need, right?

[ruinsprofessor]

That's correct.

[Raine smiles. Rare is the student who picks up so quickly, without bothering to stop to question the existence of magic.]

An 'arte' is a term for such a manipulation in a specific and standardized form, often intended for combat. The more powerful the arte, the more mana it requires as input from the caster and the world around them.

[upshore]

...huh.

I guess it makes more sense that more powerful things require more energy. Or mana. This sounds less like some Harry Potter shit and more like science.

[ruinsprofessor]

[A pleased nod.]

I'm a scholar, as well as a mage. Some people seem to believe those are incompatible.

In any case, all artes are a manipulation of mana. Healing artes are slightly different from most, but the same underlying principle remains.