Lesson 2: Limitations and Functions

With a fair bit of motor control back in her possession, Ersa returned back to the flower fields in order to receive yet another lesson on Fairy Magic, less than a day after the first. Even Elanorwen was quite surprised over how a Storm's End lesson coincidentally occured immediately after the conclusion of the fairy's first lesson of her own.

"Alright! Fairy Magic! What's next?!"

Despite the severe sensory issues that ensued after the Metal Magic girl, the Avharain girl was now more or less back in tip-top shape, and completely willing and able to learn whatever the small fairy had to offer.

"Er...well, just as a bit of a disclaimer, both attempting and failing Fairy Magic won't really kill you in and of itself, unlike the Metal Magic you were trying to learn earlier."

Throughout the entire training ordeal with regards to bending metal, Elanorwen's wings beat furiously as she watched on in nervous anticipation, able to feel every whack of damage the girl did to her mind.
(Ersa Avharain)
Yet, the pain of performing the magic hadn't really swayed the girl away from it at all, as she had an ace up her sleeve, or at the very least would have one in the future.

"Doesn't matter! Once I learn Fairy Magic, I'll have metal doing whatever I want it to do, I bet!"

Indeed, her energy was reaching never before seen levels as she learned these two forms of magic side by side, only to somewhat buzzkilled by her dear fairy companion.

"Oh...er, I'm afraid not...Well, I can't say with absolutely certainty, but remember I told you that the output is more or less equal to the input? At your current level of metal mastery, you'd be just as likely to risk killing yourself using it with Fairy Magic than you would just performing it on its own. Manifestation is the hardest part of mana manipulation in most cases, but in this case...well, let's just say you've got your work cut out for you, dear."
(Ersa Avharain)
A sensible clarification, to say the least. Currently, Ersa couldn't use Fairy Magic in any sense of the term, and only grasped Metal Magic by the smallest tips of her fingernails. Attempting to use them both at the same time while extremely inexperienced would be more akin to trying to bend the coin in two directions at once, resulting in more strain than otherwise needed.

"See, the entire purpose of Fairy Magic is to have complete mastery over the given element, typically because the more you're comfortable with that element, the more it's comfortable with you. For instance, if you used it with Earth Magic at this very second, you'd likely be very good at it! As, the magic only supports what you already know, and is otherwise...not very useful?"

This was beginning to be quite the downer. Another moment passed where Ersa began to doubt that learning it was even useful. What exactly made it one of the most powerful types of magic if it didn't really have any use of its own?
(Ersa Avharain)
"Wait, wait...so...just to clarify, I can't really use it to attack anyone, and I can't really use it to defend myself? You'll have to excuse me if I'm starting to rethink this entire thing..."

Ersa's fluctuations of being all for or all against learning this somewhat hidden art only served to magnify just how much of a child she still truly was, yet Elanorwen merely waved her hands defensively.

"No, no, no, dear! You've got it all wrong! You can use it to do both, but it depends on what you put in! You're not going to, say, fire off a beam of powerful fairy...mana or something. But! When you use holy beam, the beam itself would kind of be its own source of mana! Er, well, oh! Remember when I put that light shield over you to fend off that ridiculous witch who tried to curse you? Now, if you could use Fairy Magic of your own, the instant you saw her try to touch you, the lingering holy energies existing around you at all times would form the shield for you, and then you'd go from there, get it?"

Honestly, the premise was becoming more and more convoluted as the explanation went on.
(Ersa Avharain)
"Oh...okay. So, why? I mean, I do want to learn it, so I can have a lot more energy to do other stuff, but why do you think I should use it? Why should I buy what you're selling?"

The skeptical girl was asking quite the strange question in the fairy's opinion. It was a form of magic seldom ever used by any other race in Valmasia, would nearly double the efficiency of mana usage. Why would anyone not want to learn it?

"Why should you buy it? What? Well...um...okay! Hypothetical! You're trying to move a big boulder! A huge boulder! It's massive! But! You can only spread your mana over half of the rock, and it's going to be nearly impossible to lift it any higher. Well! If you applied Fairy Magic, the boulder would want to move just as much as you wanted to move it, meeting you halfway, and thus the boulder would be lifted! And then, you could use that massive boulder to crush a Kaor or two, mmmm?~ See what I mean now?"

(Ersa Avharain)
This was perhaps the clearest explanation given about the practicality of the new form of magic, and gave a bit of an understanding towards why it was worth learning. It, for all intents and purposes, would essentially double the effect or efficiency of your everyday elemental magic uses when used offensively, while providing an equally powerful First Defense when used defensively. Given enough thought, it was indeed quite a supreme method of magic.

"Oh, I get it now! Again! So what's the catch? I mean...I know it's rarely ever used by anyone but faries, who don't really...do much. But still there's got to be some sort of downside to it, right?"

The fairy pondered over this for a moment, quite proud of the unique fairy art itself, but wondering the possible downsides, until it finally dawned on her as she snapped her fingers.

"Ah! Yes. Mana Cohesion."
(Ersa Avharain)
Mana Cohesion. Throughout Ersa's studies, she had found more than a few books on the subject. It was a method through which Magi could fuse elemental mana together in order to create a new form of magic entirely. But why would this be a limitation on fairy magic?

"Yup! Typically, your average fairy will never quite delve into the mixing of elements and whatnot, as it's not really necessary in and of itself. But, if you were to attempt to use Fairy Magic in conjuction with, say, Holy Lightning, you'd need twice the amount of input to only get what would be considered half the output. You would almost be using four types of mana at once, as you would have to control both Holy Magic and Lightning Magic while maintaining its form as Holy Lightning, while also attempting to get a signal out through nature that you...well..."

As she had wandered upon yet another glaring issue, the fairy widened her eyes in understanding what exactly the catch was.

"Well, yes! that's another thing! Holy Lightning doesn't exist in nature! The entire purpose of it is to ask nature to give you a helping hand. The reason you're not using the same amount of mana regardless, is because the only mana used is the mana that's sent out as sort of a...distress beacon of sorts. If you asked the Lifestream to want to...Holy Lightning as much as you wanted to Holy Lightning...well...that'd make absolutely no sense at all!"
(Ersa Avharain)
The silliness of it's fault as well as how energetically the deductive announced it caused Ersa to giggle.

Indeed, Fairy Magic would only serve to assist in elements that were already naturally occuring in nature itself. Blends of magic couldn't really be assisted with, as nature's response would likely be 'what the hell is that?' whenever it was attempted. The only exception to this rule would likely be magma, as it indeed occured naturally, provided a volcano was around.

"Alrighty then! Doesn't matter to me because I don't know any combinations of magic! Plus, metal is just iron and stuff that's been forged or whatever, so it should be fine, right?"

Ah, yes. Having been focused on learning and mastering the two elements whose Symbolic Magic she resonated the most with, Ersa had never learned how to combine elements, nor had she learned any element other than both earth and holy. Fortunately, holy magic, or positive energy itself, could be found spread throughout the air just as much as occult magic, just as light and dark were naturally occuring times of day.
(Ersa Avharain)
Elanorwen tapped her chin a few times, reflecting on the human teen's choice in elements.

"Oh! You're right, actually! It's pretty convenient that the only downside I could think of doesn't apply to you! Well, I mean, other than the possibility of it failing because you're not a fairy. But we'll get to that later! Oh, also, though holy magic is all around, the greatest source of it should always come from your own heart for the best effect. So, basically, if you try to combine Fairy Magic with an element you don't actually believe in, understand, or trust, then, well, it fails. Which, if you were hoping to use it defensively at that moment, could cost you your life."

The girl nodded as she had done in the past, and would continue to do in the future. She grew tired of listening to the theory and couldn't wait to test it out herself.

"Alright! So let's try it! Right now!"
(Ersa Avharain)
The fairy shook her head in refusal as she had done in the past, and would continue to do in the future. The lesson was over.

"W-what?! We didn't do anything at all! I'm exactly where I was before we started!"

Sadly, her incessant whining fell on deaf ears, the fairy being resolute in her silence regarding putting the lesson on hold.

"You're a lot farther, actually, dear. For the first lesson, I showed you a demonstration of it, and gave you a pretty basic look into the magic itself. This time, we went further indepth about the practicality of such a magic, why it is as powerful as it is, its limitations, and possible risks. I'd say we did quite a bit today! Next time, we'll get even more indepth as to why it works and why the Balance would even bother helping us. That is all."

Knowing that pouting and complaining wouldn't get her anywhere, as the fairy had been teaching her this secret method from the kindness of her heart, the fledgling metal magi merely sighed and proceeded to go about her day, hopefully being able to seek out another lesson or two from her respective teachers.
(Ersa Avharain)