Casting

Casting magic is much like a muscle. For some, they'll build their abilities so easily it looks like they never struggled at all. For others, it may feel like an insurmountable feat to learn how to cast.

In reality, it depends on what you try and how you go about it. A left-handed person wouldn't try to write with their right, much like a person who finds manipulating magic easier than using it to destroy; Or, a magitech engineer or spellworker who would rather use a medium to cast. This combination-- of natural ability, learning, and passion-- is what helps shape a person's soul, the blueprint for the behavior of their magic.

The Soul

The soul is understood as the reflection of a person’s heritage, life experiences, and passions. It is magic's metaphysical organ, and is what influences a person’s ability to harness magic in unique ways. With how magic develops over time, the soul is believed to roughly have three parts and is expressed in this model:

• The Core: Magic that is extremely easy to cast and is usually reflexive. The animals of the squish world tend to have the ability to cast this magic. Believed to be close to base instincts.
• The Flesh. Heritage. This influences what magic may be easier to grasp.
• Shell: Experience and passion. This influences how you may best manifest and work on magic, for example, through patterns (spellwork) or by physical exertion (natural casting.)

It is inferred that the soul is where the outlet for divine magic lies, characterized in diagrams as a mark on the flesh.

Types of Casting

Casting is believed to have originated with natural casting, which then spurred spellwork and charms that sought to make them more permanent. Magitech was then based on its spellworking predecessor. Most people begin learning natural casting, then choose to specialize when they learn which type of magic comes most naturally to them.

Natural Casting

Casting from the hands, feet, or other body parts. This uses the magic stored in one’s blood and takes mental and physical training to harness and keep one’s magical endurance. Natural casting prioritizes flashy, powerful, and usually ephemeral effects. Concentrating on long-term magic takes high stamina.

Natural casting can be bolstered by all other types of magic, as all other forms of magic are based on the fundamentals of natural magic. Since natural magic also uses magic sourced from the body, it is also the only type of magic that can affect it. It can be used to bolster abilities, improve jumps, or temporarily move faster.

Because of this, however, casting spells over and over can cause permanent changes to the body. A person using fire excessively can raise their body temperature. Said person could also become weaker to low temperature and frost. Overall, it is not a cause for concern outside of those who see frequent combat, since the body adapts relatively quickly.

Natural casting is to an extent innate. Healing is an example of a spell the body unconsciously casts on its own. The body heightening endurance in an anxious situation is also an innate use of a spell. These are typically developed in childhood, usually before the age of 5.

Natural casters are able to adapt quickly, yet are those who require more constant magical recovery.

Spellwork

A drawn expression of natural casting that can be used at any time once channeled with magic, also called Charms in its more artistic forms. Formulas and glyphs fall under this category. Spellwork can vary in power and effect depending on the precision and complexity of the drawn spell. Sloppy spellwork, however, will result in an equally sloppy spell.

Despite being somewhat formulaic, Spellwork is still bound by the soul. Some art forms and types are easier to grasp than others. Street charms, the most accessible, is aesthetically different than these more precise versions, using varying line weight typically left over from chalk and paint to boost effects. University-level spellwork is usually used by those who enjoy theory and patterns, taught by professors spearheading the craft to better understand magic.

The most "standard" version is not standard at all, and uses outdated ideas of the soul that say it should be absolutely universally usable. This is not true, but since it is considered the standard by many wealthy institutional donors, is still caught in classes today. Many people never grasp spellwork's tie to the soul due to the rigid way they are taught in class. Even universities are forced to teach it, to the chagrin of professors.

Some charms are drawn onto public infastructure. Some examples are a spell to start a small fire for someone who forgot their lighter outside of a bar or painted tiles that glow when stepped on.

Spellwork is less energy-intensive yet is hard to adapt on the go. Storing spells also becomes an issue when they become large and complex. Extremely skilled combat spellworkers can draw charms while still dodging attacks on the battlefield.

Charm Tattoos

A subset of street charms are charm tattoos. They are inked directly on the skin to produce spells much like a natural caster would, without putting as much strain in the body. Unlike most charms that can be painted over and fixed for errors, a charm tattoo must be skillfully inked to work. They are usually collaborated on with tattoo artists so the tattoo most accurately reflects a person's soul.

Tattoos can be added on over time to create different spells, or even allow someone to cast multiple different kinds from the same tattoo.

Some charm tattoos are used to redirect magic in a certain direction. When not needed anymore, a mark is usually placed to "disrupt" the charm, rendering it nonfunctonal. In medicine, temporary charm tattoos are used to hasten healing, while permanent ones are sometimes used as pain aids. For autoimmune disorders, a tattoo will sometimes be used to redirect aggressive healing magic away.

Magitech

Magitech casting refers to a person using magitech as a channel for their magic to produce spells. It seeks to replicate the effects of natural casting with less magic drain. For how magitech functions in infastructure, see the Magitech page.

Magitech is used about everywhere, but casting through magitech produces more tangible and temporary effects. An example of this is a lighter that channels someone’s magic to produce a small flame.

Omen's magitech bow. Note the excessive effects and decor.

More high-end magitech casting is usually classified by fancy gilded metals, excessive decorative crystal, and low durability. An example is a fancy bow that creates arrows out of fire. Homebrewed magitech, on the other hand, tries to use unconventional materials and energy sources to cast a spell. Electric guitars were originally a homebrewed magitech invention that grew in the underground scene before becoming popular.

Engineer-tested magitech is proven to be safe to use, while homebrewed magitech carries the potential of exploding from one misplaced magic spark. Garage fires are common for those who experiment in magitech, especially for use in combat and casting various spells.

Using magitech to cast spells requires less magic exertion than someone casting naturally; however, unpredictable levels of magic in a machine can cause it to malfunction and explode. Magitech can also be damaged, leaving the user defenseless.

Divine Casting

Divine spells are a desperate plea and last-ditch effort to access the well of divine magic that powers things like blessings. They are casted only in extreme situations, being outside of the user’s control.

Much like a blessing, you’re simply the vector for divine magic, and its effects can be unpredictable or extremely dangerous. If a god has a personal stake in the situation, they may make the effects go awry out of pure malice.

Someone not blessed can attempt casting divine magic, but with no well of divine power to draw from, they may simply die after the magic of their body is consumed in the attempt.

Soul Damage

Despite being modeled, the actual individual "parts" of the soul are not well understood. The line between them is unknown, even when there are recorded instances of people likely losing some part of their soul and having their magic ability affected.

Soul damage is rare and difficult to diagnose. Much like a brain injury, soul damage takes significant care to recover from. Usual symptoms are difficulty casting spells that are otherwise natural to a person.

The causes of damage are unknown, but are believed to be related to several types of dangerous magic that puts the body at risk (such as desperate divine casting.) It is rumored that excessive casting without time to recover can lead to soul damage.

All patients of soul damage have only had partial damage. Having one's entire soul removed is believed to cause extensive damage and even death, with magic playing an important role in too many essential body functions. Theoretically, however, a divinely stolen soul has the potential to keep persisting, if the divine magic involved was incredibly strong and nearly godlike. No magic of this caliber is available to make this possible.