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"What do you mean, 'just chant your prayers and imagine it happening'?" Schierke questioned Merlina's teachings to Vlad as he and Farnese asked for her aid in mastering Astral Projection, laying still at the beach during the sunset.
"I mean, boiling down to the simplest of terms, it is what magic is all about, isn't it? To visualize the spell and to use your soul as a bridge between the physical and the astral to transform thoughts into reality.. Since I could always see said spiritual energy, it became second nature to become one with them..."
"But to do that, you'll ignore the entirety of the world of Ideas! It's no wonder you couldn't Astral Project. The world of thoughts is exactly what forms said astral dimensions, you are missing the forest for the trees by not realizing they are all made of the same materials."
"... The Kushan and Tudorians did not seem to have trouble only using two dimensions, instead of three. Besides, fomenting the world of ideas... Merlina was incapable of such pragmatic forces after being turned into a sacrifice by my father, and knowing that her research ended in discovering that the absolute deity laying in the world of dimensions is a God of Evil that manipulates fate to do it's bidding... I feel like the Silver-Eyed were right in attempting to develop their own power source, to unite the physical into the metaphysical, perhaps wouldn't that entail into a countermeasure against causality's manipulator?"
"But defying fate always comes at a cost. The necessity of having a dark, forbidden art in Tudorian magic triggered by the spilling of blood is the countermeasure to their countermeasure. Blood, life, the idea of life is one that's intrinsically related to all dimensions. It is why whatever rune made by a silver eyed will be infinitely empowered when spilled with blood; The world of ideas will forcefully bring all possible elementals and astral entities to be absorbed into your being, but while the caster will unlock a far more powerful set of abilities, their peaceful ties and contracts with nature are forever soiled."
"But dark magic isn't unique to Tudorians, is it? I bet manipulating the world of ideas is something many have tried to do in the past... For every warning of a broken rule, there is a story behind it..." Farnese chimes into your conversation, breaking her focus as she attempted to see the image of an apple and form it into her mind with pinpoint accuracy, like many times before it, she had difficulty seeing the same picture her eyes did, only know, it was because her two superior teachers were discussing which method of magic was more effective.
"My master did admit to using such arts to extend her lifespan, though she never elaborated on how to do so..."
"Maybe she was afraid of seeing you replicating it... Making the same mistakes she did." You understood Flora's rationale, given how Merlina explained you how to do dark magic despite your protests for the same reason.
