The Limits of Magia

Like I've mentioned before, wielding magia is a fact of life in the world of Sekiya--almost anyone is able to wield it, and many beings do. Those that don't are treated like anyone else--having magia and its related skills do not make you higher class.But every kind of magic has its limits, and magia is no different.

In a video game, you can easily figure out how much magic your character can wield via a number--their MP. But in a book interface, like I'm hoping for my story cycle to become, MP doesn't work for obvious reasons.To remedy this, I tie "MP" to fatigue--cast too much magia at one time and you'll be very tired. Cast a spell and wait a few seconds to see if it did what you wanted--you won't be THAT tired. In fact, several castings in row won't tire you, but the longer the battle goes on and the more spells you cast, you get tired. But if you're physically fighting and are tired from that, using magia won't tire you out even more--physical fatigue and magia induced fatigue are completely different.How long the user has been wielding magia determines how much magia you can use safely without being fatigued. A new mage's apprentice will tire out very quickly, whereas a wizard that's been wielding magia for years might take several hours of constant spellcasting for the first signs of magia fatigue to set in. High powered spells are also known to be more tiring than low powered ones.

I've touched on another limit of magia many times already--certain races can only wield so many elements safely. For humans, avris and dwarves, this limit is three. Elves and fairies have a limit of six elements, as their culture relies more on magic than the other races do. Only one being can safely wield all twelve elements safely--the legendary hero called the Gemsinger (and his/her Wingblade, if the Gemsinger is an Other to one; although this lasts as long as the Wingblade is close by her Other. If the Gemsinger and the Wingblade are seperated by a very long distance, the elements the Wingblade cannot wield are expunged until they reunite. If the Gemsinger has to leave the Wingblade alone for a while to go a short distance, this doesn't occur.)That said, if another is found to wield all twelve elements, they will find that spells will tend to misfire more often, unless it is an element they can safely wield. The All-Wielder (i.e. the one that can wield all twelve elements without the Gemsinger's other powers) must then choose to keep two (or five if it is an elf or fairy) complementing elements aside from their innate power--the rest are then expunged.