*Insert long, boring magic explanation* Sorry guys another filler chapter. This was not the chapter I wanted to put, obviously. Halfway through the chapter I did want I realised that for it to work then you’d have to know all this …

Chapter 4 – What Magic Does

Ravi’s warning completely slips Hongbin’s mind after dinner. As Hakyeon had predicted Leo eats absolutely everything in sight and then gets super cuddly. He curls up on Hakyeon’s lap looking exhausted but content and Hongbin watches as his teacher pats him for twenty minutes straight.

For a long while Hongbin is happy to sit in silence and flip through the potions book on his lap. It was a several levels above what he could do but it was harmless to read if he didn’t try to make anything. Not that he could have he realises when he sees that most of the potions have spells incorporated into them.

“Hakyeon?” Hongbin asks. “How is Ravi’s magic special?”

Hakyeon slowly opens his eyes to look at Hongbin but Leo’s remain closed.

“How much do you know about the different types of magic?” Hakyeon enquires.

Hongbin shrugs because he didn’t really know that much. What he did know he’d overheard from other apprentices who had gotten up to spells. And even then he’d only heard snippets.

“I may as well just give you the run down now then,” Hakyeon sighs, he doesn’t really believe in keeping apprentices in the dark until they get up to spells but that was the general practice. “Pay attention, okay?”

Hongbin nods, determined to catch everything his teacher says.

“There are two types of magic, right? The first is intuitive magic. Intuitive magic is possessed by magical creatures to varying degrees and by some humans, also to varying degrees. Humans that have intuitive magic usually become sorcerers or learn enough to control it at least. Okay?”

“Right.”

“Creatures that have intuitive magic are hunted, sometimes to extinction, for their uses in potions. A lot of the time these uses is something as trivial as making the potion a bit stronger. The stronger the creature’s intuitive magic the more likely they are to be captured and kept to exploit because even their hair is valuable. If you have a creature that’s alive then you can use it for longer.”

Hakyeon frowns and seems to consider telling Hongbin more but then he changes his mind and moves on.

“The other type is deliberate magic, which only humans have. It is developed from using intuitive magic a lot which is why you’ll find that older sorcerers have bigger reserves. When you started learning how to make potions it probably took you a while to finally get the first one right, right?”

Hongbin sighs and agrees. It had taken him a month to get his first potion right, after that he had excelled.

“That’s because potion making uses intuitive magic. When we make potions we add magic unconsciously. Until we figure out how much magic to use for what potion – which is determined by the ingredients – then we get the potion wrong.”

“How do we figure out how much magic to add if we do it unconsciously?” Hongbin questions.

“That doesn’t have an answer,” Hakyeon sighs. “That’s why it takes so long for that first potion to work out, because there is no way to explain this. We have to just let you figure it out alone.”

On Hakyeon’s lap Leo stretches out a little before turning around and going back to sleep. Hakyeon runs a soothing hand over his silky fur and sighs again. He always hated trying to explain this to his apprentices.

“You know that there are two types of spells. The type you learn first requires more magic to cast, but they’re easier because they only use deliberate magic. The second type of spell has a physical component that you have to craft – similar to a potion in that it uses intuitive magic – and then add deliberate magic to activate. It requires less magic but you have to make them in advance and they can be fiddly.”

“So basically intuitive magic is for potions and deliberate is for word spells and then physical spells needs both?”

“At the most basic, yes. Intuitive magic can also be called ‘accidental magic’. It’s when you do magic without intending to. You break something or fix it or move it. Whatever. Maybe you were thinking about rain and then suddenly it’s raining, stuff like that. Normally children do accidental magic before learning to control it.”

Hongbin thinks his brain might explode. Why wasn’t this just written in a book in simple language? He knows Hakyeon is trying to make it as easy as he can, but Hongbin brain is trying to switch off.

“Now,” Hakyeon begins. “Ravi’s magic is special because he absolutely cannot use deliberate magic. He has no reserves of it. However, he has a ridiculous level of intuitive magic. The highest in any human I’ve ever met, actually. He can make a ridiculous number of potions in the shortest amount of time and then make it thunder out of nowhere without even getting tired.”

Hongbin thinks about how tired he was after making four potions today and feels a little envious of the potion maker.

“What do creatures use magic for then?” Hongbin wonders.

His only run in with – alive – magical creatures had been on his walk here. They were minor creatures that normally ended up in a potion in some way, but Hongbin knew there were also more powerful ones out there.

“Mid-level creatures are called major creatures and they’re usually pretty dangerous. That’s dragons and griffins and the like. They use magic for attack and defence like we can and as a way to get food or store things or raise their young.”

“Wait, the mid-level are the major creatures?” Hongbin demands. “What are the top-level creatures then?”

Hakyeon’s hand goes back to patting Leo and the cat lets out a big breath. He doesn’t wake up though, he must be the most tolerant cat ever, Hongbin thinks.

“The top-level creatures are what used to be called ‘hybrids’. They were once called sub-humans too, but that fell out of use because it seemed like we were saying they were almost human and it put people off hunting them. Generally each species specialises in a certain type of magic or have a characteristic unique to that species.”

Hakyeon flips Leo onto his back and begins tummy rubs, trying to take his mind off the topic. Leo doesn’t even protest and just lies there in a seemingly boneless state.

“What are they called then?”

“They’ve practically been hunted out so now they’re just called by their species name. Generally they’re seen as ‘half human half animal’ by anyone who isn’t a sorcerer, but there are also some that look entirely human but have animal characteristics like ears or tails or behaviour. Merpeople, centaurs, and fauns are good examples of the first kind, they’re still around. Anyegi are dog-people, they live over the border and are protected by the government there, which is why we’re at war… Anyethi are cat-people that used to live… a-and now they live… well, you know.”

It’s only then that what Hakyeon has been saying fully dawns on Hongbin. Top-level creatures were legitimately people. People that were being hunted and captured and locked up just so their bodies could be turned into ingredients to be used in potions and spells.

Hongbin’s stomach rolls when he realises that this was probably the reason he and the other apprentices hadn’t been allowed in their teacher’s basement where he kept his ‘special ingredients’. How many other sorcerers did he know that kept people locked up? How many times had Hongbin unknowingly exploited them?

Hakyeon eyes Hongbin as he freaks out a little but doesn’t offer any help. It’s Leo that comes to Hongbin’s aid, slipping off of Hakyeon and winding himself around the younger man’s legs. Hongbin scratches the cat behind the ear to distract himself and takes a deep breath. He’s surprised to actually feel calmer.

“I understand now,” Hongbin mutters.

Hakyeon stands up with a sigh, it was unfair to get angry at Hongbin. Hongbin was just a kid who didn’t know anything and it was Hakyeon’s job to teach him. If he did it right then Hongbin would probably end up being a sorcerer with a conscience. That would be nice.

One out of three, Hakyeon thinks bitterly at the thought of his old apprentices.

“Let’s go to bed, it’s getting late,” he says.

Leo slips away instantly, no doubt ready to sleep. Hongbin on the other hand frowns.

“How do I get back to my room?”

It felt like Hongbin had been here a long time, but really it had only been two days. Hakyeon can barely believe it. He almost laughs at how confused Hongbin looks as he tries to figure out what hallway to go down.

“I’ll show you back.”

They begin the walk in silence, winding through hallways and doorways. Hongbin can’t stop thinking about everything Hakyeon had explained. He doesn’t care about the types of magic, only the things people were doing to get it. The things he was doing to get it.

“Do you hate magic?” he asks.

Hakyeon gives his apprentice a knowing look and sighs for the millionth time that night. “Magic corrupts, Hongbin. If it’s deliberate magic that drives sorcerers mad, and it’s using creatures with magic in potions that makes deliberate magic stronger, then what does that mean? Shouldn’t we have realised what that means by now?”

By then they’re outside of Hongbin’s door, apparently it had been a short walk today. Hakyeon gives Hongbin a faint smile.

“If we do the right thing and use magic properly then we don’t have anything to fear. If you want to back out, go ahead. But I can teach you how to use magic properly, not like your old teacher did.”

Hongbin frowns and opens his bedroom door.

“It’s your choice, Hongbin.”

Hongbin turns to tell Hakyeon that he’s still in but Hakyeon had already left, no doubt he’d taken advantage of the house’s random layout to get to the other side of the house in no time.

Hongbin doesn’t wash up. He doesn’t even get changed before collapsing onto his bed, head swirling with the information and with Hakyeon’s offer. Was he in?

Hakyeon slips into his bath with a sigh. He feels more exhausted than he should considering he did exactly nothing all day. Leo is perched on the edge of the tub, waiting to go to bed.

“I didn’t mean to tell him so much,” Hakyeon admits.

Leo’s tale flicks out, barely missing the water as it does.

“Do you think I told him too much?”

Hakyeon and Leo stare at each other for a long time, both wondering what the answer to that question was.