Page 46 of Soulmates

“How is this helping Jake and Maddox? It’s fascinating, and I want to know more. The more we know about magic, the better mages we’ll be, but Jake and Maddox are already highly skilled. This sounds like beginner magic theory,” Santiago said.

“It is in a way. But it’s a magic theory you’ve never been taught. Your rigid precision reins in your magic as much as it allows you to use it. It’s a bullet when Maddox and Jake need a bomb.”

“I don’t understand,” Maddox said.

“Patience. I’m getting there. Apologies to you both,” Cricket said, gesturing to Jake and Santiago. “I’m going to come at this from a nature magic perspective both because it’s what I understand best and because I think Maddox needs to hear this the most.”

Jake waved him on, learning forward slightly in what Maddox’s thought of as Jake’s listening mode.

“Maddox, could you start a fire on my coffee table without it burning the surface?”

“Of course.”

“How?”

“You mean how would I avoid burning the surface?”

“Yes.”

Maddox thought for a moment. This kind of spell was so commonplace and simple he’d learned it before he was ten. “I’d use air as a barrier or possibly just a no-harm barrier like you’d use in a mock battle.”

“So at minimum, two spells.”

Maddox scrunched his forehead. “I guess so, yes. I wouldn’t have thought of it that way. It would have been one casting.”

“What if I asked you for the fire not to emit heat.”

“I’d create a barrier around it so the heat stayed close. But I’d have the fire burn at a lower rate as well so too much heat didn’t get trapped. “

“So another two spells?”

“Yes.”

“And yet your fire is still emitting heat in this scenario. You’ve casted four spells, and it’s still not doing what I asked you to do with it.”

“Fire is hot—it’s heat. I can make it so those nearby don’t feel it, but its nature is still to be hot.”

“What if I wanted it just for light?”

“I wouldn’t use fire if it was just for light. I’d use a light ray or mage ball or another other non-fire light source.”

“What if you were around a bunch of uninformed humans and needed it to look like fire but not generate heat.”

“What possible circumstances would require that?”

“Humor me.”

“So you want fire that has no heat but looks like regular fire.”

“It is regular fire; it’s just not putting off heat.”

“That’s not a natural occurrence.”

“No, but it can be a magical one. You just don’t know how to do it.”

“Cold fire. Or heatless fire.” Maddox thought for a moment. “No, I guess I don’t.”

“And yet, you are one of the most powerful mages at your school. Probably in your generation.”

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