The Unique Properties of Dark Magic

by Shadestyle


(Noir Report) A Disclaimer and Explicit Re-Warning [Chimera Wing]

Entry #11, Day 85

My acting physician has demanded that I make this entry, after I myself had become the victim of one of my own spells. Namely, the spell Prestidigitonium. Thus, this entry will be a continuation of my previous entry on the subject, dealing with the dangers and risks of using powerful instances of Prestidigitonium, such as my own personal variant, the Chimera Wing spell.

The Chimera Wing variant spell is one in which I use Prestidigitonium to launch myself, and a list of chosen targets in an arc towards a location of my choosing, while locking myself in armor to help prevent my limbs from being harmed by the intense recoil forces created when the spell is cast, as, to reiterate, Telekinesis and Prestidigitonium will invariably apply forces to the body of their caster, in order to apply forces to the objects they are choosing to move.

This leads to situations in which, by lifting or throwing a sufficiently heavy object, you can instantly injure yourself. Now, needless to say, readers of this tome are unlikely to be doing something as unreasonable as flinging a boat several miles away, but if they were to do so, they would find themselves with every bone in their body cracked in an instant. The recoil force required to launch a heavy object a long distance is too much for a unicorn's body to take, without some form of extreme durability enhancements.

Earth Ponies and Pegusi have advantages that would in theory make them more suitable subjects for levitation magic, as their durability is naturally greater, but, for now, that is a moot point. A pony's body is naturally strengthened by several magical factors, from the amount of magical energy they have inside them at a given moment, to the amount of microspells they have cast on themselves, magical spells that a pony casts without even being aware of it, from minor feelings paired with minor desires, such as a pony desiring to pick up an object, and thus picking it up.

A Unicorn's body, meanwhile, has very few microspells associated with durability, leaving them ironically unsuited for one of their signature spells, although in most cases, Telekinesis requires too much power for a unicorn to cast it powerfully enough to risk harming their body, Prestidigitonium has no such compunctions, as it focuses the force it emits into an extremely brief timespan, making it especially capable of accidentally causing injury, especially when the user is frustrated, and thus, may be more careless.

Thus, for any aspiring mages who plan on following in my footsteps regarding this spell, I strongly recommend that enchanted items be used instead of casting the spell directly for large scale applications, unless of course, the caster has an even greater mastery of the spell than myself. A relic made of strong substances could bear the brunt of the spell, allowing it to launch the user's chosen targets, destroying the relic, but allowing a free casting of the spell.

In theory, if a unicorn were to cast the spell in such a way that all of the forces they emit equalized themselves, then no harm would occur. This is obviously true when Prestidigitonium is used to create fire, as no amount of raw, undirected force used to create the flames causes any harm to the caster, as the forces applied to their body are all perfectly equalized. In that same respect, if the caster emitted multiple vectors of force, each perfectly calculated to result in a neutral recoil thrown back onto the caster's entire body, then no harm would occur, regardless of the spell's intensity and power.

However, such a skill is beyond even me. Tests that I have performed imply that failing to do so would be even more devastating than taking the blow directly, as any misalignment would cause the forces to twist the caster's body, instead of merely pressuring them. There are few things more dangerous to a living thing than a twist in the wrong place, with more force than a body can take. Ergo, I cannot suggest attempting to use the spell in that fashion, unless the user knew of a way to negate the risk of harm that emerges from a failure to align the vectors of force perfectly.

More importantly, such a method of protection would have to be an internal one. I attempted using external bindings to protect my body from the worst of the effects of Prestidigitonium, however, it was mostly ineffective, the internal damage still taking place, although my limbs were bound to prevent them being pulled out of their sockets, or worse. Ultimately, physical means are unlikely to work for enhancing one's durability. Unless they could turn their bones to metal or something else strong. A pointless statement to make at present, considering there are no safe methods to do that.

In the end, even now I write this entry in traction, recovering from the intense damage caused by misusing magic. I pray no others suffer a similar fate.

As an aside, the same should be said of Black Flame, to a much lesser degree. While I wasn't directly harmed, I have discovered that the heat Black Flame creates can cause heatstroke indirectly, if you surround yourself completely in the flames, much like a greenhouse, or an oven. Something which, having learned my lesson, will now prompt me to include ventilation holes in large scale instances of casting forth the flames of hatred, if only to provide a nice backdraft for cooling purposes.

These past weeks, I have been humbled by the power I sought to wield, and I will strive to retain the caution this has inspired in me. I urge readers of this tome to share in my caution, and carefully consider the indirect consequences of powerful magic, should they be so lucky as to acquire a magic of supreme potency.

I suppose if I start enchanting items with the Chimera Wing Spell, I should call them suitably appropriate. Maybe Hearthstones? That might enrage the Duel Monster's crowd, though...