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[mrballisticsdummy]

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[mrballisticsdummy]

"Which is where it's more like art?" he mutters. "Alright, alright." He sits forward a bit, his arms on his legs. "So I assume that people have gone through and fucked with the formulas enough that you know what you can change and what you can't?"

[no_innocents]

"As much as you can do when art is involved. The more experimental you get, and the more you substitute pieces, the less like the original result yours will be."

[mrballisticsdummy]

Jacobi's face shows exactly how much he doesn't like that outcome. He's too much of a scientist to fuck with parameters that have been set.

"Alright, got it. So what's first?" he wonders.

[no_innocents]

He points to the books.

"Languages. And how to get around the fact that all of my books wouldn't be readable to you otherwise."

He walks over and reaches up for a small bottle, pulling it down. There's blackened dust inside of it.

"Our component," he identifies it as, "and I will show you the verbal and somatic components. Once you've cast it, you will be able to read and understand any language spoken to you."

A finger raised.

"It cannot unpuzzle a code or cypher. But for functional languages, you'll have that for an hour."

[mrballisticsdummy]

He knew the spell. He didn't know the how. But then Dracula gets into the how and Jacobi starts to pay attention again.

"Hey, if there was a spell to unpuzzle a code or cypher, then it wouldn't make it fun," he points out, ready to take the notes as he attends, treating this as he did all of his classes in school. With thoughtful care and just a touch of playfulness.

"And yes, I'm aware there's probably a spell for codes and cyphers, but if you have magic do all the work, then what's the point?"

[no_innocents]

Dracula chuckles and shakes his head, actually.

"Magic can't do everything, and isn't suited for everything. Technology can handle codes and cyphers far more easily, as it is only a matter of processing the information and working through the logic. But magic..."

He pauses.

"Can you figure out why puzzles and cyphers and codes may not be well suited to magic? If you think about it, the answer is in the lesson I've taught you already."

[mrballisticsdummy]

He thinks back a moment, recalling the lessons he was given on the interconnectedness of magic and science and everything in between.

"Because - " He looks down, scanning his notes a little hesitantly. "Because you said magic relies on feeling. Things that are - uh - looser. Puzzles and cyphers and codes are all logic and one answer only."

[no_innocents]

A firm nod.

"They are also designed by people, thinking minds, variable minds. Meaning that even if you tried to go at the problem knowing something of the designer, that component may no longer be in alignment with the puzzle as it is now."

He turns his hand towards Jacobi.

"The stable components for puzzles and cyphers are the very things that are most unstable in magic. And most stable for technology. Whereas language itself is built upon the concept of stability: a chair must always be a chair to a certain number of people. And having a word for a chair is nearly universal."

[mrballisticsdummy]

Jacobi thinks about language, thinks about lions and and language, and laughs a little to himself but doesn't share with the class because Eiffel's stupid expression is something he doesn't know if he can describe in full.

"Nearly," he points out. "But what I think of when I hear chair is absolutely different than what you think of. Might not even have four legs. Might be made of wood or plastic or iron or a bag of air."

[no_innocents]

"It might!" and he actually looks very enthusiastic at that point. Because Jacobi's going into another concept.

"But! That is where the 'looser' nature of magic comes into play. You will note: I said 'comprehend' languages, not translate. Because translation, on such a wide scale and with such a variety of variables, is nigh impossible, for magic or technology, not with any real certainty. But the magic can use that variability, tap into the moment wherein that word existed as such in the moment in that language and to the speaker, and transfer that comprehension to you. It erases the middle man in a way that technology would have to slog through."

[mrballisticsdummy]

Huh. Well, that feels good to elicit that sort of reaction from someone. Especially someone teaching him something.

"Intention, then, rather than word for word," he says without actually expecting a response. He's still typing away slowly. "Gotcha. So - can we do it now?" he wonders, eager to actually see it done.

[no_innocents]

"It's also why cyphers and puzzles don't work: the intention is to obfuscate."

But he'll nod and reach over to pull a small piece of parchment from his desk. Then he'll take a bit of the ash from the bottle and put it at his fingertip. He'll trace a sigil on the paper, and speaks a single word with his finger on the last point:

"Lusbnaraht."

And Jacobi can watch as the symbol is erased, poofing out of existence a moment later.

"As you can see, the components are consumed."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"Huh." That makes more sense than he thought it would, or maybe he's finally starting to figure all this out. Still, he moves closer, standing at his shoulder, and commits the sigil to memory.

"And that's all?" he wonders, a little skeptical.

[no_innocents]

He just gestures to the little bottle and to the parchment and shoos Jacobi to try it for himself.

"If it disappears, you can take a look at those books."

[mrballisticsdummy]

So it is.

"What's in the bottle?" he wonder, taking it and giving it a quick inspection before he tips it open into his hands. "Specifically."

[no_innocents]

"A combination of soot and salt. Just... salt. Like you'd put on your food, though I've ground them together for ease of use."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"That's so simple," he says softly, almost to himself. Then, to Dracula, a bit louder, he asks. "Is there a specific ratio?"

He rubs the contents between his fingers.

[no_innocents]

"I've always used a 50/50 ratio, though the spell as I was taught never specified."

He goes into professor voice as he continues.

"There's even some who consider it better to draw the mark with the soot and sprinkle the salt as you speak the verbal component. 'Art', as I said."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"Better how?" he mutters. "Does it make it last longer?" He closes his eyes, recalls the sigil and practices it on the parchment with the hand not covered in the soot.

[no_innocents]

"No," he says blithely enough, "but there are those who simply think it's better. You have met academics, have you not?"

[mrballisticsdummy]

True.

"Way too many, yeah," he agrees and then settles over the parchment, drawing the sigil with the soot. He speaks the word, exactly as he heard it, but it doesn't disappear.

"Hm."

He inspects his work, thinking it might be a flaw in the actual mark.

[no_innocents]

Dracula's claw points out a little spot where there's a thinner bit of smudge on the pattern.

"Just a light press of your finger there should do it. And as long as the mark is down, you should be able to speak the word."

[mrballisticsdummy]

He makes the adjustment and he says the word again and this time, it actually works.

"Whoa," he says softly, watching the sign disappear. "So, where does it go?" he asks, brushing off his hands as he hesitantly reaches over for the books. He's a little afraid to open them. Afraid to see if it actually...works.

[no_innocents]

"Energy is energy. Magic interacts with energy from a different angle. It goes the same place fuel goes once you've burned through it."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"An energy transfer," he agrees and opens the book fully, flipping through the page. .

"Oh. Oh. I see."

He pulls the book from the table and takes it over to a chair so he can sit and read it properly. .