The Shine

Steady as she goes

Magic is cool. That's an understatement by a mile but I don't know what else to say. Doing magic is boring and fucking frustrating. For me at this point casting a spell requires that I chant the same sequences of words for several minutes. Sometimes as much as half an hour. That may not seem like a long time but try it sometime.

Choose a phrase and then say it over and over and over again in the exact same way for ten minutes. It's a drag. Especially when you're learning and after doing that the spell fizzles most of the time. I lost my voice sometimes the early days just from chanting.

My second mentor told me that it used to be different. He said that there used to be more magical energy in the world. There was more and what was there was easier to call on. He told me that the amount of energy in the world has been slowly decreasing and one day there won't be enough magic left in the world for anyone new.

When he magic levels get low enough a novice won't be able grasp the tiny little scraps of magic that will be available so they won't be able to learn. When that day comes only masters will be able to do any magic. Once they all die there will be no magic left in the world. He was a good person but he could slide into melancholy old man at times. Some things he said made me think he's been alive since the 1600s. That could have been bullshit but I don't think so.

The reason you have to take so long to cast a spell is because magic energy reacts very strongly when you try to grab it. The harder you push the greater the resistance. You have to gather in the energy for the spell very slowly. That's what all that chanting is about, it's a way to focus your mind. It is insanely easily to push a tiny bit too hard and lose the whole thing. Especially when you're getting towards the end and you start to get excited.

When that happens it pisses you off which only makes it harder to go slowly if you try again right away. Slow and steady wins the race. If there's a better lesson in patience than trying to do magic I don't know what it is. A long prison stretch maybe.

Old timers always say that us new generation of wrestlers go too fast. That's a problem that most people have when they first start out. They're just going move-move-move without taking a breath, and the match sucks because they're going too fast. I was the same when I first started out because everyone is. I was able to cure myself of that bad habit much sooner than most people because I was studying magic as well. That's a side benefit they don't tell you about learning magic. You learn the value of patience.

I don't claim to be a great wrestler, but that's one I have a solid handle on. I take my time. Do a move and then give people time to react to it. If they're not reacting to it take a moment to get them into it. There's so many cheap ways to get people riled up at a show. They're there because they want to get excited and yell and shout and be involved. You just have to give them a reason.

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