THE MAGIC SYSTEM

So, as one may be able to guess from the title of this page, magic in this world works in a very scientific way. This doesn't necessarily mean that it is understood in a scientific way within the context of the story, though. Think of it sort of like how people didn't really know that germs and bacteria existed for the most part until the late 19th century. Magic is something in this world that exists, and functions in a specific way according to principles that have to do with the surrounding rules of the world it exists in, which are largely the same as in real life unless stated otherwise, because I am not reinventing the periodic table, because I do not hate myself. Don't give the surrounding laws of reality in this world, outside of how magic works and interacts with them, too much thought, because I a) have no interest in science outside of how it pertains to my fantasy worldbuilding, and b) was okay at best at science in school, so I probably won't be able to answer any complicated chemistry/physics/biology questions anyway.

For the purposes of this article, we can split magic in this world into two different categories, the first being magic, the force, meaning the magic that people interact with on a daily basis when channeling magic, or using some kinds of magical technology/enchantments, and the second being magic, the literal physical substance from which magic, the force originates.

Magic, the Force

First Law: Radiation

Magical energy always gives off radiation, which means, in this case, that it travels in the "capillaries" between molecules and spreads throughout the world in this way. Magic never stops doing this, but its progress can be slowed by the presence of some materials, which have fewer capillaries, or may lack them entirely.

Second Law: Dilution

When magic, the substance gives off radiation, it permeates through almost all substances, and mixes with the matter of said substances, creating a form of diluted magic, which is a mix of this raw magic and the nature of whatever thing it has melded with. The denser a substance is, the more difficult it is for magic to travel through it, because denser substances tend to lack capillaries or just have fewer amounts of them. Some kinds of metals and minerals are considered functionally "magic-proof" because of this.

How these Laws Work Together

Magical energy always gives off radiation, no matter how diluted it is. However, the less diluted a magical energy is, the more powerful and far-reaching its radiation will be, and the more it can mix with other magical energies. Radiation directly from the raw, physical magic that originates from the core of the earth is extremely powerful, and thus extremely dangerous. If a person is exposed directly to it, it will most likely straight up melt them by overloading their body on an atomic level with more energy than their capillaries can withstand. Thankfully, magic is very easily diluted because of its nature to radiate, and thus almost all magical energy that can be found on the surface of the earth is highly diluted.

When a diluted magical energy melds with another, it creates a new, distinct energy with a combination of the features of its parent energies. This new energy could be more, less, or the same degree of dilute as its parent energies depending on the level of dilution of each of its parents. When this is the magical energy of a living organism combining with that of another, it can lead to mutations, making the organisms more genetically similar to one another. When this process takes place in a disorganized environment, where there are many dissonant magical energies circulating around with no filter to curb them, it can drastically speed up the process of evolution, as well as lead to otherwise extremely unlikely mutations and birth defects, making it hard for life to survive in the environment. Over time, however, once these energies acclimate to each other, they will not only grow more similar to one another, but also more diluted, and thus less powerful and less likely to mix with everything else.

The laws of magical dilution and radiation have created six distinct elemental magical energies: water magic, fire/electricity magic, earth/stone magic, wind magic, and plant magic. Most species of organisms also have their own unique kind of magical energy. Roughly 98% of humans are affected by magical radiation, and can use magic, with most individuals also having a connection to an elemental energy. Those with no connection to magic are known as Nulls, and they are almost completely immune to magical radiation. The reason for this is that the fissures in their cell walls which normally exist to speed up magical circulation throughout a person's body (sometimes called major capillaries), are absent from birth. While they still have capillaries on a molecular level, magical radiation and dilution are significantly sped up by the presence of these major capillaries, and without them, the processes occur so slowly that the person will most likely die of old age before ambient radiation begins to affect them enough to cause the usual effects. It is unknown for sure what causes a person to be born as a Null, but it is likely to be random mutation, as Null children are almost always born to magical parents, and vice versa.

Magic, the Substance

All magic on this planet originates from a single source: the core of the earth. The structure of this planet is similar to that of the real world planet Earth, with the outer crust lying atop layers of increasingly hot and molten rock. The key difference is that instead of the accepted real world theory of there being hot magma at the center, there is pure, physical magic there, which melts down the rock around it, leading to a mantle that gradually cools until it gets to the crust. Magic esapes through cracks and fissures in the crust, such as the ones created by volcanoes. When a volcanoe begins to dry up, along with spewing lava, ash, and gases, it also releases pure magic onto the surface of the planet, allowing its effects to spread.