On the Independent Development of Magic Circuits and Its Implications for Magecraft: a Case Study
Waver Velvet, Lord El-Melloi II

Introduction

In writing this case study, I realize that many established mages will examine my pedigree and dismiss this text as the fanciful research of a disenfranchised individual who writes only to anger the established order of things. I fully embrace this criticism and ask that those readers continue the task of finishing this book before dismissing my work.

For most of the history of magecraft, a great fuss has been made over the maximization of one's magic circuits so that power and skill might be increased in each successive generation. This has lead to the prioritization of one's lineage as well as a focus on the family line rather than the individual mage's talent and personal growth. However, the most notable mages that history records are the ones that stand outside of the family line and work for their own glory rather than that of the family. Typically these mages are said to be of a poor pedigree. In fact, first, second or third generation mages are the most common in legend. The preservation of these stories and their emphasis suggests that there is indeed reason to think that one's ability to work magecraft is not solely reliant on one's inherited circuits - that there are other means of optimization. To this effect, I proposed a case study within Clock Tower's first through third generation students to see if there was a chartable increase in magecraft ability the more one simply practiced. This study was carried out over a period of ten years, starting in 2007 and concluding in 2017.

Tenure, Waver has learned, is a wonderful thing. It is what allows him to walk the halls of Clock Tower after publishing a thesis he was publicly humiliated for at the age of nineteen and is what allows him to continue research to the same effect, happily relying on lower generation students who are willing to contribute their time as either assistants or test subjects. Of course, how can they not, when he's one of the few Lords at Clock Tower who is open about being of a low bloodline and honest enough to admit he's shared the humiliation of repeated insults from higher pedigree students when he was in their position.

It does not, however, protect him from everything. It certainly has not protected him from stern looks by other Lords, or the deeply impressive two hour command performance of getting verbally slapped in the key of C major by the vice director. He has taken every reaction in stride, but not bowed to the pressures for him to redact anything in the book, choosing to instead defend himself with the power of data. Waver's reply is the same, calm tone every time. "Who am I to argue with what the results tell me? There is no other interpretation I can offer. The theory holds."

Chapter Two

The method of this study relied upon a full family lineage being provided by young students (ages 13-16) - mages past the third generation were not permitted. Specialization was kept to even or near even numbers across all departments of study, with five students each. 23% of the participating students were first generation mages, 45% of the students were second generation mages and 32% third generation. The gender ratio was an even 50-50.

Students were given a preliminary test to demonstrate their abilities while being viewed through standard prana-monitoring equipment in order to measure output and determine the number of circuits present in the subject. Findings were consistent with established norms for each successive generation in regards to circuits and output. For the first year of studies, students were asked to perform the same tests each month without asking them to change their daily routines. Circuits and outputs remained consistent, with two outliers (see table 2.1.)

In the second year of the study, students were asked to come into the laboratories twice a week for extra tutoring and to physically practice magecraft rather than rely solely on textual studies.

Waver sighs, looking at the new batch of peer reviews left on his desk by the department secretary. The articles say nothing about his work that hasn't been regurgitated five times over, but there is still a little bit of triumph as he reads the scathing insults - none of them attack his methods. There are vicious remarks on his person and heritage, on his true motives for performing the study, but not a single one questions the methods used. Waver chooses to think that lack of commentary is the implicit acknowledgement of correct data and being horrified at changing centuries old attitudes and it gives him a perverse joy in knowing he has caused such a reaction.

He is about to throw all of the journals unceremoniously into the bin when one title catches his eye. A Consideration for On the Development of Magic Circuits...: Its Societal Implications. He pauses, then reads.

An hour later, Waver cannot say he remotely considered the possibility that his research might allow female mages to opt out of marriages that concentrated on the increase of offspring's magic circuits and instead focus on improving their own abilities, but he can say that someone taking his work and reaching an extremely logical conclusion with it is gratifying in ways he never expected.

Chapter Four

The experiments with the willing student body of Clock Tower clearly demonstrates that present assumptions about the maximization of one's magic circuits are clearly not reliant upon genetics and genetics alone. As it is, our understanding of magic through genetics is severely stunted because of a general refusal (and lack of ability) to use common science to map a mage's genome and locate where magic genetics might lie. This is inexcusable - especially since our theories on such basic elements of how one can increase their magecraft abilities are now in question. The raw data I have worked with for the past ten years has certainly suggested that common wisdom is to be re-evaluated and it must be backed up with demonstrable evidence rather than assumptions that have been handed down over the centuries.

Moreover, the raw data indicates another number of other points as well. To begin, table 3.1 suggests that the ability of a first generation mage is when one's potential for magic circuits to increase is at it's greatest - note that 70% of subjects dramatically increased their prana output and circuits by 50% or greater through practice of basic craft.

A year passes. Waver is in Spain, taking an academic hiatus to conduct more experiments with a broader sample of mages, now in different age groups as well as generations of practicing the craft. He has a team now as well - six mages with different professional backgrounds and years of experience - nothing like the students he has worked with in the past. The only unifying feature they share is that they all are genuinely curious about taking Waver's methods and seeing what happens in a larger population sample.

Initially, it is harder. They struggle to define an agreed upon control set - Waver wants to use the Mage Association's general guidelines, the Russian woman who proposed the larger study wants to disregard everything that has been established by the powers that be and one of the Spanish graduate level students seems intent on playing devil's advocate between them both and laughing whenever the arguments start up. The only thing Waver can say for the arguments is that he now has an impressive understanding of how beets can be used in a frankly terrifying manner and that his Russian has dramatically improved.

The issues do not end there. While the language barrier is minimal, the difference in curriculums become apparent, with second year students doing what for Waver is fourth year work and the experiments have to be redesigned almost immediately. It's a two week setback to an already delayed schedule thanks to the earlier arguments, but after that, the kinks iron themselves out - curriculums in different countries are accounted for, heritage and year of study noted and all become a wonderful, chaotic mess of data that only the team of seven can hope to understand and make into a coherent statement about their work.

Six months in, they publish a preliminary report suggesting that while overall there is consistent findings with previous papers on the subject, the factor of a mage's education and what it emphasizes in curriculum is definitely in play. The response doesn't change, and they plow on with the experiments, occasionally taking the journal articles and making a drinking game out of them. The bottle of tequila disappears worryingly fast.

Chapter Five

The findings of this case study suggest a number of things, all with important implications for our present approach to magecraft. It is unnecessary to repeat the fact that magecraft is not just hereditary - this has been proven. With that step out of the way, we need to reconsider how we ourselves view magecraft and indeed, how we teach it to younger generations. Pedagogy is not my strength and I dare not presume to make those suggestions. With that said, let us instead focus on ourselves.

Since we can increase our own abilities, how are we to do so responsibly? Ethics have never been a large issue for mages, which goes to explain why so many family rivalries are alive and well as well as why it is considered socially acceptable for first generation mages to be targets for mockery as they attempt to start building up their family's legacy while higher families cheerfully forget that we all must start somewhere with our circuits. It also explains why contests that emphasized brute force and murder such as the now-defunct Holy Grail Wars were permitted to exist for as long as they did.

There is a relief in returning to England after his research hiatus, but it does not last long. Within two weeks of the semester starting at Clock Tower, Waver finds himself mired in academic squabbles amongst his fellow lords that contribute nothing of value to the actual goals of the Association - that is unless dumb arguments are their goals which after twelve years Waver suspects might actually be the case. Worse yet, he finds himself becoming dragged into them with constant questions of what he plans to do to further establish himself. After all, he's proven himself skilled, and those skills need to be passed on through a direct heir rather than a large group of students. Vaguely, Waver wonders if everyone remembers last year when he first published his case study and the idea of breathing the same air as him sent every last employee at Clock Tower running in the opposite direction. He'd worry that his work didn't make an impact if people still weren't angrily assassinating his character in the magecraft journals.

Most of the times he takes the conversations about marriage in stony faced silence, giving one word responses when prompted and always promising to "consider the matter." It's the politest way to say no without saying the word. No one ever takes offense to his pointed non-answers, but Waver soon observes that it is the other male mages that approach him on the matter, offering sisters or cousins or in one case a daughter, rather than the women themselves. At the back of Waver's head, this bothers him.

Rarely does anyone demand a follow up answer and when they do, Waver is content to be vicious in his response. One one such occasion, after being pestered by a colleague for a month about the idea of marrying his sister (a fifth generation mage with alchemical skill, it's like he's selling a car) the forced air of pleasantness dissolved into a thin scowl across Waver's face, prompting him to sharply say, "If I may - is your sister even aware that you are offering her womb to other men?"

The look on his colleague's face had been a satisfying mix of anger and shock that Waver has cut to the point so quickly. "Er-" he had started, then stopped, then started again. "I'm sorry that's a rather oversimplified approach, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but that's what it boils down to, doesn't it?" Waver had replied with faux cheer in his voice, scowl still on his face, "A focus on genetics above everything else including personal preferences."

In retrospect, Waver had realized that might have been the wrong implication, but at the moment he had paid it no mind, choosing to continue to point out the idiocy of the proposal instead. "You know very well the nature of my research though, which is why I'm left wondering why you've even made such an asinine and ignorant proposal on behalf of your entire family?"

"Well let me ask you this," his co-worker had countered. "How many other similar offers have you had since dismantling the Grail?"

"Too many," had been Waver's response, his voice tired and ragged, "And each more patronizing than the last, all with the same frame of 'we know you're a third generation mage but.' I find it fascinating that people are surprised I refuse the offer after such a wonderful compliment."

"I agree, that's uncalled for but you're planning to what, avoid convention because your work rejects the hereditary nature of circuits?"

"Well, yes. Why participate in something I reject? That's a violation of my principles."

The conversation had derailed after that point, but before walking out his colleague had asked if Waver would be content in being alone with only his principles. At the time, Waver had said yes without hesitation, but each time he replays the conversation in his head - a conversation with no value - he finds himself questioning why saying yes had been so easy. It wasn't as if he didn't enjoy good conversation over tea without discussion of mage politics or even that he disliked people in general. However, the mere idea of settling down with a family repulsed him a way that seemed too childish and yet forcing himself to do follow the convention of getting married and having children seemed that much worse and so much more damaging than being alone.

Then again, how absolutely horrified had he been in overhearing two students in the library rank the professors they would sleep with, and how much more horrified had he been that he was on the top of that list? What the students had been engaging in was perfectly fine, he had overhear similar conversations over the years, but for someone to think of him that way made Waver uncomfortable in a way he felt he shouldn't be. Desire was natural.

Somewhere at the back of Waver's head, as he makes tea in the department's kitchenette, his principles and lack of desire meet, evaluate each other, and decide that they are good friends who can and want to co-exist with each other.

Conclusions

From the outset of this experiment, I was skeptical that the results would be lackluster and only confirm present understandings of magecraft abilities. While I am delighted to have been proven wrong, the implications of these experiments are too far reaching for me to be able to accurately predict what will happen when others look at these results. It is easy to say that in the long run they mean nothing - that hereditary circuits will still be prized over those brought about through rigorous application of one's raw ability - I do not doubt this. There is a need for a greater population sample across continents to be tested in order to come up with a true working theory for the independent development of magic circuits and a larger team of willing mages who find this matter worth their time.

[...]

This is not the great and noble search for the root of all magic - I leave that to those who wax poetic about the origins of the world and how good it is to be a mage, to have even the slightest bit of higher knowledge in great powers most people can only hope to understand. In the meantime, there are more practical theories to develop that have real world application and are equally demanding of attention by the mage community.

Notes:

*This fic was originally posted on AO3 on 1 June 2012. It is mirrored /works/418671
*This fic is a part of the series If Not Alexander, then Diogenes, and is available on AO3 here: /series/23756