I read it over and over again.
According to the grimoire, this world is filled with æther. The act of using the magic language to influence æther into causing a supernatural phenomenon is to ‘cast a spell’, and to cast a spell is to ‘use magic’. Therefore, in order to use magic, you need to be proficient in the magic language.
In other words, æther only reacts to the magic language, Japanese, and no other language… Japanese is seriously awesome.
I found this further into the grimoire:
The magic language is fundamentally a language – each word has meaning. You cannot successfully influence æther and cast a spell just by chanting the incantation. You must understand what it is you are saying.
I see… Now I understand why I could use magic so easily; I’m already fluent in the magic language, in Japanese.
In addition, I read that even if the pronunciation or phrasing is a little off, you can successfully cast a spell as long as the words are correct in context and you can roughly imagine the desired effect. However, it appears that this can significantly weaken the spell.
As an example, I could chant ‘O sun!’ and it would result in a spell resembling the sphere of light. Basic imagery like ‘glowing’ and ‘light’ should be sufficient to make it work. However, in this case, it appears that you will be seriously sunburnt. Although, that should be obvious since you are summoning a star that emits strong ultraviolet radiation.
Next, even further into grimoire, it described the spell system in more detail. In summary, it introduces three methods of casting spells.
The first method is to use the magic language to influence the surrounding æther. This method doesn’t consume any of your personal reserves. Instead, it is difficult to finely control the power and effects of the spell.
Correct pronunciation and a precise image is also required. It’s unlikely to work if the pronunciation is wrong or the image is too vague. In the end, the fact that it is easy to be affected by the concentration of æther in the air makes this method unreliable.
The next method is to inject your own æther into the incantation. Unlike the first method, this gives you fine control over the spell’s power and effects, making it vastly more reliable. However, on top of consuming your æther, it seems like it drains you physically as well.
Furthermore, depending on how sensitive you are to æther, it may be impossible to manipulate it. Ultimately, this method is limited by the amount of æther you have.
The third and final method is something of a hybrid of the other two. You start by absorbing the surrounding æther into yourself, and then inject it into an incantation.
This consumes little to none of your æther, doesn’t fatigue you and you can compensate for low æther concentrations in the environment with your own, all without sacrificing control.
Unfortunately, this was but a dream for me since I can’t sense æther. And so, my first urgent goal was to learn to sense æther.
The grimoire also explained how to train your personal æther reserves – use magic ‘til you drop. The wording made it sound like weight training. Reading on, it turned out that although you may not sense æther at first, as you experience how the magic language reacts with æther, you gradually learn to sense it as well.
I now understood that continuously using magic is crucial for both increasing your æther reserves and learning to sense it.
Now that I know, I have no reason not to do it.1
At any rate, the goal is to constantly use magic.
It’s the best the thing to do if I want to polish my magic skills.