9- Implications

"Magic -- is amazing. This is the common thought of all from the very first time anyone has come into contact with it. It enables its wielder to achieve the seemingly impossible, to create wonders, and forgo the limits of life and imagination….. Or perhaps it was all there, perhaps there weren't ever any limits and it was just we restricted our own imaginations….."

Zin continued in an impassioned voice, as he inhaled, taking a moment to closely study the expressions and moods of the four magic users standing in front of him. The two mages had a thoughtful look on their faces, while the other two spell swords were standing silent, a rather confused look on their faces.

"Well, things translating to roughly this direction have been proposed by some mages; although they belonged chiefly to the Dwemer, before the race became extinct. Later, some imperial mages started researching in this direction, but the mages are dependent on imperial funding, and deep delving in the nature of the world and its rules was thought to result in catastrophes and it was deemed not too much a contribution to the military strength of the empire. Additionally, there was danger that study in this direction would possibly gain attention from the daedra, so research on this topic was stopped." Iris began, her azure eyes squinted thoughtfully, "though, none had the 'ancient knowledge' of yours, so no one thought it necessary to study the world while isolating it from foreign factors; i.e., magic.

Though I don't get it, why did the people you mentioned, whoever they were, were able and willing to study the world, while we weren't, even when having the power and assistance of magic?" Iris demanded, while Cynthia nodded in approval, both voicing the concern that came immediately to their mind after listening to Zin's conjecture: "although your theory sounds amazing, and your tales about physics and rules governing the world sound true, why didn't the world act on it, and mages incorporate it into their studies, for even the spell models used by mages use a lot of calculations and mathematics?"

Even Elaine and Selene, who had been mostly uninterested in the theoretical aspects of the hypothesis Zin was proposing now, seemed to perk up their attention and grew interested, looking at Zin with inquisitive expressions on their faces

Zin smiled knowingly, for this question used to bug him too, until he happened to deduce the answer by connecting it to the two major male pass times and concerns: politics and economics. He turned around and cast a small illusion spell, causing the wall behind him to be smooth and white as lime. Then he conjured piece of coal, and started explaining, writing on the makeshift whiteboard where necessary:

"Actually, the world is controlled by two groups of people: the rich and the powerful. Sometimes, these may overlap, but they are usually two distinct classes: the merchants or economically powerful class; those who earn money by giving the masses what the masses want, and the rulers; those who manage the law-enforcement and political and ruling power in the society. They grow more and more powerful cooperating with each other, and are usually the basis for advancements and new research and discoveries.

For example, in Tamriel, the empire maintains certain teleportation arrays for emergency transportation, though not for large amounts of people. This serves as a go to technology, and the whole of the empires transportation research is invested to making teleportation easier and less expensive. Supposedly, if there were no means of fast transport through magic, the empire would be searching of a method of transport through some other means." Zin paused to let this sink in, took a deep breath and continued "The old books write of knowledge, of ways to make large metal machineries fly in the sky, used by all people, but even for them, the primary reason for them making the said technology wasn't public convenience but rather for military use: to scout and bombard enemy from the sky. Later it developed to benefit the common man.

The point of my explanation is that: need is the mother of invention.

No inventor has neither the brains nor the funds to research and toil for the common man. If and only if one of the two above mentioned controllers of the world commissions a researcher to research in a certain direction will the researcher even think of finding a solution. And if it ends up benefitting the common man, then hail to the benevolence of the kindred spirits."

"So do you mean magic hinders the development of society?" The shrewd Elaine caught on.

"Let's discuss how magic operates. Magic is a gift, bestowed upon a select few," Zin responded, a little pride in his voice, smiling as the other four also lengthened their necks, their heads raised high like proud swans. "So although it is fast in bearing fruit: such that a gifted individual can achieve great results within a couple years of studying, amplifying their power to strange heights, it can't be used to empower everyone in a whole nation, due to limitations ranging from possible security risks to most individuals lacking the gift for magic.

However it is different for other races. Where humans are mostly mediocre in their magical talent, some races are far more proficient in the use and potential of magic." Zin paused to go to a jar filled with different alchemy ingredients, picked up a falmer ear, and then a human heart. He cast a spell of magic detection, to show the high quantity of magic contained even in the body part of the deformed elf specimen. "See. The elves are much more talented in magic. It is almost as if they are children of magic, depending on how easily they adapt to and absorb magic, resulting in them having higher magic potentials, better magika manipulation skills and even higher life spans."

Zin explained, putting special focus on the last 'life span', and when they all four knotted their eyebrows at it, he nodded in satisfaction. Where the other three pondered, Selene, the sweet one of the four couldn't wait to ask "what does lifespan have to do with magic?"

Zin walked back to the magically altered white-board, still carrying the falmer ear. "This is another one of my hypothesis, and it will be the focus of our research. I believe that magika can be induced in the body to increase the functioning of said body."

"Bullshit! How can this be a hypothesis?" Elaine interrupted, "this is already a proven point. Knights use magic to strengthen their bodies, mages used it to levitate and fly, the weight and almost everything of the body can be altered through spells."

"Yeah, but I mean that not only the uses you named, but even the functioning and the very nature of a mortal's body can be altered through magic infusion," Zin explained in the increasing quiet. "The elves, I believe have a higher lifespan and better senses, etc., due to them having a greater affinity to magic generally, thus, increasing their affinity to magic, and altering their bodies through magic. The same way I believe we can raise a human body's potential at magic thus increasing the lifespan and the functioning of the human body through infusion of magic."

There was a silence. Then Cynthia spoke, "what gave you the idea that this is even possible? How did you even something like this may even happen?"

Zin, who was actually a fan of cultivation smirked to himself, then replied, "Because I believe every wide spread claim that someone makes has at least a wee bit of truth to it. And since the elves claim that sealing the Aedra did away their immortality and broke their connection to the Aedra, I believe that this may be the truth. That the elves are somehow impacted by the amount of magika available to them in the ambient and the construction of Nirn did 'nerf' their bodies to a lower potential. But still, although weakened, their higher potential at magic compared to humans translates to their living longer, and having a much better chance for them to be more powerful individually than humans; that is if you ignore our numerical advantage."

There were gasps around the room at the implication of this, and then Zin heard Iris, her voice suppressed to a hoarse whisper, fear and awe barely hid in it: "So you mean, if magika is completely sealed, elves will be completely powerless compared to humans?"

"Yes, for creatures like elves who are overtly reliant on magika, theoretically, a complete lack of magika will result in their going nigh extinct. That is, if they don't have any other source of magika to latch them on."

"And humans?"

"Humans, well humans are the anomaly here. They can manipulate magika, and can live even without it. The sole drawback would be for mages who would be unable to cast spells, and any mages whose lifespan has increased due to magika will have to live the same lifespan as normal humans."

The four gulped, looking at Zin in awe, speechless at the implications of this thesis. Especially Elaine wore a worried look and said, "True or not, only this conjecture is enough to earn you the highest level of enmity and hatred of the Thalmor. Nay all the elven-kind."

"Aye, milaldy, and that's why we will be researching this in the following time," Zin replied with a mock curtsy.