Magus Empress [Kikoto, Hannah]

While he still felt awkward and a little miffed at the last few minutes, her being open to teaching him suddenly caused him to jump up in excitement, a smile immediately coming to his face. Even if he didn't really entirely agree with what she had said, it didn't mean that they couldn't find some common ground.

"Really!? What can I get started on first, Miss Chiza?!"

The prospect of getting better and stronger made him excited. His smile grew wider, and he lightly hopped in place. From what he had heard and read about with her, he hoped that, one day, he'd be able to reach her levels of expertise, maybe even create his own school of Kido! But, even if not that, creating Kido of his own would be good enough, for a time.

"The start, preferably" Hannah would reply, giving a coy smile. "I would suggest memorising the incantations of the first thirty Hadō and Bakudo, and then become comfortable with their use"

Hannah would flick her hand and the chalk behind her would leap up and into action, writing out on the chalkboard with a swift precision.

"Until quite late in the game, Incantations are where the source of your power is going to come from. Einshohaki is a thing but unless you overwhelm the opponent to a point you should just hit them with your sword, it will be a niche trick to throw them off balance for quite a while, rather than something you can rely on.

Once you memorize the Incantations, it is best to fire them off, both incanted and Einshohaki, in batches of thirty. Both so you can get a solid grasp of the power expenditure that comes with them, and so you can get a feel for range and how quickly you are able to incant. If incantation really bothers you, I do have a thing, it'd just be dangerous to use at your current Spirit Class"

Even as she stated the obvious, Kikoto rocked back and forth on his feet, listening intently. He had already done a good portion of that while he was in the Academy, and even now, he was still working on it. So, item one, check! Sort of, at least! It wasn't easy to memorize all the different incantations and names of the variety of spells that Shinigami had available to them, not to mention remembering their effects to be sure he picked the right one!

His attention quickly shifted to the piece of chalk that levitated and started writing on the board, while also paying keen attention to what she was saying. His expression of happiness quickly shifted to one of pensiveness. Incantations was where most of the power for his spells was coming from, but the bigger spells that he wanted to use, the longer and more complicated they became.

It was entirely possible for him to just not bother with them, but just because the option was there didn't mean it was a good idea. He knew how much it neutered the power of his spell if he abandoned the incantation portion. But, he knew there had to be a way for him to get around it without abandoning it entirely.

"Mm, it doesn't really bother me right now. The incantations get kinda long, but I'm thinkin' about somethin' that I might be able to do!"

"Ohh?" Hannah would ask, a little curious as to what he had planned to get around the Incantations. She had no need for them anymore, but that was a relatively recent thing, and so before then she had developed her own way around them. But she was always curious to see what other people did to get around the issue themselves.

"I would hate to ruin a person's drive and creativity by supplanting them with my own, so I would like to hear what it is you have planned for getting around the lengthy incantations"

Overall, his idea was still just a rough theory. He had no idea if it would actually work, or if it would even be effective. But, he figured, if there was Incantation Abandonment, there had to be ways to preserve the power of a spell while also cutting down the amount of time that someone would need to spend on reciting. He was a little worried to tell it when he didn't have anything beyond a rough idea.

"Well, it's just a thought, but, maybe you could try and trim out the unnecessary conjoining words in the incantation. Take out articles or filler words that make the sentence, and try to focus on words that would hold more meaning."

He walked over to the blackboard, picking up a piece of chalk and writing out the full incantation for Shakkaho.

"So, maybe you could take away 'ye lord,' and instead of 'the sea barrier surges,' it could be just 'surging sea'. It'd have to replace words with synonyms, or get the overall replacement close enough to cast the original spell."

As he spoke, he crossed out the corresponding characters that comprised the English words, writing the replacement underneath. It was probably something that would only be able to be developed once he had gotten better in Kido, learned and memorized the incantations of the spells, and had a better understanding of the spells themselves to perform such a thing.

But, the thought was there, and he hoped that it was at least somewhat feasible.

Hannah would watch, and admit that it wasn't something totally far-fetched as an idea. Kid had an interest in Kido beyond just Shunko as well, which was very good to see. Though obvious flaws were apparent right from the off.

"Never thought to manipulate the chant itself, I just made speaking it faster for myself with my High Speed Incantation. Though there is a problem you should solve before going any further with this" Hannah would reply, walking over and underlining the chant.

"What is the incantation? Why does it exist, and would it have been made with unnecessary conjoining words if there was another option? This is not a poetry recital, it is spiritual energy manipulated into form, so it being wordy might be the whole reason it works, and if you try to change that, it might not work. Or mutate unpredictably and put you at risk. No invention is worth your life, after all"

Philosophy in Kido was not something he had thought of when it came to his theory -- and, frankly, there was a reason for that. It didn't have a place in Kido, there was just a simple line of logic that he was following with this, and worrying about the philosophy of why the spell's incantation existed wasn't relevant.

"We don't need to be worrying about that, this isn't a philosophy class, either. It might be the reason that we can cast the spell in the first place, but if that were the case, then why would Incantation Abandonment exist at all? We can remove the entire section from the equation, so, why can't we remove pieces of it?"

He went back to the chalkboard, underlining the instances using "of," "the" and any other articles or function words. This wasn't a philosophical issue, it was entirely linguistic. At least, it was for him. He didn't feel like there was a purpose for the philosophical elements when it came down to the nitty gritty.

"Function words like 'of' don't have any firm meaning in language, it's just to create a sense of structure. But, if you switch some stuff around in the sentence, you can still retain that structure and the meaning that the other words have."

"A man can run, or a man can use a car. But a man can not use a car with the spark plug and fuel pump removed. The complete removal of something, and the partial removal of something, are very different beasts.

Einshohaki works because Incantations are a focus. They bind the power into form. Form exists, but it is the incantations that grant it power. The further you go alone Kido, the more incantations become part of your soul. You need less and less to give voice to them with words, as you give voice to them with your soul. Until finally"

She would flick her hands and spawn the inverted pyramid around them in total silence.

"Before you can replace a thing, you need to know why it is there to begin with. If you call the study of a thing philosophy, then that is what you call it, but it is no less true for a bike or computer, than it is for a magical spell"

Like Kikoto had said -- for him, this was entirely a lexical and linguistic issue. Philosophy was only theory-crafting and contemplation. This was, for all intents and purpose, just speculation. Frankly, it was confusing, and that confusion only gave way to irritation. So, with an annoyed, frustrated groan, Kikoto shook his head, holding his temples.

"That comparison doesn't even make sense! We manifest the spells with energy, and the incantations give it additional power once you get skilled enough. There isn't any deeper meaning, the incantations just exist as, like...a secondary medium, outside of energy itself."

Kikoto held up a hand, summoning a red, flaming orb: Shakkaho. No name, no incantation, yet there it was. Frankly, he wasn't concerned with the power loss. The fact that it was there, without any of those additives, was proof enough -- to him, at least. With a frustrated sigh, he let the orb dissipate as he continued.

"If we can remove it from the equation, mix separate incantations together, and apparently someone could even speak the incantation after casting, why can't we modify the incantations itself? There's nothing that points to it not being possible."

"Other way around. The incantation gives it stability. Otherwise, you can't manifest it properly, and you risk it exploding in your face. The incantation doesn't give it additional power, it's at normal strength with the incantation" She'd nod to the ball he spawned. "Your little night-light there will hardly bother a Dune Hollow, and has a good chance of exploding in your face if you try to fire it. The incantation is the primary medium, that your energy loses a lot without.

And to pull Niju Eisho off, you need to be at the peak of Kido expertise. It's far from something that is inherent or casually done. I am not saying it can't be done; if Kaido was static, I'd never have made Gen-Kido. If spiritual form was singular, I'd not be most of the way through Weave Way. If spiritual energy was set in stone, I'd never have created Shadow-Casting.

What I am saying, is make sure you understand exactly why the incantation is the way it is before you start poking it. I am not omniscient, and if you take half your body off by tweaking something and detonating the surrounding hundred foot, I will always not be around to save your life"