The Greatest Magic
“There’s an elegant simple-mindedness to your logic, respectfully. I am fully aware of the magic I can wield, and I understand entirely that the person I’ve chosen pales in comparison to countless others in that same regard. But that isn’t what love is.
You see, love is a magic different from all the rest. Love is a magic that can’t be trained. You can’t ‘get better’ at it in the same way. It simply happens, and if you go along with it, you’ll find many more miracles awaiting you.
A tier 7 archmage may level mountains with a thought or slay an entire army with a well-spoken plea to the lord of the dead. Can a tier-seven archmage make your day brighter with a simple word? Can they alleviate the weight in your soul simply by existing near you?
Love is the most powerful magic we have in this world, and I have fallen prey to it. Every moment I am near them, I am at peace. I hear birdsong in the forest in a way I haven’t in decades, finding joy in the way they react. I see the beauty of sunrises and sunsets twofold, captivated as that same glow is reflected in their eyes. Everything, from the tiniest little insect to the grandest dragon, is nothing in comparison to them and how they make me feel.
Love is meaningless. There is nothing you can study to make it make sense. There’s a reason it’s called ‘falling in love.’ If you had control over it … Well, then it wouldn’t be love, would it?
That’s where I am right now. It doesn’t make sense. I know it, as do you and everyone else. I see the scowls and I hear the scathing remarks. In an age long since passed, I would’ve fought those same reactions, but at their side, I have no reason to.
Love is a shield. It keeps you safe from those who wish to speak ill of you. It protects you from that which you don’t wish to face alone. There are demons not even I would face by myself, yet if it means returning to them, or keeping them safe, or hearing their laugh one more time, I will fight to the ends of my strength simply to keep them safe.
And in that same vein, they would do the same. Their magic is pitiful, yet not a reflection of a lack of effort. I have witnessed their attempts over the years to learn, and I have aided in those trials. Yes, they have trouble, but didn’t we all? I see not what lies on the surface, but what is hidden beneath, and what I see is beautiful, like the most brilliant pearl to be fished from the oceans. And like any pearl, it was formed not in an instant, but over years of hard work.
Love is a conversation. Much as you would talk for days on end about some new spell discovered by an archmage seven cities over, they and I can chatter on about the colors of the leaves and the clouds in the sky. We can speak of the animals of the world, we can converse about a new recipe, and, occasionally, we can talk about magic.
Yet, our conversation isn’t strictly verbal. It is a constant give and take, an offering of help in exchange for help. We understand each other in a way that no one else can accomplish with mere words. Nuance and meaning are foreign concepts to many, yet for us, it is a necessity. There are often no words shared between us, little more than a glance, yet the love we contain within our souls is more than enough to speak to our truths.
So, yes, it seems ridiculous that a tier-seven archmage such as myself would ever fall in love with a rank-one wizard, especially one whose fireball can, as you put it, barely outperform a lighter. But it once seemed ridiculous that any one man could open a portal to an eldritch god, and I figured that out ages ago.
This is not something to question. This is not something to deny. It is merely the next step in life, the next adventure to set out on, and the next magic to engross myself in. I pray to the gods that this journey never ends.”
