Intent-based magic

Welcome to Dark Lord Seduction Plan! In a world torn by a conflict between the Light and the Dark, Dark mage Alina only cares about seducing the Dark Lord and getting him to marry her... Come read about her plans, and the world where she lives!
Introduction to the story | Alina | Runic magic | Novel upcoming

Guild notice—Introduction to intent-based magic

Written by Mistress Alina Lange for the rune guild.

Intent-based magic is instantaneous magic performed quickly and without any support. This makes it particularly unstable and prone to leaking magic, and thus requires higher magical input. Because of this, popular belief has it that only powerful individuals like the Dark Lord and Light Lord can use intent-based magic. In reality, it is used by practically everyone every day in its simplest form, and more complex forms can still be achieved by most provided they summon enough focus.

Intent-based magic vs anchored, fixed, or guided magic

Intent-based magic

What: Magic that is not supported by anything other than the will of its owner; also called "wish" magic.
Where: In everyone's home, in duelling rings and battlefields.
Aim: Quick to improvise and perform; gives more flexibility to the magic and allows it to adapt; extremely low technical threshold.
Requirements: Strong focus or enough magic power to compensate for the leakage of magic.

Anchored, fixed, guided magic

What: Magic that is anchored with runes, fixed to an object with alchemy or enchantments, or guided through an artefact.
Where: Everywhere.
Aim: Prevent the magic from drifting away from its initial directives; a more efficient use of power; can also be delayed or answer specific triggers.
Requirements: Lengthy preparations or the crafting of an artefact, full knowledge of all mechanisms and steps involved

Note: Enchantment can be regarded as a more complex form of intent magic, for which some physical attachment of the spell is necessary to stabilise it a at different point of its construction so that the entirety of the spell does not need to be maintained in the caster's mind at all time.

Applications

Battle magic

What: Sending attacks at people, e.g. balls of raw magic, controlling the elements...
Aim:

To have powerful and incredibly fast attacks

To be able to fight even once disarmed.

To impress enemies with your power.

Rituals

What: Rituals channel the wild magic of the environment, controlling it with a mix of runic magic and intent-based magic.
Aim: While runic magic provides some constraints against a ritual running out of control, its exact outcomes are determined by pure will.

Household magic

What: Simple everyday magic, e.g. levitating objects towards you, erasing spots, mixing ingredients, cooking or warming up food...
Aim:

To quickly carry out simple tasks without bothering with an artefact.

To better tweak and adapt the magic to be exactly what you need, outside of the constraints of an artefact.

Notes: In everyday speech, most forms of battle magic are considered intent-based magic even though they mostly used artefacts such as swords and battle staves.

Magic

Types of Magic	Runic magic · Alchemy and Enchantments · Rituals · Intent-based magic · Runaway ritual magic · Astral rituals · Runes
Materials	Crystalline materials and their use in magic · Blue Syndrome · Orichalcum · Hydrargyrum—Mercury · Caustic butterfly · Crimson rhubarb · Feisty lettuce · Plants contaminated with runaway ritual magic
Technologies	Transportation portals · Candied magic · Nail tattoos and tattooers · Light-activated artefacts · The Royal Protector's pearls · Illénian battle staff · Canal and river barges · Exposure to runaway ritual magic · Miraculous cure-all · Semaphore network