1st Body Art: Unbreakable Body
1st Body Art: Unbreakable Body is a fundamentally simple but versatile and powerful spell that all Mages should strive to learn if not master. At the lower ends, this spell can be used to negate fatal blows and grant a moment of recovery in the heat of battle. At the height of skill, this spell can be used to trivialize otherwise fatal attacks without much effort. Unbreakable Body can also be used internally to protect organs from attacks that bypass exterior defenses. The versatility of this spell is what makes it fundamental.
Effect
The user can harden their body's exterior and/or interior to mimic any solid material or substance. The body will take on that material's inherent traits while massively boosting its defensive capabilities for so long as they can maintain the spell. Unbreakable Body does not need to be cast on the entire body but can be cast on certain parts to achieve the same effect on that body part. The spell can also be directly cast on the body, invoked from a Grimoire, or have the spell applied directly to the skin via Ink Azure that can be toggeled on and off at will, given that it has been "charged" with magical energy previously or the user will need to expel their own magical energy to activate it.
The material the user can mimic depends on the users intimate knowledge of that material's composition and attributes. The better they know the material, the more "realistic" their spell will be in its application. Two mages could both cast this spell to mimic some x metal, but if mage a has a better understanding of x than mage b, his will be the superior defense despite them both being the same metal. One way to circumvent this shortfall is to "pad" the gaps in knowledge with magical energy to make up for the toughness.
It is extremely diffcult to get a perfect mimic for Unbreakable Body, so most Mage's Unbreakable Body spell can be thought of as swiss cheese, with the holes in the cheese being the gaps in the Mage's understanding of that material they are mimicing. Depending on the skill of the Mage in question, the "holes" or gaps may be smaller or larger. Magical energy can be channeled to "stuff" the gaps and pad the threshold of toughness as a workaround. However, this Improvised Toughness, while taking on some traits of the mimic material, is still just a brute force approach and is the first to be disapated when damage is sustained.
The gaps in the Mage's Unbreakable Body spell can be exploited to tear this spell asunder. Talented and skilled mages who can preceive the detailed flow of magical energy in the body can pinpoint the gaps in the Unbreakable Body spell of an opponent, target them, and tear the armor apart. In practice, it appears as if a coat of iron skin is forcibly disbursed by a quick but accurate series of jabs.
Mages should not always strive to master the toughest metals but rather minimizing their gaps in knowledge about metals. A strong Iron Skin will outlast a weak Diamond Skin any day of the week.
Side/Secondary Effects
- The user will be unable to move for the duration of the spell
- The longer this spell is held, the more magical energy it will drain, increasing non-lineraly
Manifestation
The user's body takes on the physical apperance of the material they are imitating, frozen in whatever stance they were in when the spell was cast.
Material Components
While the metal being mimiced does not need to be present, some Mages find having a piece of the substance allows them to more better "feel" the metal and mimic it correctly. Those who do this will typically carry a number of flat rectangular tablets on their person that they can feel and attune with before casting this spell.
Related Discipline
Related School
Abjuration
Applied Restriction
- Movement is typically not possible with this spell being cast, unless the Mage is mimicking a metal or substances that can be bend or move naturally without breaking. Otherwise, movement will end the spell.
- Additionally, while it is advised to only mimic 1 metal, skilled Mages are known to mimic multiple metals at once, creating new alloys in the process. Though, this is considerably more complex and mentally draining than 1 metal.
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