How does magic work in your world?

Okay so I just got done watching a video talking about how in Harry Potter magic doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's not that magic is overpowered, it's that magic isn't really governed by any hard rules. It just kinda...exists. <br><br>Now obviously this is a worldbuilding sub, so I'm sure most of you have thought this out for your stories. So tell me, how does magic work in your world? I'm gonna go first. <br><br>In my world magic is fueled by ambient chakra. Essentially, chakra is a spiritual energy that is produced by all living organisms and exists in the environment as a result. In places where many creatures have died, there is more chakra. In places where animals are abundant, there is more chakra. Places like that tend to be "magical" in the sense that magic can be expected to perform more reliably and to more dramatic effect. <br><br>In order to perform magic, you need to have chakra in your body. Your body produces a small amount of its own chakra, and it can also absorb chakra from your surroundings. Most people can store enough chakra to fuel a few simple spells, but they won't be able to absorb enough chakra to fuel "hard" magic. The reason for this is that the average person won't have chakra "sensors" sharp enough to even detect the ambient chakra in most places. <br><br>There are a few ways you can increase your ability to absorb chakra. The first is to simply practice. If you use magic regularly in an area that is more "magical" than usual, you'll eventually sharpen your senses enough to be able to absorb chakra from even relatively barren areas. The second way is to eat things that have a lot of chakra in them, like certain rare plants or animals. The third is to use drugs which will sharpen your senses. The fourth is to change your body in some way that makes it more "conductive" to chakra flow. This is normally done via “magical” surgery where an organ or limb is replaced with one made from a spiritually conductive material. The last way is to perform a specific brand of magic which is specially designed to alter the state of your soul. <br><br>Now, to actually perform magic you need to have sensory organs called "magical focus". The magical focus looks and feels basically like a nerve, and in humans it can be found at various points along the nervous system. If you want to do magic you need to be able to feel where your magical focus is, and if you want to be good at magic you need to be able to control your magical focus. <br><br>The first step in performing magic is to decide exactly what you want to do. You need to be able to precisely define what you want your spell to accomplish, and you need to be able to articulate why that's important to you. If you can't, then your spell will either fail or it will do something completely unintended. Why and how is a complex topic, but the short of it is that it has to do with how the spell is interfacing with the collective unconscious. <br><br>The next thing you need to do is to get chakra to the magical focus. This is called “gathering” the chakra. Chakra obeys the normal laws governing the flow of fluids, so if you can create a pathway between the ambient chakra and your magical focus then the chakra will move along that pathway. The best way of doing this is to "ground" yourself, by putting part of your body in contact with the ground. Once you're grounded, you can create a pathway by visualizing one. <br><br>Once the chakra has reached your magical focus, you activate it by feeding it your intent. Basically, you think really hard about why you want this spell to work. This will "charge" the spell and prepare it for casting. <br><br>Now that your spell is charged, you can "tune" it by altering the wavelength of the chakra. If you change the wavelength of the chakra, you change the effect the spell will have. The way you tune the chakra is by singing a specific melody. <br><br>Once your spell is tuned, you need to "aim" it. This is done by altering the geometry of your magical focus to change the pattern in which the chakra is released. If you change the pattern, you change the area of effect. The way you aim is by altering the position of your magical focus. <br><br>Finally, you actually cast the spell by releasing the chakra from your magical focus. If you've done everything properly up until this point, the spell should work as intended. If it doesn't, then you'll need to go back over the process and figure out where you messed up. <br><br>That's magic. Now it's your turn!