"The stuff I poke around at is... it's pretty dangerous actually. Dangerous for the wielder and sometimes others. You're wielding the raw forces that make up the universe, that are responsible for physics and pretty much everything. Civilizations have been literally erased because of those that weaponized it. I've lived through three magical apocalypses, two of them happening at the same time. It's far harder to do that kind of thing nowadays, the primal force of stability and order and also stagnation reacted to all that shit and imposed restrictions. But you can still fry yourself, or succumb to the allure of the deep and drown, or lose yourself in a literal maze of the mind."

She paused and drew in a deep breath. "And yet... you can achieve some really fascinating results with that. Many people seek it because they're drawn to power, or want to do something they normally couldn't otherwise. Me? I like poking at that stuff and learning about it."