According to Asian martial-arts lore, comics, and films, almost anything is possible with sufficient mastery of life-force energies. And in the modern era, at least, such expertise supposedly allows an advanced practitioner to resist the effects of gravity, if only for a short time. Most famous, perhaps, from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this “chi flight” technique lets a martial artist skip lightly across impossibly precarious surfaces, fly short distances, and do things like swordfight in trees or (as in the movie Hero) skim the surface of water as if it were a more or less solid surface.

Sphere-wise, this is a pretty simple feat: Forces 2 adjusts the power of localized gravity and inertia; Life 2 adjusts the caster’s weight in relation to those forces, and binds the spell to his Pattern so that it moves with him; and Prime 2 channels the chi force (Quintessence) to power the whole Effect. The full feat, then, is Forces 2/ Life 2/ Prime 2, costs one Quintessence point, and it lasts for the usual roll-based Duration.

Technically, a mage doesn’t need the Life 2 and Prime 2 components in order to fly. He could simply use Forces 2 to suspend gravity in his vicinity, or to get strong winds to carry him around. (See Mystic Travel, below.) According to martial-arts lore, however, such feats demand a mastery of chi, and so the Prime component is essential to this feat. And since the martial artist isn’t suspending gravity in general, the Life component is essential as well. Yes, it’s a more complicated way of performing a mystic feat. To an esoteric martial artist, however, it’s more important to perform something right than it is to perform it easily.