[ the drink helps, and so does john's explanation. it's nice and relatively straightforward, full of things he can understand. gaius is going along with it until john gets to necromancers — which is almost too much to take — but he manages. mostly because he has objections that he can frame as questions. ]

So, you can manipulate this energy — clearly — but I feel like you're violating at least one law somewhere...

[ he isn't actually certain because he's not sure about any of this, but that's where the frustration creeps in. make it make sense!! ]

But I suppose if it's magic, it doesn't have to obey anything, does it? It's very convenient, I'm sure, but there has to be a catch, right? You must have to... I don't know... use your own energy to influence the rest or something? It can't all be so effortless.

[ or maybe physics is just built different in a place where necromancy is a thing, and none of this matters. it also never enters into his mind that he might be dealing with someone with God-tier abilities and not your average necromancer because that would be ridiculous. ]