Thanks for the beginner’s lightning tome, although when I handed it off to my friend who asked for it, he got a particularly bad electric shock. He’s fine though, mostly since he has a modest cumulonimbus thundercloud familiar. Guess that’s what happened when he got struck by lightning and manifested lightning powers a while ago, and why he’s trying to more confidently wield lightning magic since then.
The tome itself is still in good condition and has been handled carefully, although I must ask. Is it normal for lightning-based tomes to zap beginners like that?
Oh dear! I'm happy to hear that your friend is alright, and I hope this incident doesn't discourage him from pursuing lightning magic in the future.
To answer your question: it's not unheard of, but I wouldn't call it normal, especially for a beginner's tome. They're usually more patient than that.
As for why it happened, there are a couple possibilities why a book might lash out even when handled carefully.
The simplest answer, and the most likely one, is that the book in question is either overstimulated or under-stimulated. In either case, it's probably my fault. I do my very best to make sure all the books' needs are met, and sometimes the quieter books, like beginner tomes, go unnoticed. I'll be sure to do better moving forward, and get some more assistants to share the workload.
It could also be due to a buildup of lightning magic. Sometimes when too much magic accumulates in one space without being properly balanced or diffused, it can go off. This is especially common with lightning magic, just by the nature of what lightning is. It's possible that your friend's history with lightning, combined with his thundercloud familiar, accidentally caused the book to spark. It expected someone who had never even dealt with magic before, and instead got someone who already manifested lightning powers. It shouldn't happen again now that the book has properly managed its expectations.
