One place that Arx Fatalis does do something innovative is in the magic system. As you travel, you will find rune stones. Once you find them, you can hold down a button and trace the rune on that stone in glimmering light in the air in front of you. Each rune represents a word, like ?fire? or ?negate?, and, by combining the right runes in the right order, you can make spells. For instance, trace the runes ?create?, ?fire?, and ?projectile? in the air, one after the other, and you will have cast a fireball. You are able to cast any spell, so long as you have found the correct runes and have enough magical energy available. You can also store up to three spells for quick use later on. The only drawback is that the icons for the stored spells are, for some reason, placed near the middle of the screen instead of out of the way at the edge. The magic system is both simple to learn and complex to master, and is a lot of fun to use. The closest comparison to the system might be the gestures used to create miracles in the game Black & White.​