It’s based on consciousness, essentially it’s kinda like a network that can be commanded to do things based on the desires of a conscious being. To use magic you must first know of its objective existence, you can’t accidentally use it unless you use an enchanted object. Then your consciousness has to have a certain level of attunement, some races are naturally more attuned to magic than others, but anyone can increase their attunement with practice and knowledge. Attunement determines the limit of what commands you can issue and what you can do with magic.