(AN: Breakdown of power system. Finer details as the story develops.)
'The records date back to the Alvarian era. Magic or rather the manipulation and manifestation of mana was first discovered by James Chronos, first successor to the now long extinct Chronos empire in 3450 A.e. The man had extensively studied the elves who at the time seemed to control natural phenomena beyond human grasp.
James's fundamental belief was that a great emperor was a great scholar. A king seeks to maintain the status quo but an emperor dominates the ever changing fate.
The elven race in that era lived on the belief that every species was a byproduct of nature and was necessary for the balance of the world.
The elven race which had coexisted with humanity separated due to insatiable thirst for knowledge that had possessed James Chronos. His mass culling of cultural norms and destructive methods that sought to destabilize the world broke the bond between the races which had existed since the inception of each race's civilization . In his time James Chronos was said to have experimented on a quarter million elven and 5 million humans. He had shrunk the elven race by 20%.
He alone opened the door of magic but that brought fierce retaliation from the elves, for the first time in their existence there existed a species needed annihilation or rather they did not recognize humanity's true nature. The Chronos empire then was a bastion of humanity however James Chronos's work could not be undone. 90% of human civilization was wiped out. This set the precedent as the 1st calamity.
The elven could not eliminate humanity, it was not their role and their beliefs did not allow it. So they culled humanity, gave nature time to reset and in so doing became the executioners of anything that threatened world balance.
But they failed to account for the rapid progression of humanity, the remnants hated the elves for what they had done and their rage spurred forward a new civilization, different from the one before it, this one had magic at its roots.' Nathaniel pondered as read historical books about magic and its creation.
" So the elves were born able to manifest mana but humanity had lower sensitivity to mana so pre- James Chronos human civilization had no idea about mana that saturated the world and dwelled within them." He muttered, he turned to the other books.
' Two lineages of magic, elemental magic and physical magic:
Elemental magic:
Involves the 10 known elements; fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, ice, magma, plant, light and finally darkness. Ice, magma, lightning, plant are advanced elements that require a combination of 2 or more basic elements. Light and Darkness are neither basic or advanced elements. Not known is the spatial and time element.
Every being has elemental affinities to every element however some are so low they are basically useless.
Elemental affinities 80%- 100% are excellent, 60%-70% good and below 40% are useless. For low affinities more time and resources are required to raise them to 100%. Say it took 5 years of constant effort to raise an excellent affinity to 100%, a useless affinity would need 20-30 years of constant use.
Magician ranks are split into; apprentice I, apprentice II, apprentice III, mage, master mage, archmage and saint magician. Apprentice ranks involve establishment of magic circuit, mana rings and development of mana circuit and magical knowledge. Two mana rings( around the heart) are formed from I to III ranks.
In the Mage rank, a path of which elements to pursue is established. For example, specializing in fire with wind as the sub element. Sub elements should be of at least good affinity. The main element dictates the fighting style. An additional mana ring is formed, thus in a mage there are 3 total.
In the Master mage rank, advanced magical knowledge and experience allows for the use of domain. The ability to enhance elemental concentration of one type of element and distort the other elements. A mana ring is formed, 4 total.
Peak of archmage; all or most elemental affinities are at 100% and a mana ring is formed. 5 rings in existence and they coalesce to form a mana core. Successful formation of mana core allows entry into the saint magic rank. The more elements in the mana core the stronger the core as they amplify one another regardless of elemental resistance.
There exists elemental insensitivity, the inability to connect or feel an element, in mergard's history there has never been a mage with 10 affinities.
The mana core( heart ) can generate mana. The more elements the more varied the mana generated and wider range of fighting abilities.
The auxiliary paths of elemental magic are spiritual summoner and arcane soul master.
Spiritual summoners summon the spirits of nature or even cursed spirits, elemental affinity also plays a role on which type of spirits are summoned. However the key is that you are restricted to 5 summons in the entirety of your life. The upside, the spirits could evolve into grades; soldier, captain, general, guardian and sentinel. Guardian rank spirits are equivalents of saint magicians in rank.
Arcane soul masters work on the principle of spiritual transfiguration. They have no clear path, could be a seer, curse lord or lost specters choosing to abandon their humanity. Arcane soul master require soul sustenance for every progression in power, so it is a forbidden path of power.
One example being the curse lord Vince Maximus, creator of the 8 baneful calamities. Spider wraith poison was the 8th rank and weakest of the calamity potions. The potions stripped aspects of the living from their targets. Wraith potion in particular stole the aspect of vitality thus the subject experience a painful rot.
( AN: Recall chapter 10, Nathaniel's battle with the wolves.)
Arcane soul master's ranks are dictated by how much they can affect the souls of the living. 10% = curse apprentice, 30%= curse master and 50%= curse lord and more than 70% is Nebavut ( calamity of curses ).
For the warrior path;
There exists 2 paths, augmenters or aura warriors.
Warriors have in the lower abdomen a core, the core aggregated into formation as they advanced from apprentice I to apprentice III ranks. The core acts as as reservoir of mana which is turned to form aura. Aura coalesces in the warrior rank and flows enhancing the physical capabilities of the warrior. For master warriors, aura manifestation in then possible which allows master warriors to imbue their weapons in aura.
For grandmasters it is formless creation. Aura is controlled and can form any weapon or armor that the user desires, also the creation of a domain which renders magic obsolete in a given area.
Another path is augmenters; these are the fusion of magical and warriors paths. Elemental manipulation without spells but only with a thought. Elemental affinities need to at 100% and allows for casting of spells lower than 6th tier. Anything beyond ruptures the balance between the core and the mana circles.
Monster ranks;
Non ranked< 1st rank< 2nd rank< 3rd rank< 4th rank...<9th rank.
Non ranked to 2nd ranked correspond to the apprentice ranks. 2nd ranked monsters are those that have gone through their first evolution. Though not all monster will go through 9 evolutions due to bloodline limits. The more the evolutions the stronger the demonic aura the monster exudes.
Artifact ranks go from rank 1- 9, with 9 being the strongest.
Potions ranks go from 1-9, with 9 being the strongest. Potions of ranks 8-9 extend their effects beyond the body and powerful bodies are required to withstand their effects.
( AN: For the status, I plan on fusing the strength, agility, vitality and intelligence to a single constitution attribute for warriors at the master rank, it is the average of the 4 excluding endurance. For magicians and augmenters at the saint rank a single attribute of elemental affinity, which is the average affinity for all elements of the character. Endurance is one the most important in that the characters cannot exhibit power beyond it without side effects where some lead to death or the loss of power altogether. )