Glossary

Path of Power — A practice of mastering the mana of the world and improving their own. There are many 'Paths' to gain power.

Pathseekers — People who walked the Path of Power. High-level Pathseekers can crush mountains and split seas. At the current age, humanity mostly followed the cultivation system of Intio Magisterix, creating an Intio inside their own body and nurturing it.

Mana — Mysterious energy that exists in all of nature. In the earth, air, water, plants, animals, everything. Many believe mana is life itself.

Intio — An imaginary core of Pathseekers power. Just like there are no identical people, Intio's shape varies for each person. Pathseekers' journey begins by making their own Intio.

Level — Indicates the number of Intio's Advancement. Level 0 is people who have only forged their Intio. Level 1 is people who have advanced once. The higher the Level, the stronger the Pathseeker. Level 5 is the limit of mortals.

Idler — Common people that do not or cannot become Pathseekers, not even Level 0. The term is considered rude and not advised.

Victa — Personalized mana for each person. Manipulating nature's mana directly is too hard and inefficient. Using Victa to cast Arte is easier and more powerful. Victa is an imaginary magical substance that is produced continuously and automatically from Intio. The higher the Pathseeker's Level, the higher quality their Victa is. There is no limit on how much one can hoard their Victa. The downside is, it's relatively slow to generate Victa. Every Pathseeker feel their Victa generation is lacking. Pathseekers without Victa is no different from normal humans. No one can use the Victa of other people's.

Arte — Magical techniques. From simple fireball to meteor strike, from body strengthening to arcane ritual. One can learn Arte from other sources such as books, scrolls, and other people or create them from scratch for themselves. They needed Victa to be invoked.

Affinity — Each person has different degrees of affinity to the elements that exist in the world. To become a Pathseeker one must have sufficient affinity to a particular 'Path'. People commonly have affinity to the four basic elements, fire, water, wind, and earth. People with uncommon affinity such as –but not limited to– wood, metal, light, darkness, lightning, space, and time, exist. Those with fire affinity become fire Pathseeker and use fire Artes.

Affinity Limit — Similar to Level, there are affinity 0 to 5. The higher the affinity, the stronger their latent talent is. Affinity also specifies the limit of one's Level as a Pathseeker. Affinity 0 can only become Level 0 Pathseeker. An affinity of 5 means it is possible to become a Level 5 Pathseeker in the future. Someone's affinity is decided from the moment they were born. It's possible to raise one's affinity but it is not common knowledge. Those with dual affinity are rare but not unheard of. Triple or above affinity is only spoken in legends and rumors, the truth is unknown.

Monster — Fearsome beings more powerful than ordinary beasts. Mostly have the shape resembling animals but plant monsters also exist. Every monster has a core inside it. Most monsters only have animal level of intelligence. They are more beings of instinct than reason. Monsters do not have Victa, they only have raw mana inside their body. Unlike humans that turn raw mana into Victa, monster's Path of Power is to let raw mana saturate their body and improve it. That is why every monster has powerful bodies, a feather from a strong monster can be used as a sword. Monsters become stronger by absorbing mana from the environment or eating other monsters and Pathseekers. When a monster has its fill of mana, it could evolve to another variant or next stage.

Monsters Core — Upon the death of the monster, three out of four monster cores disintegrate on its own but those that do not can be taken out. Monster cores are very precious and have a substantial monetary value. It can be used in the making of magical items, blacksmithing, alchemy, and others. Pathseekers also can meditate using it and if successful, create a powerful new Arte based on the monster's special abilities.

Monster Rank — Designations given to monsters based on its power. 4 Rank monsters are about equal with Level 4 Pathseekers. All monsters have tough bodies and even the weakest of them have a limited regeneration ability so unless the Pathseeker is exceptional, it is normal for two or three Level 4s to hunt a single 4 Rank monster to avoid a long fight. Since basically monster's Rank is the same as Pathseeker's Level, many people didn't bother to differentiate and simply label them in Level.

Zone — Classification of areas based on their hazard. Green Zones are areas safe for human habitation. Orange Zones have some monsters in them but can be lived in or traveled through with caution. Red Zones are very dangerous areas with strong and aggressive monsters that attack on sight. Black Zones are forbidden places because most who went to that place never return. Purple Zones are places with other races' sovereignty of it. Unsurprisingly, the stronger the monster usually means the higher mana quality in the region. There are cases of a simple rock from a Black Zone was sold for a hefty sum because of the precious mana inside it.

Biome — A pocket dimension. Generally, it is a place rich with mana and resources, making monsters' existence a matter of course. People can visit a Biome through a Rift, a crack in space that can appear absolutely anywhere. It can appear at the top of a snowy mountain or at the bedroom of someone's house. Biomes can be a boon or a calamity. Boon in case finding an untapped goldmine. Calamity if the residents of the Biome are too strong and come out to feast. Biomes can cause Green Zone to turn into Red Zone overnight.