APPENDIX 1: Ranks & Circle-Magic

**You may skip this chapter and the next chapter to return to the story.**

Detailed in this chapter are Adventurer Rank, Circle Magic, Magic Rarity, and Rank Imprecision.

ADVENTURER RANK

Adventurers are split into 4 categories, according to their RANK (Unranked, Bronze, Iron, Gold.)

* Unranked: Normal person. In game terms, has ~35 HP where a sword deals 50 Damage.

* Bronze-Rank: Stronger than a normal person. Strengthened constitution can reasonably survive and even fight through a severe injury like a crossbow bolt to the chest or a dagger to the abdomen. In game terms, can have ~75 HP.

* Iron-Rank: Strengthened constitution can reasonably survive what would assuredly kill a normal person. Several stabs and crossbow shots to the chest. Has access to Skills that can fell normal persons in a single strike. In game terms, has ~250 HP and is more difficult to damage successfully.

* Gold-Rank: Can be expected to survive an onslaught of 30+ Unranked or Bronze-Rank adventurers because of martial prowess. Very difficult to kill, unless utilizing powerful poison, magic, superior numbers, and the element of surprise. In game terms, has 500+ HP and is far more difficult to damage. Bronze-Rank attacks (with the exception of attacks utilizing Orkish Sugar) deal minimal damage to Gold-Rankers unless they are caught by surprise.

* Higher Ranks: 13 Adamantine-Rank adventurers are known to the various nations and are tracked carefully. Ranks beyond that exist, but are even more rare. Dragon-Ranks are capable of challenging powerful beasts of myth and legend. A battle with a Sky-Rank can destabilize the entire reality plane. A Deity-Rank can wage an active war against the armies of an entire plane.

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CIRCLE MAGIC

Casters, whether their power source is Arcane, Divine, or Primal are rated by the highest CIRCLE of spells they can cast. Humans can cast up to Third-Circle spells. It takes a gifted Elven wizard over 400 years to reach Fourth-Circle proficiency. Circles First through Third can be synonymous to Bronze through Gold ranking.

First-Circle: Offensive spells are capable of slaying Unranked and severely damage Bronze-Rankers.

Second-Circle: Offensive spells are capable of disintegrating Bronze-Rankers and severely damaging Iron-Rankers.

Third-Circle: Single spells are capable of slaying dozens of men. A handful of Third-Circle casters can kill hundreds on a battlefield, to thousands if left unchecked.

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RARITY OF MAGIC

There are 3 types of magic that are considered rare: Healing, Teleportation, and Measurement.

Proper healing magic is rare because less than 1 in 3 Casters draw their powers from the Divine. Non-Divine Healing magics like alchemist healing potions and Tycon's Inspirational Surge Skill greatly accelerate healing over time. Divine Spells like Sasarame's Cure Spell reverses the damage dealt or are otherwise (inexplicably) more effective.

Teleportation magic is rare because they are outlawed by an organization called the Gatekeepers, who guard the realm against threats from the Outer Planes. The various nations' laws support this ban.

Measurement magic are rare because the mana expenditure is inefficient and thus far, all efforts to instill permanency to a measuring device remain costly. A school that promotes learning of magic usually has 1 such device, which costs thousands of silver to maintain each year.

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RANK IS IMPRECISE

Mana-sensitive Classes can detect the mana-expenditure of others. An Iron-Rank Warrior can compare their own passive mana to that of a Bronze or Gold rank and know they outclass them or are greatly outclassed.

However, this becomes more complicated if the Warrior's opponent may have a different Class Tier (Berserk Knight Korr)... or are more skilled in combat (Warrior Lone)... or boasts greater physical attributes (Dread Pirate Lang Hai, Human-Form).

Further, some combatants radiate an aura of power beyond their Rank (Maximus of Ezyria) while some are weaker than their Rank suggests (Kimura Tamaki).