Information for Public Disclosure: Introduction to Magic

According to legends, the origin of magic dated back several millennia ago when battles between the demon lords of the Nether Realm– otherwise referred to as 'hell' by scholars and priests– and the gods whom reside in the ethereal plane were rampant, that inevitably sparked the beginning of what is known as the Thousand Years' War. The God of Knowledge and Wisdom Ashwald concocted the idea of choosing a champion among the human races and granting that person knowledge to harness mana and conjure magic to aid the gods upon their war against the demon lords and their abominations. The said champion was known as Galvanus Aurelius, the first mage recorded in history, founder and first grand magus of the Ecclesiastical Mages. Seeing the success of Galvanus upon repelling minions of hell spawned by the demon lords to wreak havoc in the material plane upon numerous skirmishes, the other gods have imitated the method and encouraged their human followers from the long-standing nations of the Ancient Empire and Old Empire to learn the arts of magic.

Although not many people can harness mana and use magic, the study of magic still developed after the demons were imprisoned and when the demise of the two original nations of Neutomia took place, as the gods themselves and their followers fought each other for rivalries. The current practice of magic mostly revolves around the cardinal elements of fire, air, water, earth, light and darkness, but there are those spells that do not rely on elemental affinity, which are known as 'attributeless spells,' thus branching the art of magic into two categories: elemental and non-elemental magic. Although the affinity to all attributes is not restricted to anyone who has mana, many magic casters normally choose no more than two particular attributes to specialize into as the learning process to master an element requires talent, time and fortune to complete. Furthermore, the level of one's affinity to the seven elements is not equal, and is divided into four stages: poor, average, excellent and perfect. The potency of a spell also depends on a mage's elemental affinity, with the exception of attributeless spells. This meant that a mage may have a perfect affinity to one element and poor affinity to another, but one would have been extremely lucky if he or she has a perfect affinity for one attribute as the mana faculty for most people in the continent is non-existent.

Magic spells are characterized into three kinds depending on their nature: offensive, defensive and support magic, which may include alchemy, enchantment and healing spells. Moreover, the magic casters in the continent have a ranking system classified into five classes: Novice, Apprentice, Disciple, Master, and Archmage, which depends upon the complexity of spells a mage can cast and their overall skills and potential upon a certain role or field of expertise. Furthermore, the complexity and level of a spell is determined by how long the required chant is.