A/N:

  Sorry for the delay on the chapter, silliness with me trying to use html for formatting and weirdness with the content meant editing was involved. Turns out writing down world building stuff is a lot easier than incorporating it into the writing, and when things went over four thousand words, I knew some shortening had to get involved. The rest of the information will still be integrated into the story eventually, but hopefully at a more logical pace – I really don’t want to have another one of these again, because if I do, it means I haven’t been working hard enough to explain things in previous chapters.

  The following is the contents of the books which Nezz began reading in the previous chapter. Some of it will be in-universe, some will not, simply because I can’t think of an in universe way of describing statistics and skills.

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Stats:

  Statistics are the raw attributes of a person. Every person has the same set of attributes, and there is no such thing as a hidden attribute or stat. These are the core of your physical and mental state, describing personality, inclination, what you look like, but they don’t control specifics – that is the domain of skills. The stats are strength, dexterity, intellect, wisdom, constitution, and charisma.

  Strength is straight forward: it determines how much you can lift or carry, how hard you can swing a weapon, or how high you can jump. Strength describes the effectiveness of your physical body.

  Dexterity determines your overall physical speed. How fast you can move, how quickly you can swing or reload a weapon, how long it takes you to stand up from a fall, or how good you are at adjusting to the fall in the first place. It represents the adaptiveness of your physical body, in situations where reflex, rather than the mind, will save you.

  Intellect represents your ability to assimilate information, and keep stock of that information. It increases the rate at which magic users can cast spells, mana and psionic energy retention levels, and effectiveness at assessing situations critically. Where dexterity is the nimbleness and adaptiveness of the body, intellect is the quickness and adaptiveness of the mind.

  Constitution is the hardiness and durability of the physical body. Its ability to withstand damage, or prevent it in the first place, its ability to fend off poisons or ignore the effects of debilitating situations, and its ability to recover quickly from such situations. Strength may determine how high you are able to jump, or how much you can carry, but constitution represents how liable you are to get wounded while overtaxing yourself, or how long you can carry something.

  Wisdom is the ability to properly use one’s intellect. It determines how much and how fast a connection one can make between related concepts, and how perceptive one is to the physical and conceptual. It represents experience, and the mind’s reserves of memory and durability, helping negate the strength of psionic or magical attacks. Wisdom is the mental equivalent of constitution; a person with high wisdom is always mentally prepared for anything, and thus metaphysically armored.

  Charisma represents the sheer power of your presents. It determines how good you are at asserting your will not just over people, but on a magic or psionic environment. Charisma, also called willpower, describes how well you are at bringing might to bare, how good you are at utilizing your mental reserves, your wisdom, in a real, non-theoretical, situation. It is the mental or spiritual equivalent of strength, lending power to the use of arcane or psionic abilities.

  Luck isn’t a statistic in the traditional sense. It represents karma, slowly falling on repetitive success in challenging situations, but slowly reaching a middle point over times of little activity. Upon repetitive failures, luck increases. Luck is represented as a percentage, with normal luck levels being at 50%.

Skills:

  Skills are those experiences which have influenced a person in a mental or physical way throughout the course of their life. They represent training, or certain levels of knowledge. The application of a skill, or group of skills, to achieve a specific desired effect is known as an ability. How well one can utilize a skill is determined by the statistics which best govern the application of said skill – dexterity and strength for an athletics skill, intelligence for a pyroturgy skill, charisma for a summoning skill, wisdom for an affinity skill. Skills are numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands, many of them hidden, lost, or only applicable in very specific situations. One’s ability to learn a skill on their own is dependent both on the difficulty rating of the skill, and their intellect and wisdom. Technically speaking, everyone has every skill, however, until introduced, its level is effectively -1; someone can still throw a punch without understanding the mechanics of unarmed combat, copy a magic rune without understanding what the rest of the language means. Once a skill is taught, one gains bonuses to advancing their knowledge of it on their own, to a certain point – every forty points, one must find a teacher to learn more advanced applications of the skill.

Abilities:

  Abilities are specific applications of a skill, or group of skills. A mage might use their fire affinity, pyroturgy, concentration, channeling, and spell weaving skills to cast a fireball, while a monk might use concentration, unarmed combat, athletics, precise blows, channeling, and order affinity to deliver a chi-infused karate chop to the enemy. Even then, skills might use the same or similar skill sets, but at different ratios. Casting a focused beam of fire, rather than a fireball, might require more control and concentration, but not as much created fire. These skill usage ratios determine the percentage chance of raising a skill related to that ability.

  Abilities have a minimum and maximum proficiency number, both on a scale from 1 to 10000. One may have the knowledge of an ability, but not the proper skill levels to use it safely or properly. At this point the person would be able to identify it, but until their proficiency level, as determined by the level of ability related skills, is not at or above minimum proficiency, they cannot use the ability. Points above minimum proficiency raise the power, speed, or effectiveness of the ability, until maximum proficiency is hit. Points can go beyond maximum proficiency, until they hit 10000, but this provides no added benefit, and is only a side effect of possibly requiring similar skills for different abilities.

  The same way one might know an ability but might not have enough power to use it, it is always possible that there is an ability the user has more than enough skill to use, but does not know of.

Universal Energies:

A large ring, with a base element (earth, fire, air, water) at each cardinal direction, defines the basal sector. There is a smaller ring within the primary, or base, ring, the first ring, which defines the primal sector. The four first order amalgams (smoke fire + air, mist air + water, mud water + earth, magma earth + fire) are at the sub-cardinal directions of this ring. A vertical line traverses both circles, and extropy and entropy are both on this line, within the first ring, a pair of nested circles drawn around them. Spirit is at the center of the first and base rings, between entropy and extropy, and also on the line – this line is called the axis prime.

  The second order amalgams (extropy: light fire, lightning air, ooze water, crystal earth; entropy: darkness fire, void air, ice water, taint earth) are on the outer ring of the extropic and entropic sectors, defined by the outer entropic and extropic rings. Lines connect the cardinal directions on these outer entropic and extropic rings to the corresponding base elements on the base ring. Collectively, these rings are called the second or polarity rings. Accordingly, the associated sectors are referred to as the polarity sectors.

The third order amalgams (extropy: heat fire + air, thunder air + water, acid water + earth, metal earth + fire; entropy: cold fire + air, stone air + water, alkali water + earth, ash earth + fire) are situated in the third, or inner entropic and inner extropic rings, linking to the corresponding sub-cardinal directions on the first ring.

A line attaches to each cardinal direction on the base ring, from spirit (entropy + extropy + fire + earth + air + water) spirit being the only fourth order amalgam element, forming the primal-basal junction.

While third order amalgam elements do not use first order ones, they use the same combination of base elements, and so they stem from the corresponding first order amalgam elements – the first ring. Spirit, entropy, and extropy are collectively referred to as cores; spirit is excluded in the case of polarity cores. The space between the lines that run from water to ice and water to ooze, and fire to darkness and fire to light, is sometimes acknowledged as the interpolar sector, or the interpolar pseudo-sector. The locations of air and earth on the base ring, north and south respectively, are commonly accepted, but the situation of water and fire is an often debated subject, and varies from model to model. Usually, the lines connecting elements are not physically required, and are mostly used for visualization and focusing training, or to teach a novice the relationships portrayed by the hylocosmic model. They are also a form of insurance, however, and used when the practitioner is not particularly pressed for time and wants a good model to work off of.

  Of note is the fact that energies are greater than the sum of their parts. While ice might consist of entropy and water energies, using the both separately would not amount to ice. This is because spirit must be the medium to bind all other energies together outside of a naturally occurring event.

  In a working measuring model, the rings spin clockwise. The two outer rings are concentric, and thus spin around the same center – spirit. The two pairs of inner rings rotate both around their own centers, entropy and extropy, and around spirit, in such a way that, when all energies are in balance, all element-corresponding glyphs remain in perfect alignment with the lines connecting them.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  From this system most modern elemental magic is drawn. One familiarizes themselves with the desired energy and converts their spiritual reserves into a form better suited to manipulating the wild mana. Spirit and mana are not the same. Spirit is the base form of energy, containing equal amounts of all energy types, while mana is the wild energy of the desired type. When mana is drawn into the body it must be properly bound to spirit to form a useable form of energy for spell craft. Ones ease with binding a specific kind of mana to their spirit is called their affinity with that form of mana. As ones affinity increases, the amount of that element of mana and spirit hybrid energy source they can refine and store increases, and the ratio of spirit to mana required in the process decreases.

  Spirit is the raw amount of spirit energy a person has, which means the refined mana type can never exceed ones total spirit. Raw spirit energy is required for the continued life of most things, and using more than half of that, for whatever purpose, is dangerous. Spirit, however, is not a blob of energy. Every person has a unique shape to their spirit. Advanced techniques in spell craft can even allow a mage to draw from different parts of the spirit, dramatically altering the resulting spell.

  Most mages tend to focus on a closely related set of elements, rather than attempting to master them all, for the same reason scientists might specialize in a specific field of science.

Other Forms of Magic:

  Although the system of refining wild mana and utilizing in spells is by far the most prevalent, magic has been around since the beginning, and thus it is expected that alternative forms of manipulating it have been used, to varying effect.

  Runes: The precursor to the wide-spread use of foci artifacts, rune magic uses magically imbued symbols to complete a desired effect. By empowering them with spirit, the runes will trigger on a specified situation, and use the supplied spirit reserves to produce the desired effect. For this reason runes are often combined into strings, or sequences, through which the spirit energy cycles. Rune magic itself has branched throughout the centuries, and is still very useful in the modern day world. In particular, wizards versed in the usage of runes have found great success in the fields of magitech and computation sorcery.

  Necromancy: Nature abhors a vacuum. Research into the refinement process has produced results that indicate the existence of a waste product, a form of energy, referred to as nether. It spills into the environment throughout the course of energy refinement and regular subconscious spirit-related activities, and is carried on the currents and flows of mana, pooling into empty receptacles. Most commonly, this means corpses, after the spirit within them dissolves into individual strands of mana that disperse into the environment. It is believed this has some relation to the form in which demons travel, but little else is known. Necromancers are mages who have studied the use of nether, and who use it. This gives them the common stereotypical label of corpse animators, but nether can be found naturally in the environment, especially around living things, and its uses are many.

  Priest Magic: Priest magic differs from elemental magic in that it does not use an external source of natural magic; at least, not external sources anywhere near them. Instead, a deity the cleric worships bonds their spirit with an alien form of energy which cannot exist outside the cleric’s spirit. This divine power is a marker of how much favor the cleric has gained, and, when the cleric requests a favor of their deity, the deity will retract a portion of that power equivalent to the magnitude of the request, before granting the request, assuming the divine power reserves are sufficient. Similar to elemental magic, divine power reserves cannot exceed half of the priest’s total raw spirit without risk of injury.

  Soul Magic: Also called vampire magic, primal magic, and all manner of other names, This is perhaps the least understood form of magic, mostly because it is only usable by entities of god-like power, demons, angels, and elementals (in a modified form). These entities do not have spirit of their own, and must gather it from other sources through interaction. Eating food, talking to people, personal enjoyment, drawing from a willing (or unwilling) victim, these are all viable. The only uniting feature for gaining spirit energy as that it must be gained from something living. It is believed that soul magic includes the gathering of nether energy in a similar fashion, although how, or even if, it works is completely unknown. This comes with many advantages: having no spirit, users of this form of spell-craft are affectively able to gather as much spirit energy as they desire. Furthermore, not requiring spirit energy to live, they are able to use 100% of this stored power without risk. However, because this requires interaction with things that have spirit, binding such entities becomes almost trivial, given the right circumstances.

  In the case of elementals, all power they are able to utilize comes from themselves, their very body being refined mana of a specific energy. They are able to replenish expended power only within their home realm, or by communing with things that contain a large amount of the corresponding energy type (a campfire for a fire elemental, the ocean for a water elemental, etc.).

  Wild Magic: Not a kind of magic in the strictest sense, wild magic is the field of magic concerning raw spirit. It is also what untrained magicians are able to do instinctively. The instinctive use of wild magic is basic manipulation of spirit, and thus cannot extend beyond the caster’s body. Wild magic also applies to the natural ebb and flow of power currents, the usage of lee-lines and artifacts such as foci, and bonds such as those made between mage and familiar.

Foci:

  A focus is the name given to an object capable of effected mana which has already been refined. This makes it a major component in any trained wizard’s toolkit. It consists of three major parts: handle, shell, and core.

  The handle of a focus is the only part which can be held without hindering its power. This location is entirely decided by the user, and can be purposely made obscure so that enemies would not be able to use it. The handle need not even be physical – it could be a specific way of holding an item. Legend speaks of a sorcerer with a sphere on a chain as a focus. The handle was the chain, but one had to cover specific links with specific fingers depending on the season. Finally, the handle of a focus is also the only part which can be safely influenced by any kind of magic directly at any time.

  Next is the shell. The shell is the only place where the focus becomes inert; this also not need be physical. A dagger’s sheath, a ring with the gem rotated towards the body, both are valid shells. In political situations, an active shell represents respect, while, more practically, a focus with an active shell is, for all intents and purposes, not a focus, so it can be worked upon without risk. Unlike the handle, which is entirely decided by the wizard, the shell is decided based upon the creation of the focus, the temperament of its owner and the environment in which it is created. All foci are created with an inactive shell.

  Lastly is the focus itself, the core. The core encompasses the materials, the time and circumstances under which the focus was made. The core may benefit from additional rune work after it is completed. Being the focus itself, the core is what channels and alters the completed spell.

  Foci have affinity, a mana type that they help somehow alter, purpose, the specific way they shape the affinity, and ability, a distinct power unique to the focus.

Familiar Bonds:

  A familiar bond is the bond created between entities that have chosen to share spirit essence. At the start of the bond this is expressed through the sharing of a very tiny portion of spirit, but as time with the familiar progresses and understanding on both sides of the bond is achieved this amount steadily increases. In a familiar bond that has reached its full potential, both spirits are equally mixed between partners. In a working familiar bond, spirit energy is constantly traveling between the two, creating a cord which thickens as the bond progresses. The cord is visible to those proficient enough with the ability to see magic in the environment.

  Familiar bonds are possible between a being with a soul and a being lacking one, such as a bond between a human and an angel, but not between two beings who do not have a soul. This is because even entities that do not have a soul still have the place for one – a mold of sorts, for the souls they consume to fill. In a bond with two soulless members, any attempt at creating a flow of spirit would eventually drain both parties, become unstable, and shatter. On the other hand, a bond between a person with and a person without a soul would actually make the person without a soul more stable, especially once the cord is substantial, because their mold would be constantly filled by the bond.

  There are variants to the familiar bond, most of which are psychic in nature, so it could be the case that those with psionic capability would be more versed at the manipulation of bonds, both short and long term.

  Contrary to popular belief, in almost every form of the familiar bond, there is no imbalance in terms of power or ownership. Each is, technically, each other’s familiar, and both participants benefit equally. For this reason it is common practice for authors of texts with relation to familiar bonds to avoid the use of such phrases as ‘wizard and familiar’, or ‘bonder and bonded’, since, even in a developing bond, the word ‘wizard’ and ‘familiar’ applies to both members.

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Sorry, I promise there will be plot for the next chapter. As always, questions are welcome, comments, etc.