It had long been theorized by [Scholars] that there are infinite parallel universes and realities. Those theories eventually led to the development of the summoning rituals, with [Scholar] Vindictis Estarial discovering the formula of the Spirit Summoning, otherwise known as the Familiar Contract.
Ever since then, the question of whether other humanoids could also become the targets of summonings has been explored from many angles without any progress, thus being mostly ignored and treated as little more than a passing curiosity. That was, until the blessed dual class [Arcanist / Archpriest]{1} Carreen Zola tried a completely different and new approach.
He theorized that mana had inherent tiers of power defined by their concentration and an additional undefined element. The example he brought forward was the rarity tiers in the Cards, and especially the Heart Cards everyone received upon reaching the age of majority. {2} He explained that what the system called “Rarity” was, in fact, more than just an indicator of how difficult it was to acquire one. It was also a descriptor of the type of mana those cards used and were made of. Other [Scholars], while initially opposed to the idea, could not counter-argue that the mana fluctuations upon the formations of cards or Heart Cards varied by tier and even color, with the following reference table being created:
Rarity – Color
* Common → White
* Uncommon → Green
* Rare → Azure
* Epic → Magenta
* Legendary → Orange (the color of divine mana)
For about two decades, this was the agreed upon system, although Careen Zola still felt that there was something missing. He had witnessed a blessing once in his youth and knew that the color of divine mana was not the same as that of Legendary Cards, as much as kings and other Legendary card holders disagreed. Due to endangering the monarch’s claims of demi-godhood, he ended up being chased from the kingdom he resided in, eventually finding shelter in the Church of Sarina and the Pantheon of the Effervescent Sun. {3}
Even though Zola changed his class to [Deacon], he didn’t stop researching the nature of mana and trying to create a summoning ritual for intelligent life. As he made more and more discoveries in the field of Mana, the higher stationed clergy started taking note of him, with even one of The Seven showing passing interest in his work. Eventually, his work {4} earned him the Legendary version of the class card Arcanist, it being one of the few documented examples of the world bestowing legendary cards outside of combat.
During that time, he had already advanced his class and station to [Bishop] and chose to continue pursuing his existing class instead of performing the class-change ceremony and leaving the church. Impressed by his dedication to his gods and religion, the gods eventually chose him as their [Archpriest] at the age of 67 and bestowed upon him the [Blessing of the Second Class], one of the rarer and more expensive gifts they could give. Of note here is that he requested the gods grant him the boon while he stood in a measuring and recording array.
He then used that data to not only disprove the then prevalent notions that Legendary mana was divine mana, but also added a new color to the existing table, thus resulting in the following:
Rarity – Color
* Common → White
* Uncommon → Green
* Rare → Azure
* Epic → Magenta
* Legendary → Orange
* Divine → Gold
In notes he never published but were found locked in a hidden safe decades after his time had passed, he noted that Divinity itself just seemed to be a tier of mana, instead of some unreachable concept, and that, in theory, if one managed to level and tier up their Cards enough to reach the peak of Legendary Tier, they would only need a Divine Catalyst in order to condense their own Divinity and Domain. A Catalyst which existed in every Divine Being, and later also found to exist within Summoned Heroes under certain conditions and power level. {5} But this is the topic of a different book.
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Continuing from his ascension to the seat of power of the Pantheon of Seven, [Archpriest] Zola turned to the gods for help with the last phase of his experiment. His previous attempts to form a stable, if one way, passage between worlds using Legendary mana had not been a full failure, but their results were gory and left the subjects of such transportation unable to stay in the world of the living. He had experimented with fishing for and transporting just the soul, but even then, Legendary mana created a tunnel that was too unstable and shredded the soul whole. By the time the soul reached the summoner, all that was left of a person was a word, or maybe if they were lucky, an image.
Zola assumed that he needed a higher tier of mana and control in order to properly stabilize the dimensional tunnel and bring through the unharmed souls of recently deceased individuals. He prayed to the Goddess Sarina, asking for her to possess him and to try and complete the ritual together. This was the date of the first success, and the arrival of the first Otherworlder on Esteria.
It was also the date of the arrival of the first demon king through the weakened veil of our world.
—
[1] While dual-classes are rare, they are not unheard of. The system and the gods reward effort and faith, respectively. If one manages to prove themselves with noteworthy achievements to their name, The System will eventually grant them a powerful boon that is aligned with their desires. For a full list of all known system boons, please reference “A History of The System” (203 PD), by [Historian] Orpha Zolla. Divine boons are granted in the forms of blessings to the ones favored by the gods. Due to it being costly to do, they are only usually provided to exceptional believers or the [Archpriest] of their Pantheon. With some variations, they seem to mostly be a mirror of system-granted boons, albeit touched with the ‘flavor’ of the deity or pantheon that granted them. For more information, please refer to “The Gods and their Miracles” (46 PD), by [Bishop] Inga Orpheus.
[2] The age of majority as defined by The system is fourteen cycles by the Taylan Calendar. {6}
[3] The Pantheon of the Effervescent Sun is composed of seven High Gods and dozens of Lower Gods. The Seven are: 1) Sarina, Goddess of the Everlasting Light, 2) Petrut, God of Unwavering Strength, 3) Lindiwe, Goddess of Love and Beauty, 4) Issac, God of the Sun, 5) Ta'oma, God of Death, 6) Ivka, Goddess of Victory, and 7) Nestori, God of the Hearth. The full descriptions of each god as well as a list and descriptions of all the Lower Gods can be found in “The Gods and their Miracles” (46 PD), by [Bishop] Inga Orpheus.
[4] The full list of Careen Zola’s discoveries and accomplishments can be found on Page 300 of this book, or in the appendix under the chapter titled “Discoveries and Research (Parts 1 through 7)”. Additional information can be found in the book “The Life and Works of Careen Zola” (168 PD), by [Historian] Elisabet Aistulf.
[5] Information on the history of the discovery of Divine Catalysts within the bodies of Heroes, and the subsequent Great Cataclysm thereafter can be found in “The Sins of Esteria’s People” by [Divine Inquisitor] Alphius Yudes.
[6] The Taylan Calendar was named after its creator, the [Astrologist] Alexis Taylan who spent most of his life looking at the night sky and the celestial cycles. According to it, a cycle is 300 days, divided into ten groupings of 30 days. A Season spans roughly a third of a cycle, for a total of three seasons. Most of the world has adopted a similar calendar system, if by different names in some regions.