*Note: Definitions of Italicized words are listed at the end of the chapter
"Are we ever gonna see the end of this damned war..?", a fellow researcher muttered under his breath as he was pressing this and that on his control panel, working on what might be humanity's last and best hope.
"The end? Yeah, sure, we'll get to see the end of this war when the Netherfiends finally break through the Aegis barrier and overrun the last of our Battle Mages.", another researcher chimed in. "..though if we somehow finish this project, we might just have a fighting chance."
"More like, fleeing chance."
"...fuck."
"If you've all got time to despair, then you're not working hard enough! This dimensional transporter ain't gonna build itself, you gossiping mongrels!", the head researcher yelled, finally having had enough of the fearmongering among his subordinates.
He had been entrusted with the Eden project, a last-ditch attempt by humanity to overcome their current crisis. It wasn't some infinitely powerful weapon or unbreakable shield that they were building. There was simply no way of gathering enough mana resources to power even a Tier 5 magic array that could release a Lightning Lance every hour, let alone something that could wipe out the countless Netherfiends that were still endlessly pouring in from so called Nether Gates. Instead, after a prolonged war of attrition and facing defeat after defeat, humanity finally placed its hopes on 'hijacking' one of the Nether Gates, reconfiguring it to make it safe for human travel, and making a new settlement in an alternate dimension after disabling the gate behind them.
In short, humans were desperately trying to flee this nightmare that they had once called home.
"Alden my boy, thankfully we still have you in the team. You're the only one among these fellows who can keep working without distractions, and thanks to the AI you developed, we've been able to pinpoint those dimensional coordinates in a much shorter period than planned.", the head researcher said to his favorite underling.
"..."
Fully immersed in his research, Alden failed to hear any of his superior's high praises, and was instead more interested in tweaking Eden's AI to find a suitable exit node as soon as possible since he had a gut feeling that they didn't have as much time as they thought they had.
Alden had grown up in the now deserted city of Vendel, a once bustling metropolitan area which was home to the Tier 7 Arcanist "Melvin". It was said that around 40 years ago, Arcanist Melvin had -on a whim- transformed a craggy wasteland into the magnificent Vendel within a span of 5 days using his unique Tier 6 spell Arcane Golem, with which he could create limitless amounts of golems as long as there were materials present. These golems would all be capable of accepting basic orders, and so while employing thousands of golems, Melvin was able to achieve the feat of building a city in 5 days. He even decided to build a defensive wall of golems that could protect his new city from the occasional rampaging Mana Beast.
Alden, who had grown up while seeing Melvin's creations on a daily basis, quickly gained interest in magic and specifically how these creatures could understand commands without even having a "brain". This eventually led him down the rabbithole of AI research and his attempts to integrate AI into a magician's mana.
When the first Netherfiend outbreak occurred in Vendel 3 years ago with a Nether Gate suddenly appearing in the middle of the city, Alden had been cooped up in his research lab near the outskirts of the city, and had luckily managed to catch a ride with a couple who had fled the city at the first signs of danger. They headed for the nearby city called Nexus, home to the Arcane Tower, the headquarters of the Magic Association.
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Now, at 30 years old, he's overseeing the AI development of project Eden, which is located 2km beneath the Arcane Tower, holding on to the hope of returning to Vendel in the future to send off his parents and relatives with a proper burial. The sudden loss of all the people he knew around him had honestly been very taxing for Alden mentally, and at more than one occasion he had felt the grasp of desperation clawing at his mind to just end it all, but by setting up a small research facility in Nexus and keeping himself busy with his research on AI, Alden managed to stave off entertaining the thought of taking the easy way out. In doing so, he caught the eyes of his current employer and supervisor, who at the time had been at wit's end for what to do with the tremendous amount of instant calculations required for project Eden to be able to overwrite a Nether Gate. He had heard of a promising researcher who was developing an application of magic and AI that could potentially simplify the process he had been struggling with, and within no time, Alden had proven his worth and managed to get a working prototype within 2 years of joining the team.
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Definitions
Netherfiend: Monstrous creatures of varying sizes that aggressively feed on mana. Started appearing on planet Orin 4 years ago through Nether Gates. Responsible for the death of 93% of the population of planet Orin within the span of 3 months.
Scale comparison for each grade:
Insectoid - small insect -> cat
Stalker - large dog -> human
Brute - bear -> minivan
Horror - bus -> small house
Behemoth - apartment building -> ???
"If you see anything below Horror grade: Kill on sight. Anything else: May the gods be with you."
Aegis: A Tier 8 magic barrier set up by the combined efforts of all Arcanists of the Magic Association to defend humanity's last bastion. It's said that it can withstand a full-force hit of a behemoth without faltering, provided that enough mana is supplied to it.
Battle Mage: A classification of a Tier 5 Sorcerer that specializes in battle magic. A single battle mage can fight thousands of Insectoid grade, hundreds of Stalker grade, or about a dozen Brute grade Netherfiends before running out of mana.
Magic: A phenomenon of altering reality through the use of mana.
Spell Tiers
Tier 1: Harmless beginner spells like Lumen which provides a weak light in the dark.
Tier 2: Household spells like Ember which provides a small flame at your fingertips.
Tier 3: Basic offensive spells like Fireball which can deal with Stalker grade if aimed at weak spots.
Tier 4: Intermediate offensive spells like Flame Wall which can deal with small groups of Stalker grade.
Tier 5: Military grade spells like Lightning Lance which can effectively eliminate hundreds of Stalker grade.
Tier 6: Advanced spells like Arcane Golem which can hold off a group of Brute grade.
Tier 7: Artifact grade spells like Holy Sanctuary which can suppress large groups of Brute grade.
Tier 8: Forbidden grade spells like Aegis which can potentially turn the tides in a battle with Horror grade.
Tier 9: Legendary spells lost to the times, project Eden can be loosely considered to be a Legendary spell.
Mage Tiers
Tier 1: Rookie Mage
Tier 2: Novice Mage
Tier 3: Acolyte
Tier 4: Adept
Tier 5: Sorcerer
Tier 6: Evoker
Tier 7: Arcanist
Tier 8: Grand Mage
Tier 9: Archmage
Each mage can comfortably cast spells a tier below theirs for hours on end. Same-tier spells consume about 10% of a mage's mana capacity, on average. Groups of high-tier(5+) mages can complete 1 tier higher spells when using a magic array.
Nether Gate: Otherworldly portals that started appearing near densely populated areas on Orin, posing as a gateway for Netherfiends. Incompatible with human life, but project Eden is hoping to change this.
Mana Beast: Native wildlife of Orin generally hostile to humans. They possess mana cores which distinguish them from normal animals. Mana cores can be used as a power source or to refill a mage's mana pool. Note: only use purified mana cores to avoid mana corruption.
Magic Association: The last remaining semblance of a governing body in humanity's twilight days. It used to be the primary corporation to manage and employ talented mages, and as such had branches all over the world. Any mage who had hopes of landing a stable and well-paying job was bound to join the Mage Association.