The Black Mongrel's setting is a standard fantasy litrpg set in a set of worlds that are collectively known as Cytheria.

The system in this world works significantly differently from the standard 'kill an enemy, gain a level' type of litrpg. In addition, classes are not chosen but change over time based on how an individual lives their life. There are no 'class rarities' or item rarities, and skills are based on hard work and talent rather than system-based gifts. Levels are gained by living one's life, building up one's skills, and fighting (whether win or lose).

The protagonist is a mercenary. A mercenary is considered a veteran at level 30 to 60, with newbies usually hovering between 15 and 30.

There are no gods, deities, or similar beings in this setting, and the only religions are ones based on worshipping the System.

There are worlds in Cytheria that have high technology, but they are in the vast minority due to magical talent often being more valued than study of the world.

Every individual has at least some talent for one or more magic skills. Magic is used by expending the energy in the air and that which builds up in the body, and generalized magic talent is based on how much energy an individual naturally builds up in their body and how much ambient energy they can wield. Depending on the region, it is called mana, ether, or just energy. In the Sakarkan region where this story begins, it is just referred to as energy, and the protagonist usually thinks of it that way as well.

This is a blank example of the status page:

Name:

Level:

Class:

Race:

Body:

Mind:

Spirit:

Skills:

Gift:

Arts:

As you can see, stats are split into Body, Mind and Spirit. Body is - obviously - everything to do with the working of the body. Mind is the mental stat and also effects reaction times, magical efficiency (fine control, how much energy is used to gain a given effect), and learning speed. Spirit effects resistances, magical energy retention, the amount of ambient energy an individual can control, willpower, and inspiration. Adult humans at level 1 who have not trained will average between 1 and 3 in any given stat.

Every stat increases by a minimum of 1 with each level, with individual talent often adding a point in a given stat with each level. Through training and study between levels it is possible to gain more (up to 3 per stat in theory) than 1 point per level even if one doesn't have a natural talent for that stat. However, this is only in theory, and in practice most only manage to raise one extra point for a stat they don't have a talent in.

Every sapient being is given a Gift by the System upon reaching self-awareness (varies by race). These Gifts are usually what people center their builds upon, as they are more powerful on a fundamental level than base skills and often synergize with one's particular talents.

Arts are special active abilities granted when an individual either masters a particular path or gains a particular Class. Arts gained through effort are often highly personalized and immensely powerful, with many of them being central to advanced individuals' progression. Arts will evolve as one further progresses upon their path in life, often gaining hidden passive abilities that one can only discover through daily experience.

The Sakarkan Region, where this story begins, is based partially on post-decline Rome, with the Kingdom being a region that broke away several generations previous. While public mores and general culture are still close to the original Sakarkan ones, they have begun to diverge significantly due to deliberate efforts from those in power.

There are three major Guilds present in all nations that were once part of the Sakarkan Empire. These are the Mercenaries Guild, the Adventurers Guild, and the Merchants Guild. The Mercenaries Guild focuses on bodyguard assignments and military hires, while the Adventurers Guild primarily focuses on monster hunting, dungeon-delving, and exploration of the wilderness. Many individuals have membership in both.

Dungeons in this world are creations of the System meant as resource nodes and training grounds. The dungeons themselves have no self-awareness and are run entirely by the System.

Worlds in Cytheria are split into Territories that generally are about the size of New York State. Most worlds will have hundreds of thousands of Territories, and it is by holding control of these, either directly or by proxy, that rulers gain access to the System's political control menu.

Edit 11/10/23

Race Descriptions

Fox Maidens- Descendants of an Ascended Beast known as the Nine-Tailed Fox, they are one of many female or male-only races that coexist with the more mundane species of the world. Like all descendants of Ascended Beasts they inherit bits and pieces of their progenitor's System Path as instincts and inherent personality traits. In the case of Fox Maidens, it is absolute devotion to and a desire to spoil or corrupt their mates (the latter is relatively rare, but it happens). The other is their obsessive and predatory nature, which leads them to 'hunt' their mates over a period of time, and once they have obtained them, to have as many daughters as possible. If their mates refuse to have children, they will instinctively lose interest in them, even if their personal emotions haven't necessarily abandoned their mate.

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Shadow Elves- A rare sub-species of elf born during the dawn of Cytheria. When the original high elves were birthed, a small subset of them discovered that their shadows contained a unique element that was not part of the ones understood at the time. This led an even smaller group of them to study their shadows until they were able to discover a portal to the realm of Shadow Elementals, whereupon they called upon them as familiars. However, their obsession eventually led to experimentation with alchemy, Flesh Magic, and Spirit Magic. These beings eventually decided to meld themselves with their familiars, creating the race now known as Shadow Elves. Shadow Elves have dark colors of hair, unnaturally pale skin, purple, dark gray, or black eyes, and high potential to be born with Flesh, Shadow, Death, or Spirit Magic talents. In exchange, Shadow Elves are incapable of using Life, Light, or Fire magic. The species tends to be more curious than other elves, often leading them to become researchers, explorers, or adventurers. Because they have an endless lifespan, they tend to spend centuries at a time obsessing over their interests without ever meeting another member of their race. In order to have children, they must not only go through the physical act but also sacrifice a portion of their elemental spirit, which can only be done once or twice a century at most.

Elves- One of the common races of Cytheria. The generalized appellation refers to mixed-blood descendants of the High Elves who mated outside their race. These descendants then interbred with one another, creating the current elven race. Elves can live anywhere from three hundred to two thousand years naturally (without path-based or alchemical extension) and tend to be highly social with one another and less so with other races. Elves are known to have created the first high-tech civilizations in Cytheria, but these civilizations were destroyed by the other races who saw them as a threat. Ironically, elves serve as the dominant race in one third of Cytheria's worlds, in the sense that they dominate the ruling class of a majority of the Territories of the worlds in question. This is because, after their civilizations' destruction, elves learned that they would not be left alone, so they decided to take the long view and slowly conquer the shorter-lived races through social manipulation and manipulation of the rise and fall of civilization.

Humans- Humans are one of the common races of Cytheria. Humans originally only existed on one of Cytheria's worlds, but over time they have spread to most of them, as humans tend to be curious and greedy, leading them to split off and explore more than most of the other races. However, there are very, very few pure-blooded humans remaining in Cytheria, with most having some non-human traits. Humans rarely build civilizations beyond the tribal level in Cytheria, instead being absorbed by other races' civilizations and at times taking them over from within. This is not because humans are incapable of building civilizations but because humans are too lazy to build something someone else has already put together for them.

Dwarves- One of the common races of Cytheria. Dwarves are known for the combination of their warlike nature and their love of building and crafting. They are one of the few races that maintains pure racial nations (dwarf-only countries and civilizations) in the present day, and one of their long-time obsessions is to match the old elven civilizations' advancements on their own. This is why dwarves often resent and hate elves, as the reasons for the dwarven obsession were poorly passed down through the generations. Dwarves tend to be stubborn and clannish, ignoring other civilizations as much as they can except for trade. Dwarves can live up to three hundred years barring illness or violence.

Dragonoids- One of the common races of Cytheria. Dragonoids came into existence when the dragons - who at that time ruled all of Cytheria - decided it was too much trouble to rule Cytheria directly. So, the dragons mated with the 'lesser races' creating a sub-species of servants that existed solely to force the whims of their ancestors upon the worlds. Unfortunately for the dragons, the Dragonoids matched them for pride, and they led a rebellion of what are now called the common races against their slave-masters. Modern dragonoids are one of the few races to retain a history of that earliest period of Cytheria's history other than the few remaining High Elves and Shadow Elves. Dragonoids look like humans or elves with colored scales and thick talon-like finger and toenails. These scales often adorn the cheeks, forehead, chest, and the back of the forearms, and they often possess wings that are sometimes usable but are mostly vestigial. They also possess a thick tail, and they often possess a gift for a type of magic that is based on their particular draconic ancestry. Dragonoid culture is focused on the preservation of history and tradition, as well as maintaining and growing personal power. Dragonoids often fight to determine who will marry whom, resulting in numerous deaths in youth. However, because dragonoids tend to have multiple births and long lifespans (longer than elves), these deaths are seen as a necessary process to weed out weaknesses in the bloodlines.

Therianthropes- A general term for humanoids with traits that are similar to beasts. While Fox Maidens are sometimes thought to be fox therianthropes, this is false, as normal therianthropes naturally occurred during the course of evolution of species on Cytheria. Therianthrope species tend to maintain some instincts and traits of their beast species, such as wolves' need to gather in packs and respect for strength, as well as rabbits' natural skittishness. However, because therianthrope races have often been slaves to the other common races, they band together to survive, resulting in the bloodlines being heavily interbred. At present, racial solidarity (and the resulting xenophobia) between individual therianthrope sub-species is impossible because one can never tell when a wolf will be born of a rabbit or vise-versa.

Dragons- the original dominant species of Cytheria. While they were once the rulers of Cytheria, after their defeat during the Grand Rebellion, the species was re-labeled as monsters, their intellect and sapience reduced by the System. Now most dragons are just monstrous beasts to be hunted, with only a few rare individuals retaining their sanity and intelligence.

Draugr- Unliving descendants of matings between evolved Corpse Kings and their Corpse Brides. Draugr appear to be humans or elves, but possess black blood and do not register as living beings to magical senses. They sometimes coexist with living races on the edges of Blighted zones, but for the most part they keep to themselves. They generally worship their Corpse King ancestors and have very little sense of the passage of time. Their culture tends to be exclusive, and it is rare for them to leave their territory, as they are most comfortable in places where the living dare not tread.

Daemons- A rare race descended from invaders from another universe. As slave soldiers of the invaders, they were recruited by the System and later naturalized within Cytheria. The race can only gain combat and magic skills and is incapable of learning lifestyle skills other than assessment and analysis. Because of this, daemons tend to gather in small tribes and work as mercenaries for larger civilizations. Occasionally, daemon tribes will submit to the rule of another race and serve as warrior clans for them. Daemons do become adventurers on occasion, but - because of their preference for large conflicts - this is relatively rare. Daemons breed quickly but die almost as quickly, with most never reaching adulthood due to the tribes' tendency to throw themselves into war wholesale, as well as near-constant internal conflicts. However, some individual daemons who have reached the height of power still live from the era of arrival, leading most to conclude that daemons - like high elves and dragons - have no natural lifespan.