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Determination
Determination, the Red Aspect, once known as willpower. It is the root of Victory, the will to enact change: be it on one’s own life or on the lives of others.
Though strong in the eyes of monsters, the historical humans were constantly susceptible to harsh elements, diseases, and starvation, without the aid of magic.
The ‘determined’ survived better than those who were not; this process of natural selection ensured that over time the entire collective became capable of generating Determination.
Despite so, the levels present within an individual are often far outshined by their other Aspects. It is rare for a person to generate enough Determination to dye their Psychia red.
Living Victories
Only the aforementioned “Red Majors” are able to use Determination to its fullest. They pave destiny with their own hands, governing over time and its permanence of memories.
While often a work of trial and error from their personal perspective, to everyone else they succeed in everything they do with almost no struggle whatsoever. By these guaranteed successes, they are known as ‘Living Victories’.
For a person to be considered a Living Victory, they must fulfill the following criteria:
1. Red Major.
2. Used the ‘Keys of Fate’ to rewind time at least once.
3. Has the ability to create a ‘Mark of Volition’, subconsciously or otherwise.
4. Permanence. Does not lose memories to time-travel.
5. Generates enough Determination to permeate their bloodstream. This will respond in clinical tests.
Any Red Major has the potential to grow into a Living Victory under the correct circumstance. Therefore, it is important to take preemptive measures to ensure proper education and management.
The expected skillset of a matured Living Victory may include the following:
* Limited teleportation based on the path traversed.
* Local Time alterations i.e burst of speeds or ‘bullet time’.
* Mirage displacements.
* Limited Timestop, about the same as Lichborn.
* Restoration via state reversal.
* The imposement of will through the Mark of Volition (see below).
* Mastery of Augmentation (see below).
Keys of Fate
The term ‘Keys of Fate’ refers to a Living Victory’s access to the inner workings of the cosmos through the gap in spacetime called ‘The Void’.
By rewinding the universal clock, time-travel becomes possible through the use of checkpoints pegged at a specific moments in history. In the beginning, a Living Victory can only make a single checkpoint, but as their mastery grows more may become possible.
The “RESET” ability is often dubbed as “SAVE” and “LOAD” in the modern day, inspired by similar mechanisms that exist in interactive media.
Only the ultimate Living Victory can lay claim to ownership of the Keys of Fate. They will then be elected as the Magus Association’s Supreme Judge and train directly under the Grandmaster.
While past co-ownerships have been recorded, these are exceptionally rare. Under normal circumstances two Living Victories with the same level of Determination cancel out each other’s access. The Trial of the Crimson Hall exists to prevent such a scenario (see below).
Permanence
The level of memory preservation between individuals depends on the quantity of Determination in their bloodstream.
Normal humans - No recollection.
Red Minor - Stronger sense of dejavu, but unexplained.
Immature Red Major - May recall noteworthy bits and pieces.
Mature Red Major, DEMONs and Living Victories - Full recollection.
Personal connection is the key difference between Red Majors and Purple Seers.
A Red Major may be able to distance their emotions from their recollection, but the experience never leaves their being. On the other hand, Purple Seers must choose to bond with their past memories to make it personal to their hearts. Their visions remain as emotionless playbacks if they do not make a conscious effort.
For those without recollection, hints of a RESET may still be obtained from educated guesses.
Mark of Volition
Peaceful Determination stills the heart. Corruptive Determination destroys life. Whenever a person emits serenity or killing intent, they’re projecting their Determination in the form of an aura. Curses in particular stem from corruptive Determination.
When this aura is then given shape and purpose, it takes form as the ‘Mark of Volition’. The Mark is the primary magic of all Living Victories. It is a unique symbol that reflects the caster’s inner self.
All stable Marks are red in colour. Planting a Mark on an object or person imposes one’s will upon them. This alters their ‘state’ according to the caster’s wishes.
Ex: By Marking a person’s memory, they will remember every incident of time travel despite not being a Red Major.
Or
By Marking the state of existence of a box, it becomes possible to smash said box in the future and force it to remain broken in the past.
In theory anything and everything can be Marked. However there are notable limitations to electronic components or other objects that depend on intricate detail. Being too selective can cause short-circuits, logic memory errors, or assorted other mechanical mishaps. Caution is strongly advised.
The death of their caster will cause all normal Marks to vanish.
Levels of Volition
The ‘Levels of Volition’ (LV) indicate the invasiveness of a Mark on their target’s mind. A form of violence applied to living and sentient beings.
The levels are:
1. Low Volition
2. Medium Volition
3. High Volition
Low Volition Marks (LVM) are spells that do not tax the mind much. This includes the most basic memory retention commands and the preservation of states.
Medium Volition (MVM) Marks temper with the biological functions of their targets. This is achieved by blocking specific neural feeds according to their commands. Eg: optic nerves for blindness, voice box paralysis for voice, motor system for mobility.
High Volition Marks (HVM) meddle with the very core of a person. This includes mind-alterations, mind and or body control, forcing out secrets, imposement of identity, disabling of vital instinctive functions such as breathing, or other similar violations of a person’s being.
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HVMs are forbidden under any circumstance. The utilization of this method will demote a Living Victory to a Category 3: Fallen. Supreme Judges are NOT exempted from this.
HVMs used against humans will result in severe irreversible damages such as deep scarring, insanity, multiple-organ failure, and/or premature fatalities.
When used against monsters, HVMs will result in internal destabilization caused by excessive Determination. In the presence of multiple monsters, they might converge into a collective mass, lacking awareness.
For all the above reasons, and more, HVMs are considered a “Curse of Death”: an unpardonable crime against both humanity and monsterkind.
Note: not all fatal Marks are an HVM despite their purpose. Some serve as a ‘preserver of state’, others as ‘augmentation of effect’. As long as there’s no direct ‘violation of being’ it is not an HVM.
Hexes
Hexes are parasitical MVMs or HVMs that feed on their victim’s Determination to preserve a state of harm. For example, Hexing an injury will prevent any form of healing even with time-reversal.
Unlike normal Marks, Hexes persist beyond the caster’s death. Anyone suspected of being Hexed must be submitted for treatment immediately.
These are notoriously difficult to break without large quantities of Peaceful Determination. Fortunately, they can be controlled with containment magic. However, such measures are fragile. Any sudden influx of external Determination will cause it to activate once more.
Augmentation
As Pure Reds are extremely rare, the current sample pool available to the Magus Association is limited to Red Majors and Red Minors. For those Reds, it's been observed that their Determination can bolster any of their other Aspects. This is called ‘Augmentation’.
For example, a Red Major with Yellow and Purple Minors can utilize two individual skillsets with greater efficiency and power than any other Magus. On the other hand, a Yellow Major with a Red and Purple Minor will only augment their Major, not their other Minor.
Proper use of augmentation alongside the Mark of Volition and other abilities is vital to claiming victory (see below).
Claiming Victory
Determination’s greatest weakness is Determination itself. As such, a battle between two Living Victories is a game of will.
The person who successfully imposes their Mark on the other is considered the victorious party. However, by refusing the will of another person, one may resist the application of a Mark.
Failure to apply a mark may result in all prior efforts being undone by time travel.
Example:
Scenario 1:
* Person 1 (P1) and Person 2 (P2) initiate a duel in an attempt to claim superiority.
* P2 successfully Marks P1’s Determination, capped at a lower state than theirs.
* P1 surrenders to P2.
* P2 is considered the victor of the duel.
Scenario 2:
* P1 and P2 initiate a duel.
* P1 Marks P2’s physical heart in the battle.
* P1 kills P2, but because P2’s Psychia is intact P2 can fight for survival.
* P2 successfully overtakes P1’s level of Determination and rewinds time to their pre-death state.
Scenario 3:
* P1 and P2 initiate a duel.
* P2 Marks P1’s Psychia with capped Determination levels.
* P2 kills P1 by destroying the body.
* Because of P1’s forcefully lowered Determination, P1 cannot undo their own demise.
* Unless P2 decides to revert time before P1’s death, P1 will remain dead and P2 will be the victor.
Scenario 4:
* P1 and P2 initiate a duel.
* P1 Marks P2’s Psychia with capped Determination levels.
* P2 strikes P1 with a poisoned dart that’s Marked beforehand.
* P1 attempts to rewind time to rid themselves of the poison.
* It fails because P2’s Mark preserves the poisoned state.
* Unless P1 destroys P2’s Mark first, the poison may permanently kill P1.
Scenario 5:
* P1 and P2 initiate a duel.
* P1 Marks P2.
* P2 shatters P1’s Mark by overpowering P1’s Determination.
* The battle continues until both parties ceases their duel.
In summary, only a Living Victory can permanently kill another Living Victory. This is especially important in dealing with dangerous criminals who bear the Red Aspect.
Do keep in mind: since Determination is imbued in the blood of a Living Victory, bleeding wounds will also drain one’s Determination level. When this revokes access to the Keys of Fate, excessive blood loss can still cause fatalities as it would on a normal human.
Hubs
The duties of a Supreme Judge can be both dangerous and taxing with little opportunity for rest in the present time. In order to circumvent this issue, a Living Victory can create pockets of reality known as ‘Hubs’ within The Void.
The primary purpose of the Hub is to provide a place of respite and strategizing in a situation where it’s otherwise impossible. The appearance and facilities of a Hub depend on the person’s life inspirations in addition to their mastery of magic. Recreations of whole castles have been recorded.
(Note: The Grandmaster discourages excessive redecoration and renovations in the midst of a mission. Please save massive construction projects for times of peace.)
Trial of the Crimson Hall
The Crimson Hall is the Magus Association’s primary examination chamber for all Living Victory candidates.
It’s a special type of Hub, accessible only by a Spirit Gate.
The Crimson Hall is divided into two zones: The Crimson Hall proper, and the Jury’s Chamber.
The Trial begins the moment the Jurors confirm that they’re properly seated.
The Supreme Judge will examine the following
1. Question the candidate’s ideals.
2. If the candidate answers correctly, proceed to the next step.
3. Plant a Mark on the candidate.
4. Initiate an appropriate duel to test their aforementioned ideals and the candidate’s character.
5. Evaluate their responses for the final verdict.
If at any point the candidate shows signs of danger and/or degradation into an insane DEMON, the Supreme Judge has the right to enact the death penalty. They will not be charged under manslaughter or homicide unless a case of misconduct is suspected.
If the candidate surrenders and/or falls short without posing a threat to society, the Supreme Judge can choose to instead apply a special Mark to suppress their Determination.
This is called a ‘Claiming Mark’ or ‘Claim of Conquest’. It looks the same as normal Marks, but this can only be applied or removed within the grounds of the Crimson Hall.
A Claiming Mark does the following:
* Prevents the target from generating more Determination than set by the caster.
* Reroutes the target’s own Determination to power the caster’s Mark.
* Funnels any extra Determination to the caster.
The more Red Majors a Supreme Judge claims, the more powerful they become. This is their primary method of maintaining order. Long-standing veterans may claim up to tens of thousands.
Should a ‘Claimed’ wish to undergo the Trial of the Crimson Hall again, they’ll have to fulfil one additional criterion: the candidate must shatter the Supreme Judge’s Mark with their own Determination. This sets the difficulty bar much higher than for normal candidates. Death may follow.
Candidates that end up as fatalities tend to leave a larger impact. This creates a misconception that all failures are executed.
The Supreme Judges and the other high-ranking members encourage this perception despite its inaccuracy. With their own lives on the line, potential candidates are less likely to treat the system as game. This filters out the half-hearted before the onset of the trial.
Juries
The Trial must be overseen by three to eleven Jurors and the Grandmaster. They will witness the proceedings from their respective hidden chambers.
The Jurors are Magi-certified monsters, knowledgeable in the Law and workings of human society. Their task is to ensure there’s no misconduct by the Supreme Judge.
If misconduct is suspected, the Jury may cast a vote to suspend the proceedings
The Grandmaster can overrule the Jury’s decision once per Trial. Often the stakes are beyond the comprehension of those outside the circle of information. In complex cases, The Grandmaster serves as an additional balancing factor.
The appropriate penalty will be dealt if a Supreme Judge is indeed guilty of misconduct. Should the Judge succumb to the darkness of their hearts, The Grandmaster will elect the next best Crimson Keeper as the new Supreme Judge. They will then vanquish the fallen one together.
Supreme Judges
The ultimate Living Victory, in charge of the Magus Association’s Headquarters. The Supreme Judge is a position of great power and even greater responsibility. Their primary task is to ensure harmony by properly managing all those with a Red Major. They also undertake time-traveling missions in case of a crisis.
Despite their power over time, a Supreme Judge is still under the limitations of mortal flesh. They will have their own strengths and weaknesses. One may be academic, the next more combat-orientated. It’s thus vital to elect wise council and delegates to avoid tunnel vision.
As time passes and the Supreme Judge ages, there will be a need to find a successor. The Supreme Judge can either elect an existing Crimson Keeper to take their place, or search for a fresh face from subsequent examinations.
Should they find a satisfactory candidate, the successor will train under the Supreme Judge and The Grandmaster for a number of years.
Upon completion of the training, master and student will enter the Crimson Hall. The master will then pass on their Claimed Marks and the new Supreme Judge will inherit the Determination network of their predecessor. This may cause a short bout of nausea-related symptoms: one or two days at best.
Upon the permanent premature demise of a Supreme Judge, all of their Marks will vanish. This includes every Claimed Mark under their name. Without a successor, the massive destabilization will lead to time-riots and brutal wars.
In other words, succession of the Supreme Judge title is imperative.