Race

**Races** (種族 *shuzoku*) are classified into two basic categories, Physical Beings and Spiritual Beings, each of which is further divided into three more classifications, which are: Humans, Demi-Human, and Monsters. There are other groups of races that aren't included in this three-fold distinction, or where the classifications haven't been provided yet and are thus "unknown."

## Physical Beings

**Human** ( *hyūman*) refers to a species that, although weak at birth, and being born without any Intrinsic Skills, are high in numbers and specialize in Arts, making them able to defend themselves against innately stronger Races.

Because they live in areas with low Magicule concentration, they usually don't have to worry too much about Monster attacks, as Monsters generally prefer Magicule-rich environments. However, there are many exceptions to that rule, so Humans are always keeping a watch on the Monsters' movements.

The Humans are those who originally created the three classifications to separate themselves (Humans), the non-hostile races (Demi-Humans), and the hostile races (Monsters) from each other.

The Free Guild's Grandmaster, who is a Human Otherworlder, created the Rank System that evaluates the combat abilities of both Adventurers and Monsters, drastically reducing causalities among Human Adventurers as a result.

### Demi-Humans

**Demi-Human** ( *demihyūman*) refers to any humanoid races that have become friendly or at least neutral towards humanity, hence being treated as "non-hostile races." Most Demi-Human Races are Fairy-races that have strong connections to Spirits.

Since the term "demi-human" is only defined based on appearance and hostility toward humans, different races can possess fundamentally different properties. Some demi-humans like Elves and Dwarves are similar to humans (little to no magicule in body, naming has no effect), whereas others like rabbitmen are technically monsters (born nameless and possess intrinsic skills).

It should be noted that there can be cases where Monsters are hostile towards Humans, but still have a friendly relationship with Demi-Humans.

### Monsters

**Monster** ( *monsutā*) refers to the Magicule-based races that come to existence via breeding between Monsters, via mutation, or via spawning directly from Magicules.

A primary characteristic of Monsters is that they are always born Nameless and often possess Intrinsic Skills. If someone with names gives them a Name, the Nameless Monster becomes a Named Monster, enhancing their Magicule capacities proportional to the power of the one granting them the Name, as well as possibly triggering the acquisition of Skills or even an evolution to a higher-tiered species. In turn, the Namer takes a considerable risk, as there is a certain chance to permanently lose the Power granted to the Monster, but depending on how it's approached it's also possible to recover the entire used up Power with no permanent loss.

Monsters can undergo evolutions that might drastically change their intelligence, looks, and Magicule capacities. In most cases the evolutions' only requirement is reaching a certain level of Magicules, but certain conditions must be fulfilled in some cases. The pinnacle of evolution is the evolution into a Demon Lord Seed and subsequently even into a True Demon Lord, the latter which is usually the apex of Monster evolution, whereupon further evolutions are usually not considered to be possible.

Sometimes, among Monsters there are those who evolve unusually or mutate due to their environment, becoming "Unique Monsters." These Monsters are usually very strong and often also possess uncharacteristic Skill, sometimes even a Unique Skill. Monsters like that usually have a great impact on their surroundings and can cause the existing order in their area of operation to collapse.

In general, Monsters are treated as hostile towards humanity, especially those without intelligence often act based on a pure "flight or fight" instinct, indiscriminately attacking any other living beings that come into the reach of their senses. However, in some cases, Monsters with intelligence can be recognized as Demi-Humans as well, as long as their group has proven itself to be "non-hostile" towards Humans.

## Spiritual Lifeforms

**Spiritual Lifeform** (精神生命体 *seishin seimei-tai*) refers to existences that have the ability to exist as without a Material Body under certain conditions these are further divided into two:

1. Spiritual Lifeforms by Birth: Refers to those born as Spiritual Lifeforms in places such as the Spirit World or places within the Material World with strong spiritual force like the Dwelling of Spirits, requiring a Body or Summoning to be able to operate within areas outside their natural habitats within the Material World, or otherwise get ejected back into their home.
2. Spiritual Lifeforms by Evolution: Those who have been born as a Material Lifeform or Demi-Spiritual Lifeform and managed to evolve themselves into a full Spiritual Lifeform by fusing their Material Body with their Spiritual Body, enabling them to exist in Spiritual Form without being ejected. This is usually only limited to True Demon Lords, however.

### Angels

**Angel** (天使族 *tenshi-zoku*, lit. "Celestial/Heavenly/Skyey Messenger Tribe, Deva-Tribe") is a major race among the Spiritual Lifeforms. Not much is known about them other than that they attack every few centuries in what is known as the "Great Tenma War."

### Spirits

**Spirit** (精霊 *seirei*) is a major race of Spiritual Lifeforms. They come into existence from natural energy or as offshoots of a Grand Spirit. Spirits are usually divided between Lesser Spirits and Greater Spirits, whereas Lesser Spirits are usually mindless spiritual force without any self-awareness, Greater Spirits are usually sentient.

While Lesser Spirits are casually used for Spirit magic, Greater Spirits often require a contract to be formed after which the Greater Spirit possesses the one they contracted with, and act in symbiosis with each other. A contracted Spirit can be released outside the host body to act independently but the Spirit must then expend its own energy to remain in the Material World or else be forced to return to the Dwelling of Spirits.

Not much is known about "Grand Spirits," however.

### Demons

**Demon** ( *dēmon*, lit. "Demon Race") is a major race of Spiritual Lifeforms. They spontaneously come into being within the Spirit World, where they endlessly fight each other. At times they might be summoned into the Material World, where they require a Material Body or else get ejected back into the Spirit World by the rejection force of the Material World.

Demons have innately strong magic resistance, however, they have the flaw that after gaining a physical body within the Material World, they lose most of their traits as Spiritual Lifeforms and are practically no different from Material Monsters in that regard. However Demons are considerably powerful with even the weakest Lesser Demons already being at B Rank, so this is not too much of an issue in most cases.

There are 3 ways to defeat a Demon with a physical body:

1. Destroy the Demon's Material Body, causing the Demon to be forcefully ejected into the Spirit World, which for most humans is more than enough of a success.
2. Destroy the Demon's Spiritual Body, causing the Demon to be reincarnated back into Spirit World, however, unlike the first method, the revived Demon loses a significant amount of power, making it impossible for the Demon to take revenge in the near future.
3. Shattering the Demon's Astral Body and Soul, causing the Demon to perish permanently.