Ego

An **ego** is a form of innate magic resulting from prolonged bodily contact with radioconstitutive energy. ego is generated by its user, and because of its complicated nature, the way ego manifests between every user is entirely unique.

Ego is unique to the population living on Vista, as the planet itself is a massive and constant source of radioconstitution. While the background radioconstitution was well beyond normal tolerable limits, only areas such as the planet core or the Vistan Libraries had a radioconstitution level so high that a prolonged stay would induce the development of an ego. A long but safe amount of exposure to radioconstitution is required for an ego to develop, as too little would not induce an ego’s development, and too high a concentration would simply cause immediate health problems (or outright kill whoever was exposed.)

No previous forms of radioconstitution were sufficient to develop an ego other than in the small minority of the Vistan population, thanks to rigorous safety action, as well as the uncommon nature of radioconstitution even on Vista itself.

## Definition

Ego is defined as an innate ability for a user to induce an effect in the real world through sheer willpower alone. The ego represents the emotions and personality of its user, and manifests itself in some way relating to these qualities.

While traditional magic focuses on the transformation of energy into effect through a medium such as a wand core or a magic core, the ego is controlled by will, and uses the user’s body as its medium. It is able to work as the user’s body is morphed into a radioconductive medium due to radioconstitutive exposure, which causes it to act much like a wand core. Keine is never able to develop an ego, as she is invulnerable, and so is immune to the molecularly unstable process of becoming radioconstituted in order to develop an ego.

As ego is a result of the willpower of its user, high mental strength and deep personal understanding of one's own psyche is required to use one’s ego efficiently. Calligraph was able to manipulate his ego to a very skilled extent due to rigorous training and his own level of personal understanding. Standing Eight did not know that he even possessed an ego, and whenever he used it, it would manifest explosively and for a very short amount of time, often exhausting him in the process.

## Users

As ego is created from a living organism’s exposure to radioconstitution, there is no limit on how or what kind of organism can develop an ego. However, as the ego is directly linked to psyche and emotion, organisms incapable of experiencing emotion or personality, such as plants, cannot command an ego, even if they possess one. However, non-human organisms such as dogs, apes, and the Shircal can discover an ego and control one.

Egos are an intimate and deeply personal phenomenon, and require its user to have a deep understanding of their own self. Not all Vistans are capable of using an ego, though they do all have the same potential to develop one, provided they are exposed to a high enough concentration of radioconstitution for a long enough time.

### Acquisition

Users of an ego can either possess one from birth, or develop one later on in life. The amount of people possessing an ego from birth are very rare, as it would require that their parents be in constant and close contact with a great radioconstitutive source. More often than not, egos are developed from secondary sources later on in life.

The trigger to first activate one’s ego occurs when its user goes through emotionally traumatic or rigorous experiences in accordance to the emotion that reflects the user’s personality. From that point onwards, the user of the ego experience the effect on reality that their ego has when they experience that emotion, experiencing a stronger effect the greater their emotion is.

Egos derive their energy directly from their users in order to manifest an effect. In most cases, the first explosive burst of energy from first activating one’s ego is so powerful and so sudden, the drain of energy can kill their user unless they are particularly strong. With time and training, users of ego can learn to control their emotions, and become more efficient at manipulating their egos to create more potent effects with less energy spent.

### Ability

Egos are as varied as the users that control them. While a wand or staff is limited to however complex their cores are, the body of the user is made of trillions of moving parts and quadrillions of cells, making them mediums of infinite complexity. While thaumaturgy can *potentially* be infinite, it would take an unreal amount of time and preparation to create an affect as complex as an ego. With this being said, users cannot switch bodies, and so cannot switch powers. egos, once awakened, remain as they are and can never manifest effects that are different, though they can vary in power and direction.

Egos also vary in range, from quite close range to effecting a long distance. In principle, an ego’s distance restricts what it can affect, and the distance in which it can effectively perform.

* **Touch**: The ego can only affect objects that the user is touching, such as Cinder.
* **Close Range**: The ego can only affect reality at a very short distance, such as Aegis.
* **Medium Range**: The ego can affect reality at a moderate distance, such as Blitz.
* **Long Range**: The ego can affect reality at huge distances, such as Concord.
* **Area of Effect**: The ego can affect reality in more than one place, such as Euphony.
* **Range Independent**: The ego can affect reality at any distance, such as Advent.