Magic

## Felix's explanation

Think as if the world is made of two different places at the same time. Like the surface of a lake. If there is a reflection, there has to be something that projects it. But everything that shows up on the lake has to have a reflection. Well, our plane, the Material Plane, is where the material body is. You can think of it as the object that faces the lake. Meanwhile, the other plane is called the Ethereal Plane, and it's where the Aura is. The Aura is the reflection of material things. The Ethereal Plane is not real in the strict sense of the word. It's more like... a reflection of the Material Plane. Everything that happens on the Material Plane influences what happens on the Etheral Plane.

Now, the thing that we call magic is basically inverting this process. Magic is changing the reflected image, so that reality is forced to follow through. The Ethereal Plane is not just influenced by physical events. Emotions, ideas, willpower, and things like those can also leave an imprint on the Ethericum — which is another name for the Ethereal Plane— and can influence it just as much as physical events do, if not even more. Basically, if you will something to happen hard enough, it will happen on the Ethereal Plane, and then by consequence it will happen on the Material Plane too.

The are barriers to this such as the Veil. It's basically a wall between the Material and Ethereal plane. In some places, the Veil is so thick that magic is all but impossible. In others, it's so thin that magic comes almost naturally. Focus instruments not only allow one to pierce the Veil more easily, but they also naturally modify the flow of the Etherium. All you have to do is channel your aura through a specific focus and you cast a spell.

Usually every species has a different talent for magic. Pretty much all humans can potentially learn some magic, but beastmen are almost completely magically inept, and  Djinni are restricted to their innate magic.

## Innate Magic

Some innate types of magic (like the deer's antlers and the goblin ability to evolve) seem to act in a peculiar way that can't be replicated (except by using their body parts as catalysts). Most dominant races in the world do have some kind of innate magic that is exclusive to them, and only humans and few others lack it... though they have developed sorcery to make up for it.

## Aura Users

Aura users use their Aura to directly enhance their bodies. Compared to sorcery, Aura Arts are much more difficult to perform but also much better suited for combat.

Simply knowing how to perform aura techniques wasn’t nearly enough to make someone an Aura User. One needed to spend years hammering each technique into their subconscious, so that they could use them effectively in the heat of battle (**Ch 112**).

### Aura Orders

Groups of Aura Users who work together doing mercenary work or acting as part of a nations defences.

Most Aura Orders do mercenary work anyway, even the ones who are associated with the Church of the Holy Light. There are exceptions of Orders that do not do mercenary work, but those are usually funded and controlled by a state (like the Medelanian Royal Knights)

#### Known Orders

* Order of the Rose
* The Royal Knights of Medelan

#### Rankings/Grades

Their ranking is known as Sheaths. Their rank is denoted by the colour of the decorated sheath of a small dagger they carry with them. **Bk 1 Ch 56**

Sheaths clarified by Author statement:

* **Black Sheath**: Most basic use of one's aura. They can use aura to augment their general physical abilities but not much more. A berserker (such as Blue) automatically falls into this category.
* **Blue Sheath**: They can use some basic techniques, focusing their aura to augment one specific characteristic at a time.
* **Green Sheath**: They can still only use mostly basic techniques, but they can focus their aura in multiple physical characteristics at the same time.
	+ most Aura Users stop either at Green or Yellow
* **Yellow Sheath**: They know at least one advanced aura technique that goes beyond just augmenting one's physical abilities (such as Flash Step and so on). White Sheath: They know multiple advanced aura techniques, though they still can only use one at a time.
	+ Yassen's handpicked and personally trained men were at this level (**Ch 104**).
* **Crimson Sheath**: The so-called Aura Masters. They not only know multiple advanced aura techniques but can also use more than one at the same time, even combining them to create unique effects.
	+ Sarah believed she was at this level if she hadn't postponed her trial (**Prologue**)
	+ The Crimson Sheath is the rank that vary the most in power and skill, because after that it becomes extremely difficult to categorize their abilities
	+ Alya is easily one of the best Aura Masters, by the way. Yasen is also an Aura Master but he's leagues below Alya, and he is considered pretty damn strong even for Crimson Sheath standards

## Sorcerers

Sorcerers channel their aura through focus instruments. Sorcerers couldn't really use magic without their tools, so a lot of them, Zeno included, kept various focus instruments hidden in their clothes in case of emergency. **Ch 39**

### Types of sorcerers

* Telemancers
* Stasimancers
	+ a stasimancer is a sorcerer that specializes in putting things in temporal stasis.
	+ They can only put very small things in stasis, and they can’t even keep them in that state for too long. Also, living things die if they are put into stasis, so they can only work on perishable items.

### Focus Instruments

Focus instruments not only allow to pierce the Veil more easily, but they also naturally modify the flow of the Etherium. All you have to do is channel your aura through a specific focus and you cast a spell!

#### Known Focus Instruments

* Flare focus
	+ a small, shiny stone, wrapped by a thin copper wire.
* Lightning focus
	+ a long straight white horn coiled in copper wire.
* Sleep Focus
	+ a voodoo-like fetish that looked like a mummified hand with six unnaturally long fingers with multiple knuckles tied together by a black string

## Alternate magic methods

Clerics, Shamans and Warlocks all use magic through a "pact" with an ethereal entity (deities, spirits and demons respectively), and in some cases they can actually draw from its power. That said, these entities usually just act as an easy focus for the caster's aura rather than providing their own power, since doing so would weaken them. Only very rarely and under dire circumstances an ethereal entity can be convinced (or forced) to give away its own power.

### Shamans/Warlocks

Shamanism is a very crude and primitive form of magic, but it can still be quite powerful. The main weakness of shamans is that they can only use their powers in a limited area. The further they get away from their home, the weaker they get. **Ch 46**

Shamans use familiars but in their case their familiars are local spirits they have bonded with (**Ch 99**).

### Divine/Cleric

Magic related to churches, gods and religion used by clerics (**Ch 105**).

## Mages Exhaustion

Caused by trying to cast a spell too powerful for their aura. In less serious cases the treatment is just to make the patient drink water with some nutrient powder mixed in it, in order to keep them hydrated and replenishing their energies.

## Taboo magic

### Mind Magic

* “Planting suggestions in people mind to make them hate one person is not exactly legal...” **Ch 23**
* When Marcus' aura grew after he left to claim Stonebarrow he couldn't silence the presence of people around him but he also picked up some of their surface thoughts, which —apart from being terribly distracting and uncomfortable— was apparently a big no-no for the local laws. **Ch 78**
* Klara referred to the idea that Vicker had Zeno cast a Suggestion Spell as partaking in serious criminal activities. **Ch 83**
* Mind-affecting magic is a delicate subject in Imperial law, for obvious reasons. Usually, any form of magic that influences people's mind without their consent is automatically considered illegal, and those who used it can face very dire consequences, ranging from prison to outright execution. That said, there are a few exceptions. Friendly species who can only communicate telepathically, for example, are usually given some sort of pass provided that they don't abuse their powers —though they are still viewed with suspicion by most people.

## Notes

1. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/738726289799905290/738726751118819448/911748138275061800
2. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/738726289799905290/738729544688861205/877211134426509343
3. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/738726289799905290/738726751118819448/1071096661931212890
4. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/738726289799905290/738726751118819448/1071098997881708644
5. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/738726289799905290/738726751118819448/1071099503400202250
6. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/738726289799905290/738726751118819448/1071099815309615105
7. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/738726289799905290/738726751118819448/1073538094881579049
8. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/738726289799905290/738726751118819448/1072519660735578222