Artifacts

Basically, Artifacts are magical items. There's one for every main element (fire, water, earth, air, light, and dark) and if you have an affinity for those main elements, wielding an artifact of that element can increase your power drastically. Each Artifact holds a host, which will offer a contract with the user. (we'll talk about this later, tho)

## Artifacts

* Exustio, the Artifact of Fire

This Artifact will always be warm, regardless of the climate it's placed in. The host's name is Deflagrare, and his contracts will sacrifice the warmth of the user. The Artifact takes the form of a staff.

* Lympha, the Artifact of Water

This Artifact freezes over any body of water it comes across, and on occasion, it has been known to freeze lava. The host's name is Ros, and her contracts will sacrifice the user's blood. The Artifact takes the form of a trident.

* Glaeba, the Artifact of Earth

This Artifact brings life wherever it goes, reviving dead plants, animals (but not humans) and making soil flourish with nutrients. The host's name is Lutus, and his contracts will sacrifice the user's flesh. The Artifact takes the form of a spear.

* Ventum, the Artifact of Wind

This Artifact generally appears during natural disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes. The host's name is Aiur, and her contracts will sacrifice the health of the user's lungs. The Artifact takes the form of a dagger.

* Lumen, the Artifact of Light

Ironically, this Artifact only appears in dark places. The host's name is Lucidia, and her contracts will sacrifice the mental health of the user. The Artifact takes the form of a lance.

* Atricolore, the Artifact of Dark

Just like how Lumen appears in dark places, Atricolore will only appear in bright places. The host's name is Timeo, and his contracts will sacrifice the length of the user's life. The artifact takes the form of a scythe.

Each host has to grant the user a wish after the signing of a contract, which is the main reason why Artifacts are searched for so much. However, the wish has limits. For example, the hosts cannot grant people the power of a True or Full affinity, but they can increase the magic power of the user as well as their physical power. Of course, the user cannot wish for more wishes in any roundabout way, and they cannot wish for more Artifacts to come into existence. Wishes can be saved for a later time. A user can only have one contract because the host will only offer to make a contract with the user if the user has the same affinity.

Upon signing a contract with a host, the user gains all sorts of knowledge about their affinity. This generally results in the user gaining the equivalent of a True affinity, but more restraints than a True mage would. For example, a True mage would be able to come up with new spells infinitely, but an Artifact wielder has a limit to how many spells they can come up with because their memory is less capacious than a True mage's memory. Users who have signed a contract with the host can summon the host to fight for them. Of course, this comes at a cost, and this is where the sacrifices come in.

Users will need to complete a ritual to summon their host. This ritual is quick and easy. The user will first obtain the item of sacrifice needed (the wielders of Exustio, Ventum, Lumen, and Atricolore can ignore this part) and then they'll chant an incantation. For reference, this incantation is "Obsecro te, (host name), da mihi fortitudinem tuam."

Hosts have special spells (two each, offensive and defensive/buff/debuff) that cannot be cast by humans, simply because the power needed would kill several hundred people along with the casters. Hosts cannot destroy Artifacts, and to kill another host would mean that the deceased host would just be reborn and the Artifact would be transported to a new place.

## Spells

* Conflagration (Exustio, offense)

Deflagrare will set an entire area on fire. This area is about 160 kilometers in diameter, and the flames are about a couple million degrees Celsius. After the initial burst, the flames will then seek out any form of life within those 160 kilometers and exterminate it. (or at least, relentlessly attack it until they are called back or the target is destroyed)

* Flame Armor (Exustio, defense)

The user is enveloped in flames that resemble armor. This will burn up anything that comes near or touches the armor. Of course, it can be countered by other hosts' spells.

* Winter's Hand (Lympha, offense)

Ros will summon a hurricane or tsunami. It'll be five times as powerful as normal ones, and everything that comes into contact with the water will start to freeze. After the hurricane/tsunami is over, everything that was frozen will shatter completely. The water doesn't have a boiling point, so trying to evaporate it will just result in scalding water.

* Nevermelting Ice (Lympha, buff)

All the water that Ros creates will become Nevermelting Ice when frozen. Nevermelting Ice cannot be melted by any means, and it's impossible to break it. The ice will disappear when Ros lets down her guard, disappears, gets rid of it, or dies. It's cold enough to cause frostbite with a single touch.

* Nature's Wrath (Glaeba, offense)

Lutus will cause the ground to break apart, creating chasms that are several miles wide. From these chasms, vines will appear, and they'll attack anything near them and drag them into the chasm. These vines are extremely thic(c)k, and they're fire-resistant.

* Life's Blessing (Glaeba, buff)

The user will receive the ability to heal their wounds at an astonishing rate. Only 75% of the flesh sacrificed for the ritual will be healed, and wounds that would normally kill people would also be healed.

* Wind Blade (Ventum, offense)

Aiur will summon all the wind currents in the area and send them toward a target of the user's choice. These currents will move at speeds faster than normal, and a single current can send an entire city flying.

* Wind Guard (Ventum, defense)

The user will be protected by armor made of wind, which will shred anything that touches it.

* Holy Light (Lumen, offense)

Lucidia will summon a pillar of light. The diameter of this pillar can be 15-25 kilometers, and it will disintegrate anything that it hits so long as the "anything" isn't a defense spell (it *will* do damage to the defense, it just won't annihilate it) or something that can't be disintegrated.

* Sun's Grace (Lumen, buff)

The user will be granted a (thirty-minute) increase in natural ability. In addition, the user will also be able to blind their enemies.

* Darkness Reign (Atricolore, offense)

Timeo will send a wave of darkness crashing through the land, killing all the wave hits. This wave will go for a kilometer or two, but the user can command Timeo to make multiple of them at once. If Chaos Core is active, then everything killed by the wave(s) will become undead and will fight for the user.

* Chaos Core (Atricolore, debuff & buff)

Chaos Core takes the form of a black sphere. Every ten seconds, it releases a shockwave. People in range of this shockwave (or within 5 kilometers) will experience dizziness and nausea every time a shockwave hits. The Chaos Core lasts for ten minutes, and every time the user casts dark magic during this time, the user gains a boost in physical, magical, and mental ability. In addition, it also saps away at the magic power & physical strength of the things affected by the shockwave.

## Extra Notes

Out of all the artifacts, the hardest to find is Atricolore. This Artifact will actively hide from its seekers, only presenting itself to those with corrupt hearts that don't know of Atricolore's existence. Lumen tends to attach itself to newborns that it believes will grow up with a pure heart, only showing itself when the person it's attached to has a crisis. Ventum soars far away when sought after but occasionally seeks solace in the sun. Glaeba has the equivalent of a sassy attitude, only showing itself when the user proves themself to be worthy. Lympha hates the majority of humans and will do anything to get away from them, but every few centuries, she finds herself caring for a human child. Exustio introduces himself to people who do daring deeds, such as jumping off a cliff. Because of this, Exustio creates the highest mortality rate. Currently, only Ventum has been found.