Astral Mage

**Astral Mages** are humans who can wield the power of astral energy, the previously dormant power of nature deep within the Earth, after being possessed by astral spirits. Children from astral mages are born with astral powers, making them natural-born astral mages.

## History

The Heavenly Empire considered the individuals who could wield these powers to be monsters, inhuman in all sense, and branded them as "witches" and "sorcerers". They attempted to commit genocide on the mages, but eventually, this led to the rise of Nebulis, the "Grand Witch". She set the Empire aflame and created the Nebulis Sovereignty, a safe haven for Astral Mages.

Since the astral spirits began going to the surface due to running away from the Great Star Disaster, they will eventually leave their hosts and return home the planet's core once the Disaster is defeated, turning all astral mages back into ordinary human beings.

## Types

### Vortex Mages

Astral mages that were once humans, but became mages due to the exposure to the astral energy from the Vortex. Nebulis and the first astral mages belong in this category, with the most recent case being Mismis Klass.

### Purebred Mages

A term coined by the Heavenly Empire to describe the descendants of the Grand Witch Nebulis. But this is incorrect, as they're actually descendants of her twin sister, Nebulis I. Generally speaking, they have strong astral powers that make them formidable opponents.

### Human/Astral Spirit Fusion

The stage that only two people on the entire planet have reached: Nebulis and the Emperor Yunmelngen. When humans fuse with their astral spirit and a third factor, they become a new composite being, causing them to lose their human appearances. If Yunmelngen was asked whether or not he was human, the human part of him will answer yes, but the astral spirit inside will say he used to be an astral spirit.

* Emperor Yunmelngen: Astral Spirit + the planet's defensive wishes.
* Founder Nebulis: Astral Spirit + the planet's interceptive wishes.
* Subject E: Astral Spirit + the "Great Planetary Calamity".

It's also possible to fuse human and astral spirits together artificially, but it's more sinister in nature since it involves human experimentation. Kelvina's test subjects fall under this category, but only Subject E is counted because she reached complete combability.

### Artificial Mages

One can also become an astral mage through artificial astral crests, like the ones that Unit 907 got in order to infiltrate Alcatroz. However, they did not gain astral powers nor did become astral mages because they used an incomplete version of the device. A completed version would later be used by Risya and gain astral powers, but only temporarily, as she was only getting the power of the astral spirit, not the astral spirit itself. In any case, it is debatable if the user becomes an astral mage or not, since they are not hosts of astral spirits and return normal after a certain time has passed.

## Abilities

Every Astral Mage has one ability. They can either generate and control an element (such as fire, wind, or ice) or have a different form of power (teleporting or voice impression).

However, the limitations of each mage depend on how powerful their Astral Spirit is, with *purebreds* being especially strong due to their lineage. For example, Salinger's earth astral spirit - which was taken from a *purebred* - was stronger than Rin's, despite being a natural earth astral mage. However, this doesn't mean all *purebreds* have naturally strong abilities, as Elletear Lou Nebulis IX was born with a remarkably weak astral power despite being part of the royal family.

## References

1. ↑ *Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World* Light Novel: Volume 10 Chapter 3
2. ↑ *Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World* Light Novel: Volume 10 Intermission 2