Magic

**Magic** is the application of a will to reality. Through magic, a person has a degree of control over physical reality which comes in various forms. For magic to be done, the Essence is needed as the fuel in doing magic. A very large majority of the human population can use magic.

## Definition

As scholars test the boundary of magic, studies found that using magic requires mental capabilities and is heavily reliant on the human body. This is why human magic is considered inferior to other Phantasmal Beings such as Angels and Primordial Demons. According to Maschida Purloni,  it is the art of expressing the soul into the World. This is why emotion is a big factor in magic. Scholars of the Second Age agree that magic is a physical embodiment of the human spirit expressing itself as the power to control reality.

## Fundamental Parts

There are three fundamental parts needed in using magic:

### The Essence

The fuel of Magic. The Essence is the battery which makes magic possible. It is a cosmic energy connected to the Seed of the World. Every being has a unique brand of Essence and one's Essence can harm another being since they have different Essence. It is also used as the main material for Creation. Essence burns harder when extreme emotions takes place. It is an extremely volatile energy that causes explosions. Essence cannot be measured since there are too many factors in place but the amount of Essence one person has is determined by observation only.

### The Will

The molder of Magic. The Will is the human conscience or the expression of the human soul. It shapes the Essence to turn it into its desired outcome. It is limited by human comprehension.

### The Vessel

The container of Magic. The metaphysical location in the Soul where the Essence is stored. The Vessel is connected to your body as a part of it just as much as the organs, that is why your body capabilities are matched with the reliability and size of your Vessel.

### Manipulation

It is magic that involves shaping and controlling aspects of matter and nature. The highest level of manipulation is the ability to control unseen forces which govern the world such as gravity. The skill level of this ability depends on what will the user able to see with his will as such the most powerful manipulators can see the invicible forces which govern the universe.

Examples:

* Manipulation of Fire - The ability to manipulate and use fire.
* Manipulation of Water - The ability to manipulate and use water.
* Manipulation of Electromagnetism - The ability to use electromagnetism to control almost all phenomena.
* Manipulation of Gravity -  The ability to manipulate gravity, the force that binds everything together.

### Augmentation and Weakness

It is the magic that enhance or weaken aspects of reality. At a base level, the user can augment or weaken any material. At an intermediate level, the user can augment or weaken physical and magical capabilities of themselves or others. At a theoretical master level, the user can augment concepts and the creation of advanced augmenting techniques such as Neris Scarwind's Power Stacking which gradually augments the attack over time. Augmentation or Weakness wore over time depending on the skills of the magicians, a master magician would take months of an augmentation that is applied to a structure, a weaker magician would take less time.

Examples:

* Physical Reinforcement - The user augments one's body granting him/her physical capabilities beyond the usual level of the user.
* Structure Reinforcement - One of the applications in daily life is the frequent reinforcement of structures. A building becomes more harder to destroy and increased in quality.
* Weaken Fire - A combination of the principles of Manipulation and Weakness. The manipulated fire has the quality of Weakness and when used, the fire slowly weakens anything it touches therefore creating a "burning effect". At advanced levels, this technique could "burn" any material.

### Metamorphosis

It is the magic that transforms matter/substance into another matter/substance. At a base level, the user can transform a solid to solid, liquid to liquid, or gas to gas. The user in the intermediate level can transform from one state of matter to another. The master level of Metamorphosis allows the transformation of energy to energy or another state and physical Metamorphosis to oneself or others. One of the most advanced techniques of Metamorphosis is Shapeshifting as demonstrated by the Primordial Demon Decomposition.

Examples:

* Dust Touch - Transformation of matter into small particles of sand or dust.
* Shapeshifting - The ability to transform one's body down to the cellular level.

### Creation

It is the magic that creates or conceives something from nothing. It is considered the hardest magic to master since Creation comes from literal nothingness and it takes high skill to perform or mold something without a basis. The larger the creation, the harder it is. At the base level and intermediate level, users can create physical matter and energy. The master level of Creation theoretically allows absolute creation on a nation, continent, or even planetary scale and creation of a literal soul and body which is still a theory. Not many magicians have the ability to use Creation much less master it. Objects created by Magic are called Phantasms. Being magical in nature, phantasms are temporary and disappear over time. Low level users' creations last for a few days or months but master level user's creations can last for many years.

Examples:

* Elemental Constructs - A creation made of an element such as a fire sword or an ice spear.
* Golem Creation - One of the hardest skills since it requires a creation of a soul albeit not on a complexity of a human soul and place it on a body.
* God's Will on this World - The creation of a planetary body through various materials.

## Usage

### Principle Combination

A skilled magician can do all four principles but it takes training to be skilled at combining the four principles. It is a very advanced skill that takes years to master. An example is Weaken Fire which uses manipulation to control flames but using the principle of Weakening, the flames gain the attribute of Weakening. When the flames are used on an object, it slowly weakens.

### Visualization

The process of understanding the inherent structure or nature and the information of a particular matter or force. It is a basic skill that magicians are taught first in various curriculums of magic education. For example, using manipulation magic to hurl a rock at someone, first thing to do is to visualize the rock, seeing and understanding the structure like the weight or height. Visualization is a skill very easy to learn but hard to master. At the basic level, visualization can give insights about physical characteristics such as weight, height, or composition. The highest level of visualization can give users insights about its entire history but only very few can do this skill.

## Concepts

### Contract

The nature of Human magic is limited by the fundamental limitations of humans therefore humans have looked for other ways. A Contract is formed between a human and a higher being such as Angels or Primordial Demons for something that cannot be achieved by magic. Contracts can give humans the ability to tap into the Essence reserves of higher beings giving them more power. The price in a contract is very high. When signing a Contract, a seal which is called a Soul Bind is placed in the Soul of the person and a condition is required to fulfill. Failing to abide the condition, the Soul Bind immediately activates and destroys the person's Soul forever.

The conditions varies per request. Asking to tap on a higher being's Essence is considered the lowest wish, the condition requiring the person to abstain a particular action such as sex or experiencing extreme emotions. Asking for material riches, a cure for a curse, or other wishes requires a much steeper condition. The person is always faced by their deepest darkest fears or slowly drowning into the sea of delirium or a great sacrifice. The conditions are designed to haunt the inner psyche of the person destroying them slowly and because of this, many people do not attempt to negotiate with the higher beings.

### Resistance

It is the inherent capability of resisting magic. Every human with an Essence has resistance. Resistance is possible due to the unique nature of Essence. The Essence reacts to anything foreign or undesirable activity that is from an external source. Resistance is passive but it can be used actively where it is much more effective. Some people have more Resistance to magic than others. Studies shown that there is a genetic factor in determining the effectiveness of Resistance. There is also a genetic mutation where a person has abnormal amounts of Resistance but usually these persons are unskilled in magic, creating a correlation between the amount of Resistance and ability.