Two distinct types of spirits that people are able to contract with.
Not every mana user is able to awaken a spirit. It is said that one in ten mana users is capable of awakening a spirit which is a boon. Genes and lineage play a significant part in a person's ability to awaken a spirit. It is the reason the ten families have been able to maintain their hold over certain regions. Their lineage has been reputed to always produce a spirit which has made them indispensable in the workforce.
The first being bound spirits, a bound spirit is typically based on an idea that is available in the current reality. A bound spirit can appear as a mythical being already in creation but are ultimately born from the mage and the world they have come into contact with either willingly or unwillingly.
The second type of spirit is an unbound spirit. An unbound spirit is not tied to any specific concept at all, but is born directly from the soul of the mage that contracts the spirit. Failure to contract an unbound spirit during a ceremony results in death and dissipation of the soul. An unbound spirit comes into creation when a mage is born and rests in its soul until there is an awakening ceremony the spirit usually represents the entirety of the mage and personifies their personality perfectly. An unbound spirit is typically growth based with different spirits growing differently.
Ranking Of Spirits- Grade 1 is Servant. Grade 2 is Knight. Grade 3 is Baron. Grade 4 is Count. Grade 5 is Marquis. Grade 6 is Duke. Grade 7 is Archduke. Grade 8 is Prince. Grade 9 is King. Grade 10 is Emperor. Grade 11 is God. Grade 12 is forbidden.
The ranking of spirits each corresponds with a color that appears on the testing device when awakened. The colors follow the ranking as follows white(Servant)(100), green(Knight)(200), blue(Baron)(400) , purple(Count)(800) ,pink(Marquis)(1600), orange(Duke)(3200), red(Archduke)(6,400), Blue and pink swirling around each other( Prince)(12,800) , Gold (King)(25,600) , Red and blue (Emperor)(51,200). Gold and green(God)(102,400). Black (Forbidden)(204,800). The numbers indicate the amount of mana put into numeric values that each spirit is said to represent.
The final grade of Spirits is the Forbidden Rank. It is said that one in every billion awakened spirits is of the forbidden rank.
The degree to which a mana user is able to absorb mana as well as the rate is the direct correlation to the grade of spirit they awaken. The increase is as noted above in the coloration section.