In the quiet library; Kian had his hand resting on his chin, pondering over what he had just read.
The book was straightforward and quite easy to understand.
Besides that instance with his eye; which he pushed to the side, for now, it was a great book to choose.
It taught him what the core and very essence of the mystic brand and magic was.
Glossing over these thoughts allowed Kian to truly understand just how complex and phenomenal this world was.
The book didn't give any history or background to how or why this magic existed, it just explained what it was.
It started by clarifying what magic is as a whole.
It stated that magic is the building block to life, Landon had said this previously so it wasn't too new to Kian.
Magic is present everywhere, however, it is an imperceptible force.
This magic is accessed through a series of intricate tattoos, each unique to the individual who possesses them.
These tattoos are known as Mystic Brands and are the key to operating magic.
A person can utilize magic after unlocking their mystic brand because of the brand's mysterious power.
The mystic brand circulates mana through the user. It acts as a converter; turning the unseen magic into a present thing.
It acts almost as a second heart, but instead of pumping blood, it distributes magic to every part of the body, which is then usable.
Though like a heart, the mystic brand has limits, it takes time for the brand to pump magic throughout one's system, meaning you can run out if you use more than what you have.
It then takes time for the mystic brand to convert the raw magic into functional power.
Magic itself isn't its own power, it only allows you to use the power of your brand.
This was really all there was to magic, or all the book had to say about it at least.
The rest of the book went into detail about the mark known as the mystic brand.
This power is present in every human, and there are many ways to get it.
A person could train for it, a traumatic experience could unlock it, or you could simply just wake up with it one day.
Though it goes both ways; A person could train their whole life yet never be blessed with the mark.
A person can unlock this power at any age, whether that be as a small child or an elder, but the most prominent age where it is unlocked is around sixteen to twenty years old.
When a person first receives their Mystic Brand, it appears as a simple tattoo etched into their skin.
This design could be anywhere on the body and anything, though it usually directly refers to the power which the user has.
Each Mystic Brand is associated with a different type of magical ability, it could be something simple like the ability to produce fire, or something too complex for a human to think about.
Every brand is unique in its way, two users may have the ability to use fire but they will always have something distinctly different and special to themselves.
Kian could understand this well, and he truthfully liked the system.
He believed it was truly fair.
At birth, some people may be born with godly genetics, maybe a powerful and rich family, or an underlying advantage over the average person.
Now the brand, which seemed to be a randomized experience, allowed true fairness in life.
Though someone's power may triumph over everyone else's, it was still gifted randomly.
The king may have a surprisingly weak power, while a random peasant may have the strongest.
This allowed true equality since a person couldn't use things out of their power to advance.
A rich noble may have better training and better education but all of that wouldn't matter if he never awakened his mystic brand.
Back on earth, there was a quote that stated: "The only thing humans are equal in is death"
But now that he and Luna's existence disproves that, Kian believed the mystic brand was another fair thing among humans.
Though the power gifted may not be comparable, the existence behind it is.
Finalizing this thought he turned his mind back to the information on the mystic brand.
The complex system had a way of evolving as well.
A Mystic brand had five known stages of mastery, each stage giving the user new and more powerful abilities while developing their tattoo, making it either more complex or having it signify something.
These stages show what level a mystic is at. A person can advance in a few different ways.
The most common way is simply by training until you master the power.
The brand is also known to evolve when one completes a goal they have set out on, or if one conquers a formidable task.
For instance, if a person had a goal of hunting down someone who severely wronged them in the past and succeeded in doing so, their brand may advance to the next tier.
Any goal that you strive to accomplish has a chance to do this, there isn't a set system on how to advance in a tier.
Though depending on what stage you are on it may be harder, or impossible to advance to the next.
The tiers themselves help one become stronger while progressing their abilities in different ways.
A certain way in which the tiers make one stronger is by how potent their mystic brand is at channeling magic.
You'll get more in magic and more control over it as you use it more but if you increase tiers in your mystic brand it pumps mana through you faster and more efficiently.
Which allows one to restore magic faster which could deepen their pools.
All of the tiers have a different name which tells where the mystic is ranked.
The first tier is called Novice Engraver, though people who have this tier are referred to as simply novices.
This tier is the very beginning and usually gives the user the base power that their mystic brand will be built upon.
This tier will allow the user to access magic, the Mystic brand channels magic slower and less efficiently at this stage.
The second tier is called Apprentice Aetheric, the people in this tier are referred to as apprentices.
Of course, the power and abilities will increase with the user, just as it is with the rest.
This is the tier where one's mystic brand will start to become unique oneself. Two users may start with a simple fire ability but the more you advance through the tiers the more it will evolve into the user's distinctive power.
For example, let's say a person acquires their mystic brand and a fire emblem is etched on them. This would show that the user has powers involving fire. When they first get this brand they might only be able to use simple things involving fire, maybe a fireball, or something basic.
Other people may share similar first-stage abilities, especially involving elements; which is a common power the mystic brand gives.
Once you advance the simple fire tattoo could blossom into something more complex, and so will your power.
It's like a tree, the first tier is like the trunk, two people may share certain aspects but once you climb up the tree it branches out into many different things.
It only gets more different as you move on.
The third tier is called Adept Arcanist, people in this tier are referred to as Adepts.
This tier shows you have mastered the fundamentals of your mystic brand, propelling it to new heights.
This tier will do the same as the last, though this is the tier where most people cap out at.
The fourth tier is called Master Magus, people in this tier are called Masters.
This is the tier that sets one apart from the rest, only hundreds of masters exist, and breaking into this tier proves you are an elite force. This is seen as the top of the top.
The distance between the different tiers is quite much.
Though there isn't a complete line, the gap between a novice and an apprentice is wide.
Not wide enough to where a novice can't beat an apprentice, but wide enough to where the average apprentice would beat an average novice without too much worry.
However it all depends on the person, it's possible for an adept to get beat by a novice, it all relies on how in touch one is with their power.
And the final stage, the fifth tier, is labeled the "Archon of Arcana".
This tier is so rare that no one knows if there is a human alive that has achieved this. It is said that only a handful of people have achieved this tier.
The great Magnius Silverwind was in this tier when he United the world. Not much is known about this power.
The book states that there may be more tiers, it's been discussed throughout history but no one has ever come close, or ever will to achieving this.
That was the multiplex power system this world had.
Kian got goosebumps just thinking about all the possibilities, if he and Luna could get a mystic brand then maybe they could reveal the secret of how they came here, and eventually how to get back to their world.