Introduction!
In a modern world similar to Earth, a rich history of magic-based civilization exists. In this new reality, there isn't only the existence of living beings but also of the magical energy that governs and can alter the laws of nature: mana.
Like the existence of matter and life, the existence of mana is also a mystery which has no answer at all by the residents of the world.
Throughout the ages, magic has been intertwined with the rise and fall of civilizations.
From the first primitive incantations etched into cave walls to the grand spells woven by the greatest archmages of history, magic has shaped the course of humanity.
Wars have been fought, kingdoms toppled, and empires built on the back of arcane power, leaving behind a tapestry of triumphs and tragedies for future generations to unravel.
The mana is something that is etched too deeply in the history of the world, from the time it was birthed to the present.
The first life evolved was a monster from whom humans evolved. The relationship between monsters and humans is the same as that between animals and humans.
But in this world, due to the presence of mana, the beasts are abnormally strong and powerful, with the ability to manipulate elemental forces and whatnot, making this world one of chaos unlike our world.
Mana Heart And Talents!
The humans who evolved from the monsters can also manipulate the mana after reaching an age of maturity in a metaphysical sense and were able to fight back against the monsters, creating their foothold and now ruling the world.
Humans and monsters at birth can't manipulate the mana, but after reaching a certain age their heart matures into a mana heart, and in monsters, mana cores can turn the energy in them into mana, making them capable of using and sensing it.
The majority of people are born with talent, which is nothing but a magic channel that works as a circuit formed by the body during their development and is innate.
It can be passed on to their offspring too and is connected to the bloodline.
Mana is the fuel while talent or magic circuit that it consists, is the machine.
Mana traveling to the magic circuit (which can be considered a kind of supernatural system in our body like the cardiovascular system with vessels throughout the body) recreates the supernatural phenomenon and how that works no one knows, but the scholars and mages are doing their best to find it out.
These talents are in the majority of people, and once someone develops their mana heart, they can use the talents to perform supernatural tricks, which are called magic.
These magic talents, based on their complexities, the number of concepts they govern, and how efficient they are, are classified into grades of F, E, D, C, B, A, S, Ex, Legend, and Mythical.
The higher the talent, the greater the number of concepts, efficiency, and complexity of the circuit, being more powerful than their similar variants of lower grade.
The talent can be innate or acquired.
The acquired ones can be gained by using some treasures or herbs which have the property to alter the entire physique and gene sequence, making it possible for anyone to gain their lineage a talent or gain multiple talents.
People born with multiple talents are very rare, unlike monsters where many have multiple supernatural talents.
Spells!
Some low-grade talents, with the highest being C grade, can be assessed and replicated in the form of magic circles and whatnot, making it possible for others to perform the same feats too and be written down.
These are called spells and are popular amongst mages, the military, and other fields where all professions revolve around learning the skills.
Talented and Dulls!
In this world of mages, the non-talented, the dulls are frowned upon because of old ideologies but reforms are being done.
They are frowned upon even if they have the qualities to be a mage because of how hard it is for someone to grasp magic. Mana is a very complex form of energy and to manipulate it non-talented may have to spend their entire life to just manipulate it at a basic level.
If you want an analogy, you can consider two kids taking exams.
One is someone born into a wealthy and scholarly family, going to tuitions from an early age and is blessed with a genius mind for the very test, while the other is a person who has never read a single book and doesn't even know how to read and write, not to mention complex things of the syllabus.
If you are given a chance, who will you bet on to pass the test? The wealthy kid, right? Same it's here.
Because of this, the talented are favored more as they are able to perform magic even without guidance and are very familiar with mana, making it easier to understand the concepts of the supernatural world for them.
The higher the grade of talent one possesses, the higher the complexity of the circuit in them, making it easier for the ones with higher talent to manipulate the mana to better levels and their growth is fast because of them being able to use and understand the higher manipulation skills since the beginning, all thanks to their talents.
But with more concepts in the talent, it makes the complete mastery over it harder than the ones with lower grades, but still, when mastered, they can easily overpower the ones with lower-grade variants of their talent.
Magic has no limitation in the term as they can manipulate the very laws of the world.
The mana a person holds depends on the energy, the chemical energy in the body; in a sense, the ATP can also be considered this. Someone with the same height but with more mass, due to fat and all, will have more energy. But having more energy isn't everything; one needs to be able to use that too.
Like doing physical activities, the energy is used and fatigue is accumulated; the mana conversion and manipulation too have these effects because of which a person couldn't muster up all of their energy.
Like the rate of physical work, the supernatural work too is dependent on stamina and the capacity can be improved with physical workouts too by increasing stamina as physical stamina and mana capacity are the same in a sense.
And yes, being higher ranks doesn't make someone physically stronger.
Even at the highest, they are still at the level of a normal human physically unless they have talents related to physical strength augmentation and the like.
The mana can't be overused as the brain keeps the balance and doesn't want to waste the energy and maintain its survival.
If the mana is overused, the mana heart, which is also like the heart partially controlled by the nervous system, can't convert the energy essential for survival and maintenance of the body as it can lead to death, but with talents and spells, it might be possible to use the reserve energy but the aftereffects can be disastrous.
The talents are because of the magical circuit being shaped in the body due to the gene expressions traveling through which the mana can reproduce certain phenomena breaking the logic on which science is based.
There are no limitation about mana, from becoming the absolute divine, gaining immortality everything is possible with mana but one needs to gain proper understanding and control over it to make it possible.
Ranks!
The humans, looking at this, also developed a systematic system that grades the mages.
The lowest rank amongst the mages is that of Novice; it is a realm where one can manipulate the mana in their body for not just the talent which they were restricted to before without becoming a mage.
The second rank is Apprentice, where one has gained a basic understanding of mana, can manipulate it easily, and is able to learn spells.
The first two ranks can be easily crossed by the talented in a matter of days and filter out the non-talented ones.
The third rank is Adept, where even the top-grade talents can be stuck for years. In this stage, one transforms the normal organ into a mana organ.
The mana heart is naturally formed and can convert the body's internal energy to mana but can't control the outside energy.
Looking at this, the scholars came up with the idea of bathing the normal organs in mana and doing other things to transform their normal organs into mana organs, which act pretty similar to the mana heart but actually use the concept of changing energy from outside the body instead of inside, making one have a lot of mana.
Though this sounds like one can gain infinite mana, one can't.
The body has a limit of converting energy and so do the mana organs and heart.
They can't cross the limit and this is their stamina. When using mana like normal physical activity, it accumulates fatigue, so for using a lot of mana one needs to gain better stamina to use their powers to better potential.
Magic, like any form of power, is subject to limits and consequences. The manipulation of mana taxes both the body and mind, leading to fatigue and potential backlash if overused.
Just as physical training builds strength and endurance, so too does the practice of magic shape the body and mind.
Mages undergo rigorous training regimens to strengthen their mana circuits and improve their control over mana flow. .
Mages must tread carefully, balancing their desire for mastery with the need to preserve their own well-being.
Pushing beyond one's limits may yield temporary gains but risks long-term consequences, from physical exhaustion to irreversible damage to the mana circuit.
The fourth rank is Master, where one completely transforms major organs and almost all organs into mana organs, transforming and evolving into something magical.
Because of the complexity and the expensive resources, not even ten percent of adepts can enter this rank in their lifetime.
The fifth rank is Archmage, where one can master their talents and gain the complete understanding of the concepts it governs, creating their own domains where they are akin to being absolute.
The sixth rank is Grand Sorcerers, where one can gain basic control over a fundamental force related to their talents, the very law, and control it.
Saint, the final realm, is where one becomes someone akin to absolute with powers unimaginable, complete control over law. They are beings at the top of all.
The system of magic unlike the other concepts of cultivation which focuses on evolution and becoming immortal in the fantasy novels, is based upon the manipulation and control over the mana.
Practicing this system one can't become immortal or gain superhuman strength even at the highest level of same they would still be as fragile as normal human physically unless they have any talents or have dedicated their lives to physical strength augmentation types of talent.
The idea for this began with the human curiosity and thirst for strength with the main aim for the mages to surpass the limits of Saint gaining control over all absolute laws of the world and becoming the absolute being, the God.
But no one has reached that heights, no human, no monster and no reaver.
Monster Hierarchy!
Parallels to this system, a system for classification of monsters is also developed by humans.
The monsters are divided into feral, chief, lord, noble, king, monarch, and emperor.
The monsters have a low level of intelligence, and until nobles, all monsters are dumb. Monsters like kings are pretty intelligent, the monarch can speak human languages clearly, and the emperor might even be more intelligent than humans.
The higher-rank monsters can command the lower-rank ones because of their hierarchy in the monster kingdom.
The monster kingdom follows the rule of the strong ruling the weak.
The stronger monsters of higher grades have powers that instill fear in the lower-grade monsters, who can be tamed and used as minions by the stronger monsters.
The lower-grade monsters with strong will can defy the higher ones, but it is rarely observed.
The humans rule the world, yes they do, but they have to constantly make sacrifices to maintain this rule as even the monsters want to rule the world.
There are forbidden lands in the world infested with super-strong monsters, which humans don't enter, acknowledging them as the territories of monsters.
The stronger monsters want the world and command the weaker ones in the hierarchy to attack human cities, causing chaos, which is why humans are at war with monsters since the first humans were born, with both sides taking losses.
The monster hierarchy is a reflection of primal instincts and raw power.
From the mindless feral beasts driven by instinct to the cunning monarchs and enigmatic emperors who command them, the hierarchy dictates the pecking order of the monster kingdom.
In the same realm, the monsters are way stronger than individual humans.
Hence, multiples of the same realm are required, and because of the population and quantity of human powerhouses, which outnumber the monsters, who are better in quality in a sense, the humans have established and maintained their rule.
Reavers!
The main antagonists of the story are the Reavers, a race of human-like creatures with pointed ears and teeth coming from another dimension.
Not much is known about these creatures, but they are strong and human-like, ruled by an extremely strong being who commands the entire race and opened the path to Earth.
The master of the Reavers wants to conquer the world and, for the first time, has chosen Earth, a world slightly behind them in terms of both technology and magic, as his first target.
He commands his minions to enter the world and cause internal conflict before conquering the planet and enslaving all beings in it.
The Reavers main motivation to do this is not only to spread their fame and conquer the world but also to use the other worlds resources to support their growing populace and to become a power at a level no one could imagine.
But this is just motivation for the Reavers and not for the one who leads them..
Their magic system is also same as the humans but instead use Grade 1 to Grade 7 to reffer to the mages of reavers.