《Secrets of Transcendence》 Secrets of Transcendence It is my staunch belief that all ancient texts, whether they consist of inspiring truths or blasphemous lies, must be preserved, if only for the reason that there is hardly any commodity more rare, and that all that is rare is equally precious. I have taken it upon myself, for it seems no one else is willing, to compile what is left of a work titled ¡®Secrets of Transcendence¡¯ but known widely to most scholars as the sacrilege script. Here I have, impartially and to the best of my ability, collected pieces of this work or its reproductions, restored artifacts inscribed with it, and translated foreign accounts of it. *** ¡­reside in Heaven and are fated to be worshiped as divine, although there is no difference in essence between ascended and mortals. The same fated truth: most will never understand this. The divine king of Row continues to take mortal concubines, they ascend to Heaven through little merit of their own and are now no different than when they were considered mortal. *** It is not all gods, but only the true gods that merit worship, as unlike the former they do not need it. True gods in fact don¡¯t always care to ascend, this does not make them lesser than those who have. It is never said explicitly that the realm of god is in the Heavens, neither in the scriptures of... ¡­they possess something far greater than ascension, and so does everything else in the world, in minute quantities. All true gods were born mortal. Should one look carefully, the birthplaces of true gods and traces of their mortal years can be found on earth. Should one ever ascend, one would find that within the Heavens there are no such traces, simply because none born ascended has ever reached godhood. Perhaps being born great precludes one from becoming greater, as¡­ *** ¡­myths are indeed the traces of ancient events. And many myths pertain to the creation of the world, that it was built from the corpse of a great beast or in the dream of god. Transcendence is creating reality¡­ ¡­some myths show precisely this: mortals killing gods. Being a god does not mean being good at fighting, or indeed even surviving, and religious texts don¡¯t claim otherwise: the¡­ *** Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The average demon does more for the Overworld than the average divinity. At least, every demon plays some part in protecting the Overworld from the primal chaos outside, by absorbing it into themselves. The Hells are not any divine punishment, and even saints can become demons after death, entirely by their own will. They could instead wait patiently until they naturally reach the Heavens, but some fall so deeply into the obsession of carrying out God''s will that they try to do so as soon as possible, even if it means becoming¡­ ¡­but this is a more difficult and less trodden path to the Heavens. The easiest way to ascend is to inspire great devotion to many souls: once they die they can be used to protect oneself from the chaos outside, reaching¡­ ¡­promise an eternity in Heaven, where they wield your soul as divine power, until it crumbles to dust. ¡­many are willing to sacrifice, as the benefits are concrete and numerous: They ascend for prestige. They ascend because they are not capable of, or too lazy to gather resources on earth ¡ª which contains the same amount, only the Heavens are smaller. Indeed, Heavenly treasure is no greater than earthly bounty, only it is more concentrated. They ascend for true resurrection. I wonder which of them were ghosts, or even demons, before ascending. If you think only immortals can ascend you are being deceived, if you think those who ascend become immortal you are ignorant. Those who die in the Heavens are reborn on earth ¡ª it is no wonder they never descend, to where they have no second life. Many choose the Hells over the Heavens, as while the benefits of descending are less concrete, they are perhaps greater. Anyone can wield demonic mana ¡ª this does not make one a true demon ¡ª but one must brave the depths of the Hells to obtain it. The abyss, full of demonic mana, promises to fulfill every desire. This is no deception: demonic mana is the closest to chaos, and through chaos everything is possible. *** ¡­to truly defeat it, one must in fact indulge its desires. Once satisfied, the demon will no longer have the will to crawl out of the river of Hell, and will instead flow peacefully into the cycle of reincarnation. Destroying a demon¡¯s body might only fuel its obsession, resulting in a new, more terrible body once¡­ *** Fate is both the path and the destination: the path can change or even be traveled in reverse, but the destination is always the same. Fate is absolute, in that what is fated occurs without fail. Fate is not absolute, in that the realization of fate does not depend on anything, and so could manifest as anything. Fate can be wielded, but only by those fated to wield it. Fate can be scried, but be warned: fate reveals only what helps realize itself. *** Devils ??? ? ????? ? ? ? ??, some are alive and others not, they can even be ??? ? ????? ? ? ? ? ? ????? ? ?. They appear to offer contracts with the contractor''s soul as collateral, but ???? ? ?? ?? ? ????? ??? ? ?? ????? ? ?? ???? ? ?? ?????????? ? ? ?? ?????? ? ??? ??? ?????????. ?????? ? ?? ?? ??? ???? ??? ? ?????. ??? ??? ?? ???? ?? ? ? ? ??? ? ?? ? ???? ? ? ? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?? ? ?????? ? ? ??? ? ????? ?? ? ??? ??? ?? ? ? ??? ? ? ????? ?? ????????. Devils wield numerous insidious methods: they''ve become proficient at using the souls of others as their own, and at enslaving others through their soul. Indeed, the stronger the being, the more helpless they are with the source of their mana shackled. Despite ??? ? ?? ????? ?? ?, devils hate nothing more than demons, their unpredictable and chaotic nature perhaps the only thing truly beyond anyone¡¯s control or enslavement. I expect very few instances of ????? ??? ??? ???? ? ??? ?? ????, ??? ??? ?? ????? would truly hate themselves. They may appear both demonic and divine in nature, due to ?? ???? ? ? ? ??? ? ? ?? ??? ? ????? ? ?? ? ? ? ???? ? ?? ?????? ???? ????, the first devil ???? ???? ? ? ?? ??? ?? ???. This makes them all the more profane, the aura they exhibit named ¡®devil foulness¡¯. The structure of fantasy If you¡¯re here for ¡®Secrets of transcendence¡¯, skip to that chapter. If you want to fully understand the secrets of transcendence, don¡¯t. If you have unanswered questions or curiosities about fantasy settings, this is for you. If you¡¯re looking to create your own fantasy setting, this is especially for you: with the methods I propose, the fantasy setting writes itself. By following three concrete steps, I found it extremely straightforward and nearly effortless (though time consuming) to create my own well-structured and self-consistent fantasy setting.

The structure of fantasy

By the time I¡¯ve said ¡®fantasy setting¡¯ you¡¯re probably already visualizing a picture in your head with generalizations of fantasy media. Now ask yourself more precisely, what exactly are you visualizing? How is it structured, what makes it fantasy, and does it even make sense? In this first of three steps, I examine the elements of fantasy that I find most interesting and might want to involve in the creation of my own setting, independent of plot or lore.

Hierarchy of abilities

Besides the definition of the genre, the most consistent aspect that frames fantasy settings is the hierarchy of abilities. There is always a distinction between the common, mundane mortal (e.g. muggles) and those that have ascended above them. There is always a line separating the mundane and the fantastical, and those that wield the later I label as ascended. There is often an additional layer of fantastical ability that is fundamentally different, that I call transcendent. Transcendent beings or abilities are different in that they define the reality of the setting more than they are defined by it. For example: Transcendence regards creating reality directly, while other abilities (even fantastical ones) follow a process that is already considered ¡®natural¡¯ in the setting. In a setting with magic for example, it¡¯s usually implied that casting spells relies on underlying natural laws akin to laws of physics, whereas the infinity stones can just control reality without any real causal process.

Defining soul

Most commonly, beings are implied to be some combination of mind, body and soul. The mind and body are intuitively understood, but despite the ubiquity of souls in fantasy settings, it is rarely precisely defined. A soul is arcane, mysterious, and used to explain just about anything, particularly abilities. It sometimes seems to represent sentience or will, but is almost always distinctly different from the mind: The characteristics of soul that seem to be most consistent across fantasy settings are twofold:
  1. The soul can contain information (memories, personality, etc.)
  2. The soul is a source of being¡¯s fantastical abilities or properties
Following the second point, the soul can be considered the ¡°fantastical source¡± itself, but is more easily thought of as a door to it: Finally, from a meta perspective, maybe the soul is just a tool the author uses to point to each being. After all, if a character can lose their mind or even turn into a ghost and lose their body, it may not always be possible to reference the being without the concept of a soul. I¡¯ve never heard of a fantasy being with the defining characteristic of not having a soul, if a character¡¯s soul is destroyed it always means the character is too. This is not always the case for the mind or body, so the soul can be seen as a way to keep track of beings in a fantasy setting.

Structure of reality

Outside of the reality of the setting, by definition there is unreality. We don¡¯t really talk about where reality ends unless other realities are involved (e.g. in a crossover episode, or when breaking the 4th wall). Because this is fantasy, there are necessarily some fantastical things unexplainable by reason, and so it is useful to name a ¡°fantastical source¡± as a conceptual component of the setting. When there is no reasonable explanation for something, I attribute it to this fantastical source. The material world where most things occur I¡¯ll call the overworld. It might be as vast as a universe or as small as a continent on a flat earth, but it is recognizable (at least superficially) as a material world; with familiar physical properties like gravity, and reasonable features like land, sea, and sky. In general, the vast majority of information about the overworld can be assumed to follow ¡®common sense¡¯. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. A story might not need more than an overworld, but it often features at least one conceptually distinct space that serves some (usually supporting) purpose. This could be part of the material world of the setting (like a demon continent) but still conceptually different from the overworld in some way. It often serves as a space where others different from the common mortal reside: immortals, elemental spirits, demons, gods, the dead etc. Most commonly, there is a different existential plane for each type of extraordinary existence featured in the story: a heaven, an underworld or hell (18 of them in Chinese mythology), an elemental plane for each element, etc.

Magic

Everything called magic in any fantasy setting can be viewed as communication. Chanting, enchanting, and rituals can all be seen as forms of communication, the question is who or what are we communicating with. Rituals are usually seen for communicating with great beings like demons or gods, who then perform some action in response. Magic spells or chants are sometimes described as a way to communicate with spirits, natural forces or even concepts. Enchanted items feature text or symbols that serve the same purpose as chants or rituals, except the communication is engraved permanently. As for why natural forces or concepts would respond in any way to communication, that¡¯s an entirely different and rarely answered question. Even sympathetic magic, the idea that one can influence something based on its relationship or resemblance to another thing, can be considered communication. By communicating that two objects are one in the same, a sympathetic mage might deceive themselves, the objects in question, or perhaps reality itself, into believing that they really are the same. If communication is the common denominator in what is called magic in fantasy settings, then abilities considered different from magic are those that don¡¯t rely on language in any way, like superhuman strength or fire breathing.

Fate

Fate and prophecy are very common themes in fantasy settings. From a meta perspective, fate is just the creator¡¯s intentions for the story, or in other words the plot and lore. Every story has a plot, but not every setting explicitly features fate. Explicitly featuring it can be very advantageous: it allows foreshadowing and building anticipation, but perhaps more importantly it¡¯s an easy way to overtly guide the plot. The plot feels forced and unnatural with too many ¡®deus ex machina¡¯ style coincidences? Just say it¡¯s fate! Not the author¡¯s laziness or lack of attention to detail.

Common beings

Elementals / spirits Animism is the belief that animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork--and in some cases words--are each imbued with a soul. This is a common part of fantasy settings, most often in the form of elemental spirits: the elements (fire, water¡­) are imbued with souls, but we also see artificial objects like swords possessing spirits. It is often the case that these types of beings cannot truly die (or perhaps aren¡¯t truly alive): they can simply be re-summoned once destroyed. Immortals, angels, gods and other divinities They are considered above the common mortal in ability, either born as such or born lesser and later ascend. Though the reason is not always explained, they often seem to gain some kind of benefit from having worshipers. To the extent that they collect the souls of dead worshipers in some form of heaven. Curiously, they don¡¯t like to act directly in the overworld, another point that¡¯s rarely explained. The dead This one is confusing: Demons They¡¯re violent, evil, sinful, often irrational¡­ and are associated with hell. They stereotypically consume other beings, especially their souls. As they can often be resummoned when destroyed, it is unclear if they are even truly alive. Devils In fantasy settings ¡®Devil¡¯ and ¡®Demon¡¯ are often used interchangeably with no consistent fundamental difference, but ''devil¡¯ certainly comes with a different connotation. They¡¯re depicted more as cunning swindlers than violent butchers. They manipulate and tempt others into selling their soul, which they presumably have a use for, perhaps as a food source like demons. Outer beings The trope of ¡®outer gods¡¯ is common enough to include here. These are generally terrifying and malicious existences outside of the overworld or even reality itself that seek to infiltrate and corrupt it, though the reason is not always explained. Mortal races Humans, elves and dwarves are some of the most common races found in fantasy settings, each with their own stereotypes that we have come to expect. For the most part, these mortal races follow our intuition on how humans or animals work¡­ except those chimeric humans with animal ears and tails. It doesn¡¯t make sense how they could have come to exist in the first place, unless created by a mad god as they don¡¯t make sense biologically either. If you couldn¡¯t tell, I hate that the abominations are so common in fantasy settings. Template

Setting template

In the first step, ¡®The structure of fantasy¡¯, I analysed some of the common fantasy elements I am drawn to and might like to involve in my own setting. In this second step, I create a template that follows from the results of said analysis, and prompts me to design my own setting in a well-structured and self-consistent manner. Specifying the ability hierarchy Details of souls Designing the structure of reality If there are other, conceptually different spaces: Natural laws that govern fantastical but not transcendent abilities Depending on the story these can be as detailed or as vague as necessary, and don¡¯t even need to be entirely self consistent as one can involve the ¡®fantastical source¡¯ to explain contradictions. You can think about (or even study) IRL scientific principles and make fantastical versions of them (e.g. mana follows fluid dynamics, and fluid dynamics cause all sorts of effects); and you can also simply create the rest of the setting first, and then retroactively design suitable laws to support them. Options for retrofitting natural processes: Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Designing a magic system (if needed) How can communication use the laws defined above to produce magic? Involving fate (if needed) If fate is explicitly featured in the story: Anything else relevant to the story (e.g. uncommon beings, special concepts included in the setting) Details of common beings and where they lie on the ability hierarchy (e.g. humans, elemental spirits¡­) Questions that may be relevant, depending on the setting Final step Next is the third and final step: answering the questions from the setting template. I decided to complete this with a substantial level of detail and precision, making it quite long and boring. It is mostly for myself, to serve as the foundation for ¡®Secrets of Transcendence¡¯ (and hopefully many other things), but if you want an example, inspiration, or are just curious about a specific topic, feel free to skip to the corresponding chapter. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Hierarchy of ability

Specifying the ability hierarchy

I see the role of the ability hierarchy as primarily social: the ascended represent a class of beings that are given higher regard and prestige than the common mortal. In that vein I will define ascended based primarily on social consensus: if one is widely considered to have the qualifications to ascend the heavens, or is equal in prestige to those in heaven, then they are called ascended. As such there is no fundamental difference between mortal and ascended, only that most agree on the degree of ability being qualitatively different. Even the greatest mortal archmage only represents a great attainment in a prestigious profession, but an ascended mage is fully regarded as a divine being, this is fated. One can ascend to the heavens simply by being brought there by those with the ability to do so, or via mechanisms described later in the structure of reality. Transcendence is creating the reality of the setting. Truly transcendent beings are those with the ability to create their own reality with laws at (least partially) of their design. They have the ability to change aspects of their reality at will. Reality (especially time and space) is required for one to exist in the first place, and so one can only leave reality by creating more of it, something only true transcendents might accomplish. However, one need not create their own reality to wield some degree of transcendent ability. Transcendent abilities can also ¡®create¡¯ one¡¯s current reality in the same way time travel creates history. These abilities aren¡¯t bound by causality and supersede all other abilities, limited only by their user: regardless of the specific transcendent ability, if the user can exert it to the extreme they can truly accomplish anything. According to details described later (soul, structure of reality): the fantastical source defines the setting, and everything in the setting is connected to it, hence everything possesses some perhaps negligible but non-zero aspects of transcendence. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. In the same way that a false premise can imply anything, the ability to perfectly create one aspect of reality implies the creation of all of reality: Let¡¯s say my transcendent ability is to make X occur. Taken to the extreme, it means I can create a reality where X definitely occurs, even if I can¡¯t control anything else. Therefore, transcendence is limited by its user, as it might not be easy to find a situation where X occurs if and only if Y occurs. Furthermore, if the ability is not perfect (i.e. doesn¡¯t create a perfect reality), we might end up with a flawed or paradoxical state of reality where X occurs but Y doesn¡¯t. Note that transcendence has nothing to do with combat, a transcendent might easily be killed by a mortal stabbing them, even in their own reality. If the transcendent is imperfect and limited to concepts irrelevant to such a situation, they can suffer mundane deaths just like any mortal, possibly collapsing the reality they¡¯ve created. Soul

Details of souls

I will fully embrace animism and say that absolutely everything has a soul; every ray of light, every skin cell, and every concept has soul. Since the soul can be seen as a door to the fantastical source, this kind of animism makes the world truly and fundamentally fantastical. As is the case in many fantasy settings, I will point to mana as the means of producing fantastical effects, and so all mana originates from the fantastical source, brought into the world via the soul. More precisely, I define soul as a path from a material body (and/or mind) to a specific aspect of the fantastical source: a pebble¡¯s soul is a path that leads to the concept of that pebble, and a human¡¯s soul leads to the concept of the individual in question. This makes each soul unique, the mana they produce serving as a signature. The affinity of a beings soul then, refers to the ¡®place¡¯ within the fantastical source that their soul leads to (the soul¡¯s source), and how ¡®close¡¯ that source is to other concepts (other souls sources). If a mortal¡¯s soul has an earth affinity for example, it means the concept of that mortal is in some way similar to the concept of earth or earth-like things: a mountain, dirt, or even a specific boulder. It may be more pertinent to speak of ¡®soul¡¯ as a substance rather than ¡®a soul¡¯ as a unit, as soul is indistinct: There is no strict separation between where the souls of the cells that make up a human end and the soul of the human starts. The same can be said about the human in question and the rest of the world, as the concept of the world includes said human. In my eyes, a character is a mind -- if we remove body and soul we still have a character, but without a mind we just have a prop. That being said, a mind needs ¡®hardware¡¯ to think with, (i.e. a brain) and so requires some kind of body, though not necessarily a tangible one. The mind and body of a character are naturally a part of its concept, and so affect (if only slightly) their soul¡¯s source. Additionally, information from both ends of the path that is the soul is imprinted on it: one end of the soul is connected to a material body (and mind) and so it mostly contains information about the mind and body, while the other side (the source) contains information about the concept of the character. Finally, information can be stored on the soul due to a character¡¯s will: strong obsessions will leave clear imprints, and information can be artificially inscribed through fantastical methods. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. To use mana, the mind and body must control the soul to some extent, namely how and where it spews mana: the mind and body leave imprints on the soul, and these imprints then influence it to produce abilities. From this perspective, the soul can be thought of as an organ that delivers and applies mana. A greater soul is a greater source of mana, the size of a soul is simply the amount of mana it can deliver. To what degree and precision one is able to influence their soul is another question entirely. Living beings will naturally evolve to use mana for survival, to enhance various biological functions. Via intuition, the mind of a being can grasp information about the soul. Near the source, the soul is imprinted with information about the concept of the being, and since there is no distinct boundary between the concept of said being and any other concept, information about anything can theoretically be there. In practice, living beings will evolve to focus on information related to danger, or in other words life naturally possesses danger intuition. A true name is a transcendent form of communication that perfectly and completely expresses a concept. With it, one can find the exact ¡®place¡¯ within the fantastical source that a soul leads to, and so potentially tamper with or even completely block the mana that flows through that soul into the world. Anything else relevant to the story: Aura system Aura is an extension of soul intuition: A being has an aura if through the soul, others feel a strong intuition about the nature of the being. This intuition can be so strong as to dominate the mind: one is compelled to worship before angelic glory and freeze in fear when faced with draconic might. The fabric of reality

Designing the structure of reality

The fantastical source The fantastical source is a realm of all concepts, each soul leading to a different place in it. Although fundamentally the fantastical source is, well, fantastical and so unexplainable by reason, it might appear to mortals in a way they can comprehend: a collection of elemental planes, the source of mana of each element. If one traverses the soul of a pond, they end up in a specific place in the water elemental plane. These are not material dimensions, the fantastical source is something that truly cannot be explained. Though characters might perceive it in certain ways, I impose no structure or self-consistency, anything goes. Dimensions The setting has 19 material dimensions. In order of ¡®highest¡¯ to ¡®lowest¡¯ they are: The 9th heaven, 8th heaven¡­ 1st heaven, overworld, 1st hell, 2nd hell¡­ 9th hell. Samsara In this animism-based setting everything has a soul. Something is alive if and only if its soul is capable of growing, becoming a greater source of mana over time. Hence, a soul can be either: A dead or inert soul can be artificially modified, damaged, or even combined together with other souls, but it can never grow in and of itself. In the overworld, dead souls are naturally drawn towards things that have a symbolic connection with the hells (e.g. a sinkhole). Once enough souls accumulate at such a location, a real connection is formed to the 1st hell. Once in the hells, souls continue their journey covered in a substance I¡¯ll name Phleg (after the Pyriphlegethon in Greek mythology) that pulls any non-inert soul along its current. They reach the next hell in the same manner as the first. Once past the 9th hell, the souls form a bridge at the edge of reality to the 9th heaven. Here, they split, disperse and decompose, and anything that leaves reality ceases to exist by definition. The partially decomposed souls reincarnate as life in the 9th heaven, at this point they are once again truly alive. Instead of dying again, the souls that die in the 9th heaven immediately move to the edge of reality where they once again form a bridge where they further decompose, this time to the 8th heaven. This repeats until reincarnation in the overworld. The dead do not exist in the heavens, thus any dead soul that reaches the heavens regains its capacity to grow -- true resurrection. In the overworld, souls with strong obsessions imprinted on them may become undead. Within the hells, such souls may form a body of Phleg and leave the flow -- the birth of demons. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Soul shield Between the 9th hell and the 9th heaven, between the heavens themselves, and between the overworld and the 1st heaven is a flow of souls at the edge of reality. This forms a shield against anything foreign to reality, and the souls that form it are worn down as a result. Just like a material body, they decompose, mix, and form the souls of new living beings. On average, the total amount of soul growth in the setting should match the amount lost in the shield. Dimension configuration The overworld is a universe much like our own, except we¡¯re pretty sure the real universe has a euclidean geometry, not a spherical one like the setting. The heavens and hells however have significantly altered physics: The result is a huge flat world, where space loops back on itself in all directions (spherical geometry). Each dimension has the same amount of resources, but they are more concentrated in time in space the higher the dimension. Purpose of the structure of reality This setting provides reasons for mythical beings to function in ways we might expect: Many incentives to ascend are also built in: Demons have reasons to act, well, demonic: Principles of mana

Natural laws that govern fantastical but not transcendent abilities: Principles of mana

Law of mana instability Mana is fundamentally unstable and naturally converts itself (at a constant rate) into action coherent with the concept it originates from. Conjuring matter, applying force, or inducing hallucinations are all examples of action. Law of mana interaction Mana interacts only with other mana, probabilistically (may not interact) and in a manner coherent with the concepts they originate from. Law of dispersion and density Mana disperses at a speed inversely proportional to its density. At the very edge of a mass of mana, where the density tends to 0, it disperses into the surrounding space at the speed of causality. In other words, minute amounts of mana spread everywhere immediately, while the dense center of a clump spreads out slowly. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Law of inert action equivalence (or mana conservation) Mana itself is soulless, but the actions it produces have souls. If an action is inert (has an inert soul), and remains intact then over the course of its entire existence it will produce exactly as much mana as what was used to produce the action in the first place. Corollary: inert action impermanence The soul of an inert action that exists indefinitely will produce mana indefinitely, and so by the law of inert action equivalence, said action requires an infinite amount of mana to produce. As such any inert action produced by a finite amount of mana exists for a finite amount of time. Only life has the possibility of being conjured indefinitely with a finite amount of mana. Mana abilities It is the soul that wields mana, controlled indirectly by the mind and body that leave imprints on it. The soul controls where and how densely to output mana, and is able to convert its mana into action. Fantastical abilities can arise directly or indirectly: Magic

Designing a magic system

As outlined in my analysis of fantasy settings, magic boils down to communication. According to the structure of reality and natural laws I¡¯ve designed, all kinds of magic are possible: sympathetic magic, animism-based spirit magic, beseeching great beings etc¡­ . I will focus on redesigning just one common magic system: ¡®circle¡¯ magic; where magic is formed of ¡®circles¡¯, the more of them the greater the magic. I see references to circle magic all the time, and the lack of precise explanations on how it works has always bothered me. The mind and body leave imprints on the soul, and these imprints then influence it to produce abilities. How can one wield language to imprint something on their soul? We know it¡¯s possible without communication, so let¡¯s assume the user is already capable of this through some method (e.g. instinct, biology, meditation¡­). For a generic circle mage, we¡¯ll assume they can conjure a spark by meditating for long periods. The next step is to associate conjuring a spark with a word, gesture or some other form of communication, by repeating it while meditating for example. Once this association is learnt, the circle mage can conjure a spark simply by chanting the word rather than meditating for hours: they have learnt the spell ¡®spark¡¯, a 0 circle magic. This shortcut isn¡¯t perfect: they have associated a word with conjuring a spark in front of them, but what if they want the spark a bit to the left? Or a bit hotter? Indeed a single word can¡¯t communicate everything about the desired action, so some use of the non-language based ability (meditation in this case) is still required, though in much lesser quantity as language communicates most of the spell. The spark is underwhelming, and the circle mage only has so much mana to fuel it. Instead of directly converting their mana into the desired action, they conjure an intermediary (a circle) that wields mana in the environment around them. For this example, let¡¯s say the circle mage conjures an intermediary called ¡®circle A¡¯. Once conjured, circle A naturally has its own soul that leads to the concept of circle A, and so releases mana with properties coherent with the concept of circle A. The goal here is to design circle A such that its mana interacts with the surrounding mana in a useful manner (law of mana interaction). Continuing with the spark example, we might want circle A¡¯s mana to attract and concentrate fire mana in the surroundings. According to the law of mana instability, fire mana is constantly being converted into fire. In nature this might not occur in noticeable quantities, and all kinds of other mana in the environment can interact with it destructively and even produce opposing action. However, circle A ensures an unnatural quantity of fire mana in one spot, and so an obvious fire is conjured. Once the circle mage associates this entire process with a word, they have learnt the 1st circle magic ¡®fireball¡¯. In addition to the issues of 0 circle magic, this ¡®fireball¡¯ presents another huge difficulty: wtf is circle A?? What can we possibly conjure whose concept is coherent with ¡®attracting and concentrating fire¡¯? Well, this is a fantasy setting so there can certainly be some material with such properties, but the mage might never see it or even know of its existence. In this case, the mage must conjure something that (to them at least) doesn¡¯t exist, and so perhaps surprisingly circle magic might require creativity. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Circle magic doesn¡¯t really have anything to do with circles, as when a mage conjures something that doesn¡¯t exist, there¡¯s no reason for it to resemble a circle or even have any shape at all. The ¡®circle¡¯ of a magic is simply the number of intermediary conjurations used to produce the final effect. The caster¡¯s mana conjures something that guides mana to conjure something greater, which itself guides more mana for yet another conjuration etc¡­ As you can imagine, higher circle magic gets exponentially more difficult but has the potential to harness more and more mana in the surroundings. If conjuring something that doesn¡¯t exist sounds difficult, imagine conjuring something that conjures things that don¡¯t exist¡­ Just 2nd circle magic is so far removed from reality that it¡¯s borderline impossible for the common mortal to achieve. A big part of being a circle mage is designing spells. Instead of associating the first circle magic ¡®fireball¡¯ with a single word, it¡¯s much more practical to split it into multiple smaller instances of communication with the soul: conjure that which attracts things of attribute fire. The mage first learns to conjure something with no particular purpose, then something that attracts things, and finally something that attracts only fire. By learning a bunch of individual pieces, the mage can suitably combine them to perform a variety of spells: conjure that which attracts things of attribute fire/water/air¡­ Fate

Involving fate

Fate is an integral part of my setting, symbolised by a transcendent goddess of fate born at the beginning of time. Wielding her hair that symbolises ¡®strands¡¯ of fate, she ensures that the random assortment of chemicals in the early universe are ¡®fated¡¯ to organize themselves into self repeating patterns, which are ¡®fated¡¯ to evolve into all life in the setting. Fate explains much of the setting and lore, indeed these are not random but inspired by the real world and other works of fiction. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Fate can be scried, but be warned: fate reveals only what helps realize itself. Fate can be wielded, but only by those fated to wield it. Fate is absolute, in that what is fated occurs without fail. Fate is not absolute, in that the realization of fate does not depend on anything, and so could manifest as anything. Fate is both the path and the destination: the path can change or even be traveled in reverse, but the destination is always the same. Beings

Details of common beings and where they lie on the ability hierarchy

This could go on forever, so I¡¯ll just outline a few categories of beings. Spirits When an inert soul gains a mind, it is called a spirit. A puddle becomes a water elemental spirit if it somehow gains a mind, the same is true for a sword spirit or any other object, concept or phenomena with an inert soul. Given their diversity, they share no common aura, but rather present an aura of the thing they represent. Divinities: residents of the heavens, with an aura of ¡®divine glory¡¯. Heavenly Gods: those with the ability to wield heavenly souls. True gods: Those that have grasped transcendence to such a degree as to be capable of creating their own reality. Outer gods Of the beings outside reality, only the most intrusive and overbearing have rejected the defenses of reality, these are the outer gods. Fiends Some things from outside of reality manage to leak inside, and fiends are such instances that exhibit living characteristics. They¡¯re usually born when something from ¡®outside¡¯ integrates itself into a living being. They are by definition transcendent, this is most clear in that they only superficially imitate a real being, beneath their shell is unreality. This unreality is perceived by mortals as an aura of ¡®fiend terror¡¯, as mortals fear nothing more than the unknown. They end up either fully integrating reality or as demon food. Demons Souls in the rivers of Phleg with an obsessive desire to leave it do so by shaping a new body out of Phleg. The nature and appearance of this body reflects the imprints left on the soul, likely dominated by a single obsessive desire. A demon thirsting for revenge, might retain some of its facial features from life but will have a body that, to it, represents violence and is quite adept at it. A body of Phleg grants it certain innate abilities: it can eat non-inert souls (of things alive or that have lived) incorporating them to its own. Most importantly demons are capable of eating intrusions from outside reality, and such a profound act possesses a great soul that provides demonic mana, potent and chaotic. The lower the hell, the more of such intrusions into reality exist, and so demons instinctively descend to where they can strengthen themselves with demonic mana. This instinct is referred to as the call of the abyss. Innately chaotic and unpredictable despite their obsessive desires, their aura is called ¡®demonic fervor¡¯. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Devils Devils ??? ? ????? ? ? ? ??, some are alive and others not, they can even be ??? ? ????? ? ? ? ? ? ????? ? ?. They appear to offer contracts with the contractor''s soul as collateral, but ???? ? ?? ?? ? ????? ??? ? ?? ????? ? ?? ???? ? ?? ?????????? ? ? ?? ?????? ? ??? ??? ?????????. ?????? ? ?? ?? ??? ???? ??? ? ?????. ??? ??? ?? ???? ?? ? ? ? ??? ? ?? ? ???? ? ? ? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?? ? ?????? ? ? ??? ? ????? ?? ? ??? ??? ?? ? ? ??? ? ? ????? ?? ????????. Devils wield numerous insidious methods: they''ve become proficient at using the souls of others as their own, and at enslaving others through their soul. Indeed, the stronger the being, the more helpless they are with the source of their mana shackled. Despite ??? ? ?? ????? ?? ?, devils hate nothing more than demons, their unpredictable and chaotic nature perhaps the only thing truly beyond anyone¡¯s control or enslavement. I expect very few instances of ????? ??? ??? ???? ? ??? ?? ????, ??? ??? ?? ????? would truly hate themselves. They appear both demonic and divine in nature, due to ?? ???? ? ? ? ??? ? ? ?? ??? ? ????? ? ?? ? ? ? ???? ? ?? ?????? ???? ????, the first devil ???? ???? ? ? ?? ??? ?? ???. This makes them all the more profane, their aura named ¡®devil foulness¡¯. Unliving Within the concept of every living being, there is the concept of life -- within the soul of every living being, there is a soul of their life. As such any living biological process has a source of life mana that they naturally evolve to use as life support and enhancement for their living aspects, this mana is a part of their entire supply of mana provided by their overall soul. The unliving steal this life mana from others and use it for themselves, in effect ¡®living¡¯ someone else¡¯s life and pushing someone closer to death in their place. But life is the growth of the soul, and so living someone else¡¯s life cannot grow one¡¯s own soul. To grow their own soul, the unliving must live their own life and so bring themselves closer to death, but they can live indefinitely as long as they never grow. They possess an aura of ¡®unliving vigor¡¯ as they wield life. Truedead: Truedead lack living instincts and emotions, as they have accepted their death with no great emotional obsession. Their voyage in the cycle of reincarnation has been artificially delayed. Having lost their natural living body, their soul is artificially tethered to something(s), and is exposed. As such, the Truedead with the greater soul will completely (and perhaps not deliberately) dominate all lesser Truedead in their presence, as their exposed soul allows them to easily interfere with other exposed souls. As such, their aura is called ¡®dead authority¡¯. Undead: The undead are would-be demons that never made it to the rivers of Phleg, and so don''t have a body made of it. Like Truedead, they are dominated by larger souls, but unlike Truedead they may rebel regardless, due to their obsession. They¡¯ve an aura of fervor and/or authority. Biological species A species is said to be an ascended race if every individual is either born ascended (e.g. born in the heavens) or naturally reaches ascended level ability during their lifetime, just by virtue of living (e.g. Dragons). All other species (humans, elves, dwarves¡­) are said to be mortal races. If they develop an aura, it is usually called ¡®spirit¡¯ (e.g. martial spirit, imperial spirit¡­) Demonic life Any life that wields demonic mana, becoming susceptible to the call of the abyss, is called demonic. Within the hells, they far outnumber true demons. As with spirits, they are too diverse to share any common aura.