Chapter 0 - A brief intro to the power system.

This will serve as a mini-explanation of how the power system works in the Arnos continent. I will provide a proper explanation in the future, but for now, this will give you a baseline idea of how things work. The "why" will also be explained thoroughly later.

First of all, there are 3 ways to become stronger in the Arnos continent:

1. Through Ascension - Ascension is a process that anyone can undergo if they have access to a temple. The reason for having a temple will be revealed in the future when John goes through his ascension. So, how does ascension work? Every soul in the Arnos continent possesses a unique property, and ascension is the act of bringing out this property.

Now, there are 3 types of ascendants you will encounter in the novel:

a. Elementals - These people have ascended and gained access to some kind of element, such as fire or water, or a plethora of other things. In their final stage, they can very rarely turn themselves into the element itself.

b. Beasters - These people have ascended with the property of transforming their bodies into that of a beast, like a lion, wolf, tiger, etc.

c. Uniques - These people have abstract ascensions, and their properties can be either totally useless or incredibly useful, depending entirely on the individual.

Now, how does one become an ascendant? If you have access to a temple, you can have a priest there grant you access to the trial altar for a nominal price. In the trial, you will generally face whatever property your ascension will have. For example, if you are a beaster, you will face a giant version of said beast; if you are an elemental, then you will face the manifestation of the element, and if you are a unique, well, your situation is unique, so there is no set format for their trials.

Depending on how difficult the trial is, you become stronger proportionally, and the greater the number of your stages for ascension. The stages are not power-ups strictly speaking; they are new abilities. Each time you go up a stage of ascension, you have to face yourself in the trial, and if you succeed, you gain a new ability along with a slight strength boost to accommodate the new ability.

There is a lot more to talk about ascensions, but that is all the good I will say about it. Now onto the bad.

During the process of ascension, if you fail the trial, your body is taken over by the beast you battled, and in severe situations, your body is destroyed and taken over by the beast itself. If you do succeed in ascension, the entire magical path is blocked for you forever. There is a lot of reasoning behind this that will be explained in the future.

2. The Mage Path - The path of a mage in the continent of Arnos is more of a study of science, the supernatural, and mana. Strictly speaking, it is a field of math. As such, anyone who has a certain amount of mana and can process the calculations fast enough can use magic. There is also the necessity that you be able to control mana in a way to use those calculations to form the magic circle, which is like a math equation, resulting in magic when solved. Now, mages of the continent figured out a way to store more mana in their bodies by creating chains around their brains with mana. This also helps them process information faster. You could still be a mage without chains and use all the magic you can handle, but the chains make the whole process a whole lot easier on the brain of the magician.

Just as ascendants are unable to use magic, the reverse applies to being a mage. They cannot go through the process of ascension.

3. Spirit Aura - The last way the citizens of the Arnos continent discovered to get stronger is through the use of spirit aura, simply known as aura. It is the physical manifestation of one's spirit or conviction, a power that comes straight from the soul, similar to ascension, but without any properties. Everyone can have different colored auras, but that does not mean they have unique properties; it's just a color, nothing more, nothing less. There is no progression for aura, it simply grows stronger proportional to conviction and the more you use it.

There are three methods of using aura:

a. As armor - You can cover your body with aura to shield yourself from incoming attacks.

b. As a weapon - You can cover your weapons with aura to make the attacks stronger. Any attack done using aura takes longer to heal and is also the only way to damage an elemental ascendant who has reached the final stage.

c. Physical enhancement - You can temporarily use aura to enhance your senses and physical abilities to great degrees. For example, eyesight or hearing.