Magic

"Magic" is an integral part of the "Arifureta" series. It is also the main source of powers. While only one form of magic have been showcased in the "Main Series" and "Zero" series, during the "After Story" series, various concepts of magic have been revealed throughout the nine worlds that exist in the story. According to Hajime Nagumo, each world's form of magic has a common base element affiliated with it, but has been altered by each of their World Trees in order to suit their own unique needs for sustaining themselves.

"Tortus" Magic
It is unknown how magic in Tortus existed in the beginning, but the current form of magic is derived from the magical technology and the "Ancient Magics", which originated in a different world, and was brought to Tortus by people who had escaped the destruction of the said world. It is believed that the present form of magic is a degraded version of the original "Ancient Magic", which could control over the fundamental elements that govern the laws of a world.

Elements, Levels & Aptitude
Like with magic in general, it is divided into various basic elements as follows; "Light", "Dark", "Earth", "Wind", "Fire", "Water", "Ice", "Thunder".

Many type of magic spells fall under one of these Element categories, like both "Barrier" and "Healing" magic spells fall under the "Light Element".

Each spell is graded a Level depending on their base power, strength and usage difficulty. The grades of spells are as follows; "Beginner Level", "Intermediate Level" and "Advanced Level".

Aptitude with magic or spells can differ between people either because they were born with it, or because they belonged to a particular race. Aptitude with magic can also help someone to either easily learn a spell, or focus more power more easily into a spell.

In general, 'Humans' as a race have average aptitude towards Magic and Spells, while 'Demons' have a high aptitude towards it. It is said that the 'Vampire' race had the highest Aptitude towards magic and spells, while the 'Demi-Humans/Beastmen' had almost no aptitude towards magic. 'Dragonmen', being a race which is more close to a monster, have high aptitude towards magic and spells.

Mechanics
In order to be able to use this form of magic, a person must first possess Mana in their body, and then channel their Mana to a magic circle (which has the spell inscribed within it) with the help of an incantation, and then cast the spell. There is no limit as to what type or kind of spells a person can use.

An 'Incantation' is a chant which helps channel the Mana of a person, and the length of an incantation is directly proportional to how much Mana one could pour into a magic circle, so the effectiveness of a spell was directly proportional to the amount of Mana used to cast it.

As for the magic circle, the more complicated a spell is or the larger its area of effect, the more inscriptions need to be added to the magic circle, making it quite large in many cases. So, even a basic simple spell like "Fireball" might need an intricate magic circle which could span over 10cm in diameter, since the magic circle have to contain the inscriptions for the element, strength, range, span, Mana required and maintain duration. magic circles are generally of two different types. The most common method is to inscribed it onto a special kind of disposable paper, which while it allows for many different variations of Spell usage, has the limit of one-time only. The other method is to carve the inscription for the magic circle on various kind of specific minerals, which while bulky and limited in Spells they can cast, are reusable and are far more powerful in general.

Appraisal magic, is generally far more complex than offensive magic, and therefore requires suitably large magic circles to activate.

However, all the requirements of casting a spell can be ignored (or at the very least reduce the length of the magic circle and incantation) depending on the Skills of magical affinities that a person possess. Magical affinity allows a person to apply various effects depending on their affinity to the spell without it losing either power or strength. If a person possess an elemental affinity, for example, they can ignore the need to add the inscription of the element into the magic circle, thus shortening its size. Instead they have to imagine the form of the element while chanting the spell, and are able to add the element into the spell in that way. Possessing magical affinity to an element also increases the base strength and power of a Spell, depending on the additional Skills or Derivative Skills a person might possess. Some affinities might also increase the efficiency of usage, decreasing the Mana consumption and can also affect the cast time of a spell. As most people who possess Mana have some form of magical affinity, so in general people can cast a spell with a magic circle of less than 10cm in diameter.

Though for a person with no magical affinity whatsoever, even a basic simple spell like "Fireball" would need a magic circle of over two meters in diameter, because of the additional inscriptions needed to make up for the lack of Magical Affinity which include the trajectory, spread, and even the conclusion, thus making the spell practically useless.

But skills like "Mana Manipulation" or "Image Composition" can remove the requirement of needing an incantation or magic circle completely; as "Mana Manipulation" allows a person to directly manipulate their own Mana thus removing the need for the incantation, while "Image Composition" allows the user to create an imaginary Magic Circle in their mind, in place of a physical one, thus removing the need for either a spell paper or magical equipment. Even so, without the right magical affinity, a person with these skills would still need a large circle to invoke spells.

Each spell contains a "core" that dictates how it activates and the effect it attempts to enact on the world. It is also what links the spell and the magic circle for the circle to continue directing the spell after it is invoked.

"Star Spirit World" Magic
The magic of this world was in the form of energy know as "Spirit Element". It was a natural form of energy that could be used to reinforce the body, as well as for healing.

Mechanics
The spirit element that formed the basis of this world's magic resided in all living beings and the technique to manipulate it was called "Spirit Art". Its primary use by this world's inhabitants, however, was used as a source of power for their technology known as "Spirit Instruments".

While all races could produce some semblance of Spirit Element inside their bodies, it was minuscule compared to what was produced by nature. Spirit Element was also a source of life for the spirits of this world. They were born from either a natural object or natural phenomenon, and were considered to be a higher tier than most other races. Spirit Element is a finite resource, and consuming it at a rate faster than is being produced could have detrimental effects for both the spirits and nature.

"Desert World" Magic
The existence of magic is mostly related to nature and the energy that inhabits living things called "Blessing Power". The technique that allows the humans of this world to manipulate the power of nature and blessing power is called Blessing Arts.

Mechanics
This world relies on the power of life energy generated by nature called Blessing Power which is present in all nature and living beings such as animals and humans. The only exception to this is the "Dark Beings", who exist as a parasitic species which feeds upon Blessing Power. Blessing Power aids in development of this world’s plants, so if an area is overflowing in Blessing Power, its flora would grow and develop at a very fast rate. Conversely, if an area was lacking in Blessing Power, the growth of flora would slow down and if the Blessing Power was completely removed from an area, it would turn into a deserted wasteland.

With the life energy of the planet flowing through nature, the inhabitants there possess a degree of nature worship. Though they worship the nature goddess called Foltina, who is thought of as the mother of all nature and a living manifestation of the Blessing Power that inhabits nature and of the flora that dwells in the world.

Blessing Power can be harnessed by humans to be used as a way of aiding them in either development or combat. This method of allowing humans to harness Blessing Power is called Blessing Art. Blessing Arts allow humans to invoke various natural phenomena by offering their prayers to nature and Foltina.

According to Kouki Amanogawa, while the energy properties of the Blessing Power that is invoked by Blessing Arts is different from the magic that is utilised on Tortus, the operation procedures for Blessing Art and Tortus Magic is similar.

Blessing Arts can be used to invoke various natural phenomena, such as elemental forces like fire, water, earth, wind, and sunlight, but it can also be used in various other ways such as body strengthening or healing.

Blessing Arts can be invoked by any human, however, the talent of an individual would determine if they would be skilled enough to invoke Blessing Arts in combat. Similar to Tortus Magic, an individual can have a greater affinity for invoking a certain elemental force.

While normal Blessing Arts can be invoked by any human, there exists a special Blessing Art called Heaven's Blessing Art which is an exclusive power of the royalty of Synclea Kingdom. Each royal person has one unique Heaven's Blessing Art which is extremely powerful. However as a consequence of it's power, Heaven's Blessing Art is very taxing for the user to invoke, draining stamina at a great rate when continuously invoked, which can lead to it's user getting weak and suffering aftereffects that will be permanent, in some cases causing death if the user continuously uses Heaven's Blessing Art while already reaching their limit.

"Sky Dragon World" Magic
The existence of magic is minimal in this world. It primarily dwells in the dragons that inhabit it, and in a special blue ore known as "Sky Core". A special race of dragons, called Monarch Dragons, are especially proficient in using certain magical abilities.

Mechanics
This world maintains a balance of positive and negative energy. The dragons and sky core take in negative energy, then turn that energy into positive energy that they release back. After the released energy accomplishes its objective, it would turn back into negative energy, then that energy would be taken in by dragons and sky core once more. If either substance is severely depleted, the world would be overrun by negative energy that can cause a huge impact on the planet in the form of rain that would kill anything it touches.

Sky Core posses unique trait where it can be changed into various kinetic energy, stimulate the growth of crops, and neutralize gravity. Unfortunately, the process to extract it is very difficult and it requires a sufficient amount in order for it to be of use. It is later discovered that the cores of a dragon could accomplish that same feat at a fraction of the size of sky core.

Another feature is that the circulation efficiency between the positive and negative energy is exactly a hundred percent, so none of it is lost in this cycle and can be maintained for an indefinite period of time.

"Hell" Magic
The people of the world that would later be known asa Hell were capable of incredible magic feats. After having their bodies destroyed and becoming ethereal being, they were still capable of performing various superrnaatual feats (such as possessing another living being), but had also lost certain abilities for that same reason. Thousands of years later, their descendants on Earth were capable of utilizing this form of magic (but to a lesser extent due to their bloodline having been thinned throughout the generations).

Mechanics
Though the exact mechanics of this world's magic is unclear, it appears that those in possession of it gather power from within one's own body and channel it through on object known as a "Sacred Vessel".

The original inhabitants of that world created a phenomenon known as the "Wind of Lamentation" that transformed them into phantoms in order to survive they destruction of their world, but by doing so, had caused it to become almost in hospitable for regular humans for a long period of time.

"Earth" Magic
Initially, Earth was thought to not be in possession of any form of magic. This, however, changed after the restoration of their World Tree Branch. One such example of Earth's magic is The Way of Yin and Yang'.

Mechanics
In terms of Onmyōdō, one would need a type of medium (such as a talisman) in order to activate their abilities. In addition, each person of this art were in possession of a unique type of ability known as a "Onmyou Jutsu".