Excerpt taken from Magic and the Modern Era, Volume Eight edition three

“Magic,” as so often thrown around in layman terms, is by no means as simple as waving a wand or chanting words. The word ‘magic’ itself is hardly descriptive of the forces of action and reaction at play. Much magic has been lost over the thousands of years of human history. For every commonly understood magic principle discovered, another five have likely been lost to human recollection.

Mana Core

While not a form of magic, understanding the Mana core is vital to any would-be mage or those looking to study the arcane field of magic for scholarly reasons. If a heart is considered the physical core of the body, then the mana core is considered its magical core, from which the lifeblood of magic, mana, is utilized.

The mana core, as a part of the body, is unique in its nature of being contained both within the physical body and partially residing within the metaphysical center of a person; whether it be the soul, or some other abstract is oft the subject of much debate. All humans are ‘born’ with a mana core, but for most, it is nothing more than a minor blemish or growth near the center of their diaphragm. For mages who look to develop their usage of the arcane arts, this mana core is strengthened over time, much like a laborer’s muscles are strengthened over long periods of usage. While a mage can use magic by drawing simply upon the mana around them, it is slow and inefficient. Often concentration intensive effort, it is further made impractical when one considers external mana is aligned to an affinity. A mage attempting to conjure forth water magic would find that doing so with fiery mana would be next to impossible.

A mana core solves the issue of mana incompatibility. By drawing mana into their core, a mage will refine the mana into a pure form, capable of being utilized for any form of magic. Over time, this process results in refining the mana core within a mage, allowing a greater volume of mana to be stored and enhancing the mana’s potency. Due to the nature of a mana core, the ability to develop is theoretically endless. Still, the refinement and advancement of a mana core requires exponentially more mana, and as such, most early on reach the end of their development without external aids to further the growth of their mana core.

Wild Magic

Of what magic is currently understood and commonly used, none is more abundant than Wild magic. Of the forms of magic, wild magic is perhaps the most storied and studied, dating back for as long as humans have recorded history. At its core, Wild magic is nothing more than the shaping of the mana throughout the world around us. While conceptually an easy-to-understand principle, the reality of wild magic is far more complex than the basic understanding would suggest. The foundation of wild magic is built upon five primal forces. Rentar, Scorz, Aulous, Frezess, and Kinzar. These five primal forces represent Earth, Fire, Water, Frigidity, and Force. To access and be able to use one of the primal forms of wild magic, one must first have an affinity for the primal form of wild magic in question. An affinity for one element does not translate into an affinity for others. As such, a person with an affinity for Scorz would be unable to use earth magic without also having an affinity for Rentar, for example.

Upon the foundation of the five primal forms of wild magic comes the more advanced form of magic, composite magic. Composite magic takes two forms of primal magic and fuses them into something new. Perhaps the most common is Scortar, the fusion of wild magic Scor and wild magic Rentar. Combined, these form the composite wild magic Scortar, the wild magic of metal. With five forms of primal magic, one would initially infer that there are twenty variations of composite magic when the truth is that instead of twenty, there are twenty-five forms of composite magic, each elemental composition having an inverse. Scortar, for example, would have the inverse composite form of Renzar. Those capable of utilizing composite magic are oft considered in a league of their own, the fusion of the primal magics forming into a synergistic result that is both more demanding in the mana required to use it, as well as the raw output of magical potency as a result.

The theory of wild magic, while a relatively well-understood field based on the documented variations of composite magic, becomes infinitely more intricate when the possibility of a third theoretical variation of wild magic is brought into the fold, deviant magic. For each form of composite magic, deviant magic would have another three layers built upon it, a variation for each of the three remaining primal magics that could be utilized in an even more advanced fusion of magical energy.

While the reports of deviant magic users are essentially superstition at best, the possibility and theoretical existence of such magic would pose an exciting slew of questions to further delve into understanding wild magics.

Kin Magic

Kin magic is perhaps of the forms of currently understood magic, the most complex, if for different reasons than wild magic. While wild magic takes many different variations and fusions, kin magic is simply a matter of genetic mutation.

Following none of the prior rules of wild magic, save for the usage of mana in activating the magical abilities of a Kin magic user, Kin magic is, as the name suggests, strongly related to genetic connections of bloodlines. It is, as of current, unknown what exactly prompts the evolution of mutation of a Kin magic. What is known is that Kin magic is mutually exclusive against wild magic. While a kin magic-user may be capable of using wild magic, all reported documents and historical recordings have shown that both forms of magic cannot be cast simultaneously. Furthermore, Kin magic is only usable by those of a specific bloodline. Because of the wide variety of potential kin magics, by all regards an infinite field, it is impossible to record Kin magic in a way that a concrete understanding of the specific magics at work may play.

While the study of Kin magic is essentially a nebulous field at best, there have been recent developments in theories regarding Kin magic and how it is developed. Theoretical Manasicists Alaric Edmonton and Valery Kosok have suggested that much like species change over time through physical adaptations to their environment passed down through their genetic pool, Kin magic is the magical adaptations to an environment. Time will tell how such theories unfold, but the ever-developing study of magic will only point to new and interesting possibilities.

Inner Magic

As for the final documented and relatively understood branch of magic within humans, Inner magic perhaps takes the mantle as the most straightforward form. Unlike Kin and Wild magic, which use mana to form active forces, a fireball thrown, or an illusion created, Inner magic resides within the realm of reactive forces. By drawing mana from one’s mana core, mana can then be disturbed through the body as a reactive dispelling force. A fireball created by Wild magic Scorz, which might typically severely burn a person, may only slightly singe them when imbued with the protective effects of Inner magic.

While Inner Magic has the most direct response and negation of other forms of magic, what has been broadly understood about Inner magic for much of its history, is that it is highly inefficient. The raw mana required to roughly equate to the potency of a magical attack is generally estimated fourfold the mana needed to create the equating offensive spell. As such, it is often considered more mana efficient to negate a magical spell with a magical spell of one’s own creation rather than using Inner magic.

As a result of these inefficient and shortcomings of Inner Magic, the study and development as a magical field have stagnated mainly; its primary usage in a modern setting is derived from the physical enhancements it can grant and, as such, is principally used as an augmenting force in fields outside of adventuring or warfare.

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As one can see, magic, and the field of magic, is an endlessly complex subject. As we delve further, we will investigate magic’s physiological and theoretical components with a more profound understanding, as well as the history of magic and magical study.

Dating back to the…

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End of excerpt taken from Magic and the Modern Era, Volume Eight edition three, Preface 1