📚 Auxiliary Chapter – Power System: Cores, Classes, and Ascension
In the world of Artic, power is defined by one core truth:
The stronger the mana core, the greater the potential to rise.
Every fighter—whether they wield a blade or a spell—relies on the mana core. It is the internal reservoir that channels energy, shapes power, and determines one's fate.
There are seven known core ranks, shared across knights and mages. Though their paths differ, their foundation remains the same.
🖤 1. Black Core – The Unawakened
The dormant state is present at birth.
No access to mana, no mana veins, no technique.
Most commoners remain in this stage for life.
🔷 2. Blue Core – The Awakened (Entry Rank)
Once awakened, the mana forms a functional mana veins, allowing basic control and circulation. However, this stage has three grades of purity:
Grade 3:
Impure and unstable;
Mana flow is erratic.
Grade 2:
Partially purified;
Flow is usable but inefficient.
Grade 1:
Fully purified;
Smooth circulation, ready for advancement.
This is the stage where an individual becomes a true knight or mage.
At this level
Knight can only use mana strengthening, no elemental fusion or outward projection
Mages can only use mana in its pure stage, no elemental fusion
⚪ 3. White Core – Master Rank
Mana becomes denser, richer, and more refined.
Practitioners at this level are known as Masters.
Knights:
Strengthen their body to superhuman levels.
Gain limited use of weapon aura.
May learn low-level spells or elemental techniques, but focus remains on physical mastery.
Can use elemental aura, but only with elemental techniques for a short burst
Mages:
Strengthen their brain with mana, enhancing memory, logic, and casting speed.
Unlock advanced mana control and more powerful spells.
Can use elemental spell, but only with spell circuits
May use minor body reinforcement techniques, but still rely on external casting.
⚔️ A knight walks through fire. A mage commands it from afar.
🔴 4. Red Core – Grandmaster Rank
Mana begins elemental fusion, naturally attuning to specific elements (fire, lightning, wind, etc.)
Individuals at this level are titled Grandmasters.
Knights:
Infuse their weapons and strikes with elemental aura naturally.
Can briefly enhance their body with elements (e.g., fire-powered strikes, wind-assisted speed).
Mages:
Cast powerful elemental spells often without verbal incantations.
Develop instinctive control over their attuned element.
🟡 5. Gold Core – Monarch Rank
At this point, the individual has perfected at least one element.
Mana becomes fully harmonized with their nature and fighting style.
These are the Monarchs—rulers on the battlefield and symbols of national power.
Knights:
Achieve elemental perfection with their aura weapons.
Gain limited domain-like control (e.g., a blade that burns space itself).
Mages:
Cast near-instant, devastating elemental spells.
Begin touching abstract control over weather, terrain, and large-scale effects.
🟣 6. Purple Core – Demigod Rank
One or more elements reach the level of Laws—the fundamental forces of reality.
Mana no longer just empowers—the user alters reality itself.
Known as Demigods, they are feared, revered, and sometimes worshipped.
Knights:
Manipulate time, gravity, space, or causality through aura-fueled strikes.
Become walking forces of nature.
Mages:
Rewrite laws mid-battle: silence an area, freeze time, alter cause and effect.
Cast forbidden magic with a thought.
✨ 7. The Myth of the God Core
Beyond the purple core lies only speculation: the God Core.
No records, no confirmed users.
Some say it's a fabrication. Others believe it once existed but was erased from history.
Regardless, every kingdom, cult, and emperor dreams of it.
A myth is a warning wrapped in longing.
🧠⚔️ Knights vs. Mages – What's the Real Difference?
Both knights and mages use mana, but their focus of cultivation differs:
Knights:
1. channel mana through muscles, bones, and aura, becoming living weapons.
2. Generally, learn basic spells while keeping their focus on the body
Mages:
1. Strengthen their brains, increasing mana control, casting efficiency, and element manipulation.
2. This process is more delicate than strengthening the body; as a result, few mages exist compared to knights
Some rare individuals—called Hybrids—train both paths. But splitting focus often slows progression. Most choose one road and walk it to the peak.
🛡️ Final Thoughts
Every fighter starts with the same ember.
But how you feed it—through sword, spell, or soul—decides what kind of flame you become.
"A core is just a chamber. The will inside it decides what it burns."
— Ancient Knight Proverb