Magic is an omnipresent force that many incorrectly believe to be the only of its kind. If someone is attuned to magic, they become capable of reshaping reality, with a few limitations. Magic cannot create or destroy matter or energy. It cannot be used to comprehend incomprehensible concepts, and while it can shred a soul to pieces, it cannot alter a soul's properties. Magic also cannot retrieve anything that's fallen into a black hole (or similar).

Souls

To be attuned to magic, you must have a Soul. A soul is what makes you self-aware. To have one, you must:

• Understand morality, and be capable of choosing good or evil.
• Have emotions
• Have enough intelligence to understand identity.

This not only includes every single human and monster person, but some smarter animals too. Many gorillas are known to have souls, for instance, and magically uplifted animals have them as well. Once you have a soul, it become the vessel of all of who you truly are. You can be mind-controlled, brain damaged, or worse, but in the end, you will always remain you. When you die, it is only your Soul that moves on.

Magic Users

Unawakened Magic Users

Great! So you have a soul (presumably). That means you are capable of being attuned to magic. To be attuned to magic, you need to be exposed to it. Being the child of a magic user may make you attuned to magic, or being exposed to a large amount of Raw Ambient Magic can do so as well (but that's dangerous!). You may just have natural proficiency and be attuned by random chance, or you could actively seek it and become attuned through sheer willpower. Once you are attuned, you are likely to become what is called an Unawakened Magic User.

An Unawakened has magic coursing through their veins, but no actual spells. They can hone their body to contain tremendous amounts of magic, which is helpful for Magitek, but the main purpose of being an Unawakend is to be a Huge Badass. Simply having magic in your veins increases your physical strength, speed, durability, and reflexes. It also extends to the equipment you use, so an Unawakened Swordsman could realistically cut through a tank with a balloon sword. Many globally recognized "world records" of physical feats are actually held by unawakened magic users... who may not even know they're magic! For instance, Bruce Lee would have been an Unawakened Magic User who could stop a moving car with his fist, or break every bone in a person's body with a One Inch Death Strike, but a "muggle" would have had no idea those feats were actually superhuman.

Some unawakened magic users are able to blur the line between Unawakened and Awakened, by concentrating the magic in their body to the point where it manifests physically as solid auras of energy, but this is an incredibly rare feat that only the very top tenth percentile of unawakeneds can even hope to perform.

Awakened Magic Users

Many people skip right past the "unawakened" stage and go straight to being an awakened magic user. Unawakened magic users can also awaken, but an unawakened magic user who grows reliant on their increased physical prowess may permanently destroy their ability to awaken. When you awaken as a magic user, you may be a Mage, a Monk, a Wizard, an Enchanter, or an Adept. Depending on which you are, your powers will materialize in different ways. How you awaken will make it much more likely to awaken as one specific magic type, but there is always a slim chance of exceptions. You may be a Wizard who awakens through trauma, or an Adept who awakens through the study of magic, it's just incredibly rare.

Awakaned magic users tend to be less physically powerful than Unawakeneds, because casting spells and training your body to use your innate reservoir of magic offensively are two distinctly seperate skills. Though, some magic does increase the physical attributes of the user.

Mage

Mages channel their “power” through emotion, whether it’s a specific emotion, or any strong emotion. As such their powers tend to be more “explosive,” and less restrained. Many mages need to practice to control their powers, or they may flare up at inopportune times. Mages tend to awaken through extreme emotion, or trauma. They are one of the most common awakening types.
(Note: the following examples are of singular characters, showing how their powers vary depending on what they awaken as. Not all Druids are Mages or w/e.)

• Fire Manipulation: A Mage who flares up as they get angrier, conjuring bigger fireballs and even shrouding themselves in flames. They have to remain in control or they may burn their surroundings if they get angry about something dumb.
• Druid: A Mage who can control nature. Plants and animals may even protect the Mage without the mage even needing to do anything. When the Mage gets angry, sometimes vines will start to grow wildly and overtake the area.

Monk

Monks channel their “power” through willpower and discipline. Unlike a Mage, they will, by definition, never lose control of their powers. The downside is their power is more restrained, often being less powerful or versatile. Monks tend to awaken through practice, but may also awaken out of extreme emotion, especially frustration. Strong thoughts of “if only I could do THIS,” can cause someone to suddenly become able to.

• Fire Manipulation: A Monk who controls fire as if it were an extension of their body. They produce it in steady streams or fiery bursts, and can even hold it in their hand.
• Druid: A Monk who communes with nature. Staring deep into the eyes of an animal, they see what it sees, and can give it mental commands.

Wizard

Wizards channel their “power” through their actions. While many Wizards have specific “rituals” for their spellcasting, theirs ONLY work for them and shouldn’t be confused with actual magical rituals. These actions can be many and diverse, and the fact that they need to go to such lengths to channel their power allows them to be more versatile or powerful. Almost anything can be a Wizard channeling ritual, from incantations to magic circles (the most common), to more obscure such as taking hallucinogens, throwing bones, or dancing on a DDR mat. Wizards awaken through practice, knowledge, and studying especially, but can also awaken from talent. A master DDR player may awaken as a Wizard who channels their power through playing DDR.

• Fire Manipulation: A Wizard who draws a circle of chalk on the ground, and waves their staff to direct a massive torrent of fire, but also knows a good latin word to shout to conjure a smaller fireball. Plus a few fire-related cantrips that require simple hand gestures or even thoughts.
• Druid: A Wizard who communes with nature by going on Spirit Quests. By heading off to the woods, eating mushrooms, and existing in a constant daze, they become one with nature, earning a strong connection, and being able to call upon the denizens of the wild to repel an invading force, or even able to call down rain the case of a flood.

Enchanter

 

Enchanters channel their “power” by what they create. They can be amongst the absolute most powerful magic users in the world, as every magical ritual was originally created by one. While their powers tend to be dramatic, they often require the most work to activate. Enchanters awaken almost entirely just by talent in a certain field, but sometimes they will awaken at birth alongside being a prodigy. A talented playwright may pour their grief into a play, only to awaken as an Enchanter and discover their cursed play dooms the audience and all the actors every time it’s performed.

• Fire Manipulation: An Enchanter who loves dancing. They control fire through dance moves they invent, with each dance move corresponding to a single action.
• Druid: An Enchanter who creates magical talismans from animal parts, these give the wearer a connection to that animal, allowing them to channel the power of said animal, or even assume its form (assuming the talisman is powerful enough)

Adept

Adepts are among the more rare types of Magic User. They most often awaken at birth, but sometimes through trauma. Simply put, they do not channel their abilities at all. They are always active whenever applicable, and impossible to control. Adepts are considered “cursed” magic users, as their powers may often be less than a blessing.

• Fire Manipulation: An Adept who is just constantly on fire, at all times. They have to live in a special home or burn everything they touch.
• Druid: The Adept can straight up talk to animals. While many Adepts are “cursed” with their powers, not all “always on” powers ever need to be turned off.

Magitek

Simply put, Magitek is the art of manipulating Magic without actually being an Awakened Magic User. Often expensive, rare, and reliant on tools and forces made by Magic Users, but Magitek can perform some powerful feats that not even most Magic Users can perform on their own. One of the known forms of Magitek is creating a Golem. Sometime a long time ago, an Enchanter created the original "Art of Golem Creation", a magical tome with specific instructions on not only how to make a golem, but also to replicate the tome for others. While many Arts have been lost, the "Art of Golem Creation" has many known copies across the world, some even translated from the original Hebrew text. As the Enchanter's magic exists not only in the original tome, but all replications of it, it gives anyone with the proper tools the ability to construct a golem.

Another common "Art" is the ability to summon and bind demons and spirits. Many varieties of those Arts exist.

Nexuses

Nexuses are amongst the most powerful pinnacle of magic. Often created with the help of Enchanters, and Unawakeneds alike, in massive numbers, working and channeling magic for a very long period of time, a Nexus is essentially a huge focus of magical power. Depending on the rules of the Nexus, it allows non-magic users to cast certain spells. Or the Nexus can cast spells itself.

The most common Nexus is called a Glamor Field. Often constructed in cities, both large and small, a Glamor Field allows any non-human to disguise themselves with a glamor. It is the sole reason why monsters are able to live alongside humans. Not every city has a glamor field, and in fact, very few do. Each of these cities have a sizable population of non-humans, but of course tend to draw magical crime.

There is a nexus in Fairyworld, with a massive magical core that gives every fairy across all realms their unaging bodies and ability to use glamors freely. Hell itself is contained in one massive Nexus, that allows Demons to come back to life when killed, and the Hell Nexus is powered by the karma burnt off of the souls of sinners. The Heaven's Nexus is similar, powered instead by Souls that pass on to the Realm Above Heaven, but capable of bringing Angels back to life. There is another nexus in Antarctica, keeping the City of Welshara hidden from all non-magic users, as well as keeping the weather from being inhospitably cold.