Great Dictionary of Magic -techniques for materializing mana-

Magic is a general name for techniques that produce various phenomena via controlling mana, and it is also called “sorcery”, “thaumaturgy”, and so on. Humans who use magic are called “magicians”, “sorcerers”, and “mages”, while monsters who use magic are called “witches”, etc., but these terms are often mixed up.

Formerly, those among humans who used magic were at times respected as sages who commanded power beyond human ken, or saints who embodied the miracles of the gods, but at other times they were also persecuted as heretics who sold their souls to demons or renegades who set foot into the forbidden domain of the gods; thus, they were treated as special beings who were different than ordinary humans much of the time, but, as of the present, the chief god's Order acknowledges the expediency of magicians, and since magic is generally well known and has been promulgated as a scholarly discipline, unlike in the past, it is generally recognized as a category of skills that can be used. On the other hand, among monsters, from past to present, it has been consistently recognized as “one of the powers that can be possessed” much like physical abilities such as brute strength.

The history of magic is ancient. It is regarded as part of the knowledge given to humans by the gods in the age of genesis. Throughout the long history of warfare between humans and monsters, magic has been extensively developed by both primarily as a means of attacking one's enemies, and it has grown increasingly complex with many specializations, but ever since we monsters obtained our current forms, our magical research has been directed towards developing culture and civilization. Among monsters, research into magic for the purpose of obtaining partners and enhancing our sex lives with our partners is also widely and enthusiastically conducted. Magic has become indispensable for us to attain greater heights of pleasure and lead more dissolute, debaucherous lives.

The word “magic” might give you the impression of something difficult, but since it is used by employing the life force that all people possess, anyone can use it so long as they have sufficient intelligence and the proper knowledge, although aptitude varies greatly. Certain races of monsters and humans born with a natural talent for magic may in some cases be able to use magic intuitively even when lacking knowledge, while it has been confirmed that even among plants and animals which lack intelligence, there are some varieties that can put up a fight against enemies by instinctively using magic.

The existence of this world hinges upon the workings of the energy that is the fundamental basis of all life, i.e., mana. It is presumed that god also created this world with a kind of magic utilizing extraordinary mana. Perhaps for that reason, the phenomena that can be produced with magic varies from little things like making a stone in front of you fly, to great feats like a god such as creating vast new lands, continents, and islands. Casting spells basically requires some means of issuing commands to mana. In general, most spells are cast by “chanting” out loud and reciting the incantation of a spell or performing a specific gesture. Additionally, large scale spells can also be cast in the form of “rituals”, which require time spent laying the ground work and preparing intermediaries and offerings in advance.

And the most important thing of all when invoking a spell is mind power.

In other words, it is necessary to intensely focus one's thoughts and mentally visualize the phenomenon that one wants to bring about. For example, when chanting a spell to conjure flames, since most people visualize red flames, the magic flames will be red too, but when a monster who lives in a mamono realm that had grown up seeing candlesticks lit with purple colored flames chants the exact same flame spell, the magic flames will turn out purple. Furthermore, if someone with no conception of what flames are were to chant it, the spell itself would not work in the first place. The form in which the flames of a spell appear also varies according to how each caster imagines them to be; they may appear as small fire balls, gigantic walls of flames, or in rare cases, in the form of a dragon for some people. Also, there's the example of the monsters called “alices (Encyclopedia I – p.106)” who conjure cute flames like something out of a picture book because they have only ever seen flames in picture books.

In this manner, the power of the mind is greatly involved with casting spells. As a matter of fact, it's theoretically possible to cast any spell even without chanting, gestures, rituals, and so forth, just by thinking about the phenomenon that one wants to bring about; however, casting a spell with only thoughts requires more concrete, accurate, and precisely detailed thinking. For instance, in the case of the flame spell given as an example earlier, it would require knowledge of the true underlying principles of flame; that is to say, it would require one to have accurate knowledge of information concerning not just the proper form of flames, but also what flames are made of, the nature of the existence of that which we call flames, how flames are produced, what happens to things that come in contact with flames, and so on, and all of it would have to be taken into consideration. Additionally, one would have to be prepared with some sort of guidelines to use to accurately compute the coordinates of the location in which to launch the flames, and moving the flames would require determining how fast and in what direction to launch them; all of this would have to be taken into consideration and the necessary amount of mana required for it would have to be computed in one's head.

Furthermore, it would also be necessary to imagine an element corresponding to a “directory”, in which all of the complex data and processes described above are non-erroneously recorded in order to send commands to the mana. Casting spells with only thoughts requires thoughts to be focused entirely on the spell without any interruptions. If other thoughts enter the caster's mind for even a brief moment, the commands won't reach the mana, and the spell will not work. When using flame magic with the objective of lighting a hearth, if one allows things that are not directly related to “lighting a hearth” to enter one's thoughts for even the slightest moment, the spell will fail simply due to that.

In other words, it is unrealistic for an ordinary person to use magic with only thoughts. For that reason, the system of “magic” currently in use has the above written complex process simplified to the point of “conjuring the flames that one imagines in front of one's eyes” through a spell incantation imbued with a summary about flames, positional data, the required mana cost, and commands. Likewise, gestures are performed when using magic for much the same reason. In some cases, one may hold one's hand out in the direction to fire off a spell, but this is also done to curtail the specification directional information. Groundwork involving offerings and rituals is also conducted to support and simplify casting even more complex spells. The usage of intermediaries, staves, etc., is also a big help when using magic. That which has the complex process of magic simplified in this manner to be worth using by humans and monsters is “archaeomancy”, which is the basis of all magic. Other than that, there are also various other systems of magic such as “nymphomancy”, which is used by succubi, “elemental magic”, which borrows the power of spirits, and so on, but these are all based on archaeomancy optimized so that magic can be used more easily and efficiently for specific intended purposes.

Furthermore, the discussion up to this point was merely a generalization, and there are also those who do not require these simplified systems of magic. Being flame spirits, “Ignis (Encyclopedia I – p. 220)” are themselves embodiments of flame, hence, they themselves are endowed with flame data to begin with, and they can easily control flame magic at will without the need for chanting or complicated thoughts just by thinking “I want to shoot flames”. “Gazers (Encyclopedia II – p.88)” have the power to hypnotize targets. It's extremely complex magic, but it is possible for them to cast it just by staring at a target with their eyeball. In these cases, individuals of such races are born with bodies and instincts equipped with the data necessary for casting spells, and the caster's very existence itself is what simplifies and optimizes the spells. Even among humans, there are those born with that sort of talent for magic who can use it intuitively without even needing to chant or think complexly, and in some cases, some even appear to cast spells unconsciously at times. It is extremely rare for a person to be able to wield a wide array of spells in that manner, but there are a fair number of people who appear to be able to use only an extremely limited number of spells that way, and they are treated as having a high aptitude for certain spells or systems of magic. Moreover, this is more than just an innate trait. Higher rank monsters well-versed in magic and experienced higher rank human mages also sometimes uniquely optimize existing spells so that they can use them more easily without chanting. Among them there are even those who use unique systems of magic that they developed by repeatedly refining and improving existing systems of magic so that they could use them more easily.

In the “great encyclopedia of magic” that follows, I will introduce various “systems of magic” along with individual “spells” belonging to those systems, but the classification of spells is quite ambiguous. Since most systems of magic are derived from archaeomancy, they can also be said to be archaeomancy at the same time, and since there are derivations of derivations, and ones that combine two or more systems of magic, there are also spells that we cannot say belong strictly to a specific system of magic.

Additionally, there are even spells with the exact same effect that are classified as belonging to different systems of magic simply because the method of casting differs. Please bear in mind that the classifications given in this book are ultimately those which are commonly well known, or those which seemed to fit that system the most based on the judgments of the Sabbaths.