general setting ideas so far

in the year 2033, a great change overtook the world, magic returned with a vengeance and monsters of all shapes and sizes from across legends and time ran rampant. At the same time however people found themselves reached out to by ancient spirits claiming to be legendary figures from both local and world history, without much of a choice many people formed contracts with these spirits and so the Spiritualists were born! Over time it also became clear that many schools of magic and martial arts abilities and powers had also become real and with these new wave of spiritualists, magic users, and martial artists the monsters were driven back to their dens and in turn dungeons and many other places that had formed from the sudden resurgence of magic were discovered.

Years later, many of the most powerful spirits have managed to materialize and formed guilds with the people they formed contracts with at the forefront, together they hunt monsters and clear the vast myriad of dungeons over and over to acquire materials, relics, and resources that allow the world to evolve and thrive and also bring in vast amounts of money and power to whoever monopolizes them. Martial arts are cultivated, allowing people to become demigods even without spirits, magic is mastered and practiced enabling people to do the same. Spiritualists however still remain at the forefront of society, due to the power they gain from the spirits they form contracts with and many strive to gain the attention of legendary spirits in order to gain massive unyielding power.

However, not all is well in this world, legendary spirits of the world and nation-class generally tend to monopolize any good warriors with actual potential and have massive guilds of fighters incredibly loyal to them while many local-class spirits are left to the wayside with barely anyone forming contracts with them. This is important because as spirits give their contractees power, the spirits gain power from them as they grow stronger, in turn eventually gaining the strength to physically materialize and live as physical beings once more. As such, it's difficult for many spirits to gain a large following and what doesn't help matters is that many of the larger guilds employ dirty tactics to gain new followers.