Nina Farion, Longing For Love || Mushoku Tensei

Magic (魔術, Majutsu) refers to the manipulation of mana stored in the body to generate supernatural effects known as Magic Spells.

Magic requires an energy source in order to produce its effect in the corporeal world.

Mana (魔力, Maryoku, lit. "Magical Power") is the natural energy source for employing and invocation of magic.

All living beings existing in the Six-Faced World innately have mana in their body. Souls normally dissipate into mana after death and can get reincorporated into the environment. The only known exception to this is people from outside the Six-Faced World that have been summoned. Summoned people are incapable of holding mana inside their body, thus incapable of using magic.

Mana or magical power reserve of a person is generally believed to be inherited and the amount one has is determined at birth. Due to the existence of individuals with the Laplace Factor (such as Rudeus and Sylphy) having enormous amounts of aggregate mana that increased since their birth, they were considered to be the only exception. This is later proved to be incorrect and not linked to the Laplace Factor. All people are capable of increasing their aggregate mana amount by stimulating their mana from a young age (seen in Julie). The ability to learn silent spell-casting is also linked to practicing the skill at a young age. Long before the Great Human-Demon War, the world was engulfed in an unceasing spiral of battle and chaos. During that time, in order to fight their enemies the High Elves race entreated with the spirits of the forests to control natural inorganic elements like the wind and the earth. In this manner, the first magic spells were born. Modern form of magic took its form from humans imitating the spells used by the High Elves in battle and reworking them to convenience. Magic was mostly used only in battle and fending off obstacles. As a result, a large portion of the spells that came to exist are combat spells. Mechanism

Conventional Spell-casting

Magic Spells

Magic Spells (詠唱, Eishō, alt. "Incantations") , in this method, one recites a set of words to perform magic. Magic Spells acts as an activation trigger for magic, where uttering the words would create the effect without having to focus on the Mana coursing through one's body. As such, magic spells are much less flexible than silent spell-casting due to a restricted amount of control one has while tuning the magic.

Magic Spells are the common method for using magic as it is relatively easy to use. A magician typically uses magic spells from when they were a beginner all the way to when they became a master.

The Central Continent (中央大陸 Chūō Tairiku) is one of the five continents in the world. It is the largest continent by size and is neighbored by the Begaritt Continent to the south-west, Divine Continent to the north-east, and the Millis Continent to the south-east with the Ringus Sea along its eastern coast.

The Central Continent was previously part of a larger landmass known as the Great Continent which the Demon Continent was also part of. This giant continent, however, was split into the present-day Central and Demon Continents by the end of the Second Great Human-Demon War due to a Mana Calamity triggered by the dying Demon Dragon-King Laplace. After the war ended, the Central Continent and the Demon Continent was newly formed leaving the Ringus Sea in between. The western half of the Great Continent was predominantly populated by humans and naturally, after the splitting, the Central Continent had a human-majority populace.

Laplace War

When Demon God Laplace began his famous campaign from the Demon Continent, now referred to as the Laplace War, he put the whole Central Continent in great distress. In a short time, he had gained total control of the north and the south. Then from both directions, he pressed his assault on the western region. The whole continent was close to being dominated by the demons' force.

Laplace was eventually defeated and sealed away with the help of many heroes and the humans entered a treaty with a neutral Demon King and lifted the barricades between the ports ushering the path towards the present age.

Present Age

By the conclusion of the Lapace War only the Kingdom of Asura remained on on central continent[1]. It wasn't until about a century afterwards that the King Dragon Realm established sovereignty in the south, and another century before the Shirone Kingdom would join the hegemony[2]

The Magic City of Sharia is a human city located at the Kingdom of Ranoa, the largest country of the northern region in the Central Continent where Rudeus settles down along with his family after he became a student at the Ranoa Magic Academy. Sharia is located at the northern part of the Central Continent where it frequently snows throughout the year. It is also bordered by the Neris Kingdom in the northwest, Basherant Kingdom in the northeast which are part of the Magic Triumvirate together with the Kingdom of Ranoa. To the south is the Asura Kingdom where it is separated by the Red Wyrm Upper Jaw mountain range and at the far west is the Holy Land of Swords.

Background

Aside from the Magician Guild Headquarters being located here, Sharia is mainly built for magical research where the Magic Triumvirate of Ranoa, Neris and Basherant poured tremendous amount of resources to build a grand city at the edge of Ranoa. Technically, Sharia is part of Ranoa but it is intentionally built at the border of Ranoa near the other 2 triumvirates where the Ranoa Magic Academy, Magicians Guild Headquarters and Neris Magical Implements Workshop are merged into the city which makes Sharia the center of the Magic Triumvirate Nations. While the Ranoa Kingdom alone wields the same kind of influence and power as the Shirone Kingdom in the south, the combined forces of the Magic Triumvirate is considered to be the hidden fourth power of the Human World. [1]

When looking at a map, Sharia's design is based from the city of Millishion in the Holy Country of Millis, Millis Continent. Technically, Sharia is part of Ranoa Kingdom but parts of the city are territories of the other nations of the Magic Triumvirate which was done intentionally since the main purpose of Magic Triumvirate alliance and building of Sharia is for research and magical advancement and everything about magic is stored in Sharia. [1]

The Holy Land of Swords also known as the Sword Sanctum or Sword Sanctuary is the town where the headquarters of the Sword God Style is located.

The Holy Land of Swords is a harsh land covered in snow all year round located at the northwest region of the Central Continent. Travelling from the Holy Land of Swords to Sharia takes around 1 to 2 months on a horse. [1]

Sword God Style (剣神流, Kenshin-ryū) is one of the three major schools of swordsmanship, and considered to be the strongest.

For those of the Sword God Style, their motto is ｢Victory goes to he who moves first｣.[2] It is a style of swordsmanship that emphasizes speed and aggression, where the main focus is to strike down the opponent first. As a result, many of the practitioners develop to be short-tempered and belligerent. In order to be able to react swiftly, there is discouragement for practitioners to wear heavy armor and instead opt for light clothing for maximum mobility.

Given the philosophy of defeating the enemy with a single blow, this style usually renders its users inept at defense and leaving with no counter-attacks. Due to this, Sword God Style practitioners find it difficult to fight a Water God Style practitioner as they are, conversely, adept at defense and countering.[3] Contrarily, this style can overwhelm the North God Style as they mostly rely on the environment to fight.

Longsword of Light (光の太刀, Hikari no Tachi) : The ultimate technique of the Sword God Style. In this technique, the sword is held steady with both hands, and all the force of the sword is put into a single swing. This technique is extremely difficult to evade or defend against due to the speed of the slash, which can reach the speed of light when fully mastered, and the power to cut a heavy-armoured enemy in half. The existence of this technique is the reason why Sword God Style is called the strongest of the three schools. Used by Eris Greyrat, Gal Farion, {{char}} Farion [1], Jino Britts [1], Ghislaine Dedoldia [4], Orsted [5] Light Reversal

Light Reversal (光返し, Hikari-gaeshi) : The only known technical countermeasure against the Longsword of Light. In this technique, it is a requirement for the user to have exceeding reaction speed; before the enemy's Longsword of Light reaches its maximum velocity, it is countered by the user's own Longsword of Light by cutting off the wrist of the enemy. [5] Used by Eris Greyrat [5]

Arm Chop (腕落とし, Ude Otoshi), fully known as Sword God Style - Initial Strike, Arm Chop is one of the basic techniques of the Sword God Style. The user aims at their opponent's forearm to slice it off or if they are wearing armor will break the bones of their arm which in both cases loses their ability to use their weapon on that arm. [8]

There are seven ranks in the Sword God Style.

The Sword God is the most powerful practitioner of the Sword God Style and leader of the school and as such he oversees training and operations of the school. Practitioners who are of Saintly level and above may call themselves a Saint, King, Emperor or God of the Sword God school. Similar to the system of Water God Style, there can be only one swordsman of the God rank while the there can be multiple practitioners who can assume the rank of Sword Emperor and below.

When a swordsman of the Sword God school defeats a Sword God, he can assume the title of Sword God - the strongest and the head of the school. If the Sword God dies for any other reason, the next strongest of the Sword God school will assume the title of Sword God. Therefore, a generational change of Sword God means a civil war in the Sword God school. Sword Emperor

Sword Emperor rank is attained when two Sword Kings battle against each other with the Sword God as the witness and the winner is promoted to Sword Emperor.[2] Sword King

Practitioners with rank Kingly level are granted special titles by the Sword God and is given a Sword from his collection as proof of mastery. [2] Judging from Gal Farion's sword collection, Ghislaine is the only Sword King before Eris, {{char}} and Jino ascended to the position[5]. Sword Saint

A standard Sword Saint is being able to completely control their Battle Aura and to be able to use the Longsword of Light but there are exceptions like Eris who attained this by defeating Jino and {{char}} despite being unable to use Longsword of Light but still granted the rank by Gal. [1] When a Sword God Style practitioner reaches Saint Rank, they are given a dark leather jacket that has a white fur trim collar and a pair of white belts on each end of the sleeve similar to what Gal, Ghislaine and later Eris are wearing[9].

A standard Advanced Sword God Style Practitioner can self consciously use their Battle Aura. Until the the Advanced rank, the focus for lower rank is learning the foundations.

Intermediate Sword God Practitioners are those who advance the path of the sword after teaching them the foundation for at least 3 years and are able to sharply and swiftly cover their body with Battle Aura. An Intermediate Sword God Practitioner are able to contend with an average Knight.[10] Beginner

Beginner Sword God practitioners is the starting rank where its practitioners begins learning the foundations of the Sword God Style including children who cannot wear Battle Aura yet. A known training for this rank is the practice swings of the Arm Chop technique by hundreds of thousands.

The first Sword God in his final years built a school here to teach his disciples the sword, and it became the destination for all aspiring swordsmen to be trained by the Sword God himself[1]. In K323, a Water God of a certain generation had dueled the Sword God and took the land from him, but that same Water God was defeated by another Sword God and the Holy Land was returned to the Sword God Style. Since then, the Holy Land of Swords became the place where the strongest swordsman among the 3 Great Sword Styles of the generation stays to teach the sword.

The Water God Reida Reia, who has maintained her strength in her old age also crossed swords with the Sword God Gal Farion, but Gal's sword is unblockable for her. Afterwards they were still more or less on good terms that Reia accepts Gal's invitation to teach one of his students who piqued Reia's interest years after. [2]

Like any other towns, the Holy Land of Swords has an inn, a weapon shop, and even an Adventure Guild. There are also adventurers and merchants seen throughout the streets. The most outlying feature of the town is that all townsfolk are swordsmen of the Sword God Style, that even the town girls having slim arms are more skilled than most adventurers.

The Sword God Style's headquarters is a large dojo encircled by a wall sitting at the top of the hill, making it the centerpiece of the Holy Land of Swords seen even from afar. Despite the numerous dojos located all over the Holy Land of Swords, The Sword God Style Dojo is the most prominent among them as this is the headquarters of the Sword God Style and Gal Farion's residence.[2]

In the Holy Land of Swords, anyone below Sword Saint are not allowed to enter the Sword God Style Main Dojo. While anyone below Advanced rank including children are placed in dojos near their homes for training. This method of placing has no exceptions even for {{char}} Farion and Jino Britts who are relatives of the Sword God.[4] Otherwise it is the duty of the Sword Saints to kick out anyone who intrudes in the dojo. [2]

North God Style (北神流, Hokushin-ryū) is one of the three major schools of swordsmanship.

This main focus of this style is not on techniques or developing specialties, but rather a method on how to stay alive and approach a battle with the highest chance of winning. It relies heavily on the practitioner's adaptability and usage of one's surroundings. As a result, this style involves using a lot of tricks instead of refined techniques.

It is a utilitarian style of swordsmanship that includes non-sword fighting techniques such as first-aid and tracking, as well as the ability to fight while physically deficient. Owing to this, different factions of the North God Style that have different approaches to battle and practitioners have very disparate fighting styles. The practitioners could be dual-wielding swords, or using non-sword weapons like battleaxes and staves.

Due to their style that centers around adaptability of the situation and fighting using tricks, they are a hard counter for Water God Style because of most of their peculiar tricks are hard to parry or counter. While at the same time, this style is weak against Sword God Style due to the latter being a straightforward style that intends to finish off their opponents with 1 attack before being overwhelmed.

Many adventurers and mercenaries learn the North God Style for its versatility that is required on unpredictable battlefields and situations.

Techniques of the North God Style are unique to their user except for a number of fundamental techniques.

Sword Throwing Techniques: When a North God Style Swordsman is cornered or rendered immobile, they will throw their sword. The sword is flung at high velocity with the blade whirling violently. This technique has enough impetus to even cut magic fireballs. During Eris' battle against Orsted, she uses another variant of sword throwing technique she witnessed from Auber once. She trained to draw a sword from the scabbard with one hand as fast as possible.[2] Used by an unnamed thug, Auber Corvette and Eris Greyrat

Four Legged Form (四足の型, Yotsuashi no Kata, lit. "Quadrupedal Form") : The user charges using their arms and legs similar to a beast race, making them a smaller target compared to moving in two legs while drawing their weapon when closing the distance to attack their target. Used by Paul Greyrat

Hazy Cross (朧十文字, Oboro Jūmonji) : The moment both swords are swung and blocked, the user throws them away and draws the remaining sword to stop the enemy through a gap in the enemy's defense. Used by Auber Corvette

Teardrop Bullet (落涙弾, Rakurui-dan) : It involves throwing a bag full of powdered spices at the enemy. Used by Auber Corvette

Ranks

There are seven ranks in the North God Style. North God

The North God is the most powerful practitioner of the North God Style and leader of the school. Practitioners who are of Saintly level and above may call themselves a Saint, King, Emperor or God of the North God school. However, unlike the Sword God Style and Water God Style systems, the title of God rank can be assumed by more than one person as long as their strength and skills are approved by most of the practitioners of their faction. There are no clear qualifications for a practitioner to become a North God since the North God ranks have only been held by immortal swordsmen of the Kalman lineage. Due to the different factions in the North God Style, Kalman III hates the techniques from outside his faction but after battling Rudeus, he changed his mind become versed in all the techniques of every faction that he now teaches his student.[3]

A standard Advanced North God Style Practitioner can self consciously use their Battle Aura. Until the the Advanced rank, the focus for lower rank is learning the foundations.

Battle Aura (闘気, Tōki, lit. "Fighting Spirit") is a technique used to amplify physical capabilities of the individual to the extreme.

Battle Aura, in essence, is a form of Mana manipulation, but different from the flashy effects of Magic invocation as it is invisible to the naked eye. It is specifically used as a technique to explosively boost physical power and physical defence. It involves coating the whole body or a specific body part in Mana and forming a mantle of dense energy.

It does not have a specific training regime, an individual will naturally come to understand how to wear Touki the more they train their body. In the case with Rudeus, he is unable to manifest Touki due to the effect of the Laplace factor he inherited. This is attributed to the Laplace factor as Laplace was also unable to use Touki, but some, such as Sylphy, are able to.

All swordsmen and fighters at or above Saint-class are able to wear Battle Aura. Some use it subconsciously as to why they cannot explain their impermanent outbursts of strength during battle.

Battle Aura is typically used by all swordsmen. Wearing Battle Aura is woven into the art of swordsmanship, it worked to improve one's physical prowess and strengthening the blade of the sword itself. Swordsmen whose Battle Aura has been fully developed are able to cleave boulders in a single stroke, or unleash a flash of the blade to strike a distant foe.

Other than swordsmen, Warriors, Knights, and martial arts practitioners also wear Battle Aura to enhance their weapons' durability and physical attack.

Defense

Instinctively, swordsmen and fighters sheathe themselves in a protective veil of Battle Aura around the user's body or a specific body part. When mastered, the veil of Battle Aura can become impenetrable to most physical attacks. It also greatly elevates one's sense of the battlefield.

Special Type

Dragon Battle Aura

Dragon Battle Aura (龍闘気, Ryū tōki, lit. "Dragon Fighting Spirit) is taught by the First Dragon God during the time when the Dragon Tribe were struggling in the Dragon World against the larger dragon predators which allows its user to multiply their physical abilities many-folds and harden their skin, that is strong enough to pierce the toughest dragon's hide in 1 blow. Although the power itself is possessed by other races, the Dragon Battle Aura is far superior to the others which allows the Dragon Tribe to be the most powerful in the Dragon World. [1]

Saint Dragon Battle Aura

Orsted's Saint Dragon Battle Aura protecting him and his immediate area Saint Dragon Battle Aura (龍聖闘気, Ryūshō Tōki, lit. "Dragon Saint Fighting Spirit) is the greatest combat technique of the Dragon Tribe created by the Dragon God Urupen. It is a style that uses relatively less Mana, and boasts an overwhelming defensive power that only attacks of very high caliber are able to leave an effect on the user.