Mana and everything related to it:
Mana: The energy that is the life force of the world itself. It's inside every living being and is literally everywhere around.
Soul's Core: A spiritual heart that stores, refines, and spits out mana. It grows through training, emotional experiences, or micro fractures caused by the overuse of mana, which is very dangerous.
Soul's Core Expansion: As a person trains, their core expands, increasing the amount of mana and its efficiency. If the core grows too big, it causes the Soul's Core Awakening, shrinking the core to its original size, but not changing the amount of mana and its efficiency.
Awakening: When the core hits its absolute limit, touching the Awakening Crystal Ball triggers "Soul's Core Awakening". The core shrinks, becomes more efficient, and stops leaking mana, giving off the illusion of being weak while in reality, the user has a very good mana flow.
The use of mana:
Everyone can use mana to enhance their body, senses, reflexes, and mind (Sage Arts). The strongest warriors without Special Magic can rival most Special Magic users in raw combat.
Special Magic Users: Can use mana to cast unique, bloodline-specific, or simply their own original magic, which represents their soul. Their abilities have the authority over the world itself.
Special Magic statistics.
Very few people are born with Special Magic, making it a rare but very powerful phenomenon, tho the chances are different for each type of Special magic, but the chance of being born with one is roughly 1 in 100,000 [not speaking of inheritance, because inheritance is almost guaranteed]
Elemental Manipulation [example: earth manifestation and control over it]: 850 in 1000 [85%]
Physical Manipulation [example: shape shifting]: 140 in 1000 [14%]
Conceptual Manipulation [example: control over the alphabet]: 9.9 in 1000 [0.99%]
Blessing [example: god's speed]: 0.1 in 1000 [0.01%]
Now the Inheritance of Special Magic. [Parents have two different special magics]
Special Magic Inheritance, the most common one: The child inherits one of the parents' special magics.
Dual inheritance, it's already quite rare: The child inherits two special magics from their parents.
Fusion Inheritance, very, very rare one: The parents' magics merge into a new, hybrid ability. Original magics are lost, but a new one is born.
Dual Inheritance and Fusion Inheritance, only a few people in the world: The child inherits both magics and a third, fused magic. Those people often can't control their powers and are as unstable as children.
Sometimes a child can be born with their original special magic alongside the inherited ones, tho its so rare that only a few people like that were born in the history.
Now, more about mana and the Soul's Core: Mutation Events and Soul Fracture
Rarely, a person undergoes a Mutation that's caused by extreme trauma, overload of mana, or a traumatic experience.
Mutations often alter Special Magic, turning it into something new. But most of the time it just causes a Soul Fracture, damaging the Soul's Core, which can: permanently reduce their mana capacity [removing the ability to awaken the core further]; enhance the control over mana, tho its very rare; lead to death or insanity.
Now, the adventurer grading system.
Tier 0
Requirements: Just awakened their Soul's Core [usually with the use of the Crystal Ball in the guild].
Quests: Delivery, gathering herbs, rat extermination, escorting minor merchants, and monster cleanup.
Combat Level: Street level.
Tier 1
Requirements: Steady Soul's Core, basic Sage Arts learned. Must pass a physical and mana control test.
Quests: Low-danger beast extermination (small groups of slimes), guarding small shops, and minor exploration tasks.
Combat Level: Can slightly enhance the body. Beats an average human in a fight.
Fun fact: Known for overconfidence and early death rate.
Tier 2
Requirements: Forged Soul's Core; can use Sage Arts to a higher degree; defeated a Tier 2 monster or completed 50 Tier 1 quests.
Quests: missions, mid-tier exploration tasks, escorting nobles' carriages.
Combat Level: Consistent mana use in battle, and can face a group of goblins.
Receives a guild ID.
Tier 3
Requirements: Engraved Soul's Core; Mid rank Sage Arts. Needs to pass the guild tests.
Quests: Dungeons, corrupted zones, and bounty hunting.
Combat Level: Can fight in teams or alone vs. multiple foes.
Tier 4
Requirements: Prism Soul's Core; High rank Sage Arts; must have completed at least one High-Risk Mission and proven themselves a good asset, or defeated a Class A monster.
Quests: Forbidden zones and monster nest clearing.
Combat Level: Mastery over mana, can mask aura.
Tier 5
Requirements: Awakened Soul's Core Tier II [after the first compression]; great mission record; personal recommendation by at least four Guild Masters or the King.
Access to Quests: International threats, cursed artifact recovery.
Combat Level: No visible aura, nearly unmatched in one-on-one combat. Often has Special Magic, but there are some exceptions.
Tier 6
Requirements: Awakened Soul's Core Tier III, which can only be achieved by surviving a Soul Fracture or a Mutation.
Access to Quests: Cataclysm-level threats, continental threats.
Combat Level: Walking disasters. Can challenge entire armies or ancient beasts.
Only seven people who achieved this tier are alive.
Unofficial ranks:
Rogue Beast: Someone who matches a Tier 6's power but remains unaffiliated with any guild or nation.
Berserker: A Tier 5 adventurer being watched for any signs of a fracture.
Lost: A once Tier 6 adventurer who lost their power.