Chương 1: Glossary & Maps

World Map The above picture is an accurate map of Yonu. In-story maps (drawn by people actually living on Yonu) would be less accurate than this, this is just for the reader (and the author) to visualize the actual planet, and where things are located. I used Earth as a mental size-guide, so Yonu is about the same general size as Earth. Continent names are in the rectangular boxes. Kingdom borders are the thick black lines.

Dotted lines in the ocean are only there to help make sense of the solid lines, for example Kzedrik control both sides of the port, and owns a little bit of land on Jenpor, and the dotted lines help make that clear to my brain. Kingdom capital locations are marked with an 'x'. Little '^' carat type symbols are important mountain ranges. There are other mountains not drawn on the map, but I drew those ones in since they'll be mentioned more particularly at some point in the story.

Characters: Kiara Dunsun is the main character. Her family members include: Ronald (Ron) Dunsun - Kiara's father Gentry Dunsun - Kiara's mother Ava Dunsun - Kiara's little sister Gabe Dunsun - Kiara's little brother Book 1 characters. All of these characters are introduced by book 1 chapter 24, and there isn't anything too spoiler-ey in here: Shian Yountal - Kiara's identity during her second life. Dustin Savage - Kiara's friend and business partner.

She hires him to run House Yountal for her and manage the logistics and finances so she doesn't need to worry about them. Victor Stansen - Powerful mage with a research mindset who follows Kiara around, trying to learn why she appears so oddly to his magic sense. Helga - Kiara's cook. Captain Soren - head of Kiara's guard. Estella - one of Kiara's guards, who takes up the position of Kiara's personal bodyguard anytime she's at her estate in Easton.

Lord Grivalt - An entitled, tier 2 noble who rules the village Kiara grew up in. Killed Kiara, and sentenced her family to 20 years of indentured servitude. Book 2 characters. All of these characters are introduced by book 2 chapter 22. As long as you've finished book 1, there shouldn't be any spoilers in here: Baron James Norshod - Ruler of Easton, blood-relation to Lord Grivalt. Kane Vondeer - A tier 4 that works for the Silver Serpent Clan that Baron Norshod hires in Easton.

Zoey Trellen - Tier 3 mage that Kiara hires. Jaden Snow - Tier 3 mage that Kiara hires. Gabe and Terra Marsant - lesser nobles in Easton who Kiara befriends. Lord Goren - An influential noble in Easton. Elias Handel - Runs the sword academy that Kiara attends. Ron Venton - A guy in Kiara's sword academy class, one of her friends. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Henry - A talented swordsman in Kiara's sword class. Olga - A talented swordswoman in Kiara's sword class.

Seltzer - A young, prodigious swordsman in Kiara's sword class. Magic System I don't think there are too many spoilers in here, but for most of book 1 and part of book 2, the MC doesn't know some of this information. If you'd rather learn about the magic system through the story itself, I'd wait to read this until you're halfway through book 2. Also, if you don't like expositional info-dumps, then skip this stuff and just read the story: D Mana Mana-based magic on Yonu is pretty free-form.

A mage's mana core pulls mana from the environment and processes it in such a way that the mana will respond to the mage's will. A mage cannot use ambient mana without processing it through their core first. The terms 'spell' and 'mana construct' are used pretty interchangeably throughout the series. The basic idea is that a mage can form their mana into shapes, elements, etc and then use that formed 'mana construct' (or spell) toward some end.

There are no spell forms or chants needed, they can simply shape their mana with their will. Mana in a mage's core is un-aspected, meaning it's just a raw energy source that can be used however the mage wants. Practice improves performance in any given area, so a mage that often practices shaping their mana into fire will have an easier time doing more of that in the future. Theoretically though, most people tend to start with no lean toward any given element or shaping type.

They can form their mana into whatever shape or element they want. They can shape their mana into fire and shoot it at someone, or shape it into tiny ice crystals to form snow, etc. Once they've shaped it into an element, they might refer to it as 'ice-aspected' or 'fire-aspected' mana. Mana that has taken on the aspects of an element act and feet very similar to that element, but they are still truly just mana. Once the mage releases their hold on that mana, it will dissipate back into the environment.

Fire-aspected mana is hot, and can burn things just as well as actual fire, but once the mage stops mentally controlling that mana to act like fire, it will fairly quickly disappear. That being said, a mana-based fire can easily spread to start a real fire, which would stick around after the mage released their hold on the mana they're controlling. In a battle, it is fairly common to not even shape your mana into any elements, and instead just launch a compacted spike of raw mana at an opponent.

Magic Tiers Non-magic users are called 'mortals' while everyone else is called a 'mage'. There are 7 tiers of magic on Yonu, referenced throughout the story as Tier 1, Tier 2, etc. Forming your mana core makes you a 'Tier 1' mage, capable of casting magic.

A mortal who has received magical training, and absorbed some mana into their body, but was never able to form a core, would be called a Tier 0, and isn't quite the same as a mortal anymore -- they receive massive physical benefits, just from having mana circulating around in their body, and are much stronger and faster than a normal person. Higher tiers have larger mana capacities, faster cast times, more throughput (more mana at once), etc.

The higher tiers also develop other magical abilities, beyond just shaping mana, which will be explored throughout the story. Each tier also improves a person's general stats as well, so higher-tiered mages are stronger, faster, and more durable than lower-tiered mages. Your spiritual potential does not necessarily equate to your spiritual strength. Someone with the potential to reach tier 5 might never receive the training to know how to make it past tier 3.

Your foundation at each tier of magic influences your long-term potential as well. Someone with the spiritual potential to reach tier 5 might make decisions at tiers 1, 2, 3, or 4 that end up limiting their potential growth, and prevent them from ever actually attaining their potential. Your choices at tier 1 influence your strength at tier 2, and your choices at tier 2 influence your strength at tier 3, and those compound.

Someone who rushes through things - prioritizing quick growth over long-term potential - might advance faster, but will severely cripple how high they can climb or how powerful they are at their peak. Everyone has 'some' amount of magical potential, but there are plenty of people whose potential is so small they would never be able to form a magic core, no matter how much training they received. The vast majority of people on Yonu fall into that category, and so mages are more rare than not.

Of the people that make it to each tier, only a small percentage have the potential to make it to the next tier, so the number of mages gets increasingly more rare each tier up. Larger cities do tend to attract larger proportions of the mage community, especially the more powerful mages, while smaller towns and villages tend to not have any mages (apart from the noble that rules them and possibly a few of the noble's guards). Not all nobles are mages, but the ones that are given ruler-ship positions are.

Money Money on Yonu is in the form of coins. Each coin is the same size, regardless of the denomination, and is around 1 inch (25mm) in diameter. Questions like "who mints the currency", "do different countries have different coins", or "how easy is it to create counterfeit currency" aren't really addressed in this story, since it's a giant plot hole waiting to happen if I get it wrong, and it isn't all that important to the main story line. For the most part, every country on Yonu uses the same coins as currency.

Each denomination is 10x the previous, so 1 bronze coin = 10 iron coins. An average mortal earns 2-3 gold per month (20-30 silver), depending on the job. Cost of living and earning potential are both higher in larger cities, but that isn't really touched on in the story either. Coin Denominations: iron bronze silver gold platinum ruby diamond