Sermas va Anes (Theory)

On the Source and Nature of Magic
Magic can be defined by its nature of being a type of energy, called magic energy. The source of this energy comes from life itself, and is intrinsic to anything that is alive. As a being dies and fades, the magic of it slowly fades away as well. As such, magic is but a natural phenomenon and is present anywhere that has living beings. The magic energy can be harnessed, either passively and slowly, from being in the presence of places with high quantity of natural life, or actively and rapidly, by drawing out the magic energy from living beings.

On the States of Magic Energy
.

Raw Magic Energy
The raw magic energy that comes from life and can be transformed into more refined states of magic energy, an example being the Soul, or directly used as a source for magic spells. Plants, mushrooms, and other animate but non-sentient beings are packed with raw magic energy, as they do not need to spend much of it to have a functioning body. The raw magic energy serves the basic needs of growth and reproduction that allows a living being to exist and new generations to keep existing.

Use of the raw energy instead of its refined states has drawbacks, such as inefficiency of energy use, which often leads to a much higher energy requirement to achieve same effect of the desired spell. Another possible drawback of this direct use of raw magic energy can be the cause of direct harm to the soul of the sentient being using it, commonly known as Magic Blight, or the cause of death for the living beings from which the raw energy is being drawn from.

Soul Energy
The soul energy, also called just "soul", is a refined state of magic energy that serves the purpose of applying the magic energy of a living being for any function, from simple to more complicated uses. This type of energy is present in any sentient being and is considered to be either the reason for sentience or the result of it. It is a more organised type of the magic energy, as in, it allows the holder of it to more effectively manage its use, without spending more than necessary to achieve the function. Because of this, most magic spells primarily use this state of magic energy.

A soul is also responsible for determining the attributes of the being. These attributes can be, but are not limited to, the total amount of magic energy that they are able to store at one single moment and how fast they are able to recharge it in an identical environment. Souls can be influenced by their species, as different species were proven to have similar attributes, although each also proved to have its own individuality.

The raw magic energy is transformed, for the first time in a sentient being, when it is born. When the being starts the processes in which consciousness and thoughts are present, the raw magic energy is gradually refined into the soul. As such, it is possible to observe that newborn beings of many different species have a much higher amount of raw energy than soul energy, some of which quickly get refined, others which take a longer time to mature.

The soul energy can be divided into two types: the Sensitive Soul and the Rational Soul.

Sensitive Soul
The sensitive soul is the most basic type of the soul energy, in which the functions of the magic energy are used to feel the surroundings, perceive the world and experience it. This type of soul exists in all sentient life.

Rational Soul
The rational soul is the most complex type of the soul energy, having many functions. As well as fulfilling the functions that a sensitive soul does, the rational soul is also attributed to the ability to think and have consciousness, acquire and store wisdom, and the capacity for intelligence in living beings. Therefore, any sapient life possess this type of soul.

Unlike the other types of magic energy, the rational soul is so complex that it is exceedingly harder for a third party to draw its energy from the being that possess it without their consent. Usually, this type of power is considered to be above the realms of the limitations that a normal magic user can achieve, being reserved to limitless beings (aka gods, deities, omnipotent beings, etc).

The rational soul is the type of soul that magic users mostly possess, with very few and abnormal exceptions. The reason for this being that, to perform magic in the sense of magic spells, it is a condition that the user has the capacity to think.

On the Soul of Sapient Beings
.

Artificial Beings
A being is considered artificial when it was not created through the natural process of reproduction. Their creation can happen through many different ways, and are not to be confused with undead beings (which originate, at first, through reproduction). From the many methods, more widespread ones would be the creation through the use of magic or other energy sources and the transposition of a soul from a natural being onto an artificial body.

In case of the origin of the being coming from the soul of a natural being, it is widely accepted that the attributes and characteristics of the soul would be the same as of the original being. Nonetheless, the action of changing to an artificial body has its drawbacks, mainly the lack of raw magic energy in the inanimate body. As such, the process often involves the addition of artefacts charged with high amounts of raw magic energy or of a insentient being, that possess high amounts of raw magic energy, in a mutualistic relationship with the artificial being.

Undead Beings
A being is considered undead when its life has come to an end, but for whatever reasons, their soul stayed in this plane of existence. This can happen due to a multitude of factors, often varying greatly from one undead being to the other. Sometimes, that soul is attached to an inanimate object, to another animate being, to its own, but dead, body, or even left to roam free from physical form.

Due to the lack of life, undead beings do not possess intrinsic raw magic energy, even though their soul energy is still present in the state that was preserved after dearh. As such, undead beings are unable to naturally absorb raw magic energy, instead needing to make use of raw magic energy directly, by drawing it out and using it in its inefficient form, or by storing it in inanimate objects for later use, as opposed to storing the energy in their soul.

Spiritual Beings
A being is considered spiritual when it does not possess a physical body. It is unknown how these beings are created, as every religion or faith has different ideas on what they are, what they represent and what their purpose and origin is. It is, however, possible for a being with a soul to be made into a spiritual being through the splitting of the connection between its body and soul.

It is also observed, in many spirits, a high affinity with specific elements of nature. Throughout history, many groups, and even many spirits themselves, would start to consider that the spirits were proof of souls bound to inanimate objects. While it is possible to bind a soul and its energy to an object, the process is differentiated by the fact that it can only done to a well defined finite inanimate object, in contrast to the beliefs that a spirit is the soul of a mountain or a river, which do not have defined boundaries or are made of matter that is constantly cycling. These cases are, however, simply a misunderstanding of the spiritual beings. Spirits themselves are animated, living beings, who can, through a very high affinity with the element that composes one of these inanimate concepts, create a connection between themselves (a soul) and the material nature of the element in order to have it function like a body, from which the spiritual being is able to manifest.

Transcendental Beings
A being is considered transcendental when its soul is not present in the same plane of existence in which its manifestation (aka body or any other presence) is observable. This existential gap between both necessary parts of the entity make it so transcendental beings are mostly unable to perform spells through the use of their soul energy, as the gap does not allow a connection of the soul to their manifestation.

Exceptions to this law occur when the plane of existence in which the soul is present: is in close proximity to the plane of its manifestation; has intersections with the plane of its manifestation; has accessable paths from to the plane of its manifestation, through which the soul energy can connect to their manifestation.