Fantasy Vehemen Academy - Lectures Review

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LECTURES' REVIEW
Additional Lore

Have you been listening in class?

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SCIENCE
Professor: Mitra

*NEW*
Technology and The Barrier

Supernatural powers come from magic, and magic is a force that exists all around the world of Lumen. Like the air we breathe, it is what we live with and live in. Some people may be born with the gift of being able to control this force within them or around them, or some people may be born naturally lacking the ability to utilize this force. This is also why training exists so people can be able to coexist with magic and use it to their advantage.

In such a world that is heavily dependent on magic, the advantages of having an advanced technology thus become slower to be recognized than the amount of effort people put into magic and supernatural power research. After all, people had originally lived on the belief that magic and supernatural powers alone can solve pretty much every problem that exists. Nonetheless, science/technology is still a popular subject that many people invest themselves into, believing that holding knowledge over it will be useful. With it we also had our first creation of artificial intelligence and robots, though at that time, none were as advanced as Professor Mitra. However, the importance of having an advanced technology would soon be recognized when Lumen began to be invaded by Poex and Faex alike. This is because people recognized that magic alone cannot create a barrier strong and powerful enough to defend themselves against the monsters’ invasion.

For people in Lumen, barriers could not work just by creating an invisible magic wall around each country. This is because these monsters could appear anywhere-–literally anywhere—and their appearances could be completely unpredictable. It is not that they reside in particular areas of the world and therefore people could prepare beforehand the directions they would come from and take early measures. It is said that they literally just cross realms–the realm they come from still being investigated–and can spontaneously appear anywhere. Meaning, they could've been as likely to pop up in this classroom right now as they are in some distant country. It is completely spontaneous.

Thus, in order to create an efficient barrier to block these monsters from entry, people realized that the best method is to create a pocket space that covers the entire country. Praesces, our country, is the one who came up with this idea. We live without recognizing that we are actually coexisting with a pocket space.We are not a part of that pocket space, but if a Poex is to seek entry, it’d be trapped in that space instead of entering Lumen directly. The Poex then would have two options–to continue to reside in that pocket space, or to return to whatever realm they come from. It is an interesting method that essentially works like a barrier in preventing the monsters from entering Lumen directly.

However, to create such a gigantic pocket space that can work as a magic barrier requires an incredible amount of power and ability to control and utilize magic. Thus powers cannot be attained by people alone, especially if it is to last for years to infinity, as long as the countries exist. No matter how great and powerful the people may be, it is not enough. This is when the importance of advanced technology finally got recognized. By combining science and technology with magic, magic can be absorbed automatically from nature then amplified and strengthened to create this type of powerful barrier without any need for human assistance. After Praesces invented this technology, it was shared with other countries in return for peace. For the years onwards, this becomes how we’ve been able to defend ourselves from these monsters’ attacks.

Nonetheless, the barriers don’t always work 100% efficiently all the time. The barriers weaken time to time and vary region to region, and sometimes powerful Poex or Faex can slip through as well. That is why it is still incredibly important to train hunters to fight against these monsters whenever they manage to gain entry into Lumen. Ways to strengthen the barriers even more are still being investigated. In the meantime, it is the hunters’ jobs–and the otherworlders–to help defend this country, if not this world.

The Monsters

There are two types of monsters that invade Lumen - divided into Poex and Faex. They are divided into five levels casually labeled as A, B, C, D, and E, with E being the most powerful level that is still in the range of Poex. The higher level they are, the larger and more advanced they appear to be, with greater destructive powers and dangerous potentials. Similarly, the higher the level, the rarer they will be found. Usually, the ones attacking the city are low levels in the range of A to C.

Poex seems to obey and follow the “cries” of Faex, which is another type of monsters entirely that is a lot more gigantic in size and obviously more overwhelming. They are significantly more gigantic and more dangerous, and seem to take the role of “leader” or “commander” towards Poex. They are divided into 3 levels: X, Y, and Z. The Z is most commonly perceived as the ultimate boss. Faex pops out much more rarely and Z is as rare as it can be considered a legend, if not for a couple of historical records of its appearance. Overall, even if they do appear, they are generally regarded as the X level. Their levels are categorized by specific analyzers who work as background support in the Vehemen Hunter Association.

Usually, bestial monsters have stronger physical powers and brutal strength, but less magical or supernatural abilities. To be more specific, their supernatural abilities are either less complex, or are used for more defense than offense. They base themselves on lesser intelligence and more so instincts, act more as animals or any types of wild creatures. Most Bestial Poex fight through brutal strength, relying on pure dominating forces.

Bestial monsters are therefore more restrictedly Earth-based. They can take on basic or twisted forms of reptiles, mammals--winged or not, even insects or plants, for example.

On the other hand, Magus is the type of Poex/Faex that has been deemed as more dangerous. They have higher intelligence than Bestial monsters, meaning they are capable of thinking. Of course, it is in no way comparable to our level of intelligence, but they’re witty and sometimes make a battle harder to handle than it should. Unlike Bestial monsters, they are not as powerful physically but are fluent users of supernatural abilities and magical powers. They’re known for their abilities to manipulate humans, for example, illusions or hallucinations is a technique that a lot of them are capable of creating. Their intelligence and magical powers are used to make up for their physical weaknesses and lack of brutal offense skills. However, that is not to say they do not know how to fight, or if they have weak defense. Many of them utilize their supernatural abilities to create different kinds of self-protection methods. Either way, they are more complicated than Bestial in many ways. For now, they’re usually the Spirits, the Undead, or Golems that people come across. Magus may sometimes take on a more human-shaped appearance, but don’t be fooled because they are in no way similar.

When fighting Poex, it is easier to categorize a monster on whether they’re Bestial-based or Magus-based. However, sometimes the line is blurred. Many Faex has been identified as a mix of both, monsters who hold both extreme brutal powers and also advanced supernatural abilities. However, they’re rare to come upon. As freshmen, they do not need to worry about coming across them.

In fact, the type of Poex that is most common to be faced will most likely be Bestial ones, which make up for 70% of low level (A-C) Poex. Magus ones are smart enough to know not to bother human civilizations without any reason, so they usually keep their peace for their own good.

 

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HISTORY
Professor: Eiichi Kikuchi

Basic World History

The world of Lumen closely resembles the world of Ningen—in other words, the world from which the Otherworlders came from. However, the Kingdom of Praeces, this continent between Eveiland and Dazenfall did not exist in Ningen.

Praeces was first discovered by a Angulan explorer in 1655. Over the next three decades, Skeilander settlers populated the new continent. The Dazenfall Slave Trade had been going on in North Eveiland and Skeiland for the past century, and Dazenfaller slaves were naturally imported into Praeces as well. Due to a corrupt government in Angula, a country in Skeiland, the Praeces Revolutionary War began in 1670, until its independence was recognized in 1675. In the 1680s, magic, or abilities, began to manifest in about 30% of the Dazenfaller population in Praeces. These people were initially viewed as devils, but over the years, they helped the people of Praeces to avoid natural disasters, and some had healing abilities that far exceeded what medicine at the time could do. Over time, they began to be viewed as god sent beings instead. Many Dazenfallers were thus put into positions of power, and slave trade gradually slowed within Praeces until it ended in early 1700s. Between 1687 and 1728, Dazenfall colonies began to declare their independence.

Those from other continents only began to manifest their abilities about a decade after Dazenfallers did. In 1728, Praeces entered war with numerous Dazenfall countries, and in 1731, claimed them as Praeces territory. Despite their supposed divinity just several decades ago, the war led to apparent racism toward Dazenfallers in Praeces. It wasn't until 1958 that Dazenfall countries reclaimed their independence, partly thanks to the increased wealth of the continent as a whole after the discovery of abundant gold mines in Dazenfall. It's also worth noting that due to abilities replacing the need for technology and medicine, advances in those areas slowed in most of the world. Studies into traditional technology and medicine only picked up again approximately two centuries ago.

A few years after abilities first appeared, crime rate surged significantly. Just as there were people who did good with their abilities, there were people who saw it as an opportunity to further their own ends. For a long time, these criminals ran amok because there was no way to control people with abilities. In 1741, the Specialized Supernatural Abilities Troop, or the SSAT, was formed by the Praeces government to deal with criminals with abilities. Naturally, the SSAT was comprised of those with abilities as well. Still, containment of these criminals was met with difficulties. And so in 1755, a drug named Null was developed. When injected, it temporarily shuts down an individual's abilities. Unfortunately, the SSAT and the upper-class who'd managed to get their hands on the drugs abused their power. Innocent people who had abilities were captured, some as criminals and some for more... unsavory reasons. It was only in 1815 that Null became strictly illegal for those other than authorized personnel.

Professor Eiichi then mentioned the about the appearance of Poex twenty years ago, the establishment of the academy, how the VHA quickly absorbed the SSAT, the Grim Night, the appearance of the First Generation Otherworlders and the Miracle that they brought, then the appearance of Second Generations - which are provided in their textbook located on the Lore page.

It is currently the year 2472, with the Otherworlders' appearance as Third Generations.