Extra Chapter: The Inner Workings of Magic Spirits and Gods
Spirits emerge in different ways: through nature, weather events, or even the death of living beings that are not inherently made of magic, such as humans and other flesh-and-bone races.
Creatures like zombies and skeletons are considered magical creatures despite possessing flesh or bones. This is due to the fact that they utilize Corrupted mana, which can be manipulated by dark magic users. Although these mages cannot create Corrupted mana out of nowhere, they can stimulate the negative energy already present in the environment, causing the local mana to become corrupted. To raise zombies, they need to stimulate the remaining mana in corpses until it turns corrupted. They can also control the Corrupted mana around them.
In contrast, there are individuals who possess the blessing of light and act in the opposite way of dark magic. While dark magic is negative, light magic merely pacifies creatures, making them less hostile—to the point of allowing even babies to play with dangerous creatures like bears.
Creatures capable of turning into spirits after death include animals, humans, and demi-humans (such as elves, beastfolk, and dwarves). Demi-humans are physical beings made of flesh and bone who are born with a core, which makes them half-magic. It is worth noting that humans currently have also entered this classification of being half-magic due to the king's mage's wish.
The evolutionary hierarchy of spirits is strictly divided into four tiers: Lesser Spirit, Intermediate Spirit, Higher Spirit, and God.
Lesser Spirit: This is the base. When a spirit emerges through the death of living beings, it loses a part of its memories. Furthermore, they have no consciousness or discernment; they have no concept of anything. They simply absorb the surrounding mana automatically, which causes them to rise to the next classification.
Intermediate Spirit: These are spirits that possess consciousness. After absorbing enough mana, they regain their consciousness or create it from scratch, depending on the environment in which the spirit was generated. To rise to the next stage, the accumulation of mana is not enough: they need time of existence and accumulated knowledge.
Higher Spirit: They represent the absolute pinnacle a common spirit can reach, making it impossible to surpass this evolutionary ceiling in any way whatsoever. However, there are differences among higher spirits; some have as much influence in the mortal world as gods, making them incredibly influential. These spirits are widely known, possessing countless people who worship them as gods. Even when they are trapped inside magic lamps, countless mortals want to have the experience of seeing them.
Gods: Gods are unique. They are incredibly powerful and have existed since the creation of the universe. In total, there are only 6 gods. The emergence of the universe is due to a fight between the Goddess of Light and the God of Darkness. All gods consider themselves siblings, as they all personify the concepts of magic. Throughout the eras, some gods ended up trapped inside lamps due to various factors, such as a superiority complex or pure emotional impulse. The gods of Light and Darkness fight to this day; however, this is no longer a direct fight between them, but rather a conflict through mortal figures who represent them: a Hero and a Demon King, with the Hero always winning in the end.