Magic

For lack of a better word, on that page: "Magic" will be used as a general term to describe art or craft able to control or generate supernatural phenomenons, however when used within the story the terms usually referred only to either elemental or divine magic (or Parano's magic when in that world).

There's many types of Magic, and since most are unrelated they can be wildly different: with varied origins, uses, and limitations. Some Magic are even limited to one world or see their effectiveness vary greatly depending on the world they're used in.

Elemental-based Magic
Elemental magic is the form of magic people usually refer to when speaking of Magic in Grimgar, it uses elementals to create various effects ranging from slightly annoying the enemies to huge explosions.

One of the Five Princes, Architekra, is known as "the wielder of the original magic". Which could be understood as Architekra being the one behind the creation or discovery of magic, making magic a relatively recent craft.

Elemental Magic work normally in all world seen so far, with the exception of Parano for which we have no data.

Elementals
Elementals are described as magical beings invisible to the eyes, massless, and existing everywhere; they normally don't interact with the world. According to Wizard Sarai, the elemantals will not let themselves be sensed by those who do not believe they can feel them.

Elementals are sorted into 4 categories:


 * 1) The Flaming Arve
 * 2) The Freezing Kanon
 * 3) the Electric Falz
 * 4) The Shadowy Darsh

An important characteristic of elementals is their hatred of metals, forcing mages to carry as little of it as possible. It's possible to use a process called elemental coating to make elementals accept metal objects but that process is quite expensive.

Overall, not much is known about elementals and some of the wildly know facts about them, like the different types of elementals, even appear to be misinformations. Moreover, for some reasons, the mages' guild refuses to teach what they truly are.

Shihoru theorizes that elemental probably exist on another parallel existential axis to the existential axis humans are on and that those 2 axes would normally never interact. She also theorizes that elementals aren't sorted into categories naturally, but rather take on one of the four aspects when they're shaped by the spell, as they materialize.

How to use it
The first step to using elemental magic is to learn to feel the elemental, those who are able to clear that first step can be called mages.

Once someone is a mage they can use their magic power (a representation of their spiritual vitality) to materialize elemental into the world. However, for a spell to work a mage needs more than just magic power, they also need imagination. As such, a mage needs to have a very detailed and compelling image of the effects, and stay completely focused on it for the duration of the spell.

However, most mages actually circumvent the imagination part thanks to the use of chant and sigils. Those incantations and symbols form a "magic materialization" system created by the mages of old, using it a caster can get the precise image corresponding to the spell just by concentrating on the chant and sigils. While immensly useful, not much is known about that system, and if it's true that it does make casting spells far easier, it also seem like it limiting mages ability by limiting their view on magic.

According to Shihoru, with magic there is something called "mastery". Each magic type draws its power from magical creatures called elementals. A Mage will learn the proper way to control an elemental and will gain experience in that elemental type leading towards "mastery". Since Shihoru learned multiple spells from shadow magic she gained mastery in learning/using shadow spells. Because mastery of an elemental type of magic doesn't transfer over to another type; in essence, Shihoru had to start from scratch to start learning Falz magic. It took her four days to learn one lightning spell.

Magic missile
It's the first spell taught to new mages by the mages' guild (at least in Alterna). It's a special spell as it doesn't fall into any of the 4 categories, as such some mages think that that spell is a clue given to them by the guild, to help them realize that magic isn't limited to the form taught in the guild, and probably push them toward discovering true magic.

True Magic
We don't really know what constitutes true magic, but it seems to be a higher form of elemental magic that only a few mages are able to wield. One of them being Wizard Sarai, who showed the only known example of magic confirmed to be true magic: countering a magic missile using a Darsh elemental he had materialized and mixing the 2 into a small green ball who then sprouted arms and legs before vanishing.

As such, while they haven't be confirmed to be true magic, there's a rather high chance that:


 * Shihoru's Dark
 * Yasuma's (then Jessie's and now Merry's) magic missile
 * Miho and Gogh strange array of spells

could also be forms of true magic, since they also all, in some way, involved directly manipulating elemental

God-based Magic
God-based magic, like the name implies, makes use of powers granted by a god. We don't know how one is granted the ability to use part of their power by a god (aka how to be blessed), but it doesn't seem to require any particular disposition and that capacity can be taken away by a god if they're displeased by a follower's actions.

So far, we know of 5 gods being worshiped, but only two of them have been shown to exist and offer power to some of their followers: Lumiaris and Skullhell. There may be a third one in the person of The No-Life King who may or may not gift some of his followers with a power similar to divine magic.

As God-based Magic come from prayer it is very codified: to use any spell the caster has to recite a prayer, and said spell will fail if the caster's wording is wrong. Spells can also have arbitrary limitations, for example: Paladins can heal others but not themselves lest they lose Lumiaris blessing.

Finally, divine magic can't be used in a world where the god who blessed the caster hasn't been. Similarly if a god leaves a world, the effectiveness of magic links to them will be diminished there. As such, both light and dark magics are only usable up to a third of their usual output when in Darunggar, and completely unusable in both The Dusk Realm and Parano.

Lumiaris
Lumiaris is the goddess of Light, and she gives access to light magic to her followers. Light Magic is focused on healing and buffs, but it does include some offensive spells as well as some utility spells. It's also the form of magic used to dispel zombies, skeletons, and ghosts raised by the curse of the No-Life King.

As far as we know 2 jobs can use light magic: the priests (of Lumiaris) and the paladins. The priests focus on healing and boosting allies most of them being fairly poor fighter, while the paladins focus on buffing their own fighting power to protect allies and can provide some light heal to other. Notably, while Paladins able to heal other, they are forbidden from using light magic to heal themselves, they do have one spell: Crime, which is able to instantaneously heal all their wounds. However, using it come at the cost of forever losing Lumiaris blessing and being expelled from the Paladins' guild.

While Lumiaris heal is powerful: able to bring back someone from the brink of death, it doesn't replenish lost blood or stamina.

Skullhell
As the dark god, Skullhel bestows dark magic upon his follower that form of magic can be divided into 2 big categories: summoning and other.

So far the only known users of Dark magic are Dread knights, who seem to fulfill both the role of holy warrior and priest.

Summoning
Summoning allows the caster to summon a demon to help them for 30 minutes, it does seem like the time limit is extended as the demon goes up in rank but no precise time limit was given.

The summoned demon is a sentient being, independent from its summoner, yet also link to them. While the summoner can't control its demon the 2 are linked and the demon is a reflection of their summoner and will evolve according to them, it's also impossible for the summoner to lie to their demon.

If Zodiac is to be trusted, the demons could be a piece of Skullhell watching the world for him, however, given their relationship, that statement could also just be a lie to by Zodiac to make fun of Ranta.

A demon power will mostly be based on 2 things: the times of the day at which it's summoned and the number of vices that the summoner has accumulated. Demons are ranked from rank 1 onward, when summoned during daytime a demon will be one rank lower as Lumiaris' power is at its apogee during the day.

Thereafter is a list of the known ranks, however, the descriptions are mostly based on Ranta's demon and some of it (like the demon's personality) almost certainly changes depending on the summoner.


 * Rank 1, from 0 to 10 vices. The demon can warn the caster of incoming enemies, but will only do so when it wants, making it unreliable. As there's no rank 0 a rank 1 demon can't be summoned during the day at all.
 * Rank 2, from 11 to 40 vices. The demon can sometimes distract enemies by whispering in their hears, once again only when it wants.
 * Rank 3, from 41 to ?? vices. The demon will sometimes try to trip enemies to disrupt them if it feels like it.
 * Rank 4, from ?? to ?? vices. The demon gets a more define form and is now armed, as such it can now attack enemies. At this rank it also seems like it becomes more reliable, doing its best to protect its caster and giving real advices and warnings. That said, it's still a capricious creature that shouldn't be relied upon too much.
 * Rank 5, from ?? to ?? vices. The demon grows in size and his weapons get more dangerous, it's still capricious though

To accumulate vice, a dread knight takes life from a living being and offers a part of its body at the guild altar. However, it seems like ranks, vices, and the power of a demon are actually not that link to each other, the best example being Zodiac suddenly and dramatically evolving following Ranta having a revelation about his life and his goals, despite him having been unable to offer vice for a long time.

Other
The other powers granted to a Dread Knight include a large variety of spells mostly focus on ways to control the flow of the battle and debuffing the enemies, inflicting poison, terror, or taunting the target. It doesn't seem like Dread Knights have any truly offensive spells, but they do have a few self buffs like Dread Aura.

No-Life King
While, it doesn't seem like the No-Life King is a proper god, he does have priests and bishop, some of them able to create undeads, which could be a form of divine magic. Moreover the Curse of the No-Life King which transformed bodies into Zombies seems to be a form of magic unique to him which affect at least the whole frontiere and is still in effect more than a century after his disappearance..

Parano Magic
 click here for the detailed article 

A form of Magic exclusive to the world of Parano, everyone who found themselves in that world is able to use it. Each person's magic is somewhat unique as its effects are based on their personality, views on the world, and themselves. Unlike other types of Magic, Parano's magic seems to be a byproduct of that world's rules rather than a craft.

Because of a ploy engineered by The King, most users believed that magic falls into 4 distinct categories and since magic is influence by its caster worldview, most people's magic does fall neatly into those categories. The goal of that ploy being to limit what most people's magic can accomplish by making them believed in those limits; making The King, whose magic is unbounded, unrivaled.

Shamanism
Shamanism is a form of Magic mostly used by Elves. It plays a big role in their culture as it one of the three paths an elf can take, the other 2 being the path of the sword andthe path of the bow. Almost all elves have some shaman knowlege as they must learn the basis of the 3 schools before specialising in one. While most Shaman are Elves (both Forest Elves and Grey Elves), other races can also learn it, like Shima who learned from the Elves of the Shadow forest.

While shamans usually act as healer, that's only one application, and Shamanism is made up of many schools:

Healing
Probably one of the most basic forms of shamanism as all Shamans shown in the story so far have been able to heal.

How potent the effects are or if it varies depending on the caster is unknown but some Shamans are able to heal to the same extent as a Priest of Luminaris using Sacrament (like Shima). However, they also have the same limitation as Light Magic, and Shamans can't bring back the dead, regenerate missing organs or limbs, and are pretty useless against diseases.

Secret arts of the forest
An old and secret form of Shamanism only known by the elves of the Shadow forest. What exactly it can be used for is mostly unknown but it seems to be some form of forest or nature manipulation, as Wezel was able to use it to have the forest and insects guide him to his destination.

Using the secret arts takes a lot of time as the caster need to accomplish a ritual involving meditating for multiple days and drawing symbols in both the ground and their own flesh. It's a very taxing ritual with harsh side effects as it shortens the caster life by a few years.

Plant Manipulation
Some shamans can control plants and use them to attack their enemies, it's likely not a very advanced form of shamanism as even a young child like Leaya can use it to some extent.

Euthanasia
A school of Shamanism that has been handed down in Wezel's family for generations, Wezel is the current heir as his younger brother refused to take on the mantle and ran away.

It doesn't seem like that school includes any spells, instead, the user uses drugs to help people beyond saving die without suffering.

Mooncraft
Mooncraft is a form of Shamanism link to the moon. So far it's only been shown once when used by Wezel on Ranta in Level. 14++.

Known spell:


 * An unnamed night vision spell, which when cast on someone makes them see as if it was midday using the moonlight, it also seems like it makes the eyes of those effect by the spell shine a little. it's one of the most basic uses of Mooncraft.

Blood Spell
A form of magic that seems to use blood as a catalyst. The only known spell is one that creates an invisible barrier around an area, strong enough to protect from multiple powerful Kanon and Falz spells. That sturdiness comes at a cost, however, as it can't be used often.

It may be a form of magic originating from the Red Continent as so far only Adachi has been shown to use it, after Team Renji came back from there.

Dusk Realm Magic
Some of the Cultists from the Dusk Realm make use of what seems to be Magic swords, the blade of those swords has a slightly purple aura around it. When someone is striked by one of those blade they receive an electric shock strong enough to numb their body, even if the parried the blow, that is unless the blow is blocked using a similar sword. Because of that electric effect those swords have been named "lightning sword dolphin" (the dolphin part comes from Ranta).

Those swords have a limited number of uses and will lose their effects after a certain number of hits, it's unknown if they keep their effect outside of the Dusk Realm. Furthermore, it's also unknown what they truly are, how they're made, and if they're regularly made by Cultists or some form of relics they have to regularly "recharge".

Resurrection
As the name implies, resurrection is a way to bring someone back from the dead. It has yet to be given a proper name, and not much is known about it, but so far we do know that :


 * it seems like there can only be one user at a time
 * the current user has to die to resurrect someone else
 * some of the memories of the previous users are pass on to the new ones,
 * it has existed in Grimgar for a very long time
 * the user's body become way more resilient (as shown when Jessie isn't hurt by Haruhiro's backstab)
 * the user becomes immune to the memory altering drug made by Ainrand Leslie
 * the user is at risk of forgetting who they are among the countless memories of old user
 * finally it seems to be link to undead in some ways.

Relics
Relics are objects from a bygone era, which can't be produce with modern technologies. They display unusual properties, some even being able to bend the rules of the world. As their origin or making are shroud in mystery, it's unknown whether it's truly magic or something else.

Necromancy
Necromancy was originally developed as a way to resurrect the dead. While the necromancers of old never succeed in that goal, combining their knowledge on bodies with a relic (the pseudo-soul vessels) they were able to achieved a compromise: Golems.

Necromancy isn't really a form of magic in itself, it's the closer to a form of science where practitioner build a body using body parts from dead and sometime living bodies, (as shown when Setora offered to help Haruhiro in exchange for his right eyes). The only magical part of the process seems to be the used of a relic (the core or pseudo-soul vessel) to create a pseudo soul.

It seems to be an art known only by the people of the hidden village, however, they have taught it to some people like Pingo.

Sand Magic
A form of magic used by the Lich King, it has a wide array of applications being as it can be used to create either simple sand golems and traps, or complex almost perfect replicas of existing people. The effect isn't limited to small creations as the King showed by creating a large dragon. However, it's unknown if that magic is the result of the King Relic or it's a form of magic of its own that the King power using a relic.

Instant death Magic
A form of magic used by the Lich King, it creates a golden sphere that split into 3 projectiles each able to target a different target. The magic gets its name from the fact that if they made contact the projectiles seem to instantly kill the target. However, it's unknown if that spell is some ancient magic or the effect of one of the relic(s) used by the Lich King.

Anti-magic
A form of magic shown by the Lich King and one which (unlike his other powers) doesn't seem to be unique to him as Adachi was able to immediately recognize it. Anti-magic manifest as bluish dome able to nullify elemental magic, however, it's unknown if it can be used to block other forms of magic or even if it's truly a type of magic and not just a type of effect as things like relics and blood magic can create similar results.