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☆ World & Role ☆
To begin, it is important to note that this type of "ascended magician" is not bound by one world or universe. It is an omniversal concept that is found in many other worlds. Even if a world does not have a magic, it is possible for an Ascended Magician to be born from there. That is because Ascended Magicians are not born from circumstances in their world of origin, but from their own souls.
Ascended Magicians may also be called a Magnum Opus. The term in alchemy refers to "The Great Work," which is philosophically a "wholeness" of the soul. It is achieved through four stages: Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, and Rubedo. Most Ascended Magicians are in the Citrinitas or Rubedo stage.
An Ascended Magician's magic comes their spiritual transmutation. They reach an understanding of themselves and their role in the universe, which allows them to begin overcoming it. Because one thing that all the universes under this omniversal umbrella had in common is the idea of a soul having a "role." That soul may be present in numerous universes, but their role is generally the same. For example, you can be a knight in one world and firefighter in another, but you are bound by the "role" of a hero.
That understood soul becomes the source of an Ascended Magician's magical power. It can be immensely powerful or just a spark, depending on how much they understand their role in the universe. Ironically, the magic is often born from a desire to resist that role. Most Ascended Magicians who begin traveling between dimensions are therefore faced with an inevitable realization: That they cannot resist their role.
Once an Ascended Magician has left their unique world, whether physically or mentally, they exist on the Grande Plane. This is an 9th dimensional space, which is to say it is above alternate timelines (6th dimension) and alternate universes (8th dimension.) It is a space between a singular existence and being omnipresent.
Ascended Magicians require a lot of magic to exist on the 9th dimension. To be fair and honest, most of them will burn out quickly. That tends to suit most of these Magicians just fine: They tend to be inspired by bursts of emotion that fizzle into despair. In order to survive in the long term, an Ascended Magician needs sponsorship.
WHAT'S SPONSORSHIP, YE ASKS?
There are these beings on the 10th dimension, you see, called "Concepts." They are what you would study in literature class: Concept of Hope, Concept of Despair, Concept of Dreaming, Concept of Love, Concept of Destruction... They are essentially themes that influence a story, or a world. These 10th dimensional Concepts are omnipresent and incredibly powerful. However, they are limited in a major way: By their omnipresence. When you are omnipotent, you see everything at once. That means that you cannot interact, but only watch. To interact would mean entering the flow of time and losing omnipotence.
So the Concepts 'sponsor' magicians. They give them a chip of their own power, which allows the magician to exist on the 9th dimension. In exchange, their new "Embodiments" enter other worlds and try to sway the story in a Concept's favor. This, in turn, empowers the Concept and allows them to support more Embodiments.
At this point, one last player in this omniverse's construct comes into play: The Grande Library. Also called the Living Library. This is an incredible space that defies all logic, even the logics of this omniverse. It is a space where worlds are stored in the form of books and art. Like a museum, they are put on display for magicians to see. Magicians may even read them. However, it is forbidden to touch remove them from a shelf, read them, or especially to edit them.
The one who is permitted to do this is called The Grande Librarian. They are a neutral existence that maintains the Grande Library. Only their hands can pry books from the shelves and it is them who grants reading to Magicians. And it is them who could edit a world in bookform, if they felt the need. Not that they do.
However, the Grande Librarian is not an Ascended Magician. They do not have a soul that has reached Rubedo. In fact, their soul is so limited in experiences that it never could become whole enough for magic. Because they are powerless, the Grande Librarian can sponsor the last type of existence in this world: The Library Assistants. They are Ascended Magicians that are powered not by a Concept, but by the Grande Library itself. The Grande Library is alive in its own unique way and considered to be very sacred. The Grande Librarian is not to be touched by Concepts or Embodiments. Her assistants, however, exist to protect her from those who do not follow that rule.
On that note!
Alyce is the most 'recent' Grande Librarian. Like the Grande Librarians before her, Alyce's soul was created in the safety of the Grande Library. She was 'born' appearing no less than fifteen, but with the emotional development of a child. As she read more books/worlds, Alyce began to mature her logic and understanding. However, her capacity for empathy was limited by her personal lack of life experiences.
That isn't to say that Alyce felt no emotion. She became particularly attached to one of the characters in the world stories: "Shi Yamato." He was a soul doomed to curse and die, but who resisted his role to the point it was almost a rule. Alyce's heart ached for his story and she can fairly be described as being in love with him.
So when a Magician form of Shi Yamato appeared, Alyce was an excited fangirl. None of the other Concepts wanted to sponsor someone as troublesome as "Uai." They viewed him, rightfully so, as someone who should accept his role and die. So it was a huge surprise when not a Concept sponsored Uai, but the Grande Librarian herself.
Uai is Alyce's newest and most beloved Library Assistant. Their day to day activities brought the helpless Alyce lots of joy. True, there were times when Magicians threatened her and her Library, but Uai always rose to the challenge. Alyce began to fall more and more in love with her Best Boy, though she recognized her love was tragic. Uai had been seeking sponsorship so that he could protect the fate of his lover, Hana, and he continued to love her even when they were eternally apart. Alyce has long since realized that Uai will never love her the way that she loves him. Even as Concepts sometimes tell Alyce that Uai's glitches are a threat to the omniverse, she believes in him and adores him.
Their peaceful life was not to be a permanent thing. As it turned out, the Concepts were not the only ones who disliked Uai. Another 'Shi Yamato' ascended to Magnum Opus, but he didn't ascend out of love for Hana. Instead, the new 'Z' ascended because he hated his fate: And himself. Z proved to be incredibly powerful, feeding off the despair of many 'Shi Yamato' before him. Even without a sponsorship, he arrived in the Grande Library with a deceitfully simple objective: He wanted to erase 'Shi Yamato' from every world and timeline, before he could become a hurtful glitch.
This put him and Uai in an especially deep conflict. Z knew he needed Alyce to open and edit books for him and intended to manipulate her. Before he could get far in wooing the hopeless romantic, Uai purposefully started a fight with Z. In the scuffle, he managed to prove to Alyce that she didn't love just any Shi Yamato: She loved Uai only, and wouldn't let other Shi's manipulate her feelings.
And yet, it was with that sad realization that they parted. Uai also came to a sad realization: He could not defeat Z and protect Alyce. So Uai committed a taboo and forced a book open. The Grande Library itself must have agreed with his decision, because Alyce was able to 'fall' into the book as if it was Wonderland. She was sent to another world, where Z could not easily find her. As she fell down her rabbit hole, Alyce realized that Uai was going to be killed...
... Unless she could mature her soul, and become a Magician who could save him.
Ascended Magicians may also be called a Magnum Opus. The term in alchemy refers to "The Great Work," which is philosophically a "wholeness" of the soul. It is achieved through four stages: Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, and Rubedo. Most Ascended Magicians are in the Citrinitas or Rubedo stage.
An Ascended Magician's magic comes their spiritual transmutation. They reach an understanding of themselves and their role in the universe, which allows them to begin overcoming it. Because one thing that all the universes under this omniversal umbrella had in common is the idea of a soul having a "role." That soul may be present in numerous universes, but their role is generally the same. For example, you can be a knight in one world and firefighter in another, but you are bound by the "role" of a hero.
That understood soul becomes the source of an Ascended Magician's magical power. It can be immensely powerful or just a spark, depending on how much they understand their role in the universe. Ironically, the magic is often born from a desire to resist that role. Most Ascended Magicians who begin traveling between dimensions are therefore faced with an inevitable realization: That they cannot resist their role.
Once an Ascended Magician has left their unique world, whether physically or mentally, they exist on the Grande Plane. This is an 9th dimensional space, which is to say it is above alternate timelines (6th dimension) and alternate universes (8th dimension.) It is a space between a singular existence and being omnipresent.
Ascended Magicians require a lot of magic to exist on the 9th dimension. To be fair and honest, most of them will burn out quickly. That tends to suit most of these Magicians just fine: They tend to be inspired by bursts of emotion that fizzle into despair. In order to survive in the long term, an Ascended Magician needs sponsorship.
WHAT'S SPONSORSHIP, YE ASKS?
There are these beings on the 10th dimension, you see, called "Concepts." They are what you would study in literature class: Concept of Hope, Concept of Despair, Concept of Dreaming, Concept of Love, Concept of Destruction... They are essentially themes that influence a story, or a world. These 10th dimensional Concepts are omnipresent and incredibly powerful. However, they are limited in a major way: By their omnipresence. When you are omnipotent, you see everything at once. That means that you cannot interact, but only watch. To interact would mean entering the flow of time and losing omnipotence.
So the Concepts 'sponsor' magicians. They give them a chip of their own power, which allows the magician to exist on the 9th dimension. In exchange, their new "Embodiments" enter other worlds and try to sway the story in a Concept's favor. This, in turn, empowers the Concept and allows them to support more Embodiments.
At this point, one last player in this omniverse's construct comes into play: The Grande Library. Also called the Living Library. This is an incredible space that defies all logic, even the logics of this omniverse. It is a space where worlds are stored in the form of books and art. Like a museum, they are put on display for magicians to see. Magicians may even read them. However, it is forbidden to touch remove them from a shelf, read them, or especially to edit them.
The one who is permitted to do this is called The Grande Librarian. They are a neutral existence that maintains the Grande Library. Only their hands can pry books from the shelves and it is them who grants reading to Magicians. And it is them who could edit a world in bookform, if they felt the need. Not that they do.
However, the Grande Librarian is not an Ascended Magician. They do not have a soul that has reached Rubedo. In fact, their soul is so limited in experiences that it never could become whole enough for magic. Because they are powerless, the Grande Librarian can sponsor the last type of existence in this world: The Library Assistants. They are Ascended Magicians that are powered not by a Concept, but by the Grande Library itself. The Grande Library is alive in its own unique way and considered to be very sacred. The Grande Librarian is not to be touched by Concepts or Embodiments. Her assistants, however, exist to protect her from those who do not follow that rule.
On that note!
Alyce is the most 'recent' Grande Librarian. Like the Grande Librarians before her, Alyce's soul was created in the safety of the Grande Library. She was 'born' appearing no less than fifteen, but with the emotional development of a child. As she read more books/worlds, Alyce began to mature her logic and understanding. However, her capacity for empathy was limited by her personal lack of life experiences.
That isn't to say that Alyce felt no emotion. She became particularly attached to one of the characters in the world stories: "Shi Yamato." He was a soul doomed to curse and die, but who resisted his role to the point it was almost a rule. Alyce's heart ached for his story and she can fairly be described as being in love with him.
So when a Magician form of Shi Yamato appeared, Alyce was an excited fangirl. None of the other Concepts wanted to sponsor someone as troublesome as "Uai." They viewed him, rightfully so, as someone who should accept his role and die. So it was a huge surprise when not a Concept sponsored Uai, but the Grande Librarian herself.
Uai is Alyce's newest and most beloved Library Assistant. Their day to day activities brought the helpless Alyce lots of joy. True, there were times when Magicians threatened her and her Library, but Uai always rose to the challenge. Alyce began to fall more and more in love with her Best Boy, though she recognized her love was tragic. Uai had been seeking sponsorship so that he could protect the fate of his lover, Hana, and he continued to love her even when they were eternally apart. Alyce has long since realized that Uai will never love her the way that she loves him. Even as Concepts sometimes tell Alyce that Uai's glitches are a threat to the omniverse, she believes in him and adores him.
Their peaceful life was not to be a permanent thing. As it turned out, the Concepts were not the only ones who disliked Uai. Another 'Shi Yamato' ascended to Magnum Opus, but he didn't ascend out of love for Hana. Instead, the new 'Z' ascended because he hated his fate: And himself. Z proved to be incredibly powerful, feeding off the despair of many 'Shi Yamato' before him. Even without a sponsorship, he arrived in the Grande Library with a deceitfully simple objective: He wanted to erase 'Shi Yamato' from every world and timeline, before he could become a hurtful glitch.
This put him and Uai in an especially deep conflict. Z knew he needed Alyce to open and edit books for him and intended to manipulate her. Before he could get far in wooing the hopeless romantic, Uai purposefully started a fight with Z. In the scuffle, he managed to prove to Alyce that she didn't love just any Shi Yamato: She loved Uai only, and wouldn't let other Shi's manipulate her feelings.
And yet, it was with that sad realization that they parted. Uai also came to a sad realization: He could not defeat Z and protect Alyce. So Uai committed a taboo and forced a book open. The Grande Library itself must have agreed with his decision, because Alyce was able to 'fall' into the book as if it was Wonderland. She was sent to another world, where Z could not easily find her. As she fell down her rabbit hole, Alyce realized that Uai was going to be killed...
... Unless she could mature her soul, and become a Magician who could save him.