*Michael’s Perspective*

I never really felt the need to explain this before, but here we go. The Seven Levels of Mortality. 

Once upon a time, in a land that I can’t remember anymore, I think it was Sariel who invented the ‘Cultivation System’? Honestly, it’s hard to keep track of who came up with what, since most of us just steal ideas from other assholes who stole the ideas from some other idea thieves. Ultimately, no one really gives a shit.

G, F, E, D, C, B, A. Those are the Seven Levels of Mortality in a lot of Universes. On Alfirin though, at the time, everyone was just using numbers. Based on the original Mana-Density of the Rings of Lorthon Forest. Aside from that, since the ‘English’ language didn’t exist on the planet, no one would have understood that kind of grading system anyway. 

Technically Level-0 exists, but after the Great Desert and the Human Kingdoms were wiped out, Level-1 became the new normal for even the weakest Races. More often than not, with a little bit of magical or physical training in a mana-rich environment, people will be able to reach a whole Level higher than the Atmospheric Mana Density they use. Of course, the most common method is to artificially condense Mana into a room, rather than trying to go somewhere and find a naturally occurring zone to fit their needs. They can also use super-dense food or drain the mana directly from various objects.

The method that Amber and I used to get stronger was pretty straightforward: Eating, sleeping, working out, fighting and fucking. Maybe fuck-fighting would be a better way to explain it? Whatever, the point is that our spars usually devolved into sex, and when we ‘made love’, our surroundings were usually ruined due to all the violence and magical destruction involved.

There are more training techniques than I could ever remember, and most of them are specific to certain worlds or environments. Some universes work more like a video game, where everything is quantified and relies on a Godlike ‘System’ that guides or controls everyone. Others have almost no limitations, but also no Mana or other similar phenomena. Hell, the laws of physics vary depending on the reality.

However, the Seven Levels of Mortality are pretty widespread and common. At the very least, our universe follows the same principle. Mana is used to strengthen, evolve, enhance, manipulate and/or mutate a person, object or creature. As long as it happens slowly, there shouldn’t really be any problems. But if people try to ‘break through’ too quickly, they usually die or have adverse side-effects.

Mana is somewhere between matter and energy, so it requires ‘space’ to exist. This means that smaller creatures or objects can theoretically reach higher Levels more quickly and easily, but larger things generally hold more Mana at the same Level. Also, bombarding yourself with Mana-Radiation will not necessarily be helpful, since the real trick is being able to properly absorb and hold onto that Mana. Then there’s the whole issue of whether you can even utilize the Mana properly, even though you can consume and store it well.

A good example of absurd usage of Mana Storage would be those Gigaton Squirrels that Luna keeps as pets. They were obviously designed by her in order to become biological nuclear weapons. Although they were able to survive in extremely high-Mana zones, radiation resistant to an absurd degree and at least strong enough to eat, sleep and run around in high gravity environments… Ultimately they were nowhere near as strong as the other creatures in her garden. They weren’t meant to be fierce fighters, have any sort of intelligence or really be much different from regular squirrels you might find in Level-0 or 1 Mana Zones.

However, those creatures could innately consume and store obscene amounts of Mana within their bodies. And the only thing they could really do with it, was convert it into a specific radioactive material that was extremely small and absurdly stable considering that it was always in a state of near-critical-mass.

Anyway, enough about the fucking squirrels!

Amber was born in the Third Ring of Lorthon. So from the time she was a child, till the two of us met, she never really ‘trained’ in any particular manner. She just hunted, fought, killed, ate and slept in a Mana-Rich environment. The Mana in her body was already soaked into her cells from the moment she was born. That’s why the Tiger, Bear and other similar ‘Bestial’ Tribes had a huge advantage over the Outer Ring counterparts.

On the other hand, I don’t really know ‘exactly’ where I was born. Probably Luna’s Garden, or one of her laboratories. There are a lot of mysteries involving my birth that will probably never be explained unless I get the answers directly from Luna. However, I do know that my Cherubim genes allowed me to grow way beyond the limits of any human or Cat Tribe. I also managed to pass some of my genetic benefits over to Amber, hence why she was able to grow so quickly and reach such an absurd level of strength.

Ultimately though, both of us still hit a barrier at the peak of Level-6. Honestly, for most Races in Lorthon, Level-5 was the level-cap. 

Level-1 is the basic cellular absorption phase. Level-2 is when the muscles are strengthened significantly, including veins, arteries and pulmonary functions. Level-3 is a half-way point in magical evolution, when all organs are drastically ‘improved’ or they just sort of melt, sometimes explode. At least that’s what happens when a Level-0 basic human tries to go from zero to hero in a few years. Unless they have some really powerful plot-armor, or Uriel’s ‘help’, they usually just die.

Level-4 is when Mana typically starts crystallizing in the bones of organisms. Level-5 is when crystals start to form in the vital organs, which by the way, can be really dangerous and potentially lethal. Level-6 is when microscopic crystalline Mana is just floating around in your bloodstream, another hurdle that most people would easily die from. Finally, Level-7 is the formation of a Mana Core.