by 
Veterum Arcana
Secondary Magic: -
Caster or Holder: Holder
Description: In ancient times, when magic was still virtually new to the world and humans didn't know how to fully wield its awe-inspiring power, there were a select few who decided to pioneer the arcane arts. These few found that they could harness the power of magic through speaking words of power in the form of incantations. With these words, they could create flame, summon great monsters and even shake the very foundations of the earth. They realized that this method needed to be documented. They wrote down all of their spells in great volumes of knowledge. As magic advanced, rituals came about, as did runes to increase one's power or to hamper one's enemies. As knew routes of magic sprouted, they were recorded. Though magic evolved to the point where one didn't need spells to invoke their power. As such, the usage of these books, these grimoires, fell into disuse. In no time they were all but lost to the world, buried in ancient lost libraries or destroyed in one war or another. And then the world shut its eyes to the magic of the ancient texts.
That was, until Samael Tartys when searching. He had heard tale of said books all his life and, being that he loved books, he just had to have one. He journeyed to a location that was said to hold a library containing a vast number of said spell books. He searched for months in that one area, until he happened upon an old cave system. He followed it and soon enough came upon a large ornate door, stricken with the ailment of age and decay. He entered, the door barely opening enough to let him slip through. He didn't know what he was expecting, but at the sight of the place, his heart sank to the depths of hell. The library was a disaster zone. Books and pages of books were strewn across the floor, like so many dead leaves. When he tried to lift one, it turned to dust in his hand. All of them were touched heavily by the woes of time. He rummaged as much as he could without destroying the books that were still intact. As he was searching, he happened upon a single book that seemed untouched in the sea of desolation around him. It seemed an ordinary book, so he picked it up. As he opened the book to the first page, ribbons of light emanated from within the book. They streamed outwards to the far corners of the library and filled it with warmth and light the likes of which Sam had never felt. As this happened, the books began to repair themselves. It was like time was being undone, like this single place in time was being rewound to its former glory. It was magnificent. Once this was done, the library was lit as if by the rays of the sun and all the books were in perfect position on their respective shelves. Sam looked at the sight in awe, and couldn't wait to begin reading. He would probably spend the rest of his life studying these pages. His dreams would be once again dashes as the ribbons of light began to return to the book he held in his hands. The most terrifying part about this, was that the ribbons were turning all of the other books into orbs of swirling light and absorbing them into the pages of the one he held. He watched, frozen in horror as every book that was in the library was taken into this one tome. As the last book was absorbed, the ribbons wrapped around the book itself, and for a moment Sam thought it was going to disappear as well. To his relief, the light burst outward to reveal a brand new book. It was large, most likely containing thousands of pages, but it was lighter than a feather to Sam. As he caressed the cover, everything he needed to know about the book was placed in his mind. He smiled at his new found gift and left the library, happy to have this power.
Veterum Arcana, or the Ancient Secrets, are spells, runes and rituals kept within the book that Sam received on that fateful day. He is able to utilize the contents of the book in however manner he chooses by chanting the incantation of the spell or following the steps for the ritual. While this field of magical practice has it's own downsides, it has very few limitations.
Strengths:
- Spoiler:
- Versatility - Due to the nature of this practice, this magic is very versatile. It allows the user to cast spells to damage their enemies, create runes to help their allies, or perform rituals to control the battle field. Whatever the need, this magic can satisfy it.
Jack of All Trades... - Due to the nature of this magic, Sam is able to duplicate the effects of many kinds of magic with a simple spell. This gives him more than a bit of a leg up in battle.
- Spoiler:
- Casting - Though the utility of this school of magic cannot be refuted, it does possess a very large weakness. All the spells, runes, and rituals of this school require time to set up and prepare. The stronger the spell, the longer the casting time. This can be rather detrimental in battles with enemies possessing speed surpassing Sam's own.
Interruption - Due to the lengthy nature of casting spells, Sam is able to be interrupted, especially when casting higher level spells. When interrupted, the spell is lost or could even backfire and the energy expended to cast it is not returned to Sam.
...Master of None - On the opposite end of this magic's versatility, there is the fact that it is spread a bit too thin. As such, it is not based heavily in any art. This gives it a host of strengths but even more weaknesses.
- Spoiler:
- Feeling EmptyDescription: A thousand years or two ago, a small little village was struck with a horrible curse by a power-hungry demon, each inhabitant losing half of their soul to the demon. No one saved them. The Magic Council, the freelance mages, the guilds and even the dark guilds did not dare to go near them, for with their half of their souls gone, the forbidden Container of magic power known as the Second Origin within each of them was left wide open like a black hole and whenever they got close to magic, magic was drawn towards them, absorbed by the empty half of their soul. As a result, ostracized by the magic-dominated world, they were cordoned off from the world like a disease, left in their shell of a village to rot. However, they strove to live despite this predicament and they did. Eventually, history forgot their 'crimes' and the descendants of these villagers were let out into the world, still holding the diluted version of the curse within them.
Ability: The user in missing half of their soul has resulted in the opening of their Second Origin, the secret container of magic that very few mages get the chance to access. However, unlike its original purpose, having being opened since the user's birth, the Second Origin is empty, and hungry. It is like a black hole for magic energy, though not as potent as its original, but still useful in your fights, for if your opponent manages to smack you with a spell, don't worry about the injuries, you can catch some of their magic energy away for your own usage. The user gains MP equal to half the spell used to attack them that they were get hit by.
Usage: 3 posts with a 8 post cooldown. The user can only absorb MP from one spell they are hit by per post and they can only absorb the MP from a spell of their rank or lower(Max S-rank).
Last edited by Lord San on 2nd October 2016, 12:19 pm; edited 3 times in total
