[FieryAeon]

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

I'll do the backlog later, my sister wants to play games.

Spoiler for Tutorial—Astral Magic System:

Astral Magic System
Introduction
Astral magic system stands for “Ambient STRength AmpLification” magic system. As its name implies, the users of this magic system collects energy—otherwise called Elements—from their ambience (environment) to power up their spells. Currently, the only know users of this system are the Mage-knights, whose presence has long disappeared and thought to be extinct.

Mage-knights
Mage-knight is the term used to define a person who uses the Astral magic system. Unlike conventional Mid-childan or Belkan mages, Mage-knights do not possess Linker Cores. Instead, they utilize energy they draw from their surroundings to cast spells. In traditional Mage-knight Charters, every elite assembly of mage-knights consists five individuals with specialized skills and Titans:

1. The Saint of the Scepter
   The Saint of the Scepter can be regarded as the leader of the quintet, and is the most powerful mage-knight in the group. The Saint specializes in wide-area magic, and has powerful arsenals of attack and defense spells at their disposal.
2. The Master of the Sword
   The Master of the Sword acts as the secondary leader and tactician for the mage-knights, and has great melee capabilities as well as physical augmentation spells.
3. The Sage of the Harp
   The Sage of the Harp is an intelligent advisor of the quintet and has powerful long range attacks and supporting spells. The Sage is generally weak at close-range, and would not expose him or herself to danger by doing so.
4. The Hunter of the Claw
   The Hunter of the Claw is a swift, agile fighter, preferring to disable or kill their enemies with quick, brutal attacks. Often, they act as the primary attackers for the mage-knights.
5. The Baron of the Mace
   The Baron of the Mace is the foremost tanker and defender of the quintet, whose abilities specialize in casting strong defensive and protective spells. Unlike the other mage-knights, the Baron also has a Shield Titan.

The abilities of each Mage-knight complement the others, and it is said that when all five combine, they would be invincible.

Trainings
The path to becoming a Mage-knight is arduous and difficult, as they have to go through intense trainings in various fields to succeed the trials. The trials are overseen by an Astral Master, who guides them and teaches them the Charters as they go along the training. In time, when it is deemed all right, the Astral Master would leave the potential Mage-knights to form their own groups.

Elements
Elements are to Mage-knights what Mana is to Mid-childan and Belkan mages. Mage-knights have developed a particular technique that allow them to funnel Elements—which are quintessentially the abundant raw energy that permeates the environment—into the interface between their body and the surroundings. When drawn, the Elements are refined into more precise and usable forms of energy in the Mage-knight, which is the fundamental of Astral spellcasting. Mage-knights, however, cannot draw in Elements that have already been used, such as Mana that have already been used to cast spells, because of the incompatible structures and configurations for Astral spells. Elements reside in all things, the most basic being the omnipresent air, water, fire, and earth.

Titans
Titan is the term for a Mage-knight’s weapon, which is equivalent to a Device for conventional mages. The six basic forms of Titans are: Scepter, Sword, Harp, Claw, Mace, and Shield, one for each of the Mage-knights, except for the Baron of the Shield, who possesses both the Mace and Shield Titans. Titans appear metallic, constructed from special materials that allow them to stabilize the Elements the Mage-knights draw for casting spells. Additionally, Titans can also amplify the strength or capacity of the spells, making them more powerful at the cost of backlash to the Mage-knights.

Mage-knight Abilities
All Mage-knights train through special routines that allow them to maximize their potentials. Elite Mage-knights are able to perform more powerful spells and effects that normal Mage-knights could not. In addition, the abilities of the spells are greatly enhanced when cast by trained Mage-knights. Some of the Mage-knight abilities are as follows:

• Precision control
  All Mage-knights have a certain level of precision control, which basically means how well a Mage-knight is able to control the Elements. Trained Mage-knights can control the Elements so well that they can cast spells continuously without tiring. Also, precision control confers greater ability to the Mage-knight against Combusting or Immolating when casting spells that require a large amount of Elements.
• Capacity enhancement
  Capacity enhancement refers to the amount of Elements that a Mage-knight can take in before reaching the danger limit of Combusting or Immolating. Capacity enhancement also determines how fast a Mage-knight can draw in and process the Elements, which result in faster spellcasting. Trained Mage-knights can draw in huge amounts of Elements at accelerated speeds.
• Physical augmentation
  A special ability mostly for melee Mage-knights, they can use the Elements to empower their physical attributes. For example, a Baron of the Mace can enhance the durability of his physical self by augmenting the Elements into his skin, which basically make him capable of taking more damage than usual. A Hunter of the Claw can increase his or her speed and evasion rate by augmenting the muscles of the body.
• Elemental control
  A special ability usually for ranged Mage-knights, they are able to manipulate the very essences of Elements themselves, allowing them to control the forces of nature. Such ability is highly dangerous and commonly used only by skilled Mage-knights, as it is capable of delivering devastating attacks that affect a wide area.
• Mana disruption
  A Mage-knight can also disrupt the flow of Mana in another mage’s body, by physically touching the said mage and drawing the Elements from the mage’s body. However, such action is often prohibited amongst the Mage-knights, whose codes of honor dictate the disgrace of using such move. In any case, the Mage-knight is required to touch the mage directly without any barrier between them. Barrier Jackets and gloves are such barriers that prevent a Mage-knight from using this move.

Dangers of Astral Magic System
As much as Astral is a powerful non-basic magic system, it has its drawbacks that are potentially fatal to the Mage-knights. Side-effects such as dizziness, lethargy, and rapid aging are the signs of Astral overuse. Also, continuous use of Astral system drains the Elements of the Mage-knight’s body, making them weaker as they age. Most Mage-knights do not live past 35 years old, the oldest Mage-knight ever recorded being 48 years old. Other than that, there are two other dangerous backlashes that most Mage-knights would suffer if they are not careful: Combustion and Immolation.

• Combustion
  Broadly speaking, a Mage-knight can Combust when the Elements they draw are disrupted. Elements are volatile energy, which can cause self-damage when not contained properly. Processed Elements are collected and stored in a Mage-knight’s organ prior to complete spellcasting, to which they are all contained by a latticework of the Mage-knight’s own Elements to prevent them from causing Combusting. The latticework acts as a barrier to confine the Elements into a particular area that will channel the spell before being amplified by the Titans. Inefficient precision control results in a weak latticework that could not contain the Elements properly, resulting in the Elements escaping from the area and burst out (called Combusting), causing damage to the Mage-knight. Strong magic attacks are also capable to destroying the latticework. Combusted Elements usually damage a local area, and commonly at the organ where the Elements are contained.
• Immolation
  Immolation is the most dangerous form of backlash that a Mage-knight can suffer. Immolation occurs when the Elements did not Combust, and instead, they remain in the Mage-knight’s body. The energy of those Elements would trigger a massive chain reaction in the body, causing the Mage-knight’s own Elements to excite and become volatile. The energy would become so violently reactive that the Mage-knight would burst into flame, and there is usually no hope of survival.

Spells
Spells in Astral system are cast using Elements, the refined elemental energy from the surroundings. Astral spells are usually powerful, capable of creating extensive damage or protect effectively against enemy spells. However, since Mage-knights rarely cast spells by using their own Elements, they need to draw the necessary Elements from the surroundings. This would require some time, but trained Mage-knights are able to channel their spells at faster rates. Each Mage-knight knows a set amount of Astral spells, taught to them according to the Titans they use, and cast by saying the Activation Phrase.

Well, here's a list of Astral Spells.

Spoiler for Astral Spell List and Description:

The Hounds of Artemis
Activation Phrase: “Αστραλ Ρηεια— Ηωυνδσ ωϕ Αρτεμισ”
Spell Rank: S-
Type: Melee bombardment
A powerful close range spell for the Claw Titan, Rheia, this spell consumes a large amount of Elements and unleash them in a barrage of razor-sharp gales at close range. Almost unavoidable, the spell tears at the enemy with a terrible viciousness the likeness of a hundred rampaging beasts, destroying a wide area in the process.

I'll field questions later.

There you go again.
Question 1: They don't use regular spells but they should have Linker Cores right? Correct me if I'm wrong. Hound of Artemis is wicked powerful by the description.
Question 2: The quintet looks rather overspecialized. With the exception of the fighter classes, others probably wouldn't be able to do solo missions.
Question 3: Mind listing everything that is considered an element?

@Tk: I'll be brief here since I wanna avoid straying too far away from topic.
IMO a DX10 card wouldn't be worth it right now. Its better to just let Microsoft make it become more compatible with the rest of the world, or the other way around, either works.

Yeah I do think that 250 gig is pretty small. But I don't really download stuff all that fast anyway thanks to me only having a 512Kb/s connection.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Sadist in that she enjoys watching people drown in the horrors and fears of their past. Which is why I picked certain characters with less than pleasant histories to explore upon. Fate is a gold mine at that.

Hoho...okay now I'm starting to get it. Well that is quite sadistic indeed. I'm not sure if you mentioned yet, but is she going to be an antagonist? Or is she just there to piss people off?

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Light appears brighter in dark places.

That was yours, mine was about contrasting intelligence. The dumb make the smart feel all fluffy inside. The reason for that was because of all that huha they were stirring up back then in the relationships thread.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

I have no idea how to make that natural as of now so it'll be awhile I guess.

Gen's a 45 year old dude and Katrina is a nubile teenager.

WILL NOT COMPUTE for me, especially since both of them are mine.

Gen may feel a great urge after 45 years of existence, and sexy seductress isn't helping.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

You must be touching too much of Chaos' tasty evil. That was probably straight from him.

Although the thought is very tempting

Its not my fault! His evil essence is a parasite that makes its way into people's minds.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

I smell immense potential not yet seen.

Don't...or the day will come when he breaks the character posting limit with just a chapter alone, no backlogging. *faints*

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Chaos' corruption driving at you.

It can't be help, sin is sweet after all.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Make sure you have a Contingency-plan

Don't worry about me, I'm very much single right now. Though I'll try to remember that should the day come when the status changes.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

I was hoping to use a physically younger male this time... Maybe Koji.

Does.Not.Compute. His personality is just too innocent.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Only if you want it to be

"Anta ne~...."

More 528 hit combos? Dango~dango~dango~

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Think Vita... Now think what would happen if sweet and gentle Spica goes through the same thing...

Speaking about Vita, there this image in the image thread recently of a teenager/adult version Vita, and wow she's erm...hawt!

Edit: Correction, it was the avatar and signatures request thread.

Added (Off topic): You guys just have to see this.

Spoiler for Tsukasa Daikazoku: