Magic is a secret feature in the game. Only the most determined players in the game will ever discover a single spell or ingredient. You will not unlock greater spells or formulae through experience points or loot them from the luck of the draw within a creature (but an animal could be magical or eat something magical, which is an exception).
The magical arts are for the trained mind and for those who refuse to give up experimenting. Also, unless you are looking closely, you may not even notice the magical effect at all. This is because magical things have allowances of skill, and you may be very bad at producing the effect, or you may be close, but not close enough. With luck, your magical blunders may be remembered by your in-game counterpart. There are two basic ways that any form of magic can be used, they are either cast as a spell, or they show as a constant magical property of an object.
Physical magic includes a vast array of possibilities. It includes martial arts inspired 'secret moves' that can be unlocked by creating skills that mimic certain martial arts moves and combos. It also involves limited magical energy that can be drawn out of the body using magical items.
Verbal magic makes use of a voice/text system. It includes many dead language inspired 'secret words' such as Latin, and can be used to do any number of things.
Written magic uses the freehand (or skill) writing system. It can be lines in the sand, etches in stone, or even pen on paper. Written magic is primarily used to give normal items a bit of magic.
Ingredients in the world are harvested by actually picking them instead of opening an inventory slot and transferring. Ingredients are judged by the same standards as in real life. Creating a magic potion can be accidental or purposeful, but we must not mistake normal herbal remedies for magic. Magical ingredients can restore or deplete magical properties. They can give or take away magical properties and many other things.
This form of magic uses a combination of imagination and force of mind over the elements in order to produce an effect. All sorts of things can be done just by forcing it to happen with the mind. Examples include telekinesis, mind reading, teleportation, mind control, and many other effects.
Belief magic is similar to Will magic in that it takes a force of the imagination, but instead of wishing for something to be true, you must believe it will work. This form of magic is most effective on yourself because it will only affect the believer personally, however, with proper manipulation, it may be possible to convince others to believe things. Because this kind of magic is controlled by imagination and belief, it can prove to be very powerful, with effects such as healing, curing illness, regaining energy, and even rising from the dead.
This form of magic can be very strong. It is woven into the very essence of reality itself. Often called Tao (or Dao) Masters, mages who weild this form of magic can influence even the way the wind blows. Not only is this form of magic extremely difficult to master, it is also shrouded in mystery with much disinformation and rumors spread about how it works. Basically, luck magic works on a quota scale, which means if you get bad luck, you will get good luck later. You can also twist one person's bad luck into good luck for someone else.
Genetic magic is earned by learning magical things in the game, or having them given to you. You could accidentally make a move that produces magic, which is recorded into your DNA section. You could become a great and respected leader, and be given a powerful bonus from the devs. You could become a famous warrior and be awarded a bonus by the devs. These bonuses are often only good for one or two generations. You could also be entered into a lottery as only one small member of a huge town, and if you win, you will be awarded a bonus ability for now or later.
Magical items are normal items which are given magical abilities at
some point in time. They could be dropped from a magical creature,
etched with a magic inscription, and more.
Elemental Magic
Elemental magic is the magic that emanates
from the fusing of raw magical essence with the ancient properties of
water, earth, air, and fire. Together, these elemental magics cause the
planet earth to be alive.
Magic Gems
There are many inanimate objects that have the
ability to channel or harvest magical energies from living subjects, or
imbue their wearer with certain magical properties. The magnitude and
duration rely on the purity and amount of the substance. Gem magic is
different from alchemy because the gem is not usually used up, and by
the way it is used. There are many types of gems that do many things,
and they do even more things in combination. One possible way to use
gem magic is by using a power gem to absorb your magical energy, and
putting an intention gem next to it, followed by an elemental gem such
as a fire gem. Now you can channel your magical energy into the fire
gem and blow stuff up.
Proximity Enchantment
Most if not all objects can gain some
amount of magical essence by being near to it. The duration, intensity
and distance can vary based on the type of material the object is made
of and the type of magic that is used. For instance, nature magic has a
large impact on plants and animals and earth magic has a large impact
on minerals. For direct spells, objects will gain a strong charge, but
will only contain a few uses. For indirect spells, objects become more
magical, such as a wizard's robes or hat giving a nonmagical wearer
some magical ability because a wizard's magic aura imbued the clothing
during his life.
Mixed magic is the most robust of the magical arts. You may wish to
write down a fire spell onto a paper, coat it in a fire enhancing
potion, add to your weapon or body, do a fire move, and say a fire
spell simultaneously to make a huge ball of flame.
Complementary Effects
As mentioned before, casting spells
can give objects some small weak traces of power from the spell. What
wasn't mentioned is the fact that such items do not only get magical
power from the caster, but they also work to make the mage's spells
stronger as well. This creates a multiplier effect, and makes such
objects as wizards hats and wizards wands and rings and many other
things very useful to own.