Kala’s Gate Magic
Brief History
Kala’s Gate Magic came to existence after Katin (The founder of the faction) stumbled upon the sacred pool during his travels in the western desert of Mastoperia. Katin swam in the pool, thinking it was another hot spring in the middle of the desert. When he fell a sleep next to the water source, he saw the guards of the gates in his dream that night and every night for the following two years where they taught him about their magic and how to access it. Katin will go on to become the strongest user of Gate Magic, and will teach it to his descendants, creating a faction of powerful masters.
About
Kalangous draw power from an alternate realm known as the Gates of Magic. Children of Kala are baptized on their 2nd birthday by drinking holy water from the sacred pool, which in turn unlocks their ability to access the Gates of Magic. However, access to the alternate realm alone doesn’t give them power. Kalangous must train hard to open each of the magical gates and use their unique ability.
In total, their are ten Magic gates, numbered from 1 to 10, each gives the user a different power. Users cannot learn to open a new gate until they master the one before.
Only the first five gates are known to the public. Gates six and seven are kept hidden by the council of Kala. Knowledge of the last three gates was lost overtime. and the current generation of Kalangous don’t know of their existence.
The Awakening
Baptized Kalangous children experience The Awakening at the age of twenty, at the exact moment of their birth. When the Awakening starts, their eyes turn completely black before they start to experience a level of pain in their veins that gradually rises to excruciating levels when it reaches their heart. That’s when they start to feel their hearts literally break in half. Kalangous must dip their body in the Sacred pool within a full day after the Awakening begins. If they don’t, they die. If they do, the seal of magic is printed on the inside of their hearts as the holy water puts it back together. And from that moment forward, they start paying the price for their magic.
Using the Magic
- To access any of the gates, users must form a fist with their hand, leaving only their thumb straightened, and using it to draw an imaginary number of the corresponding gate above their chest.
- Users can only access one gate at a time with limited exceptions for the higher gates.
- A 30 minutes interval or what is known as 3000 heartbeats is required between the opening of one gate and another. Meaning, a user can open a gate and use it for 30 minutes or more then close it to open a different gate instantly, or would have to wait for the allotted time to pass if they were to close the gate they were using before the 30 minutes are over, even if they were going to reopen the same gate.
The Price of Gate Magic
Gate Magic affects its users in two different ways; the first is more vague, and with a strong well and a few simple techniques, it can be put under control. The second, however, is clear and will always happen. Both effects come in place after the Awakening.
- The first effect: While drawing power from the gates has no effect on a user’s physical abilities, it still takes a toll on their emotions. The gates will heighten the emotions of those who use them. As a result, Kalangous are usually tense people and can easily take everything to the extreme. They fall in love quickly and with intensity. they feel the pulse of every moment and its importance, and they see the world through a unique lens. However, the gates favor dark emotions and will sometimes drive their anger and fear among other feelings to mind crippling levels. Heightened emotions will reach their peek either after using the gates for an extended period of time (more than the user usually does) or when the user experiences a sudden change of inner feelings. This sudden pulse of emotions can be controlled by taking a long nap and using breathing techniques to calm the person down. Kalangous are also advised to find a way that helps them understand the regular stream of their emotions so they can tell the difference between their normal and troubled states.
- The Voice: When emotions are suddenly heightened, they result into what Kalangous call ‘The Voice.’ The Voice speaks a single command in their mind that they feel compelled to follow unless they use the breathing and sleeping techniques which can be hard to think about when they reach that state and more often than not, need to be forced by external factors. Ignoring the voice is one of the hardest things a Kalangou can do and requires great resolve and magnificent self-control.
- The second effect: When the seal of magic appears on a user’s heart at the awakening, it gains control over their heartbeat. From that point forward, every time a master opens any of the gates, they lose 3000 heartbeats of their lives (An equivalent of 30 minutes) whether they used the power of the gate for one minute or half an hour. If they were to use the gate for more than half an hour, they will lose an extra 100 beats for every minute of usage. This means that a user will on average lose the exact same time they spent using the magic from their lives. As a result, the average life span in Kala falls between 50 and 60 years of age while it goes up to a 100 in other factions.
The Gates of Magic
Gate One
Guard: Hagor
The First gate gives its user the ability to manipulate any object in their surrounding. A simple wave of the hand while the user is thinking about what they want to do is enough to control the object.
Mastery over this gate, like all gates happens gradually and by passing through check points. First, the user learns how to manipulate the movement of one object, then multiple at the same time, passing by breaking something apart to the molecule level that it appears as if it disappeared, and to the point of being able to put a shattered object back together even without prior knowledge of its original shape.
Complete mastery over this gate means that the user can use all its power at once. However, the level of mastery differs based on training, stamina, and full understanding of the gate’s power.
Casual mastery is accepted for users to pass to the next gate.
Gate Two
Guard: Latya
The Second gate gives its masters the power to control the elements such as Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, and Lightning. Similar to the first gate, a wave of the hand along with one’s thoughts are enough to control the desired element. In order to control an element, it must be present in their surroundings.
Well-trained and high level masters of the gate can sense the presence of elements up to fifty meters in all directions even if they couldn’t see it, while entry level masters can only use their sight to identify an element.
As usual, mastery is gradual with Earth being the first element a user learns how to control, and lightning being the hardest of the elements as it requires speed and precision.
Casual mastery is accepted for users to pass to the next gate.
Gate Three
Guard: Itala
The Third gate is similar to the first gate in that it gives the user control over objects. However, with this gate, the user can only conjure objects that didn’t exist and not control anything in their surroundings. For example, a master who opens the third gate can see a teapot and conjure one that’s identical to it, controlling their creation in anyway they see fit, but they would never be able to control the original pot with their magic using this gate.
Conjuring objects can extend to anything not elemental related. Yet, the material of the object can make it harder to manifest and control. Wood is the easiest material to conjure and control, with iron being a close second. Therefore, Kalangous use wood as a method of transportation over a long distance because they can easily conjure a plank of wood and sit on it while using their magic to make it fly and lead them to their destination. Voradium metal is the hardest to conjure and requires a genius level of mastery.
Casual mastery is accepted for users to pass to the next gate.
Gate Four
Guard: Aramil
The Fourth gate is also similar to the second one as it gives its masters an elemental power. But it works like the third gate since users cannot control surrounding elements but only conjure them. This means that if a user conjures a ball of fire and then sees a secondary fire source, they will only be able to control their own creation. And while their own conjured fire won’t hurt them even if they wrapped it around their body, the second fire will damage their bodies the way fire normally does.
A master of this gate can manifest the elements in any way they see fit as long as it stays related to their body upon manifestation. They can bring forth an element above their palms or wrap their body or part of it with it. And while the elements will follow the direction of their thoughts, arm control adds more balance and precision, allowing the master to direct attacks with more ease.
Elemental progression works the same way as the second gate with Earth being the easiest to conjure and control, and lightning being the hardest.
Casual mastery is accepted for users to pass to the next gate.
Gate Five
Guard: Shavir
The Fifth gate allows Kalangous to tap into their inner energy and use it at well. While most gates require extensive training, movement, and awareness of one’s surroundings, the fifth is mastered by meditating and reaching into a person’s inner energy. This energy can then be manifested in any shape or form. It can be used as a shield, turned to smoke, or even manipulated as the first gate by transforming the energy to solid, functional objects.
The only limit to what a master can do with their inner energy is their own imagination, with some masters managing to turn it to massive destruction weapons. The amount of energy a user can produce is tied directly to their stamina, resolve, and power. But it can be increased with training.
Complete mastery is required for users to pass to the next gate.
Gate Six
Guard: Davil
The Sixth gate gives access to powerful creatures, human-like figures with Jackal-like heads on black hardened skin. A master can call upon up to 12 Jackals at a time to assist them in battle, and they can control the creatures through a set of commands tied to their hands. They can also choose to give the creatures freedom in battle to act on their own.
Gate Six allows the user to access one more gate at the same time as long as it is lower in rank. Masters can use the other gate they open simultaneously with the sixth, and their Jackals will also be able to use that gate on their own. However, the number of heartbeats required to use the magic doubles when using 2 gates at the same time.
When sixth gate masters die, they become Jackals themselves and can be called upon by a living gate six master. Therefore, the number of Jackals in a master’s reserve is tied directly to the number of dead gate six masters. If there’s more than 12 in the reserve, when a Jackal dies in battle, another will instantly appear, and it will be stronger and with better magic control. However, when a Jackal dies in battle, it can never be used by that master again.
Complete mastery is required for users to pass to the next gate.
Gate Seven
Guard: Vola
The Seventh gate can only be opened if the sixth was in use. And even though it’s a different gate and requires practice to be mastered, it doesn’t follow regular gate rules. When accessed, it doesn’t count as an extra gate and has no additional toll on a master’s heartbeat.
This gate gives the user a single power, a chance to escape death. If a user dies with some of their Jackals on the battle field, they have a five minute window to cheat death and come back to life by sacrificing one of their Jackals instead.
However, this will only work as long as there are Jackals around and not with those in the reserve.
Complete mastery is required for users to pass to the next gate.
Gate Eight
Guard: Zakana
The Eighth gate of magic gives its masters healing powers, allowing them to instantly heal anyone but themselves. To do that, a master needs to open the gate and hold the hand of the person in question while thinking about what they want to heal exactly. This can also work for emotional and psychological damage where the master frees someone’s inner pain and sufferings.
When a master heals someone, they lose even more time from their own life. Each wound and type of pain is translated into a number of heartbeats that the master pays in exchange, with harder wounds demanding more heartbeats.
This is one of the lost gates that the current generation of Kalangous have no idea of its existence.
Casual mastery is enough for users to start learning the following gate.
Gate Nine
Guard: Fiora
The Ninth gate gives its users psychic powers, allowing its masters to see into someone’s soul and figure out if it was genuinely good or bad. High level masters can also take control of someone’s mind and force them to behave in anyway they see fit, with the victim believing that all their actions are their own.
Controlling another mind instantly triples the number of heartbeats required to use the gate, and the counter keeps rolling as long as the master is in control of someone else.
The gate also gives minor powers such as being able to tell if someone is lying, and knowing the true intentions of those they question. However, this can only work as long as the gate is active.
This gate has also been forgotten for centuries.
Complete mastery is required for users to pass to the next gate.
Gate Ten
Guard: Rayan
The Tenth and final gate gives its masters the ability to free themselves from the price of magic. By using its power, a user can reverse all the heartbeats they lost during their existence, and even go as far as extending their own lives to immortality if they so chose.
For the user to regain their lost beats and/or prolong their life, they must steal the heartbeats of someone else. With mastery over this gate, users can see the destined life for everyone in case of no interruption, and they can steal the entire life or just few years. This is done by cradling a person’s hand and connecting the foreheads while the master steals the number of heartbeats they think of, and they can do it without declaring their intention.
To master this gate a user need only understand their true self and accept both light and darkness within them, knowing who they truly are in their core, and the power is free for them to use if they chose to.
This gate is also forgotten from the memory of Mastoperia’s modern world.