Editing Slayers (section)

==Magic==
Magic is a force that permeates the world of Slayers. The Sorcerers' Guild is a body of spellcasters who work together in various fields, whether it's alchemy, chimeras, or archaeology. Some sorcerers, such as Lina, earn a traveling license, giving them permission to move from city to city and perform tasks with magic. Theoretically, anyone can become a sorcerer, not just in terms of donating to get special training, but also by learning and studying independently.

[[File:Volume_16_-_Dragon_Slave.jpeg|200px|thumb|left|"I'm angry! Angry about ELVES!!"]]

To perform magic, one must first know the Chaos and Power Words. Chaos Words are recitations that invoke the spell being used. Generally speaking, Black magic invokes demonic forces, Shamanism invokes nature and Mother Earth, and White and Holy magic invokes the powers of God. Chaos Words are difficult to master, not only because of memorization, but also because they can be interrupted while in a battle. If someone lacks the ability to remember or the ability to concentrate, it severely limits their spellcasting ability. Chaos Words can be recited mentally, but this is much-more difficult than verbal incantation. Power Words, meanwhile, are the actual names of the spells being used. After the power of a spell has been built using the Chaos Words, the Power Words fully releases that power, letting a spell "fire".

However, rote memorization isn't enough. Every person has natural "capacities", a "pool" and a "bucket". A pool capacity is a person's maximum magical potential and represents their personal stamina. A person with a larger pool capacity can cast magic longer than someone with a smaller one. However, having a large pool isn't enough to make someone a powerful sorcerer. Some people can tap into a vast amount of their power all at once, while others can only do smaller portions at a time. This ability to tap is called a bucket capacity, as the visualization of scooping water out of a pool with a bucket helps explain the magic system within Slayers. Lina Inverse is known to have both an extremely large pool and bucket capacity, being one of the only humans to cast Dragon Slave, the strongest spell within Black magic, and to do so repeatedly without becoming exhausted.

There are four known schools of magic, and one "theorized" school of magic.

===Magic Schools===

[[File:Volume_3_-_Mega_Brand.png|200px|thumb|left|roll:20]]

'''Black Magic''' draws its powers from the dark, destructive, negative energies embodied by demons. It is an offensive style, most useful for delivering powerful magical attacks with a side in curses. It is the most useful anti-demon school known on the continent of Lina and her crew, because it tends to attack physical and astral bodies at the same time. However, that makes it very subject to nerfing; if the demon you're blasting is stronger than the demon you're drawing energy from, then that spell's not going to do anything. Likewise, spells drawn from a particular demon will do all of jack squat if you cast them ''on'' that very same demon. If a demon is ever permanently destroyed, all black magic spells drawn from them will never work again.

'''Holy Magic''' is the polar opposite of Black Magic, drawing its power from the positive energies embodied by the gods. The characters know very little about this kind of magic because it's been lost on their continent for generations thanks to the Mazoku Barrier. In the Outer Realms magic itself has dwindled, becoming virtually a lost art. Almost every magically skilled individual was drafted for the ancient war that created the Mazoku Barrier, leaving all the mages stuck inside and the non-mages stuck outside. It presumably has similar abilities to White Magic, but with vastly more potent demon-killing spells.

'''White Magic''' is a lesser form of Holy Magic mixed with aspects of Astral Shamanism. It focuses on curative and protective spells, healing injuries and trying to keep people safe. Amusingly, the various temples don't know White Magic on their own. Instead they have to request spellcasters from the Sorcerers' Guild to teach their acolytes how to perform Healing and Exorcism. The temples are the biggest donors to the Guild of any business.

[[File:Volume_1_-_Refining_Gemstones.png|200px|thumb|left|Magic can also be used for alteration and transmutation.]]

'''Shamanism''' is a form of [[elementalism]] that draws its power from the five elements; Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit. It's the most well-rounded and utilitarian of schools, with lots of spells for attack, defense, and general purposes. Earth Shamanism focuses on manipulating earth and metal, such as throwing giant rocks at people, causing spontaneous eruptions under them, or creating protective walls. Air Shamanism grants flight, razor sharp wind projectiles, lightning bolts and protective barriers. Fire Shamanism burns the shit out of things. Water Shamanism can manipulate water or hurl icy blasts, and is useful for countering Fire Shamanism. Spirit Shamanism is more commonly referred to as Astral Shamanism, as A: all shamanism spells call upon spirits, and B: its spells focus on manipulating the Astral Plane. This makes it the only branch of Shamanism that can hope to affect demons, with its Ra Tilt spell being considered as powerful as the Dragon Slave. It should be noted that while Astral Shamanism cannot physically harm a human, it does directly assault their spirit. While a Ra Tilt cannot kill a person, it will leave them unconscious for quite some time.

'''Chaos Magic''' is an unexplored and given name to two of Lina's spells, the "Ragna Blade" and the "Giga Slave". No real research has been done on this school - as far as history can tell only Lina herself has ever cast these spells. In the anime, however, a race of dragons created something similar by combining black magic with holy magic. Unlike other Black Magic, these spells draw upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares Herself; if She gets annoyed by the caster, She may wind up [[Lamentations of the Flame Princess|''wiping out the entire campaign world'']]. Lina learned Giga Slave after reading a partial Claire Bible manuscript, and figured it was only a more-powerful version of the Dragon Slave. The first time she cast it, it killed everything inside of a lake and polluted its waters. She developed the Ragna Blade by studying the complete Claire Bible, creating it to have a less dangerous "super spell" to rely on after she learned how dangerous the Giga Slave was. Regardless, she has had too many life-threatening adventures to be able to pause and study this theoretical field.