Interlude:
The Náv Kingdom and the Saints
THE NÁV KINGDOM was a mid-sized country at the western reach of the continent. The Arteaga Empire, which held a lock in the northeast, was the biggest superpower. There were about ten small- or medium-sized countries (Náv included) dispersed across the rest of the land.
Oral legend had it that Náv was founded by the Spirit Lord. He fell in love with a human girl, who then bore the child that started the dynastic line. For this reason, Náv was loved by the spirits, many of whom chose to reside within the kingdom’s borders.
The forests and seas, meanwhile, were home to many monsters. Battles against either those monsters or an enemy nation were often decided by whether one had access to healing magic or not.
Generally, knights had to rely on healing potions, but it took quite a while for them to mend a serious wound. The injured had no choice but to remove themselves from the battle entirely. This was all very self-obvious logic, but the saints—wielders of healing magic—made this unnecessary, for they could patch up injuries at a blisteringly fast speed compared to the potions.
The downside was that healing magic required an incredible amount of magical energy. The spells required a different form of casting than attack magic, which meant that a single use would deplete the average caster’s reserves entirely. In order to make up for this, every saint formed a pact with the spirits. This would allow them to convert the mana in the air into energy, giving them roughly ten times more capacity for healing spells.
The spirits only ever responded to women, but they were guaranteed to form a pact if asked. Every saint with a pact had a sigil on the back of their hand to show for it. Because the spirits never conversed, mutual understanding was impossible on a finer level, leaving a great deal of mystique to the process.
But some things were for certain: Every spirit took on an adult human form, and they exclusively formed pacts with grown women. The spirits themselves also varied greatly in terms of strength, with the most capable ones favoring red-haired saints.
By loving, respecting, and treasuring the spirits, the saints were allowed to call upon their power. And by doing so, they could heal wounds, cure illnesses, create healing potions for minor injuries, and even raise the dead.
Only the saints were capable of wielding this miraculous magic.