Crest

"Crest" (紋章, Monshō) is a mark which acts as the deciding factor in defining the nature of Magic that a person is capable of utilizing. A Crest is engraved on the back of the hand of a person and is divided into four known types based on the shape of the Crest. Only Humans are born with Crest, while other creature like Dragons or Demons don't possess Crests but are still able to freely utilize Magic.

First Crest
"First Crest" (第一紋, Dai Ichi Mon) also referred as the "Crest of Creation", is a mark which excels at creation of armory and Enchantment Magic. In battle, it is mainly a Support class with very limited combat abilities, thus considered as the weakest of the four Crest in combat. It also has a low growth rate, further limiting the capabilities of the user with this Crest. But when comparing its ability to create armory, material and information processing, magic manipulation, Support and Enchantment Magic capabilities. It is the best in class, with no other Crest being able to achieve the level as the First Crest user.

In the past 5000+ years ago, while a First Crest user was needed in a party as an aid because of their production and support abilities, but they were not treated as a fighting force, and First Crest users were usually looked down upon.

But after the collapse of the Old Civilization, around 5000+ years later, in the Current Era, the First Crest users are considered to be the strongest and the Crest being referred as the "Crest of Glory" (栄光紋, Eikō Mon), and given heavy preferential treatment in almost any situation. This had happened because of lack of information, degradation and misunderstanding of Magical theories, along with the decline of the use of "Wordless Magic" and heavy focus on "Incantation Magic", which had reduced the capabilities of the other Crest users. The main cause of all this is the manipulation of information and knowledge by the surviving Demons, after the collapse of the Old Civilization, in order to weaken the Humans and make it easy for them to eradicate them when they felt like.

Second Crest
"Second Crest" (第二紋, Dai Ni Mon) also referred as the "Crest of Might", is a mark which excels at the use of long range high powered magical attacks. While hard to train at first, but once a user trains enough, then can pretty much turn into a heavy magical artillery. Though generally it has slow firing-rate and limited ability to handle big groups of opponents, but it makes up for that by using high-powered spells which has the ability to easily decimate the target. Out of all the weapons, a Second Crest user would prefer a Bow rather than a Sword, as it helps negate the slower firing-rate somewhat along with given better penetrating abilities, when used with appropriate spells.

In the Current Era, it is referred as the "Crest of Standard" (常魔紋, Jōma Mon), though during the Old Civilization 5000+ years ago, it was one of the more preferred Crest for its long range high power output.

Third Crest
"Third Crest" (第三紋, Dai San Mon) also referred as the "Crest of Rapid Fire", is a mark which excels at the consecutive magical attacks at a long range, but with a lower power output. Though initially the user is only able to produce light and some ranged magic attacks, but after sufficient training, they can take on large group weaker enemies at once with their rapid fire abilities, making them ideal for group control or sweeping enemies during a battle over a long range.

In the Current Era, it is referred as the "Crest of Lesser" (小魔紋, Shōma Mon), mainly because of heavy emphasis on Incantation Magic, which decreases rapid fire capabilities of the Crest user considerable.

Fourth Crest
"Fourth Crest" (第四紋, Dai Yon Mon) also referred as the "Crest of Close Combat", is a mark which is more specialized towards battle, and has the same firepower as the "Second Crest" user and similar rapid firing capabilities as the "Third Crest" user (though at a much shorter range). Though they have the limitation of being proficient at close-range combat only, and usually having hard time dealing with ranged foes. Fourth Crest users are also proficient at using short-range Barrier Magic capable of protecting themselves and the people around in the immediate vicinity, along with Detection Magic used for scouting with high accuracy. They are also able to utilize mana and conserve stamina more proficiently than the other Crest users, because of the Crest nature of being a battle oriented. Because Fourth Crest is proficient only in close-range combat, their ideal weapon is something like a Sword, and a user of this Crest usually learns Swordsmanship to boost their combat abilities.

In the past 5000+ years ago, a Fourth Crest user considered as the strongest in battle and the Crest users were even feared by Demons, who were usually weak at close-combat.

But in the Current Era, it is referred as the "Crest of Failure" (失格紋, Shikkaku Mon), and is heavily discriminated in the society. This had happened because of lack of information, degradation and misunderstanding of Magical theories, along with the decline of the use of "Wordless Magic" and heavy focus on "Incantation Magic", which had reduced the capabilities of the Crest users. The main cause of all this is the manipulation of information and knowledge by the surviving Demons, after the collapse of the Old Civilization, because of their fear of the Fourth Crest users abilities, and to weaken the Humans and make it easy for them to eradicate them when they felt like.

Trivia

 * Matthias Hildesheimer is the only known Human, who had managed to get a different Crest, but in order to achieve that he had to reincarnate himself.