Magic

Magic is a primordial energy that is spread across the Aether and all of its Realms. There are many forms of magic and it has been studied extensively by thousands of scholars over thousands of years, yet its true limits and all of its uses have yet to be found and documented.

Forms
Magic has, theoretically, an infinite number of types and forms. Here are some of the ones that are known to exist.

Runic Alphabet
The Runic Alphabet was originally devised by the Woven in the year 1046. It is a series of symbols that, as far as anyone can tell, squishes and compresses magic into itself, with each shape having different effects. This has led to the creation of a great many things, from kettles with a heating rune to lifeforms as well, such as the Runics.

Spoken Language
Magic can also be expressed through spoken word. This is more common among elves than other races such as Araki. If certain sounds are made in conjunction with each other with a few vague hand movements, magic can be manipulated. There are uses for this, mainly combat although there are more domestic uses too. There is a subset of this form of magic, where some bards have created something similar. The bardic form involves rhyme and pacing while only saying some of the necessary words. It's unknown why this phenomena occurs.

Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgy is a type of magic that is close to the idea of alchemy. It is a mixture of both science and magic. It uses tools to harness magic without Runes nor speaking. It can cause artificial infusion. It works by having an understanding of the object, its function, purpose, appearance, etc. and then infusing it with liquified magic. This causes an instability in the object, making it easy to morph and change entirely. As of the year 2355, it is illegal to practice this on living creatures outside of the Raxian Empire.

Unconfirmed Forms
Magic has been studied a lot over the past millennia, but several types have never been studied as much as the above ones. The ones below may or may not exist and there is little to no information available on them.
 * Belief - The idea is the more people believe, the more real it becomes.
 * Dancing - Dancing can cause magic to be expressed. Unlikely to really exist.
 * Elemental - The idea is the elements can be used without Runes, thaumaturgy or speaking.
 * Riftgates - Although known to exist, studies on Riftgates are few and far between.
 * Wish - Supposedly only known by the Djinns of Raxus, they can make wishes come true. Only tertiary sources available on the matter.

Theory
Since magic is mysterious, people have come up with millions of theories, likely or far fetched, to explain it. So below is the most common belief.

Elements
Magic is comprised of elements according to A New Perspective on Magic. It goes that magic is a combination of all the eight elements; fire, plant, earth, water, air, ice, necromancy and metal. It is thought to require a delicate balance between the strength of each element. The author stated that his theory was mainly inspired by how all of these elements can be interacted with in the main forms of magic and so there must be a correlation between these elements and magic.