The Philosopher’s Stone existed before the fall of Olympus and became the basis for what the sea curses are, but with restrictions.
- Restricted Transmutation - The absorption of a sea curse completely restructures the body on a fundamental degree, turning physical matter of a sentient creature into magic energy (which is functionally a separate substance than matter). This also causes the the curse user to become an seemingly infinite wellspring of magic at what seems to be no cost (I don’t recall curse users needing to eat, drink, or sleep to stay alive, so maybe the curse is using either small portions of he soul of the curse user (long shot) or the spirit energy of the curse user, which is probably deeply intertwined with the magic energy of a curse (reasonable), the exchange rate of soul/spirit energy to magic energy is probably high enough for it to seem infinite)
- Question of creation and greater infinities - It’s stated that the blast Acheron whiffed costed him multiple curses, removing them from his arsenal. So the only feasible way to fire an infinity at someone, is to have an output that’s a greater infinity. But the act of using the entirety of a curse in a spell probably has a long term impact depending on the intent of the spell.
- Consequences of removal - There are a plethora of consequences of having a curse. Immortality, a change in emotion, and the replacement of their original body. The last consequence stated probably has the most significance, as it brings in the question of what happens to the spirit energy of a curse user. From what it seems, spirit energy defines what is and isn’t living. Seeing that the body of curse users are comprised of magic energy which replaced the original matter, this process is likely to replace or displace the spirit energy to create a mimicry of what the curse user’s original body is, technically classifying them, as not living creatures, more akin to elementals from general fantasy media. This creates a dire problem when the curse is removed from a curse user. We from state Beringer is in when we meet him face to face, he is no longer made of magic energy, and is rapidly deteriorating. If the spirit energy is exchanged or displaced for magic energy in a curse user, than the magic energy of an ex-curse user would attempt the functions of spirit energy on matter, which would diminish magic energy over time as it attempts to keep the body alive without the healing properties of spirit energy. This would give an ex-curse user some time before their the wound from the curse extraction causes their death. In the case that magic or potions are used to heal their wounds while an ex-curse user is still “alive” after extraction, the magic energy demand would be steeper as a portion of the magic energy that’s absorbed is automatically repurposed to keeping the ex-curse user alive. If successfully healed, the ex-curse user would likely be unable to use magic energy as it’s constantly being used as a form of life support, which also drastically slows down aging. Due to the constant drain of magic energy, ex-curse user would need an external source of magic to continue remaining “alive”. If they were to ever run out of magic energy, they would begin to rapidly age into dust. The only way to break this cycle is either by staying alive long enough for the spirit energy of the ex-curse user to regenerate/reconstitute or the use of a relic.
- Death by overexertion and the aftermath - Normally, magic users when they expend all their magic energy, they become fatigued and are unable to cast magic for a period of time. But this is a fundamentally different situation for curse users as they are comprised of the magic energy they use when casting. So somehow, if curse user manages to have an output that’s a higher infinity than the generation of magic energy, they would effectively be turning their entire being into a spell, and by their intent, temporarily turning a curse into a different spell. This obviously would cause the death of the curse user, leaving no remains, but what would happen to the curse would vary based on what happened. Regardless of what happened to curse, the curse will eventually reconstitute slowly over time as the magic energy of the curse would reject other types of magic (except for raw magic energy) and attract the fragments of the curse’s magic energy because of the permanent purpose imbued into the magic energy of curses by Prometheus.
Anyways here are some extras (or things that aren’t explicitly stated)
- Philosopher stones can convert matter into magic energy and vice versa, technically making them the perfect counter measure against curse users when affixed to weapons with the intent of turning magic energy into what ever it’s mimicking
- Mutations can be prevented or controlled with enough proficiency in spirit energy, potentially preventing insanity
- The process of becoming an Atlantean eventually squeezes the soul out of the body, effectively making them a souless husk
- The Order of the Aesir are trying to find a way to take/forcefully use the power of legacies to creating something with godlike power (maybe a machine god like the Numidium, or just transfering the power to obtain an authority over something)
- The blast that caused the Fracture was an intentional counter measure (incase Acheron missed). the blast wiped out a majority of humanity, providing ample material for dead revival magic, and created the dark sea, which is the perfect deterrent and hinderance towards humanity
- The Dark sea is actually a zone “spell” and most of the things that happens inside it is intentional
- The ingredients to make ambrosia can be found in the dark sea, and depending on the quality and accuracy, it can temporarily or permanently grants the ability to use a small amount of spirit energy
- Dark sea travel is commonly done in collaboration with kingdoms
- The gods took on various forms in the past which humanity built various depictions on, causing different religions and pantheons to exist up until the fall of Olympus which revealed that they were all the same few gods, explaining why different cultures just use the greek names
- If enough spirit energy is imbued into an object, it will gain sentience (magic objects included)
