Answering my fifty-fourth question! Thank you  DreamTanker for asking!

Aki: "Strap in for a huge explanation.."

Unfortunately, Akire isn't the most knowledgeable when it comes to such questions. Sure she knows how to train and throw out some magic; but she's not good at the whole history aspect of it. In general though, most folks don't know much about Stones, so you can forgive Aki a little. [Aki: "Fuck you."]

Magic usage was seen as evil or at least generally unaccepted until around the start of the modern era (~140 years prior to the start of the comic time.) Before that however, there did exist groups, towns, and even a full city of magic using wolves many centuries ago. Whether an individual, or a city though, they were seen as outcasts and generally excluded from all interactions with other wolves. After the fall of the magic city, most of the magic abilities they had learned were lost and the continent was without any real knowledge of magic or how to properly use it. Since then there have been those who would study magic; but, again, they were seen as outcasts and generally stayed away from the public and what knowledge they did learn would be lost.

At around the start of the current era (Sraik Modern Era), and after having visited most of the land Sraik had acquired during their expansion and reign, the future King (Evan) decided in addition to his proposed plans to unify Sraik under his rule also decided to openly accept magic after having seen the benefits it could bring. Thus, it was then that magic would finally be examined, learned, and improved upon. It was he, Evan, who created the Generals and their rankings; albeit a slightly more simpler version than what they have today. The Generals were actually intended to be the ones who would further improve the knowledge for whichever title they held. (Magic General would advance the knowledge of Magic and it's training.)

But back more towards the question: So Magic has only been studied for roughly 140 years at this point; but also, the country has gone through much change, a couple of wars, and inner quarrels (especially at the start of the era), so that impeded the study of magic at times. (And when your current Magic General doesn't really care about progressing magic for the past 4 or 5 years...) [Aki: "HEY! SHUT IT!"] SO their knowledge of Magic really isn't the best still. About the stones though (which is what I was trying to get at), plain and simple, they just don't know a whole lot or really WHY the stones exist or how they form; they generally just find them and have a rough idea of where to look.. Which is why I'M here to actually explain.
Stones are the result of the 5 beings which created the universe (I made a little flash explaining it on deviantArt about 4 years ago.. woof.) SO, when the Creators formed and made the world and then each added their own "piece" to the world that also, as a byproduct, created magic and stones since they left their "essence" if you want to think of it like that. So, with their magic floating and existing all around the world, stones can be created from it. Stones are created via a high concentration of a certain element in a small space. For example, Fire Stones are generally found in or around volcanoes, Air Stones are a little harder to find but can be found in windy areas, tops of mountains, or sometimes deserts, Water Stones are easily found in oceans, lakes, or streams, and Earth Stones are generally found in or around mountains or deep underground. As for White Stones, those are the most rare and special since they contain the properties of all 4 other Stones and output a large more amount of power than normal Stones. In the current comic world they definitely don't know much about them; but they're actually formed by the use of magic itself. Back to the history lesson above, in the Magical City that once existed, there formed a gigantic White Stone in the center of the city from so much magic use. During the city's destruction, the stone was broken and that's actually where a good number of White Stones currently in use come from, just scattered across the lands. Black Stones are a complete mystery, they contain the properties of all 4 Stones like white stones, but they're generally small and don't output nearly as much power as even a normal stone; so they're considered useless outside of certain situations.

Stones are created by "pulling in" the element they are surrounded in and that's how they get their size; it takes a long time for a Stone to form, which is why many are small. They can keep growing of course, even if taken out of their creation spot; but it becomes a lot harder for them to gain any size (since, of course, they're not surrounded by their element.) And also, a Stone can only grow if it is at it's max capacity of "Stone Power", as in, it hasn't been used and is back to the max finite amount of power it can store. So essentially, it's growing because it is still "absorbing" it's element, but also needs to expand to accommodate this.
Stones have a finite amount of power they can store at one time which is dependent on their size. Stones that have been used for magic can replenish their supply naturally; but the amount of time it takes to fully recharge depends on variables and if they're near their element (in the case of normal stones.) White Stones replenish quickly in comparison because they recharge with any/all the other elements, which is another reason they're quite powerful. But things can help speed up the process; yes, you can stick a depleted Water Stone in a barrel of Water and it will recharge faster; because it's being surrounded by it's element. (Though doing this won't recharge instantly, the stone still has to draw in the element.)

As for if they can be processed further? Not really. They're simply chunks of magical energy, not much more you can do with that. They can be affixed to things like staves or cut and inserted into rings for ease of use, but not much more than that (though a Stone's potential output is related to how large it is, so cutting it down to fit within a ring would reduce it's power.) Actually, another strange property of them is that if they are cut the small line in the center will rearrange itself and if a shard doesn't have a line it will create one. I guess you could "smith" it into a shape? But stones are generally small anyways, so you won't be making a huge weapon out of them. Also, they can still break easily (at least if you were trying to use a big one as a sword or something), so it's not like you could use it to fight with. As for smelting, again, it's just a chunk of energy, not really going to melt.

For the Hybrid Stones part of the question. No, you cannot splice stones together. But you could hold the two stones and create magic from them as long as you have the skill and knowledge to do so. (So yes, you could hold a Fire and Water Stone and shoot out scalding water, or steam or whatever; would depend on what they're wanting and skill.) However, in a little addition to that, you wouldn't need a fire stone to make hot water (or cold) as you can naturally change the temperature a certain amount (though again, you'd need the skill to do so); but it would be much easier, yes, to use a Fire Stone's power to quickly heat up the water that you create with the Water Stone.

As for first stone ever used? That's something that would be so long ago, no one would have the information~

Aki: "Gods, that's a lot of info.."
Me: "Yeah, I've been typing it out for over an hour now.. Most of this is new info, so I figured I'd get it all correct."
Aki: "No one's gonna read that ya know."
Me: "I know, it's also partly for me, so I have a place I can come back to and reference later on."
Aki: "Of course.."
Me: "Hopefully I answered the questions and didn't miss anything." ^^;

Please feel free to keep asking any of my characters just about any question!

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