Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

The Academy City on the water, Rikka (otherwise known as Asterisk) is the world's largest stage for the integrated battle entertainment, "Star Wars Festival." The young boys and girls of the "Starpulse Generation" belonging to the six academies made their wishes with Shining Armaments in their hands, vying for supremacy—Amagiri Ayato is one of them.

Ayato arrived at Rikka at the invitation of the Student Council President of the Seidoukan Academy, Claudia, and right after that he incurred the wrath of the "Petalblaze Witch" Julis, and ended up having to duel her.

The greatest academy battle entertainment, begins here!

Floating Academic City Rikka A floating academy city established on a lake formed from numerous craters in the Northern Kanto Region. Shaped like a hexagon, on each side stands one of six prestigious schools. The shape of the city also gives it the formal name "Asterisk". Rikka is the stage for the world's biggest battle entertainment event, the Festa, and almost half of its inhabitants are students classified as Genestella. The center "island" is a commerce and administration district, surrounded by districts reserved for residential purposes. Although it is formally just another city of Japan, Rikka can be considered an autonomous region governed by the Integrated Enterprise Foundation. Because of this, entering Rikka requires its own set of regulations. Rikka can be accessed through several seadromes surrounding the crater lake. However, due to a lack of airports inside Rikka, boats and blimps are necessary. On the other hand, the primary modes of transportation within in the island are monorails and subway trains.

Manadite/Manadyte A special ore composed of mana in a crystalline form. It has a natural property of remembering chemical patterns when exposed to a certain amount of force. Manadytes were a material that do not exist naturally on earth, but were eventually mined from fallen meteorites during the Invertia. They are commonly used to activate Luxes, and are used in Meteoric Engineering to create industrial goods.

Invertia (lit., "meteor shower") A massive catastrophic event that happened on Earth during the 20th Century. In a span of three days and three nights, Earth was bombarded by countless meteors, causing the destruction of many major cities. As a result, the power of existing nations collapsed, and a new business agent called the Integrated Enterprise Foundation was founded. The meteorites from the Invertia are eventually discovered to have a new unknown element called mana, and science and technology development is revitalized, while a new breed of humans called Genestella were born. There are several groups that do not see any threat behind the Invertia, but because the scale of destruction during the Invertia is more massive than that of normal meteors, theories suggest that the meteors in the Invertia are not meteors at all.

Lux (lit., "shining weapon") A general term used for weapons with a manadyte core. Using the property of manadyte to remember chemical patterns, it can be used to invoke certain phenomena. Mana collected from the surroundings can be used to created a blade shaped out of light as well as ammunition. In addition, the power of such weapons are derived from mana as well.

Festa (lit., "Star Battle Festival") An inter-school fighting tournament held in the Asterisk, sponsored by the Integrated Enterprise Foundation. It spans a total of three years, composing of the tag-team battle Phoenix (Phoenix Star Battle Festival), held on summer of the first year, the team battle Gryps (Gryphon Star Battle Festival), held on autumn of the second year, and the individual tournament Lindvolus (King-Dragon Star Battle Festival), held on the winter of the third year. The rules are determined by the Stella Carta (Star Battle Charter), and victory or defeat is determined by destroying the enemy's school badge. Since the purpose of the event is for entertainment, any clear acts of brutality and attacks with the intent to kill are severely punished. The Festa is broadcast all over the world and boasts its status as the world's biggest entertainment event. In order for the Integrated Enterprise Foundation to meet its vision of economic success and development, the Festa invests more on the demands of the majority of the consumers, namely restricting the events to students, and making sure that aesthetically-pleasing participants join the events.

Ulm Manadite Term used for very high-purity manadytes. Ulm Manadytes are rarer compared to the common manadyte, and weapons that use Ulm Manadyte are called Ogre Luxes. The shape and form of Ulm Manadytes vary, and no two are the same.

Integrated Enterprise Foundation A business agent created from countless companies that rose in power during the chaotic era following the Invertia. Currently holds political power that far exceeds that of other, now collapsed, nations. Composed of six, formerly eight, companies that currently control most of the world. Each of the six academies under the Asterisk are handled by a managing parent body. Ginga manages Seidoukan Academy. EP (Epiot Pound) manages Saint Gallardsworth Academy. Jie Long manages Jie Long #7 Academy. Solnege manages Allekant Academy. Frauenlope manages Le Wolfe Academy. W&W (Warren and Warren) manages Queenvale Academy.

Ogre Lux (lit., "Pure Shining Star Weapon") A weapon that uses an Ulm Manadite. Usually hides a special ability, but requires a certain "compensation". Furthermore, the weapon itself seems to have a consciousness of its own, and cannot be used unless it has an affinity with its user. This affinity can be measured precisely. Many Ogre Luxes are owned by the Integrated Enterprise Foundation, and each school handles the distribution of such weapons, allowing students with high affinity to borrow these weapons.

Mana (lit., "all-accepting source") An unknown element that is brought to the Earth by the Invertia. It is present all around the world, and exists everywhere. Mana reacts to living things under special conditions, and can transform into phenomena or other substances when interacting with other elements.

Genestella (lit., "stellar generation") Genestella are the younger generation of humans who have been exposed to the effects of mana since birth. The Genestella has physical abilities that surpass those by older-generation humans, and they possess an aura called "celestial power". Those unusual people gifted with a link with mana are called Strega ("witches") and Dante ("magicians"). Genestella do experience some kind of discrimination from the general public, and many students come to the Asterisk for that reason.

Duel Duel is a slang term often used for isolated battles between students outside of the Festa. After naming oneself, each participant must explicitly announce their intention to fight in order for the duel to be certified. The outcome of a duel is determined as per Festa regulations, and data from the battle will be collected from the participants' school badges to the center of the Asterisk. Severe punishment is delivered if ever a violation in the Stella Carta is committed. Because of this, anyone that does not have a school badge cannot join in duels. However, fights outside duels like accidental battles or brawls still happen. These are handled by guards, who uphold the rules of the Stella Carta and arrest and appropriately punish any violators.

Rankings [terms: Named Cults (lit., "Named Ceremony Book"), Page One] As per rules by the Stella Carta for each academy to disclose information, the full names 72 of the most influential people in the Asterisk are announced. The Named Cults (lit., "Named Ceremony Book") is a name register of the top-ranking students of each academy, composing of a person's name and two of its famous nicknames. Each school has its own rules regarding change of ranking, but they generally apply a rule that allows a formal ranking battle to take place once every month. For example, an unranked student that wins over a Rank 30 student will be able to get the Rank 30 from the loser.

The outcome of a duel can affect a student's rankings. Duels against students of other academies do not affect rankings, but the reputation of the academies involves is instead put on the line. Media and other groups are informed of rankings and related events. Students that are included in the rankings are given scholarships, and are given allowances and a residence to stay in, among other amenities, especially the ones whose names are in the front of the list, called the Page Ones (lit., "Starter Twelve"), who all students yearn to be. Since the Festa is broadcast around the world, there are also fans of the event. A majority of the students in the Asterisk wants to rise in the rankings, and they focus on being active in the Festa for that reason. A prosperous life for high-ranking students after graduation is almost guaranteed, and the Integrated Enterprise Foundation promises to fulfill the wishes of the overall champion of the Festa.