Version: Alpha 0.4 "Echoes of Ascension"

⚠️ Alpha Disclaimer: Just a quick reminder: we are still in early Alpha. Things might break, and the visuals will keep evolving. Don't judge the paint job too harshly while we're still building textures, models, and effects. (Seriously though, this update includes a data migration. Back up your worlds before updating.)

📖 The Grimoire & UI

• The Grimoire is finally here: Press G to open our brand-new custom UI. No more guessing what spells you have. You can browse your mastered magic, sort by school, and just drag-and-drop spells right into a custom 1-10 Magic Hotbar. (Note: The visual design of the Grimoire is still a work in progress and might change in future updates.)
• In-Game Config (O): I added a dedicated settings menu. You can now move your HUD elements wherever you want and tweak core mechanics on the fly.
• Compendium Integration: Everything you need to know is right inside the game. All of our new mechanics, recipes, and spells are now fully documented straight inside the Mahou Tsukai Compendium.

⚔️ Progression & Mechanics

• Practice Makes Perfect: Wanted more direct control over your magic progression? Now, you can craft physical scrolls and actually practice with them. Cast a scroll enough times, and the spell is burned into your Grimoire permanently.
• Ascension Ritual: Looking for a new challenge or want to push your magic further? Craft the Seal of Rebirth and perform a dangerous dual-circle ritual to rank up. It wipes your temporary spell deck, but gives you global buffs. (And don't worry, you keep all the spells you've mastered).
• Expanded Spell Pool: We're up to 61 spells in total now. I integrated 10 more classic Mahou Tsukai spells in this update (bringing the integrated total to 26), ensuring they work flawlessly with our virtual casting system.
• Title Origins: Mages now have origins. "Innate" mages get -8% mana costs, and "Ascended" mages get -8% cooldowns.
• Smart Awakening: The starting spell selection isn't purely random anymore. The system now actually looks at your level and tries to give you spells you can use right away.

✨ Visuals & Immersion

• Absolute Duel Overhaul: Completely rebuilt this from the ground up. It's now an actual immersive 3D sphere of pitch-black void with floating stars. It looks amazing.
• Annihilation Sphere: No more flat particles. It now has a dense visual core, pulsating energy shells, charging rings, and proper trails.
• Volumetric Awakening: Turned the flat awakening beam into a massive, 3D volumetric energy pillar. The color slowly shifts to reveal your destiny mid-ritual.
• Magic Echo Reworked: Rewrote this entirely because the old code was a mess. Echo now perfectly duplicates complex spells, including dual-casting Annihilation Spheres with shockwaves.
• ...and many other minor visual tweaks, animations, and improvements.

🛠️ Bug Fixes & Under the Hood

• Modular Codebase: We completely ripped apart the old Alpha 0.3 code and split it into proper modules. The mod runs way smoother and is much more stable now.
• Fixed Desyncs: Your title finally syncs properly across your HUD, the chat, and the Tab list.
• Bug Squashing: Fixed scrolls firing before they were fully charged, cleaned up vanilla particles that were ruining custom renders, and squashed those annoying ConcurrentModificationException crashes.