Yes, there are mages and priest even before the red stone. Let's just say, the abilities they've got from the red stone are a lot stronger than mages and priest. Since mages can only control one element while Yuder can control all without any problem
Uhhh its actually gonna be explained waayyyyyy later but yes, there are 3 power running in the world. divine power, magic and superpower that come after the red stone. The reason why the ml's power is kinda unstable is because he hold all three power
There are four power systems in play in this universe. Swordmasters use mana. Sorcerers use magic. Those blessed (some are in the Church, but not all) use holy power. These 3 are all different and have been around for a long time (there's more to their history, but that would be a spoiler). Suddenly the Red Stone fell and Awakening came to be, as a fourth power. It's pretty new, at this point in time it's only existed for a couple of years and people don't fully know how it works yet.
When he uses fire and water it's technically noy "fire and water magic" but "controlling water and fire through awakened power". Like, you could technically use mana as a swordmaster to launch a wind attack, but you still wouldn't de using wind magic. They called him a liar because sorcerers limit themselves to only one element because magic of different elements can crash one against each other and is thus really difficult (they usually choose ONE and adhere to that one), but since what he's using isn't actually elemental magic that restriction doesn't apply to him. His ability is actually waaayy stronger, all natural matter is fair game for it.
I hope I've explained it clearly :)
Oh wait, or has it not happened yet? But the reason the ml 'break' in the previous timeline was because of the curse from the red stone disturbing the vessel for the 3 power
I probably need to reread this since its been long since i read from the beginning
novel reader here, yes! ppl were able to use magic before the red stone, although it was more difficult and rare. the reason the examiners called him a liar is bc magic used to be so hard to master that practitioners usually stick to only one element/attribute when studying and using magic. for example, before the red stone, water sorcerers could only use water magic, while fire sorcerers could only use fire magic etc etc.
Oh right there are the swordmaster
Its hard to keep track on everything when the lore is this deep haha
Thank you all for explaining it to me. I am reading it from the beginning and was getting confused.
I have a question about the world building. Were people able to use magic before the red stone or after? It has me a little confused because there is a divine sword and sorcerers that were around before the red stone dropped. Also at the beginning of the webtoon when the MC applied to get into the legion, his examiners called him a liar when he said he could use fire and water magic.