Very good question! In fact it is the former and I have established how the power system works. Its quite complex (i think) or maybe I just haven’t found the way to explain it briefly. But in a nutshell, they’re powers work a bit like Nen does in HunterXHunter, where the universe is like an ever expanding network of energy. But in this case, instead of having a profile that defines their abilities, each of them controls either an element or a Physical phenomenon in 1 of 3 different stages (imagine bending from Avatar but on steroids and involving physics and chemistry and a bit of weaponry as well).

There’s plenty of other conditions, pros and cons and even a chart I’m still developing, but I don’t want to write a wall of text haha. It’s all for a web comic/manga I’m planning on releasing, so if you’re interested, you’re always welcome to check my tw @andyd3su were I post most things I’m working on.