Mana Elements (Web Novel)

Mana elements, sometimes called "attributes", are the seven core characteristics of mana. Each corresponds in element, colour, and function to one of the Supreme Gods or Eternal Five.

The seven elements are Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, Life, Light, and Darkness.

All living things carry mana, if only in miniscule amounts, and each person, creature, plant or material has a unique mana "signature" made up of different elements in different amounts. This unique signature can cause surprising effects in the natural world: For example, combining different plants and oils to make ink causes the pigment to change unexpectedly depending on the mana elements of the ingredients.

Most living beings contain not a single type of mana, but a mix of multiple types. Purity refers to how little other elements an object or being contains apart from the dominant type. The fewer and smaller the trace elements are, the higher it's purity is.

Living beings with mana (that is, nobles, Devouring commoners, Feybeasts and Feyplants) are born with "affinities" for one or more elemental types. These affinities tend to run in families: Most laynobles have around one or two elemental affinities; most mednobles have two or three; and archnobles can expect to have up to seven, depending on their family background. Having affinities for all elements is mainly seen in high-ranking duchies and the royal family.

A noble's elemental affinities are checked at their baptism. Among the nobility the word "aptitude" is also used, apparently completely interchangeable with "affinity".

Nobles almost always have an affinity for the mana of the deity associated with their birth season. The other affinities are greatly influenced by the parents, making it very likely that siblings of the same parents also share the same set of affinities.

Among Feyplants and -beasts it appears that the affinities are entirely species bound, with no differences between individual members of the same species.

A person's elemental affinities combine into their mana "colour." Those with fewer affinities have brighter and more saturated mana, while those with many affinities have very pale, almost-white mana. A person's strongest affinity will determine the general hue of the mana. For example, a person whose highest affinity is Water would have mana in some shade of green. Mana colour is not normally visible, but it can be seen when a person infuses their mana into a feystone or when they lose control of their mana.

People who suffer from the Devouring have in general a weak natural mana colour, making them easy to dye. Without any other influences, their mana will take the colour of their duchy.

Some elements are known to function more easily together than others.


 * Earth. Because Earth is adaptable, it can be mixed in with other elements that otherwise wouldn't merge well on their own.
 * Life and Earth. The element of Life is notoriously hard to use with any element except Earth. This is usually attributed to the mythological story that the God of Life is disliked by the deities of water, fire, and wind.
 * Light and Darkness. Many potent magic circles require the combination of both Light and Darkness, such as those used in long-distance transfers and those powering the shumils Schwartz and Weiss.

Some common magical ingredients (such as feyplant and feybeast parts) contain several elements. Rather than combining elements that don't mix well, it can be easier to just use ingredients containing both elements to begin with.

Unrelated to its elemental attributes, each ingredient also has a "quality" or "capacity" that determines how much mana it can absorb. Creating effective potions and magic tools requires ingredients that have the right attributes for the task and a high enough quality for the mana involved.

If a noble gains the divine protection of one of the gods, casting any spell of the element associated with said god becomes much easier. Generally nobles will be able to attain the protection of all the gods to which they have an elemental affinity.

Gaining divine protections is part of the Royal Academy Curriculum in the lesson Divine Protection Acquisition. There they first learn the necessary prayer and upon memorizing it will perform the ritual itself. To attain this protection the students need to correctly recite the prayer, the name of the associated god and their respective subordinate gods. If they have the elemental affinity for this type of mana, they generally attain the protection of this god. If they lack the affinity, it is very unlikely they will gain the protection to the point that most nobles aren't even aware that it is a possibility to begin with. On the rare occasions that someone manages to gain the divine protection of an element they have no aptitude for, the benefits are of a lesser degree than for someone with the affinity, but still noticeable.

The only known way to fail to gain the divine protection of a god a student has an affinity for is to fail to correctly recite the part of the prayer dedicated to that god or their subordinate gods.

Table Legend:
 * ✅ This person is confirmed to possess affinity to this element by birth.
 * ☑️ This person acquired affinity to this element via divine protection or name-swearing.
 * ✔️ This person is confirmed to possess affinity to this element, but it's unknown whether it's acquired by birth or by other means.
 * ❌ This person is confirmed to not possess affinity to this element.
 * ❔ It's unknown whether this person possesses affinity to this element.