Mana

This Article is based on the Official Translations of the Light Novel series! The Light Novel series is the source material for the adaptation of the Anime and Manga series. The information and terminology on the article will be based on the source material rather than the adaptions.

“	All things that live atop land suffused with mana contain mana, however slight the actual amount may be.	”
— Ferdinand, Part 4 Volume 4, Chapter 5: Magic Ink

Mana is energy that can be channeled into magic.

Mana (魔力, maryoku) is raw magical energy that can be channeled into magic.

While all humans have trace amounts of mana, only the nobility possess enough mana and have the magical tools required to cast magic.

Overview

Mana is present in all living creatures, including humans, animals, plants, and even some inanimate materials. However, in the vast majority of cases, the level of mana is so low as to be effectively nonexistent. Therefore, commoners are typically referred to as "not having mana." The same is true for many animals and nonmagical plants.

• Nobles typically have higher amounts of mana. They can learn to channel it through magic tools, control it with a schtappe, use it to power magic circles, and dedicate it to the gods in order to give or receive blessings.
• Commoners typically have very little mana. In the rare case that a commoner is born with mana, they do not have magic tools used to siphon off and store their excess mana. They typically suffer symptoms of severe fevers and die at a young age. This is called the Devouring.

Unlike humans, flora and fauna that have mana (called feyplants and feybeasts respectively) have naturally adapted and do not require magic tools to survive mana exposure. The distinction between "fey" and "nonmagical" plants is not always as clear as separate species. For example, the magical Kurhaize plant is the "evolved" variant of Eise, a common plant.

Biology

Anatomy. The humans of Yurgenschmidt have an internal organ which stores and processes mana within the body, which Myne guesses is equivalent to the real-world heart. Mana is carried in bodily fluids, including blood and tears. Because commoners have no way to channel their trace amounts of mana, they typically use blood to operate basic magical tools.

When an organism with mana dies, including nobles, feyplants, and feybeasts, their mana gathers and hardens around their mana organ and forms a feystone. While human feystones are generally laid to rest in a funeral, the feystones of plants and animals are important materials for magic tools and potions.

Birth and Fertility. The amount of mana a child is born with is based primarily on the mana capacity of the mother. Mana capacity also has an impact on fertility. In order to conceive a child, the mana level difference between spouses needs to be less than 30%. Those with very different levels of mana typically cannot have children. Although it is technically possible for the one with higher mana level to reduce his/her mana compression level to match his/her partner's, it is still detrimental in the long term.

Mana Exposure. A child's mana capacity grows as they age. However, humans are not well-equipped to deal with the mana they possess. They rely on magical tools to siphon and store excess mana to stay alive. When too much mana builds up in the body, it causes symptoms including stunted growth, severe fevers, and boiling or bubbling skin. According to Ferdinand, those who lose control of their mana die in a horrific manner (by explosion). To prevent this, noble children are given magic tools that absorb their mana until their baptism, when they begin to learn to channel mana.

Fatigue. Mana is a form of energy, and expending mana can lead to physical symptoms of tiredness and fatigue. Food and sleep are both important elements in restoring mana, and using mana with very little nourishment or rest can cause a person to become dizzy or fall ill.

Society

Mana is a key defining factor of social class in Yurgenschmidt. At the most basic level, the difference between a noble and a commoner is the amount of mana they possess. However, even those born into noble families can't retain their rank unless they possess the requisite amount of mana. Those with too little mana may become servants to their family members or be sent to the temple. The reverse is also true. Commoners can be born with a significant amount of mana. However, the result is usually an early death, since commoners do not have access to magic tools.

Because mana is so critical to social status, nobles do not customarily announce the birth of their child until their baptism at age seven. This allows them to determine that the child has enough mana to fulfill the family's needs. Succession within a noble family is determined by mana capacity rather than by age.

See Qualifying Factors for Nobility

Mana Elements

Mana is not a unified single thing, but comes in different variations, depending on which god it is associated with.

See Mana Elements

Mana Usage

Mana channeled through a magic ring.

Mana in and off itself has only very limited ways in which it can be used. Almost all ways to apply mana to a specific purpose require the use of some form of conduit or focus, like magic tools, feystones, or a schtappe.

• Conduits include feystones and schtappes.
• Forms of Magic include blessings, spells, religious ceremonies, magic circles, magic tools, and potions.

Without a conduit of some kind, mana can still be utilized in some limited fashion.

Crushing

Myne performing Crushing in anger

Crushing is a phenomenon where mana in one's body is directed toward a target and simply poured out. Depending on how much mana is used and how well focused it is, the effects on the target can range from mild discomfort to intensely painful seizures that are even capable of stopping the heart.

When a mana wielder does this, a haze of mana in their mana colour surrounds them and their eyes dance with different colours. The crushing can be done intentionally, but can also happen on instinct when a mana wielder gets very emotional and loses their self control. To enter this state without conscious control is very dangerous, since such a person rarely retains the ability to precisely target and moderate the effect, making them dangerous not only to their enemies, but also to any living being in their vicinity and even themselves.

This is especially dangerous for young children, who are at risk of losing control of their mana and suffering physical harm.

Enhancement Magic

Enhancement magic is a mana manipulation technique that improves physical abilities by channeling mana into respective body parts. It is able to enhance strength, speed, and physical senses. However, enhancement magic consumes a lot of mana and requires rigorous practice to master, making it unpopular even among archnobles. It is possible to augment it via magic tools when the user is learning the technique, mitigating the issue to a limited extent.

Mana Sensing

Near the end of a mana-wielder's magic growth period, which usually coincides with the end of their puberty, they become able to sense the mana of other people with a mana capacity close to theirs. This is one way in which nobles look for potential spouses, since if a person isn't able to sense someone else's mana in this way, the chances of ever conceiving a child together are very low. This can also be used for enemy detection in the field.

Generally this ability sets in some time between the age of ten and fifteen.

Apart from the conscious feeling, mana sensing also comes with a subconscious component. Nobles who have manifested this ability will be instinctively more drawn toward potential partners whose mana they can sense and disinclined to get romantically involved with those whose mana they are unable to sense. As such, love developing between people with vastly different mana capacities is comparatively more rare than people of similar levels falling for another.

Mana Detection

A mana wielder of sufficient skill and capacity has the ability to spread an exceedingly thin mana out into their surroundings. While they are not able to feel the contours of the area, this allows them to feel mana sources not their own to detect other people with magical abilities, feybeasts, feyplants, and magic tools charged with foreign mana. This works because mana has a natural tendency to push back against any mana not from the same source, even if it's between the mana of parent and child. However, this also means that this method can only be used to detect foreign mana. Since this thin mana film is not repelled by mana of the user themselves, this technique can not be employed to find magic items of the user themselves without the help of others. It is, however, invaluable to prevent hostile ambushes and magical traps.

Mana Compression

Mana compression (魔力圧縮, maryoku asshuku) is a means of increasing the amount of mana a person has. By internally condensing mana as much as possible and keeping it condensed, the remaining "extra space" is then naturally replenished with new mana. The existing mana and the new mana are then compressed together, creating more space for mana to be restored. By repeating this process several times, a person can acquire more mana.

• Children. While the body is still growing, mana compression can stimulate the growth of the mana-storing organ. That increases the amount of space available to store mana, as well as the density of the mana in that space.
• Adults. Although adults can use their existing mana capacity to store more mana by increasing its density, they cannot increase their capacity.

The process of mana compression comes with a number of risks. As happens in the Devouring, any child with a high density of mana will suffer stunted growth and potentially dangerous fevers. It also increases the likelihood of causing harm if a person loses control of their mana. Furthermore, compressing too much mana too quickly can lead to symptoms of headaches, dizziness, and nausea. At the Royal Academy, several professors are present in first-year mana compression classes to ensure that overly ambitious students can get medical attention.

Most people use a visualization method to compress their mana, although the type of image they use depends on the person. They might imagine stuffing their mana into a box, boiling it to remove impurities, or folding it like a piece of cloth. The clearer the mental image, the more effective it is likely to be. However, like an exercise-based diet, the success of any given compression method depends largely on willpower and effort.

Rozemyne Mana Compression Method

In her desperate attempt to curb her overflowing mana for survival as a Devouring commoner, Rozemyne developed a highly effective mana compression method that consists three (and later four) steps. It is the most effective mana compression method known so far, capable of raising a noble's mana level to equal one of a higher rank.

See Rozemyne Mana Compression Method.

Last Will

When a mana wielder is on the brink of death, their mind sometimes reaches out subconsciously to a person they have strong feelings for. This will drag the consciousness of the recipient to them, allowing them to witness events, as if they were there, albeit in an immaterial form that can only see and hear, but is unable to be witnessed or interact with anyone or anything in any way. Not even the person who called them to their side is aware of their presence. The name Last Will comes from the fact that this phenomenon almost always occurs in situations that end fatally, long before the contacted person could ever hope to arrive and help, which led nobility to see it more as a way to reveal the truth of one's end, than a call for help.

While the Last Will is only really known among the nobility, Myne reaching out to the commoner Lutz, when she was strangled by a trombe shows that only a certain amount of mana, any maybe a fitting magic tool are necessary to trigger it and one doesn't necessarily have to be an actual noble.