User blog:Hundred Candles/Thaumaturgy: The Basics: Mana and Energies

====[Well, this is gonna be attempt number 1 of trying to tell a (partial) story in encyclopedia form. Don't have high hopes.

-Hundred Candles]====

This book belongs to:  Osomaphone B. 

Published through The (Former) Library of Lescatie

What is Mana? (μ)
First, let me guide you upon the basics.

Mana (Thaumaturgic symbol μ) is an essential component of all magic and is the primary reason spells function in the first place. Mana is one of the metaphysical entities that exist alongside Demonic (Δ) Energy, Spiritual (Σ) Energy, Symbolic (Λ) Energy (Which I'll touch on later) and Spatial (Ω) Energy. (Energy has the symbol ε in Thaumaturgy)

Now you might see this as contradictory, as it is almost common knowledge that every Wielder of Magic, be it Humans or Monsters, use Spirit Energy and/or Demonic Energy to cast Magic. While this is the simplified version, the act of casting even the simplest of Magic comes in several steps and includes countless interchangeable variables.

We will touch on those subjects later, but let me finish explaining (albeit partially) what Mana is.

Mana is split into Inner (ι) and Outer (θ) Mana (μ), Outer Mana is the mana that permeates the air, the land, the water, you name it. Inner Mana, however, is a more complex subject and will be explained later.

The concept of Mana is effected by three primary factors and a whole bunch of sub-factors. The primary factors include Demonic and Spiritual Energy, the other factor is Elemental Energy and it's numerous sub-branches. Although it seems like the factors are distinctly categorized, in reality, the line between the four primary factors aren't distinct, and you normally can't change one factor without effecting the other. I'll describe the indistinctions later, but let me explain what Spiritual and Demonic Energy has anything to do with Mana first.

Demonic (Δ) and Spiritual (Σ) Energy (ε) and their relationship with Mana (μ)
(For simplification purposes, I will be using the symbols for Δ (Demonic) and Σ (Spiritual) to represent both Energies.)

Mana in itself cannot exist without Energy, and can be classified as either 'Orderly Mana' and 'Chaotic Mana'. 'Equilibrius Mana' (ΔΣμ) also exists, but Equilibrius Mana is so rare you might as well just forget about it. Anyways, imagine Mana as a bucket. It's useless on it's own, and has to be filled with liquid to be of use. Now let's say that water represents Σ and oil represents Δ, if you fill the bucket (Mana) with water (Σ), you will get a bucket of water (Orderly Mana), and if you fill it with Oil (Δ), you'll get a bucket of oil (Chaotic Mana). You can use the bucket of water to power let's say a waterwheel (Orderly Magic Spells), and you can use a bucket of oil to fuel a Steamship (Chaotic Magic Spells). Pretty straightforward, right?

But then there's Equilibrius Energy. If you have a bucket (Mana) full of exactly half oil (Δ) and half water (Σ), the two opposing forces will enter a state called 'dynamic equilibrium', in this state the oil will 'consume' the water while the water will 'consume' the oil. Now this might not sound as amazing as it sounds revolting, but know that Δ produced by consumption is actually made in a 1:1.1 ratio, same goes for Σ. That means the Equilibrius Mana will constantly be generating energy of both types into the atmosphere.

Equilibrius Mana cannot be produced artificially, well at least we lack the capability to do so currently. But something similar can be created when a Male Human and Mamono engage in sexual intercourse, of course it's not as effective as the natural Equilibrius Mana as Humans don not have a Energy Catalyst (More on that soon) to convert Δ into Σ.

As for why we nicknamed this phenomenon 'Dynamic Equilibrium', the answer is simple. If any being with either Δ or Σ were to approach this, then the Energy uncontrollably released by the lifeform will help one side of the Mana overcome the other and almost instantly collapse, exploding out in three types of energies; Δ, Σ and Spatial. But Spatial Energy is too complex to be discussed now.

Now that I've quelled the confusion (or made it worse), let's explore one of the more unfamiliar terms:

Elemental Energy (χε)
Elemental Energy, also known as Origin Energy, is divided into four (or ten) main elements. The elements also represent a spell's alignment. Alright, let me break this down for you. Spells cannot innately have elements such as "Fire (ω), Water (ψ), Earth (τ), Air (ξ)" (there's also "Pure (σ)" and "Dark (δ)", which is basically the layman term for 'Orderly' and 'Chaotic') (Oh, and there's also "Lightning (ζ)", "Lake (υ)", "Mountain (η)" and "Heaven (λ)" but those are only accessible using Symbolic Energy.), so if you cast a spell, let's say, 'Summon Arrow' using Orderly Origin Energy, you will summon either a 'Pure Arrow of Air', ' Pure Arrow of Earth', 'Pure Arrow of Fire' or 'Pure Arrow of Water', the same case happens when you use Chaotic Origin Energy, except it's Dark (eg. Dark Arrow of Air) You can also use 'Equilibrius Energy' but like I said, it's nigh impossible to even find one, much less use one.

"But what if you use Spatial Energy?" And to that I answer "no. That's both stupid and inhumane, even for monsters."

"But what if you use Symbolic Energy?" I hear you ask again, and to that I'll answer, "...Stuff".

Alright, alright, I'll cover that in a Symbolic and Spatial Energy chapter I'll be writing later.

Back on track, using the bucket example from earlier, imagine Elemental Energy as soluble substances, like Salt (Earth), Sugar (Water), Spice (Fire), and uh... Flour (Air). Alright, you probably know the drill by now, pour lots of Spice in an oil bucket, cast a spell and you get a Dark Fire Arrow. The arrows always represent the majority of the element present, meaning even if it has 28% Salt and 24% everything else, it's still gonna summon a Dark Earth Arrow.

Now the percentage of Elements in the buc- Mana when spellcasting directly effects the Elemental Power (Elemental Power is a spell's innate effectiveness/ineffectiveness against other Elements) causable by the Arrow- err, spell. If it's only 1% Spice, that's gonna be a pretty weak arrow. But if it's a 99% Spice, then that's a legendary tier Arrow, one that many kingdoms will treasure as a heirloom.

As for why there isn't a 100%? Those are only accessible by Dark Elementalists. Normal Elementalists can only create a 100% with the help of a God/Goddess's blessing which is a whole new subject altogether.

There is a way to cast certain elementally aligned spell like 'Whirlwind'. With Chants. Chants are lines of words that align with the nature of certain Elements, provoking their reaction and letting your spell accumulate said Element. However, Chants can only gives you around 10% - 30% maximum increase to a certain Element, still giving you chances of casting failure. If you try and cast a elementally aligned spell with another element (say casting 'Whirlwind' with water), there's a risk of Thaumic Disruption (Basically an explosion in the metaphysical realm).

But guess what? Monsters don't care. They don't need measly chants to cast an elementally aligned spell, pshhh, they can do it innately. How? That is through the usage of an Energy Catalyst (Will explain in depth later). The existence of these Energy Catalysts bypass natural thaumic laws, enabling near instantaneous casting. I truly envy the Monsters.

And now the question that's been nagging at the back of your minds, yes, 'Element Equilibrium' does exist. But there are only 17 recorded cases (11 of them being spells casted by Gods and Maous) of an Elementally Equilibrius spell being casted.

And that's not all, Element Equilibrium is similar Equilibrius Mana in it's ability to accumulate. But it doesn't release the energy into the surroundings like the Energy counterpart, no, it seals the energy within itself, growing ever increasingly stronger as time progresses.

This is just a rumor, but people here in Lescatie have started to suspect that the Chief God left behind a Elementally Equilibrius treasure for the Order to cultivate and eventually use to siege a Demonic Realm.

Of course, the Order will probably be infuriated if I release this, which is why I've decided to shelve the book here... I'm getting off-track.

Now this is great and all, but if you're keen enough, you'd see I've avoided the subject of Elementals, children of nature. Why? Because my Elementalist friend know much more about, well, Elementals than I do as I'm not all that familiar with this particular branch of Thaumaturgy. Therefore I'll be handing this section to one of my friends back in the Elementalist's Guild of Polove. I wouldn't recommend traveling there by yourself, it reeks of death...

Elementals and their link to Thaumaturgy
Greetings, Inheritor of Osomaphone's Legacy, I'm Archenual, former guild leader of Polove's quaint gathering. '''We're in desperate need of newer members as our manpower is severely lacking here after the current guild leader is on an expedition to find a way to cure our dying lands. Please, if you're an aspiring Elementalist, come here and help us''' as a way of repaying me giving that stubborn bastard information over Elementals.

Shameless advertising aside, I'm Osomaphone's (possibly only) friend after all, I won't just fill these pages in blank. So I'll be presenting (albeit begrudgingly) to you my research over the years of being an Elementalist.

Elementals. They're much like the previously mentioned magic spells, they are not completely, 100%ly one element, instead they are made out of two to eight elements. (Remember? Fire, Water, Earth, Heaven, Air, Lightning, Lake and Mountain.) These little creatures are the byproduct of an Elemental Equilibrium. What the dolt named Osomaphone forgot to mention was that Elemental Equilibriums happen almost all the time, it's just that they don't last long due to other living beings in the vicinity. They can only sustain themselves in places devoid of life, which is why there are so many Elementals here in Polove. And as much as I like these elementals, I won't value them over human life.

Moving on...

An Elemental is most likely 'Pure' in Human Realms, as they are exposed in a place where 'Σ' is high. However, in Demonic Realms, 'Δ' permeates all the Elements, meaning an Elemental there will most likely be 'Dark' in nature. Because I've mentioned the world "likely" twice now, you probably know there are exceptions.

100% elementals do exist, full stop. They are a extremely unstable force. Let's say you had one of those, and it's a 100% Ignis. If you toss these on the ground, a volcano will rise in it's wake. If you toss it in the air, a firestorm will ensue. If you toss it in the water, the nearby area within a radius of 5m will almost instantaneously evaporate. That's how dangerous they are. And as you might guess, they're extremely rare (and extremely arrogant). In the entire Elemental Guild here, only the presiding guild leader and two others have seen one before, much less catch one.

Now you might be wondering why there aren't let's say 'Lightning Elementals', 'Mountain Elementals', 'Lake Elementals' and 'Heavenly Elementals', in which I respond, "There are." But in the mortal realm, Symbolic Energy is too weak to support the existence of such creatures, leading the elementals no choice but to become the second most abundant element they possess. In 'Spatial Dimensions' (Thaumasomething term for Spirit Realms), Symbolic energy are more plentiful. However, the Heaven element can only exist in... You guessed it, Heaven.

This reminds me of something. Something Osomaphone has mentioned again and again.

Equilibriums.

Of course, us Elementalists don't use the word 'Equilibrium' on Elementals, we call a Equilibrius Elemental "Trigram Elemental", which is further divided into "Earthly Trigram Elemental" and "Heavenly Trigram Elemental".

Elementalism is very Eastern.

Earthly Trigram Elemental, like the name suggests, is an Elemental that has perfectly split Fire, Water, Air and Earth evenly within it's body. Heavenly Trigram Elemental, as you'd expect, is just like the Earthly, but for Mountain, Lake, Lightning and Heaven.

Elementals possess abilities too, they can, once in the hands of an Elemental Covenantor (Official term for Elementalists but it's a mouthful), change the property of one substance to another. Say the Arrow example. A Pure Sylph can change an 'Dark Arrow of Earth' to a 'Arrow of Air'. Same goes for Dark Elementals.

It is important to note that Δ and Σ can only be interchanged by Elementals. Regular people do not possess enough Symbolic Energy to perform this transmutation. They also lack Energy Catalysts, probably. I dunno, I'm no Thaumaturge freak.

And with that, I think I've covered all I know about the Thaumic Branch of Elementalism. I'll be sending this back to Osomaphone's sealed up, heavily restricted tower that that mentally unstable soul dwells in.

Oh Lescatie, what a wonderful place you are. I'll take a trip you someday. Maybe when the guild leader comes back. After all, we can't lose more manpower right now.

This is why I don't have many friends, inheritor.

Anyways, to clear up some confusion, yes. Energy Catalysts can be used to convert Δ to Σ and Σ to Δ. Us Thaumaturges call this "Energy Catalysts", but for Mercenaries, Adventurers and possibly Merchants, you're probably familiar with the more layman term of, "Monster Cores", or "Monster Hearts". I'm not completely certain what people call them these days. Both terms are correct in a sense, the core of any Monster is in fact the Energy Catalyst, see it as an organ (or heart) rather than some crystal manifested in the body. Without an Energy Crystal, Monsters cannot stay in a place dense with Σ for long, or they get "Demonsterized". A process I'm not willing to delve deeply into here, maybe another time. So in defense of this, in the millions of years of evolution, Energy Catalysts grew to convert the incoming Σ to Δ. Energy Catalysts by themselves are actually naturally neutral to both energies (and can be artificially crafted, although more expensive.), they don't convert one to another unless influenced using Inner Mana. I've touched on the subject of Inner Mana before, but I never really explained it. Quick summary;

Inner Mana doesn't exist in the body, rather it exists in a spatial warp within the body. (Spatial Energy strange so don't worry about it for now.) Anyways, this pocket of mobile space is split into two categories, us Thaumaturges call this the "Monochrome Spectrum" and the "Color Spectrum". Monochrome Spectrum is to determine if the Mana is going to be Pure, Equilibrius or Dark. The Color Spectrum is used to determine which element(s) it is currently possessing.

Inner Mana is gathered through either Outer Mana or... err, 'Direct transmission'. You know what I mean.

Back to Energy Catalysts. If you were to inject let's say 38% Orderly 18% Fire Aligned Inner Mana (38σ 18ω ιμ) into the Catalyst, the Catalyst will 'recognize' this specific energy signature and will therefore convert any Δε nearby into 38σ 18ω ιμ.

So next time you hear a Thaumaturge say "I've stolen someone's heart", you know they don't mean it romantically.

Ahem, it seems that I've strayed off the subject at hand, Energies. We've covered three so far, "Δ, Σ and χ" And we're still missing Λ and Ω. Let's get to it, then.

Symbolic Energy (Λε)
This Energy goes by many names, such as the more Eastern term of Qi, the more Human term of Will, the more monster term of Divine Energy, the more Godly term of Faith, and the Thaumaturgical term of, well, Symbolic Energy.

Let me skim over the origin of these names.

Qi, also known as Chi, is energy harnessed by martial practitioners of the Dao religion.

Will is referred to as the energy given to the gods by praying

Divine Energy is used by monsters as this kind of energy is untransmutable and extremely hard to change the Monochrome Spectrum.

Gods term this energy as Faith, gathered by the prayers of people under their religion. They also like to flaunt their accumulation of "Faith" in front of lesser Gods to make them feel superior.

And of course us Thaumaturges named it Symbolic Energy because why not.

So. Properties.

Λε is harnessed in many ways, compression of χ, Δ or Σ ε, the will of living beings, Thaumic Disruption,  basically a whole variety of different way can be utilized to create Λε. Λε in itself is more versatile than any other energy excluding Spatial, it can be used to unleash powerful attacks, it can be remelded back into Δ, Σ and χ, it can be used to bring that cup on the side over here because you're too lazy to stretch your arms and most importantly, it can change the fundamental nature of other ε. A recent example was the current Demon Lord using Λε to change Δε into... Well... A more sexual Δε? I'm not completely certain if there's actually a thaumaturgical term for this but I can't be bothered going down 18 floors just to ask the nearest living being. (...Let me correct that, 27 floors just to ask the nearest intelligent living being)

This type of ε is (like I've mentioned before) capable of supporting the existence of the upper four χ (η, ζ, υ and λ). Of course, Λε does exist in the mortal world, because it's either only excluded from Angels or stolen by the Dao religion.

The flipside can be said for Pandemonium and Heaven, as the Λε that exists in the area is common and permeates through everything. Any regular person who enters these realms will probably die from Thaumic Overdose instantly. (When the Energy is too powerful and your Inner Mana can't handle it.)

Unless you're a martial practitioner. Those people can just freely invade divine territories all they want like nobody's business. In the entire span of history, there hasn't been a single case of a devotee of the Dao Religion dying of Thaumic Overdose. Truly enviable.

So back to when I was first describing Elements, I mentioned what would happen if you were to cast something using Λε. I gave a brief answer. Now I'll explain that answer.

The lower four χ, being τ, ω, ξ and ψ, cannot interact with one another. Meaning you can't just slap τ and ψ together and get mud energy. That's because the lower four χ are missing the upper four χ to form a complete cycle. Now with Λε, an energy that can support both half of the eight elements, this slapping together of elements will work. That means if you cast an 'Summon Arrow' with let's say... 10σ 25τ 10ζ 30υ ιμ, you won't get a 10σ 5υ Arrow, no, you'll get a 10σ 65τζυ ιμ arrow

And now, brace yourselves to face the most complicated of energies.

Spatial Energy (Ωε)
Ωε is a type of ε that has an variety of rules on itself and utilization. Another name for this complex thing is Dimensional Energy. If I just explain this outright, we won't be getting anywhere. So let's get an example.

Say space was a long, flat cloth. Your existence itself can live on the cloth without distorting it, but energies can't. The higher density of an energy, the more indent the cloth gets. And since any living being accumulates a lot of energy (or their Soul will lose the foothold on their bodies and float off), especially Elementals, they create an indent so big that it creates a storage place inside the cloth, your personal little spatial pocket (Energy can only increase the Indent depth-wise, Indents can only be of the same width the entity making the indent is.). The cloth indents don't stack if you're a separate entity, so basically if one entity were to collide with another, their spatial pockets intersect but don't change. They kinda just phase through one another. The different types of energies cannot directly form pockets of space, even Symbolic Energy alone cannot create spatial pockets. That's where Equilibriums come in. You see, when Equilibrius Mana disrupts, the distortion between both opposing energies implodes in on itself, compressing both energies to a point that a marble sized ball of pure spatial distortion exists. This is called Spatial Energy. Take the cloth example again, now imagine an indent appearing due to the spatial energy, an indent that is so immense it doesn't create a spatial pocket, it creates a miniature dimension.

Of course, the cloth isn't happy with this, so it forcefully flattens itself out after a short period of time, dispersing the spatial energy in a Thaumic Disruption. the Spatial Energy is then scattered in a wide area, unable to form another dimension since they aren't magnets and don't automatically attract to each other. It's possible to fuse the spatial dimension marbles when they're still unstable into a physical material to create a portal to the pocket dimension.

The Queen of Hearts purposefully caught marbles of spatial distortion inside decks of cards. When I attempted to inquire about this, she responded with 'Trumpets' or something similar.

Monsters were so much more understandable back in the old days.

Anyways, with strong enough Symbolic Energy, you can forcefully reattach the loose spiritual energy into a sphere of spatial distortion. When a distortion of space is larger than the maximum capacity of the cloth, which is a distortion of at least 7m³, the entire cloth will be pulled into the indent, then another cloth will take it's place.

Congratulations. You just created a Spatial Dimension. Another dimension within a dimension.

To create a gateway towards that dimension, however, is surprisingly easy, just cast a Space Severing spell in the same location where you made the Spirit Realm. Make sure to finish casting within 5 minutes or the spell will backfire and slice you in half.

Now there are some cases where the cloth isn't completely sucked into the indent but a new cloth replaces it anyway. That's called an Spatial Curve. It's like a Spirit Realm but it doesn't exist in another dimension, instead it exists in the original dimension. Spatial Curves occupy very little space by itself but there's a extremely vast place held within it. Kinda like a thaumanom- Ahem.

So back to when I said it's stupid and inhumane to use Spatial Energy to cast a spell, I didn't really specify the reason, So let me tell you why, story style.

''Centuries ago, when Spatial Energy was first discovered, a group of Mages, who named themselves "The Anataphonists" conducted a series of experiments. Some of these experiments included absorption of Spatial Energy, which compressed the poor fool who tried it into a ball of flesh after five minutes. And consumption of a Dimensional Pocket, which made the other poor fool explode out with a force capable of penetrating castle walls. By then, the Kingdom that hosted The Anataphonists took notice but didn't decide to take action... That is until the third experiment; Purposefully causing a Thaumic Disruption to destroy a marble of Spatial Distortion manually.''

''That didn't go so well. Almost a million people died as a result. And as much as the Kingdom wanted to quell the news, all other kingdoms, be it Demon Realms or Human Dynasties, already heard it, and every single one of them forbade the experimentation of Spatial Energy the next day.''

The Kingdom also banned The Anataphonists from conducting experiments on Spatial Energy and ordered an execution to arise upon them, but The Anataphonists Didn't want to die so easily, so they conducted the most cataclysmic experiment.

''Now you see, The Anataphonists are actually smart, they've done their research, but due to the fickle nature of Spatial Energy, they don't know what's going to happen. They theorized what could happen if they used solely Spatial Energy to cast a spell, and the results range from an cataclysmic event to an apocalyptic event, and even they were sane enough to not conduct this. But now with their lives already determined, they put the experiment in motion, absorbing Spatial Energy, they casted a beginner level spell, Spark.''

And yes, it caused a spark.

''A spark that consumed the entire kingdom, two forests, eight mountains and three nearby kingdoms, leaving nothing in it's wake. Kinda like the Very Hungry Caterpillar. As you can guess, by the time it reached the ears of all the other kingdoms, it caused quite a stir.''

"Quite a stir" refers to the Demon Lord and Chief God back then putting aside their emnity to personally band together and completely seal the ability to utilize Spatial Energy for every living being below the ranking of God.

''The results of what we dub now as "The Crater Incident" is still available for sightseeing, and it's quite an impressive sight to say the least. No one is stupid enough to directly enter the crater, though.''

Storytime aside, the restrictions are a partial reason why we know so little over Spatial Energy. Alas, I still won't encourage studying it if I were you, Inheritor.

That aside, you probably have more than enough knowledge over Thaumic Laws to be able to take your first steps in Thaumaturgy (Horray!).

Casting of a Spell
The Preparation, The Accumulation, The Modification, And the Expulsion.

I think you're probably dying to know what these steps mean by now, so I won't be doing any idle chatter for this. Besides, there's really not much to talk about this, as it's probably simpler than most everything you just read.

The statement I made above was a lie.

The Preparation refers to establishing an connection from your Inner Mana and linking it to your staff, Magic Gem or any other magic container. Unless you're a Monster, it's practically impossible to cast without them. You could surgically implant a Magic Gem into your hand. But that's is both disgustingly painful and only for lunatics like Archenual. This is the simplest step out of the four and even the most Thaumaturgically inept people take maximum one year to completely master this step. Regrettably, Archenual isn't Thaumaturgically inept.

The Accumulation is the next step, which involves transferring all your Inner Mana into the container that you've prepared. You might faint due to the lack of Mana or you pour too much too fast and have either the staff or your hand explode. For the first scenario, don't worry, it takes time to get used to the feeling of dizziness. For the second scenario, You deserved it, lunatic.

The Modification is inarguably the hardest part, and is comprised of three minor steps. Alignment, Purifying and Circulating. Alignment and Purifying can be sped up using Chants. Alignment is changing the amount of Δ and Σ to adjust whether it's gonna be Orderly or Chaotic, Purifying is about getting rid of all other elements except the element you want to use to cast, making it aligned to only one element. To do this, you must pour the unwanted Energy from the container back into your Inner Mana and exchange it with the desired type of Energy in your Inner Mana that you've replenished naturally. You can skip these two steps and cast a spell, but it's gonna be pretty weak and ineffective most of the time.

And finally, there's the Circulation. This is sort of a prelude for the last step, as it requires you to rotate the the Mana accumulated within the container without it becoming unstable and shattering under the centripetal force.

This stage is the stage that takes the longest to master, and many humans give up on Thaumaturgy due to being unable to complete make it past this step. It takes on average of 10-15 years to completely master this stage and even geniuses like the well-known Mimil took more than two year to fully comprehend and utilize this.

But guess what?

Energy Catalysts completely nullifies the need of two of the three minor stages, being Alignment and Purification, because they can freely produce the desired output all the way back at step 2, Accumulation. I'll stop talking here before I get too envious.

That brings us to the last step,

Expulsion. Straightforward and simple, gradually shrink down the circulating energy within the container until it's compressed within the eye of the container (without losing control and detonating, of course), then cast the desired spell.

The only reason this step is more difficult than step one is because you need to know the specific technique to cast the desired spell. Don't worry, the spellbook you learnt the spell from will (probably) give you the specific process for casting said spell.

Afterword after the Afterword
====[Okay yeah. I missed a whole bunch of things I could of stuffed into this because I don't take notes so don't blame me for not writing something obvious (Actually you can blame me for that but shush-). I'm also tired of proofreading for the several thousandth time. If you can't understand a certain part or have some questions, comment about it and I'll respond probably. Critique is also encouraged as long as I can do something about it, so don't comment "My third aunt's sister-in-law's grandmother's goldfish has a cold." because I honestly can't help with that-

-Hundred Candles]====