Mana

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Mana (魔力)
Classification	Ubiquitous, all-purpose magical energy that permeates heaven and earth 5
Primary Users	Wizards and wizard apprentices, who draw upon and command it through Mana Control and Spell Models 2 5

Nature and Mechanics

Mana is not stored as a finite internal “mana bar.” It exists throughout the world; wizards act as pumps that draw in and direct this external energy. A person's Mana Control determines how much Mana they can mobilize and whether they can command it safely without suffering backlash or destruction 5.

Mana is refined as a wizard deduces a Spell Model. During deduction, Mental Power is used to illuminate the model's rune nodes; the resulting understanding is transformed into Mana and incorporated into the wizard's spirit 4 5.

Spell Models and Advancement

Spell Models are the foundational frameworks through which Mana is analyzed and controlled. They are divided into ten stages; completing one stage advances an apprentice by one level. Completing all ten stages and fully solidifying a Spell Model allows an apprentice to become an Official Wizard 2 4.

• Spell Models usually provide no direct destructive force on their own; they require Mana and developed skills to produce combat effects 2.
• A wizard must master at least two of alchemy, Meditation Art, runecraft, and ritualism to establish the knowledge base needed to analyze a Spell Model 2.
• Tylen's inherited Spirit Summoning Control Method is a Spirit School Spell Model. At completion, it can support the summoning of more than one hundred wraiths simultaneously 2.

Mental Power and Recovery

Mental Power is expended to perform Spell Model deduction and guide Mana. Exhausting it can cause dizziness and limits further magical work 5 15.

• Meditation restores Mental Power, while lunar phases also naturally replenish it under moonlight 6.
• Meditation efficiency can be increased by consumables such as Meditation Essential Oil and Meditation Essence 4 28.
• High Mana output relative to one's control can cause Mana backlash; Tylen considers using one point of Mental Power to guide two points of Mana dangerous for an ordinary apprentice 18.

Applications

Application	Mana Function	Example
Spellcasting	Powers spell circuits and determines their effects.	Magic Thorn Art uses one point of Mana to attach a high-frequency vibrating blade to a sharp object 13.
Runes	Flows through rune frames, paths, and cores to create a designated effect.	Incorrect rune paths may cause a Mana short circuit, ruining the medium or triggering an explosion 14.
Weaving Runes	Can be converted into resilient “spirit threads” for microscopic connections.	Spirit threads can suture flesh, repair magical tools, form shields, or be used lethally against living targets 17.
Undead control	Conducts through prepared skeletal structures and inscriptions.	Mana-conducting material at skeletal joints can improve agility; an energy-conducting medium is needed for flexible undead movement 10 36.
Magic artifacts	Can be infused into artifacts as energy for strengthening and unlocking effects.	Magic Artifact Shards and Fragments respectively add 50 and 300 energy during artifact strengthening 28.

Mana in Runecraft

Runes give Mana a controlled form. A rune frame constrains the intended effect, paths direct its flow, and the core gathers Mana to produce the final result 14.

• Mana frequency is central to stable rune operation. Matching Mental Power's wavelength to a rune's inherent frequency creates resonance and improves efficiency 17.
• Mana can form vortices at untreated skeletal joints, hindering movement; conductive material prevents this problem 10 11.
• The Weaving Runes discipline uses frequency vibration to make Mana penetrate matter at a microscopic level 17.
• Fire-lizard blood provides fire-element properties in a Flame Attachment rune, while mercury stabilizes and conducts the otherwise volatile Mana 15.

Notable Manifestations

Magic Thorn Art

A first-circle spell that creates a high-frequency Mana blade around a weapon's surface, greatly reducing friction and allowing ordinary iron to cut through hard materials 13 21.

• Cost: One point of Mana per enhancement 13.
• Duration: Approximately five minutes per enhancement 13.
• Compatible mediums: Pointed or sharp objects, including scalpels, daggers, dinner knives, and Tylen's Bone-Cleaving Knife 13.
• Variant application: Tylen applies the spell directly to the outer edge of his palm, forming a stable hand blade capable of severing flesh and bone 18 21.

Spirit Thread

A Weaving Rune application that divides Mana into fine threads guided through rune frameworks 17.

• Can align and reconnect muscle, blood vessels, and bones in a severed limb 17.
• Requires controlled output; excessive Mana can cause a corpse's limb to explode, while insufficient or decayed Mana fails to activate the rune 17.

Blood Rune Bone Hound

Tylen's skeletal dog construct uses his blood as a medium for spiritual essence, allowing Mana to conduct more effectively through its inscriptions 36.

• The addition of spiritual essence grants the construct greater flexibility and enables complex movement and attacks 36.
• Its control is tied to Tylen's Spirit Summoning Control Method and Mental Power 36.

Known Mana Control Readings

User	Recorded Mana Control	Context
Tylen Arthas Magnus	0.36	His initial Level 0 Apprentice reading; he could barely make a feather float 1
Tylen Arthas Magnus	1.456	Reached after Spell Model deduction enhanced by the Slacker Saint Body 5
Tylen Arthas Magnus	4.558	Achieved after investing 3,000 stored experience into the Spirit Summoning Control Method 15
Tylen Arthas Magnus	7.666	Recorded while still a Level 0 Apprentice 29
Tylen Arthas Magnus	11.7	Recorded after advancing to Level 1 Apprentice 36
Tylen Arthas Magnus	18.7	Recorded after three days of further study, practice, and meditation 37

Trivia

• The provided system panels alternately label Tylen's relevant attribute as Mana Control and Magic Control 5 9 15.
• A low Mana Control reading can make even simple manipulation difficult; Tylen initially could not reliably do more than levitate a feather 1.