[A/N: Isabelle's Diary is a series I am currently working on Penana, so by writing this might mean that I'm giving out spoilers to chapters I haven't yet published. *sigh*]674Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nDhnTb394
In the past, the land of Lainis were divided into districts and areas, and there were wars for over ages in order to decide upon dominance and ownership over the areas.
That was, until the man now known as The First King of Ivire Empire stood against hordes of tribes members ready to open a new chapter of the seemingly never ending wars and introduced magic to the public - both those present on the battleground and those who were not. He too, then brought inviolable independence to the area and built an empire on it, although unable to give the same freedom to other places. But that was another story.
Based on the history, magic had existed a hundred year before the appearance of Ivire Empire, in a prosperous city that was never touched by the wars yet was hardly accessible to adventurers. In this city was traced the fact this famous king learned foundations of magic. Nevertheless, that was all they were able to know - little did anyone, or probably no one, know where or when this knowledge called magic was originated from.
Perhaps, and is the most logical answer is the theory that magic has always existed, and this is proven by how mana has always been within anyone naturally.
Aside of the theory is a tragic tale most people believe to give more explanations of how magic was formed. Clinging unto a belief of how gods from centuries ago were able to form "contract" with humans, the tale told about a boy, despite being isolated from the society and is avoided by many gods, made a contract with a god who took pity on him. At first, the power resulted from the contract was used to protect the others weaker than him. Even so, arrogance and greed engulfed him, and he eventually used the power resulted from the contract to avenge those who had looked down on him and challenged on several gods, which made the heaven furious. As a result, number of the gods forming contracts with humans increased, hoping that these contractors were able to use their power to beat the arrogant human. The result came out as expected, and the challenger was forced to face the consequences of his impudent actions and behavior. Time passed, but the gods didn't take away the power from the other humans even after they completed their mission. Instead, the gods freed them from the contracts and left the power in them as "gifts".
But, is this tale enough to put out the spark of curiosity in humans regarding to the whereabouts of magic origins?
Anyways, let's get back to the main topic.
As you may wonder by now, what is mana?
Well, magic, just like you may have read from most fantasy novels, requires "mana" to perform.
Mana, generally is by itself neutral, which means that it could take place in any element like fire or water, despite the fact that some people use only a certain elemental magic.
In addition, mana also obeys a law similar to that of energy, known as "the law of conservation of energy". This law mentions how energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but instead will only transforms from one kind to another kind. Likewise, in this case, mana is stated to be "unreal" but contains "real force" and will always change its state over time. Say, if a person uses a fire magic to a wall and uses his mana to perform it, the mana within his body will turn into fire element, but will then turn neutral few hours after it interacted with the outside of the performer's body, yet the damage on the wall will remain.
This also means a person attempting to fill a container with water attribute magic will witness the water evaporate quicker than it will normally after few hours, even if the temperature is for example, equals to that of Antarctica.
Aside from the similarities to mentioned above, the law magic obeys also says how, just like we are able to restore our energy, we are able to restore our mana.
"Taking how mana can be restored again, does it mean anyone will not get magic exhaustion and will be able to use it anytime?"
Of course, the answer will be no. Used mana will turn into neutral only after a certain amount of time, and only a relatively little mana will be restored during the time, which limits the one's capability of magic. However, one's mana storage can be expanded through tough practices, and number of mana used is usually manipulated to avoid exhaustion.
Actually, magic can be rather simple to use, yet can also be sophisticated at the same time. Generally and is the simplest way to create magic is the use of "magic circle", in which a circle of space is drawn physically. Accompanied with magic chant, magic circle will then activate, and magic will be formed.674Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAX4gRA5HaH
But of course, it will take a long time to do both, which is why people over the time try to find a quicker way to use magic. Depending on one's capability of using magic, they may be able to shorten the chant, drawing a magic circle merely by visualizing, or even without any of them - something that only skilled or talented magicians are able to do.674Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YllbzJl9W
Even so, that was only one of the two forms magic take - the general one people sometimes acknowledge more. The second is INDEX, a type of magic which is slightly different to the general magic. Unlike general magic, INDEX is activated using a mana defying partly the previous law of magic stated. This mana can be used as general type of neutral mana, or as mana with definite element which remains no matter what happens and will only dissipate and turn invisible instead of being neutral after a period of time, but just like general mana, it can't be destroyed nor created. Just like unique DNA code, each has is the elemental mana. In other words, one's elemental mana can only be restored to that person alone, even if there is someone else with similar elemental mana.674Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvI7VKLFw5
In addition, INDEX can also be distinguished from general magic from its activation. Dissimilar to general magic, INDEX requires almost no chant to activate or variety in magic. In other words, INDEX usage is more like controlling pure "non-existent" element when general magic has specific chants for specific magic. Some of the examples of general magic mostly used are fire pillar and fireball which require different chants.674Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vLjSIiBdE
Moreover, elemental mana in charge of INDEX activation exists only in certain people. As a result, many begin to wonder, if anything, the conditions for possessing a different mana storage. Many people, though, believe on the tales of a god who pitied the men's pain and their struggles in protecting their beloved ones during the wars despite not having the ability to do so, and blessed some of the infants with poor magic ability a part of His elemental power called INDEX.674Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfmMEHc8u1
For sure, those features make the INDEX users to seem invincible and way too overpowered, albeit INDEX is close to useless as most find it unable to be used. In fact, little are the famous and powerful figures known for their INDEX. This is because of how humans' body couldn't withstand INDEXes, which often results in internal injuries when activated. However, INDEX users still often receive little respect in a society.674Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtG8r67o1QW
On the current era, schools and academies have been founded to teach children about magic, but it is all obviously about general magic. INDEX remains dishonored by majority, and its dangers sometimes make one consider its usage.674Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqzezZeCiY
