Mana

Mana is a form of energy that exists in nature and within people. It is the source of all magic spells.

Overview
Mana is an important aspect of every mage that has ever lived as it is their source of energy, which is used to activate various magic spells. This energy is naturally existing and flowing in the environment and within everyone. Due to this, it is common knowledge that everyone is able to use magic to some extent. At the same time, people who do not possess any mana and unable to use magic are a completely rare occurrence.

Furthermore, mana is the life force of all human beings. Thus, when someone uses all of their mana, it could cause them severe exhaustion and ultimately render them unconscious.

In nature, the density of mana can be different from place to place. Usually, a location with high mana density would have a penchant for having a distorted environment. One example of such place is a dungeon where strange creatures and gravitational forces could occur within it.

Moreover, mana can also be used as materials to mold objects, such as using it to create a huge door within a dungeon.

Elemental Affinity
Unlike mana that exists in nature, those that are situated within mages possess an affinity to elements. These elemental attributes are one of the aspects that differentiate one mage from another.

There are mainly 4 great attributes in the world, which are fire, water, wind, and earth. From these attributes, several other elements can be derived. Such elements are lightning and smoke come from the wind attribute or ice from the water attribute. Furthermore, mages could have different latent abilities according to their elemental affinity. One example would be mages with an affinity towards wind and its derived elements of lightning and smoke have the latent ability of mana sensory. This resulted from those mages having a higher sensitivity towards the flow of mana.

Since a mage can only be affiliated to a single element, it prevents them from using magic outside of their element. This fact results in a mage who is able to activate fire magic spells to be unable to use spells from other elemental magic such as wind magic or water magic. However, it also allows them to use other magic with an added attribute according to their individual affinity, such as fire-based creation magic or plant-based healing magic.

On unique occasions, it has been proven through scientific endeavor that a mage could be artificially enhanced to possess more than one elemental affinity. A successful effort for this experiment is Mars who possesses an affinity towards both crystal and fire.

Significance
The amount of mana that a mage possess within them has huge significance. It is because the fundamental strength of a mage is measured through it. When a mage possesses a high amount of mana, any tasks which involve the use of magic would become easier. Additionally, mages with a high amount of mana have a higher chance accessing high-level magic spells rather than mages with a low amount of mana.

In addition, learning to control the mana within them is an important lesson for every mage. It is because mana control is the second parameter that is used to measure the strength of a mage. Even if a mage possesses a high amount of mana, the mage would be considered weak if they lack control over it. An example would be Noelle Silva who is considered a "defect" by her family because she is unable to properly control her mana even though she possesses an above average amount of it.

Trivia

 * The appearance of mana as birds highly resembles the concept of rukh from the Magi series.