Mana

## Early Research

* Mana is invisible to almost every single human and living creature.
* Mana flows like a gas, but can penetrate all forms of matter.
* Mana seems to act like a barrier against harmful nuclear radiation (decay).
* Mana reduces and reflects the ultraviolent rays from the sun significantly. This seemed to be effective in helping to reduce the appearance of skin cancer in humans.
* Mana disrupts certain electromagnetic spectrum frequencies, particularly those that are not infrared rays or visible light, by a considerable amount. Mana essentially acts like a Newtonian fluid against any other electromagnetic frequency. This is referred to as the *1st Mana Principle*. Mana only allows the "right" wavelengths to pass through it as such.
* Mana is visible on x-ray scans due to their electromagnetic-inhibiting/reflective properties, so they are seen as bright beams of light on scans from the x-rays being reflected off mana.
* Mana can be condensed to a certain untested limit, which increases the density of the mana in a location/area/article.
* Mana normally cannot be touched or directly interacted with using the five senses. This is known as the *2nd Mana Principle*.
* Cells in the body become like "anchors" for absorbing, converting, and mediating mana from the air, into the body, then discharging it when the magi casts magic. This is similar in nature to the property of certain dragon ore blocks that grow more ores from itself (budding amethyst blocks).
* For the majority of magi, only about a maximum 25% percentage of their body's cells are capable of becoming "mana anchors". Very rarely, an extremely select few are born with up to 50% of their body being able to become mana anchor cells. The most powerful individuals are usually able to cast A Rank magic on their own freely without the help of dragon ore or other catalysts/mana reserves
* Mana anchor cells in the body inherently do not "use" or rely on mana themselves; they just act as a converter and generator of energy (mana in this case), like how solar panels absorb electricity, or wind turbines harvest the flow of wind. They are able to fully survive and exist without mana.
* The more time passes after an individual becomes a magi, the more powerful and more mana anchors build up within a person. It was hypothesized by former researchers that as older cells died, new cells that replaced them had an unknown exact chance (roughly seen as 1%-5% depending on the person and type of cell) to become a mana anchor cell. It was also tested but ended up failing to intentionally create mana anchors; mana anchors could not be forcefully created and experiments that were attempted all failed. When a person was introduced to excessive amounts of mana, it ended up overloading existing mana anchors within their body, killing the cells after long exposure. Researchers found no change on normal cells from being exposed to the extreme levels of mana. It was eventually concluded that mana anchors had to be nurtured by the body naturally in order to be formed. What or how a cell is determined to become an anchor for mana is still unknown.
* Doctors performed an emergency kidney transplant from a Magi to a person who was found in the USA still alive in his bunker. They teleported him via portal and began the surgery in an American-operated hospital in Odin (in 2023). The procedure was successful, but as the American Odin researcher team monitored his health, it was discovered that the mana anchors in the kidney rapidly deteriorated into normal cells after the transplant; they used x-ray to check on it every week and less light (concentrations of mana/mana anchors) showed up in the scans each time.

## Late Research

* Mana can be inbued into nearly any object, but some materials are able to store, absorb, or output mana more efficiently or in larger amounts than others. Dragon Ore is nearly 99% solidified mana and is the best storage and conducting material since it itself is composed almost entirely of mana. It was ultimately decided that magic circles and spells inscribed on paper was the most efficient for casting magic most weaker spells and reserve ones own mana.
* Mana and magic was used for common tasks and completely replaced electricity by around 2037 after the 1st Magi War for things like communications, cooking, cutting objects, home and building construction, etc. Things like Dragon Ore lamps were created and emits light for years by itself.
* Mana can be mixed with a being's life force to enhance the strength of a magic spell or the body of the being itself. Magi researchers found that the Church of Destruction and Church of Stet'e used Blood Arts during the 1st Magi War in these ways.
* Necromancy and calling the undead was found to be possible when mana was used in a specific way.

## History

A special, little understood form of energy, mana originated from the meteor and its fragments that slammed into the Earth on June 23rd, 2023.

Mana, unlike electricity, seemed to be able to easily harbor itself within the air and any object that could absorb it. Its properties were like photons, but able to freely flow between any gasses, liquids, solids, and substances it passed through- without any apparent limitations. Its movements were like a gas, as early pioneers noted. However, it could pass through liquids and solids like a ghost. Researchers ultimately decided that mana was a brand new form of energy that was not one of the four forms of matter; it was something that was never been found before on Earth, nor known about aside from within fantasy tales. It could be condensed to create more potent energy outputs, and were utilized by humans wielding "spells" or channelling the mana from within *Dragon Ore* or the air.

Humankind at first was skeptical that "mana" could even be a thing, but slowly began to accept it as a new reality after WWIII decimated most of the world.

Researchers then discovered a large series of new islands that formed in the Atlantic Ocean and found out that it was the site of where the primary meteor chunk had landed that introduced mana, which quickly created the islands under two years. As news of this spread to the rest of the humans still alive, they all decided to head to the new land formations.

It was their last hope and a chance to survive the nuclear fallout.

Once people started grouping and settling there, they began to notice how the air quality around the islands were pristine and had no pollutants, nuclear radiation, or harmful chemicals floating about. They started putting two and two together and came to the conclusion that large amounts of mana were like a barrier to nuclear radiation and being on the islands were the safest place to be now.

The downside to coming to these new islands though is that there was no electric grid, so devices that ran on it became useless. Those who came prepared with solar panels or gasoline generators did put up with using electric devices for a while, but ran out of fuel, or could only power very small things after a while. It is believed that mana reacts with electricity in some sort of way, but people have not been able to find a proper correlation between the two forms of energy, yet.

After some time, people began mining into the burrows of the new islands and discovered something amazing; they found new ores inbedded underground, gleaming purple like amethysts in large geodes. When these crystals were harvested and tested, it was found that they harbored large amounts of mana energy. They were originally called condensed mana crystals, but soon they were named "Dragon Ore" after several tragic events that followed. Areas that contained large quantities of Dragon Ore had many draconic-like beings that flew around and guarded the areas. People who attempted to mine near them ended up being completely annihiliated. The humans of the islands then fought a fierce battle and managed to kill one of the dragons that guarded a large meteor. All other dragons fled and settled elsewhere across the land.

*The Gift*, they called the meteor. It was located in the center of the new islands. It radiated large amounts of mana from within. Those who approached near it was gifted new amazing powers. People one by one could cast magic, something only known in fiction, like the dragons they fought.

Eventually, the set of new islands became to be known as "Odin". This was shorthand for "Otherworldly Dimension In Nature". It was named as such because it was like stepping into a new world that had Earth-like properties, but also had new qualities not seen elsewhere on the planet. The name Odin eventually became just a name that people referred to the group of islands, instead of staying as an acronym.

Mana rapidly replaced electricity, and people who settled down in Odin became comfortable of adapting and using mana and Dragon Ore for their everyday lives. People could use Dragon Ore to have the same functionality as large, clunky electrical equipment by using magical spells, chants, circles, and inscriptions along with the ore combined. It was much simpler to use and maintain, so eventually most if not all electrical devices became obsolete to keep and were thrown out over the years.

Humankind lived and developed much quicker than before as anyone could tinker with Dragon Ore and the powers they obtained from treading near *The Gift*. It was a Golden Age for discovery and research.

This, was until the First Magi War broke out a decade afterwards.