"Ambient mana seems to be quite used up, gently being refilled through a slow flow. Based on what I can sense, a few hours?"
"That long?" That was surprising. Given the amount of mana used, she would have expected far shorter. A few hours would mean his ability hardly cost any mana. Maybe he just recently activated it, but no, her travel companion was right, the flow of mana was gentle.
No matter whether one is a mage or a knight, mana is important. It fuels one's techniques, which can be greatly improved by properly understanding how mana works. As a result, many scholars have studied mana and produced even more theories. Fortunately for us, most of those have been corrected or confirmed with the help of the rare talents so capable, they can actually detect mana at levels needed for this.
Thanks to this, there is a lot we now know beyond a doubt about how mana works. The most important part there is that mana is ambient, but also that it actually is consumed and comes in many flavours. Properly understanding these rules means that one can employ mana far better, adapting to the circumstances.
Mana is Ambient
Natural mana, ambient mana, or however one may call it, is something elusive to even many magic users. Not just people using mana techniques, even lesser mages may not fully understand it. Because in the end, the only way to truly put a face to the theory, a reality to the words, is to be able to properly sense it. And skilled mana senses are hard to train even under guidance of the most gifted teachers.
The first misconception, held by many, is that they believe mana is a personal thing. And while personal reserves do matter, in reality those too are mostly drawn from elsewhere. Asides from a limited supply, most magic usage is fuelled by ambient mana, gathered from one's surroundings.
This comes with very important consequences, which tie into other misconceptions. Because mana comes from around, location actually matters. This actually is why even normal magic users may notice natural mana is a thing, as they begin to properly notice their techniques require more effort in some places.
Mana is Consumed
Next, many think mana is simply there. In truth, it actually is used up, then more flows back in from elsewhere. Similar to how wind will flow, so does ambient mana. Though it isn't strange most people never realise. It takes a large group a significant amount of time and magic usage before they start realising it begins to cost more effort to gather it, so much greater is the refilling than a normal person's share.
There are rare cases where this becomes far more noticeable. Flame mana users use up an excessive amount of ambient mana, which is both the source of their strength and their greatest weakness. When flames grow out of control, it can not only injure the user, but even kill them. When usage of mana, especially flame mana, grows out of control, the resulting rampage can become tangible even in the flesh, the wind picking up towards the source. The same effect may be noticed on a battlefield with hundreds of mana users.
When ambient mana is used up so quickly, it becomes harder for magic users to form their techniques, especially near the eye of the storm. The Flameheart line consists of excelling flame users, who consume so much mana that it becomes hard for others to keep control of their own techniques. This is their biggest strength, but also their greatest flaw, as their allies suffer the same. Duke Cináed Flameheart didn't even knight anyone in his service, for he saw no need for liabilities by his side.
Mana is Elemental
The third mistake many make, is assuming all mana is the same. In truth, mana comes in various flavours, so to speak. The rough division matches the elements, Flame, Air, Cold, Earth, Breath, Stone. More types and variants exist, but these are the main types many scholars identify. Each has their own aspects, their own source, and their own distribution. Some lands will be short on one, which will impact techniques the same way an ambient mana shortage will.
The reason many don't realise, is quite simple. Most techniques are far from pure, mixing in several forms of mana to reach their result. The only impact the environment normally has, is that one's focus needs a slight tweak one way or the other. But more pure techniques do exist, such as famous in the west of
Mǣdweburh. Flamehearts can command literal flames, burning up their enemies. The Carraig Defence is earth-based, turning one's skin as solid as armour. And the Verglas technique uses cold, which can cool down flames but also takes far less ambient mana than other techniques. This is why Verglas is the natural predator of Flameheart, as their technique functions even next to a rampaging flame.
You may not believe these words, think they're just theory by feeble minds. Know that those with excellent mana senses can detect ambient mana well. They can sense not just its level, but also its flow. It has been proven that some can even see what kind of technique has been used the day before. So know that all of this has been confirmed with experiments. And make use of that knowledge as you deal with mana yourself.
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