This article collects information regarding the conceptualisation of the game world of The Mana World.
Mana & Magic
Mana can accurately be described as life force. It flows throughout the world, pushing and pulling itself into and around the material elements, to which it is extremely attracted. It is believed that all mana is connected and must remain connected. Free mana is the blanket of energy that coats The Mana World. It is constantly moving; thinning and condensing in this invisible tempest. Free mana may be seeking material elements to inhabit. It is from this free energy that men are able to pull and manifest mana, calling it magic, and it is to this free ocean which the manifestation dissipates once it is released. Man's telepathic communications are believed to be carried through free mana.
When mana is manipulated by any outside force, it is called Magic. Many living beings (or rather the sentient mana concentrations which believe that they are living beings) are able to control free mana. Unlike other creatures of the world, Men do not possess this ability intuitively, but rather, must learn it.
Destructive Magic
When a living being utilizes mana energy as a destructive force, for example casting a spell which inflicts damages, this is categorized as Destructive Magic. Destructive Spells almost always visually manifest with the appearance of one of the eight Elements. Appearance, however,is usually the extent of the relationship between the manifestation and the actual naturally occurring element.
Healing Magic
Mana can also be channeled for more constructive purposes. One of these purposes is Healing Magic. Healing occurs when mana is pushed into a living being that has lost mana, in order to repair mental or physical inflictions.
Summoning Magic
A powerful and dangerous form of advanced magic is Summoning Magic. This is the intentional condensation of mana to create sentience. These sentient beings can either be manifestations of mana without a physical body, or can be created within an inanimate object which then comes to live. The first beings are called "Elementals", the latter beings "Golems".
