Xinsignia1
He/Him- 220
- 146
Hopefully this clarifies some things. Apologies for the lengthy post, but hope it communicates my point. I think you might be misinformed about some things regarding mana 「魔マナ mana」 and magical power「魔力 maryoku」 . They're related but not the same. Hopefully this clears things up, because I think the idea that the veins were amping the sword is unsubstantiated at the moment.
Inserting the sword into the mana vein doesn't mean it's using mana in the vein to cause destruction, because that would require external mana manipulation which is impossible for the sword, in fact I don't think that was ever implied. It doesn’t even line up with what we know about mana at all. I think people are conflating magical power & mana, which are related but different. Mana 「魔マナ mana」 is a supernatural energy that flows, and exist in the world and inside people. Not to mention, mana is invisible, you can't see it, you can only feel/sense it. Injecting the sword using the earth or "mana" vein propagates the magical power within the sword to cause destruction, not cause a chain reaction, or absorb the mana of the vein (which is canoncally impossible)
Mana exist everywhere in the world while magical power does not. Magical power「魔力 maryoku」 is what mana「魔マナ mana」 turns into when it gets refined. This can only be done by things that can use it. In order to influence any sort of phenomenon, mana must be converted into magical power since it cannot influence things by itself. You need to generate an earth quake to destroy the continent? You need magical power to do that, not mana. Mana doesn't "detonate" or cause "chain reactions" it's supernatural energy that has it's own flow, and varying densities. If you want to affect something, it can't do it as "mana, it needs to be converted into magical power, and only things that can internally generate magical power can do that, the sword does not generate magical power, nor does it convert mana into magical power. Converting ambient mana into magical power is only done through mana zone or mana method (which requires high magical power) or some type of rune action, which requires you to have have magical power in the first place. External mana control and absorption are specific skills that the sword does not possess. Mana zone is a technique that allows a mage to control ambient mana within a given territory. With it, you can absorb said ambient mana, and generate more magical power. The amount that they can control depends on how strength/amount of magical power they have since you still need to expend magical power to utilize external mana. It's a separate skill that needs to be acquired, which the sword doesn't have, nor was it ever implied to. The imperial sword cannot convert mana into magical power, it can only store magical power and release it.
For example Henry's curse only siphons magical power, not raw mana because magical power provides him with the energy needed to survive. So the mana in the environment? Henry doesn't siphon it, only the magical power.
FYI viz sometimes translates 「魔力 maryoku」 as "mana" instead of magical power which is incorrect. Hence why I defer to the raws, they've gotten a bit better about it though. Anyway here in the viz scan elf Gauche says Henry is absorbing mana (which is the incorrect translation), and here are the Japanese raws for comparison which states Henry is absorbing magical power aka 「魔力 maryoku」 not 「魔マナ mana」
Demon dweller can absorb magical power & anti-magic power and discharges it, it doesn't absorb or discharge free power. Magical power is always, always generated by something. That power can then be stored. There was no magical power in the veins until Conrad injected it with the imperial sword, hence why it started glowing because "dormant" mana does not exist. Mana is just a type of supernatural energy that exist everywhere, and can only influence the world around it IF and ONLY IF it is turned into magical power.
Also i'm making the statement below, since I feel some other's will try to use similar content as a rebuttal:
Here is the mana zone explanation in the viz translation it says you take control of the ambient mana to power yourself, and can discharge more mana than you actually have
But looking at the Japanese raws, the scan actually says the mage takes control of the ambient mana「魔マナ mana」 and use it to discharge more magical power「魔力 maryoku」 than they actually have , so regardless mana must always be converted into magical power if you want to use it. Even if you assume the veins were packed with dense mana, it would be useless to the sword since it only absorbs magical power, not mana, and magical power is what's needed to causes the destruction, not raw mana. The only way the sword could use the mana of the veins (if there were any) is if Conrad was actively channeling the mana of the veins into himself, and converting it into magical power since only those that can generate their own magical power, have the power to convert mana into magical power which is a complex skill that only a few people know how to use, but that would still mean Conrad & Asta would scale to it since he would be the one using said power. Nevertheless, there isn't any evidence Conrad was channeling the mana of the veins into himself.
Another rebuttal someone might try to bring up is mana skin:
In the viz translation it says that mages wear a protective layer of mana because they're releasing their magical power at a constant rate.
Well taking a look at the Japanese raws, it actually says they're wearing a protective later of magical power「魔力 maryoku」by releasing their magic power at a constant rate. So again, mana cannot do anything on its own unless it's converted into magical power, which the sword cannot do (since it absorbs magical power, it doesn't create it)
If the sword could harvest free mana, then there would be no need to absorb the magical power of the citizens since mana literally floats in the air. So Asta & Conrad would still 100% scale whether the destruction was caused by just the sword or if Conrad channeling the mana of the veins into himself (which I doubt) and to reiterate the veins did not light up until magical power was propagating through it.
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Let Arnold at least have this W bossman
