Spirit

Spirits (精霊, Seirei) are supernatural beings that materialize in the world through mana and manipulate it as they please.

Information
Spirits are given life by Od Laguna, tied to magic by nature, and manifest through mana, which they have the aptitude to control. For example, spirits can utilize mana in the atmosphere to form and dissolve their bodies. In contrast, if a spirit’s Od were to receive fatal damage, it will perish. Moreover, spirits need a stone to use as an “anchor” (依り代, yorishiro) in order to remain in the world. They use up mana by materializing and return to their crystals to recover what they used. Most spirits have a limit to how long they can maintain a physical form, but they usually do not reach this limit and return to their crystal when they have no need to manifest themselves.

There are multiple grades of spirits, and they develop not through time or age, but with accumulated power, among other things, such as a sense of self and knowledge. Once a spirit accumulates enough of these qualities, it advances into the next grade.

Spirits begin their lives as lesser spirits (微精霊, bi seirei), beings that, prior to growing into spirits, are essentially balls of mana. Although they cannot communicate with words, lesser spirits can transmit and receive feelings with mana. They can start to develop knowledge, and if they gain strength and a sense of self over time, they can grow into normal spirits. Between spirits and lesser spirits are quasi-spirits (準精霊, jun seirei), which also retain an inability to comprehend words and an ability to transmit emotions. They have a sense of self and can fulfill tasks assigned to them by a contractor. As spirits develop by their accumulated power, quasi-spirits naturally have more strength than lesser spirits.

Once a spiritual being that is born as a lesser spirit and becomes a quasi-spirit accumulates enough power, it finally attains the grade of spirit. A spirit tends to have a developed mind of its own and the ability to communicate. Despite the fact that spirits generally have liberal principles, they are self-centered beings who prioritize their own wills and desires in nearly all cases. It is well-known that provoking a spirit will invite disaster. If spirits were to come into contact with one another and have a conflict caused by their different aims, the only result and solution is for one to wipe out the other. A majority of them take on animal-like forms, but on some occasions, they can specialize in taking a human form. With enough time and accumulated power, they become great spirits (大精霊, dai seirei) in the end.

A rare variant of spirits designated as enemies of mankind and hostile to life around them are evil spirits (邪精霊). They are alternatively known as fairies (妖精, yōsei). There are no differences between evil spirits and regular spirits in a strict sense, they have held malicious intent to humans and animals, and while it is speculated that they were corrupted in the process of becoming a spirit, the cause or causes behind their birth as well as their true natures are unclear. It is presumed that evil spirits cannot suddenly shift their natures and they have no reason for their malevolence as mankind’s enemies, though the Earth Spider’s inclination to change contradicts this claim. In addition, because their origins are the same as a normal spirit’s, evil spirits communicate with people who possess a high affinity with spirits in unusual ways.

When the Witch of Greed, Echidna, was alive, she created three man-made artificial spirits (人工精霊, jinkou seirei). The first of them was Puck, and the last was Beatrice. The three artificial spirits were forged with unspecified mechanisms. They differ from normal spirits in some respects. Puck and Beatrice were born as great spirits and wield extreme power at the cost of having a large mana consumption rate and being incapable of absorbing mana from the atmosphere, instead needing it from humans or their contractors. In contrast, Echidna does not consume much mana and is skilled in concealing herself, but she cannot contract with humans and has difficulties using magic.

Contracts, a type of promise between two parties, carry great meaning for spirits. It is uncommon for someone to naturally have an affinity for spirits and form a contract with them, and it is even rarer for one to do so with powerful spirits. Contracted spirits tend to reflect their contractor’s magic affinity. There are, however, rare cases where someone with high ability can form a contract with spirits without regard to affinity. Individual spirits desire different conditions to fulfill a contract. Simple requirements, like contact with their contractor, are typically all that lesser spirits ask for, but it can be more challenging to fulfill a contract with a normal spirit. While spirits tend to be self-centered beings who follow their own wishes in most scenarios, they may prioritize the will of a spirit arts user who they are contracted with.

A person who conveys themselves to spirits by forming a contract with one and borrowing their powers is a spirit arts user. Spirits and spirit arts users utilize spirit arts, which uses mana in the atmosphere around them. The process is different from normal magic, which takes mana from within a human, though the principles of the magic and the effects are the same. The strength of a spell that spirit arts users can cast is dependent on the power of the spirit they are contracted with. While spirit arts users can form contracts with multiple spirits, an extraordinary talent is necessary for them to even borrow the abilities of passing lesser spirits.

Four Great Spirits
The Four Great Spirits (四大精霊, Shi Dai Seirei), also simply known as the Four Greats (四大, Shi Dai), are a group of great spirits that possess exceptional and unparalleled power among spirits of their grade. Their existences are widely known throughout the world, as handling them is a matter of grave importance for the world’s countries. They each reside in a great nation and govern one of the four main magic attributes. With the exception of Odglass, the Sacred Beast, the Four Greats are often not friendly with mankind, and their actions are predominantly self-righteous.

The Beast of the End, Puck
Puck is the first artificial spirit created by Echidna. In the past, he lived with Beatrice at Echidna's palace until he departed to fulfill the mission he was born with. An indeterminate number of years later, he found a frozen Emilia in the Great Elior Forest and watched over her for many years to come until, one day, he freed her. He began to live with Emilia in Elior Forest until Melakuera, the great spirit who then governed fire mana, made an attempt to eliminate her. Emilia and Puck made a contract as a result, and together, they successfully vanquished Melakuera. After the Arbitrator's death, Puck became the great spirit that governs fire mana.

Currently, Puck is trapped in a crystal after having broken his contract with Emilia and spending his power to save the people of the Sanctuary from Roswaal's spell. After receiving a high-purity crystal for her efforts during the battle for Priestella, Emilia is currently waiting for enough mana to be stored within the crystal for Puck to return.

The Stone, Muspel
Muspel is a spirit that does not possess intentions, words, or a philosophy; it simply exists. It resides and wanders in the Sacred Vollachia Empire. Records from Vollachia rule that Muspel moves on a grand scale every 12 years, leading to various earthquakes after its movements.

According to Vincent Vollachia, Muspel and its mana are currently being used in the Great Disaster by Sphinx to revive undead throughout Vollachia.

The Slasher, Zarestia
Zarestia is a spirit that indulges in everlasting tranquility at her dwelling. Predating the Witch and the Dragon, she once exerted mastery over the four main affinities, but after nearly being killed by humans, she was left with control over wind magic and developed an intense bloodlust that compelled her to kill everything, no matter the circumstances.

The Sacred Beast, Odglass
Odglass is a spirit who, unlike most other spirits, interferes with the way of the world by watching over the human populace in the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko, where she resides, with affection and benevolence from her abode, the Sacred Mountain Paradochia. She is a powerful great spirit who has scores of spirits and lesser spirits under her control, which she uses to help humans live in the permafrost-covered nation.

The ruling entity of Gusteko is a theocracy known as the Gustekan Church, which has a doctrine that centers on both her and spirits in general. At the country's founding, she exchanged a contract with a spirit arts user who followed her, bestowed the title of Holy King onto them, and from then on, she was involved in choosing successive Holy Kings, who were selected out of the citizens regardless of their bloodline or origin. This process created an established and long relationship with Odglass and Gusteko, as the tradition to select the Holy King is something she has held from the beginning of the country’s history. Because of this, she is heralded as the Church’s Benevolent Mother.

The Arbitrator, Melakuera
Melakuera was a spirit who acted to protect the balance of the world and arbitrate unnatural threats who could jeopardize its safety. Initially born as a lesser spirit from the spark of a campfire, he lived alongside a man named Melakuera until his death and resolved to protect the world and save all others from suffering to fulfill the wishes of his friend by following a rigid set of self-appointed rules. After taking the name of its friend and developing power, Melakuera eventually became a great spirit. He divided his existence into seven parts, each of which he controlled individually and used to monitor the world as an arbitrator who deterred any signs of a potential calamity.

Seven years before the events of the main story, the Arbitrator set his sights on Elior Forest and discovered Emilia there. He regarded her existence as a threat and a sin solely because of her resemblance to the Witch of Envy. Melakuera perished when Puck, the Beast of the End, made a contract with Emilia, and worked together with her to defeat him.

Current

 * Puck (artificial spirit)
 * Muspel
 * Zarestia
 * Odglass

Former

 * Melakuera

Great Spirits

 * Beatrice (artificial spirit)
 * Gaddogi Guadozeaddo

Spirits

 * Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti (evil spirit)
 * Echidna (artificial spirit)
 * Earth Spider
 * Green Room Spirit
 * Ia, Kua, Aro, Iku, In, and Nes

Non-Canonical

 * Pooka
 * Fenne

Trivia

 * Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti, the former Sin Archbishop of Sloth, was a spirit who used the bodies of humans as anchors rather than a crystal. He could only take control of humans that were compatible with spirits and had no preexisting contracts with them.
 * In the Vollachia Empire, there were once groups of people known as spirit eaters. The technique of spirit eating was a secret practiced by the tribes that lived in the borderlands of Vollachia, but the techinque was banished because of its power and the method to possess it was completely lost. Spirit eaters could eat and ingest spirits. This allowed a spirit eater to take the abilities of a spirit for themselves until it was consumed. They were created in the distant past to oppose an unnamed Witch who charmed everything. The only known survivor of the spirit eaters is Arakiya.
 * If a soul has grudges and regrets, is unable to return to Od Laguna, and is combined with an evil spirit, it becomes a phenomenon known as a hollow. There is a superstition that hollows can reside in dolls that are made into the images of animals or people.
 * Spirits are often respected in most parts of the world. Most notably, a large majority of citizens in Gusteko follow the teachings of the Gustekan Church and put their faith into spirits. They are not respected in Vollachia, making the country an exception.
 * The Divine Protection of Gathering Spirits is immediately effective on lesser spirits and quasi-spirits, though not as effective on normal spirits.
 * While they are not required to eat, spirits can comprehend taste and turn food into mana. The amount of mana they gain from this is ineffective and no more than an insignificant amount when compared to the mana they can collect from a contractor.
 * In the era of the Witches, before the Great Calamity, magic was exclusively a strong suit of demi-humans and spirits.
 * Spirit arts users can lend their spirits to other people as long as the spirit itself gives them permission.
 * Spirits are unable to have children.