Editing Essence (section)

===[[Monster Girl Encyclopedia World Guide III: Sabbath Grimoire#What Mana Is (p26)|What Mana Is (''World Guide 3'', p26)]]===
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It is a general name for the vital energy contained within the bodies of animate beings; all living things possess mana. Naturally, that's true of humans and monsters; divinities possess vast sums of mana within themselves, and even plants and animals possess mana, albeit in small quantities. There are minute differences between races and individuals, but generally speaking, when ordered in terms of who possesses the most mana, it goes divinities, monsters, humans, animals, plants. Furthermore, there also exist races that do not have bodies of flesh, whose bodies are instead comprised entirely of mana such as “spirits”. Mana is not at all a special energy just for using magic; instead, it is the fundamental essence that organisms use to perform vital functions. In other words, it is life force itself. It tends to be misunderstood, but just because someone cannot use magic doesn't mean that they do not possess mana. For example, most “[[slime]]s (encyclopedia I – p.16)” cannot use magic, but that's because they lack the knowledge and wits to use magic. A slime's body itself is mostly made up of mana, and for that reason, we can say they are creatures who possess extremely large amounts of mana within themselves. 

Other than that, most “[[Werewolf|werewolves]] (Encyclopedia I – p.26)” are just poor at controlling mana in the form called magic due to their racial characteristics; however, they instinctively use mana to enhance their physical abilities and control their posture when exerting themselves. Humans and other animals are also the same way. Ultimately, whether or not one can use magic is determined by one's inherent proficiencies and inadequacies, as well as subsequently acquired knowledge and training. It has very little to do with the presence or absence of mana, or the magnitude of the mana possessed. The vital energy, mana, is essentially required by organisms to perform vital functions, so in the first place, a lack of mana would signify that something is non-living rather than living. 

Even when people possess the same amount of mana, on the one hand, there are individuals who have a frail constitution and poor physical abilities that invest their mana into the gift known as magic, while on the other hand, there are people who possess brute strength and boundless stamina due to mana, but are completely unable to use magic, while still others are endowed with a good balance of everything. We can say there are endless variations in how mana is used depending on the particular race and individual. In this way, mana is not simply energy used for magic.

Mana is also the “vitality”, and “overall energy” of living things. Basically, beings who are filled with mana are also highly active, while if mana is lacking, they will feel fatigue, and if mana is lost, it may cause lethargy or a loss of consciousness. Since possessing more mana is equivalent to possessing a greater life force, even though they're still human, powerful sorcerers tend to have greater longevity compared to ordinary humans.

It's generally all lumped together and treated as “mana” most of the time, but in fact the nature of mana differs depending on each race, and it's classified as divine mana, mamono mana, human mana, and so forth. Mamono mana can be further classified according to race as succubus mana, lamia mana, slime mana, etc. Moreover, the mana of each individual is slightly different even when they are of the same race. Each and every animate being possesses a unique mana, and there is no one else in the world who has exactly the same mana. Even human twins raised together with the same mother and father, and even two golems created from the same material by the same craftsman, and animated by the same mana, do not possess exactly the same mana. For that reason, naturally, it's possible to identify race, and even uniquely identify an individual by performing a detailed analysis of mana. In general, humans do not have the power to sense mana; however, those who normally deal with mana such as wizards and golem engineers are an exception, being capable of sensing mana to some degree, and there are also humans “with good intuition” who are inherently able to sense the presence of mana. On the other hand, monsters excel at sensing mana. Other than being able to sense mana as a presence, there are also those who can sniff out the scent of mana and even visualize mana. Additionally, they are extra sensitive to human mana, men's mana in particular, and can sense the presence of humans even from a location some distance away. Naturally, they can identify whether it's a human or a monster, and even discern particular individuals, but they can also sense what other mana is mixed in with the mana possessed by the target, and it's even possible to discern whether or not the target has a partner, and identify who that partner is as well. The mana of a monster's own partner in particular is unmistakable, and even if her partner has been transformed into another person or beast due to a spell, she can identify him as her husband at a glance; conversely, it's absolutely impossible for a monster to mistake someone using magic to masquerade with her partner's form and mana as her actual husband. 

The fact that “human mana” is the main staple of the inma is a point that is especially noteworthy. The vital energy possessed by humans called “essence” is the favorite treat of all monsters, and that's another word for this human mana. In this book, for the sake of convenience, “human mana” will most often simply be referred to using the word “mana”, but please note that it means exactly the same thing as “essence”. Due to the influence of the mamono lord, an immensely powerful inma, all monsters are endowed with the traits of a “[[succubus]] (Encyclopedia I – p. 8)” and have a habit of feeding on human mana, i.e., essence, so their mouth, vagina, and womb have a sense of taste to enjoy the flavor of mana. The flavor of the mana of human men is strongly preferred by all monsters, and the semen ejaculated by men is particularly full of it. For that reason, monsters will do things like taking the penis deeply into their mouth, and licking and sucking it to spur ejaculation, or uniting the penis and vagina, and shaking their hips to produce stimulation that induces ejaculation. In other words, they ingest men's mana by engaging in sex with men. Additionally, their sense of smell with regard to human mana is also sharp, and a man shrouded in mana has a wonderfully delicious scent to monsters. The taste of the mana of the man recognized by a monster as her partner is exceptional, and after knowing that sweet taste, other men's mana will taste awful and no longer be tolerable to her, so much so that a monster's body will gradually alter into one specialized exclusively for sex with her partner. Her sense of taste with regards to mana will also gradually change so that only her partner's mana tastes more sharply and deliciously. Not only will a monster not get bored of her partner's taste, the more they have sex, and the more she slurps his mana, the more intoxicated she will become. In fact, many monsters even end up begging for their husband's semen practically like addicts. On top of that, they even become more sensitive to the presence and odor of their partner's mana, and in many cases it gets to the point that just being near their partner and smelling him is enough to make their head giddy, and inflame lust, resulting in a surge of sexual excitement.
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