Mantra

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Mantra
The Eight Mantra Affinities (clockwise: Pride, Lust, Wrath, Vanity, Greed, Violence, Melancholy, and Sloth.)
Classification	Supernatural life/mental/emotional energy
Obtained from	Emotions Prayers Souls
Abilities	Machinery powering Technological advancement Superhuman abilities Emotion empowerment
The Eight Mantras	Pride Lust Greed Sloth Vanity Violence Melancholy Wrath
Creator	Chakravartin
Users	Chakravartin Demigods Humans (to a small extent)

	Pride, lust, greed, sloth, vanity, violence, melancholy and wrath. These are the Mantras that govern the world.
— Yasha recites the Eight Mantras

Mantra (Japanese: マントラ, Mantora; Sanskrit: मन्त्र) is the cosmic energy produced by emotions and prayers, made either from souls (often of mortals) or from prayers. It is the energy, life and power source of the Demigods, flowing within them and fueling their power. Mantra exists in eight pure forms: Pride, Lust, Greed, Sloth, Vanity, Violence, Melancholy and Wrath.

Mantra expedited the technological progress of a species to the point that they could be considered gods by races incapable of accessing it.

Originally, human prayer was the only way to safely accumulate Mantra until Deus and Kalrow devised a way to harvest Mantra faster by "saving" the humans; tricking them into sacrificing themselves on the premise that they would be saved from the Gohma. However, this was all to obtain energy for the Brahmastra, a supreme weapon mounted on the Karma Fortress that was intended to permanently destroy Gohma Vlitra and bring about "The Great Rebirth" of civilization.

History

Long in the past, Chakravartin, the only 'true' god known to have existed, the creator and god of Mantra, was the one who bestowed Mantra and the ability to manipulate it to a portion of the human race, who learned to harness and store it. With that power, this subgroup of humans rapidly advanced technologically, surpassing all the other sections of their race whom were left to live in a more "primitive" state without Mantra. Eventually, they reached their limit: the amount of Mantra they had would only take them so far. To this end, the hyper-advanced humans organized their society, consciously or not, in a strict and religious hierarchy. The lower class, the primitive humans, praised the noble class as gods (partly because these were the only ones who could manipulate and utilize Mantra). Thus the nobles became known as Demigods, though whether they named themselves as such or not is unknown. Giving their prayers to the Demigods, the primitive humans became their only source of Mantra and the fuel for their power.

This rather peaceful existence would not last for long. Once again, the Shinkoku Trastrium - now the name of the Demigod civilization, the only unified nation in the entire globe - reached its limit: they needed more Mantra to further their civilization. A new method to gather Mantra was then born, the sacrifice of humans; effectively mass slaughter. By taking their souls and refining them into Mantra, the Demigods were once again on the path of advancement. However, this came with a cost no one expected.

Gaea, as the Earth was then referred to as, was enraged when the souls of mortals were not returning to it once they left their bodies, the cycle of life and death being grossly disrupted. In a fit of anger induced by Chakravartin, Gaea unleashed the Gohma and Gohma Vlitra upon the world in an attempt to take back the souls that had been converted into Mantra. The War of Creation, an eternal conflict between the Demigods of Shinkoku and the Gohma, and a perpetual cycle of Vlitra appearing and subsequently being barely staved off by the Demigods, had begun. Perhaps ironically, this war prompted the Demigods to build the Karma Fortress to destroy the catalyst of this periodic event once and for all.

All of this eventually led to Asura's first fight with Vlitra, Deus' betrayal to bring about the "Great Rebirth", and all the other events that occur in the story's timeline. With the death of the Mantra god Chakravartin, all the Mantra in the universe would disappear, leading to the end of the demigod race and any Mantra creation.

Properties

Mantra, in its full form, is composed of eight "pure" Mantras, those being Wrath, Pride, Greed, Lust, Vanity, Violence, Melancholy, and Sloth. These are known as the "Eight Mantras that Govern the World" or the "Eight Mantra Affinities".

In its natural form, Mantra resembles vibrations similar to those emitted by sound waves and possesses very little power on its own. However, through its manipulation - be it either by resonating it within an electrically-charged circular superconductor (like the Mantra Reactor) or by the Priestess - Mantra can be magnified and become an abundant source of power. When amplified like that, Mantra appears as a teal mist or aura capable of powering and advancing machinery, healing wounds, and also strengthening those indulged in it to god-like heights. Bearing characteristics similar to electricity, it can be transmitted and stored with conductors.

Mantra also influences the speed in which a civilization advances technologically and scientifically. For example, the Demigods' civilization, the only ones capable of fully manipulating it, have far surpassed the other human civilizations technologically, scientifically and biologically, achieving highly advanced technology and weaponry, spaceflight, superhuman capabilities and immortality through medicine, Mantra manipulation, and cybernetics/bionics/robotics before any of the others even thought about combustion and bacteria. That is why each human city's technological advancement depends entirely on its location: those in an area with a high concentration of Mantra will advance quickly, and vice-versa.

Mantra can be obtained through either prayers or sacrifices, the latter needing refinement (a soul into Mantra), which produces a tremendous amount of power. The power of the demigods increases proportionally to the amount of Mantra they possess and are able to channel. With sufficient amounts, the strength of a demigod can even circumvent trivial matters such as size. Even so, one does not need to be able to manipulate Mantra to feel its effects.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is the act of humans offering Mantra to the demigods. Sacrifices can be carried out in two ways: through daily prayers, or by offering one's soul through death. The latter is considered by mortals to be the highest honour one can offer the demigods.

Mantra Affinity Users

The Eight Guardian Generals/The Seven Deities

Name	Mantra Affinity	Status
Deus	Pride	Deceased †, Reincarnated
Olga	Lust	Deceased †, Reincarnated
Asura	Wrath	Deceased †, Reincarnated
Sergei	Vanity	Deceased †, Reincarnated
Augus	Greed	Deceased †, Reincarnated
Wyzen	Violence	Deceased †, Reincarnated
Yasha	Melancholy	Deceased †, Reincarnated
Kalrow	Sloth	Deceased †, Reincarnated

Trivia

• Mantra plays a crucial role in Hinduism, Buddhism and Indian religions, being described as the source of all life. It is a sacred utterance, sound, word or chant used to clear the mind and aid concentration during meditation and prayers, as well as being used in spiritual practices to materialize deities. Practitioners believe Mantras have spiritual powers. In Sanskrit, Mantra means "mind control".
• The "pure" Mantras have different colours in their aura/mist form. Wrath is Red, Violence is Yellow, Vanity is Light Blue, Sloth is Green, Melancholy is Dark Blue, Lust is Purple, Greed is Orange, and Pride is White.
• The Pride Mantra Affinity is considered the most special of the Eight because it is believed it is the one bestowed upon the being most worthy of ruling over Shinkoku.
• The Eight Guardian Generals individually utilize all the eight pure Mantras, and each draw his or her power from that specific Mantra. Asura is the General of Wrath; Wyzen, the General of Violence; Augus, the General of Greed; Kalrow, the General of Sloth; Deus, the General of Pride; Olga, the General of Lust; Sergei, the General of Vanity; Yasha, the General of Melancholy.
• Five of the eight kinds of forms of Mantra are part of the Seven Deadly Sins.
  • Of the other three, two of them: Acedia (Melancholy), and Vainglory (Vanity) are also two 'historic' sins of the Seven Deadly Sins; the third, Violence is also talked of extensively in the context of the Seven Deadly Sins.