So I've mentioned it a few times now, but each person is born connected to a certain element. Let's start by clearing the air on some of the false information passed around for these elements. First off, contrary to popular belief, elements aren't genetic, it just seems that way because each element is a 1/4 chance, and if your parents have two separate elements that means that you have a 50% chance to get the same one as one of your parents, my master's element is fire, but both of her parents had water. The second rumour I hear a lot is that twins are always born with the same natural element, as mentioned before there is a 1/4 chance for each element, but that doesn't guarantee the same element, me and my sister, for example, has opposing elements despite being twins. And the last big rumour I want to mention is that elements supposedly cycle. There is no evidence that elements cycle, and yet people want to believe that each child born cycles through the elements until the fifth child has the same element as the first. First of all, I know a girl who has seven children, all of which exhibit the Air element so it doesn't cycle in the family, secondly up to 3 children are born every second, so the elements would have to cycle insanely fast.

So now with the rumour mill sufficiently clogged, let's talk about these elements in a bit more detail. There are four elements, of course, and all have different properties, some even counter/reflect one another. The elements are as follows; Fire, Water, Wind and Earth. Let's dive into them, shall we?

Let's start with fire. Fire is mayhaps one of the most recognizable elements, whenever people think about magic and sorcerers one of the first things that pop into their mind is two really old dudes slinging fireballs at each other. Now I'm not saying that this is incorrect, but there really is a lot more to fire than one might expect. Fire is of course warmth, it can create as much as it can destroy. In the right hands a fire can be a warming and comforting thing, soothing the ill and comforting the cold. However, in other hands, it can be a force of ultimate destruction, capable of levelling towns and destroying entire civilizations. Fire is the opposite of wind, and I know what you must be thinking, wouldn't it be the opposite of water? Well, let me explain a bit more. The four primal aspects/elements work on a sort of chart with fire at the top implying warm, wind at the bottom implying cold, water on the left implying wet and earth on the right implying dry. Now obviously something can't be simultaneously hot and cold, nor wet and dry, which is why fire and wind are opposites instead of fire and water. More on the chart later.

The second element on the list is water. While yes I mentioned the life imbuing properties of fire, water is seen as the true healer amongst the four elements. Put simply we can survive without heat, we can survive without cold, but we can't survive without water, it's the single most important thing a human being can have. Later you'll learn how to channel a specific element alongside your Mira, and you'll find that most healing spells call upon the water element. Now to clear away some more confusion that must obviously be there. You must be wondering "Well if my natural element is earth, then how could I possibly channel water?!" and for that, the answer is quite simple. While yes at birth we are attuned to a specific element, that doesn't exclude us from the rest. If that were the case, then the simple wind and fire spells I've already taught would have been impossible for more than half of the population to cast, and thusly I'd have no real reason to teach it. Water is the opposite of earth.

The third element is a personal one for me; wind. Wind at a glance is just well... wind. But it's not so much the element it'self that we're looking at today, but rather what it symbolizes. Much like how fire and water can both create and destroy in their own respective rights, there are more to wind and earth than simply what they are. The wind is symbolic of change, things arrive with the wind as do they leave with the wind. Many seeds, creatures and insects rely on the wind to not only survive but thrive. It can also cause great devastations in the form of typhoons and hurricanes, and I think anyone who lives on an island can relate to the pain they can cause. Wind is the opposite of fire.

And lastly, the element earth. Whereas wind is symbolic of change, earth is quite the opposite and represents stability. The earth holds all life in her bosom, and yet hardly moves. Of course, due to the orbital rotation of the planet, it's technically in constant motion, but not in the same way as say, an animal or a person. The earth stands strong in its many forms and yet is as fragile as glass in many of its others. The common trend here is that every element if wielded in the wrong way can cause catastrophic events to unfold, and the earth element is no different. Between landslide and earthquakes, not to mention the endless amounts of minerals that could be turned into weapons, earth is seen as one of the most destructive elements and is for that reason the opposite of water.

Now of course people are born with elements attached to their Mina, and it's oftentimes easy to tell what element a person is linked to based purely on their personality. People born into fire tend to have a lot more passion and drive as well as the stereotypical hotheaded nature. People born into water are typically calm and reserved, most tend to be shy just like my dearest Lynn, they also tend to be some of the more adaptable people which makes sense considering the properties of water. People born into wind such as myself, tend to be a lot more flighty and emptyheaded, they're often carefree and go with the flow, admittedly not the best personality traits when it comes to serious studying. Lastly, people born into earth are often stoic, not calm per se, but rather unmoving. They tend to be a lot more stubborn but also much for protective of others, sometimes to the detriment of themselves. Of course, as always this isn't as to say an earthy can't be carefree or a watery hotheaded. It's simply an easy way to guess or rather assume what someone's element is. 

Most of these personality traits are just things I picked up on from the people I encountered in my life, myself included. My teacher is the embodiment of all of the fire traits, my sister perfectly matches all of the water characteristics, and yes I tend to fall into the wind personalities quite often no matter how much my teacher scolded me. With these descriptions, it's easy to guess someone's element but the only way to know for sure is to do the element test that I mentioned earlier.