Compound: Metal

Summary

One of the compound manas, metal mana shares the natures of veltron and fire. Metal is the ultimate form of corporeal structure, resistant to change yet capable of bowing when great times demand it. Possessed of a supreme veltron nature, fire is yet able to bend and change metal, transforming it. So metal can shape over time slowly, or through fire, explosively redefine itself.
In seeking ultimate structure, veltron ever becomes harder, more rigid, and solid amongst its peers. Great pressures deep within worlds and time's ceaseless march let it resculpt itself. Yet through pressure is heat given, and so fire called, allowing for transformation. Whether veltron persists or fire aids, in the end metal comes to be. Some scholars boisterously say only one in ten thousand pieces of veltron becomes metal, emboldening its luxurious rarity.
It can be easy to say there is only one correct form of structure, but that would be wrong. Myriad possibilities await, so it is myriad different kinds of metals exist because of that. The likes of iron, copper, silver, gold, and so on, are all metals that yet aspire toward different structures. One could say that despite being an ultimate structure, metal is yet looking for its own realization. That is, to find a true 'ultimate' structure, whatever form it may be in. Quite a burdensome aspiration to have.
It isn't easy for metal to endure in a chaotic and changing world, despite its own strengths against it. Time is an insidious force, and one that often rends apart its efforts. Or, is it that metal is too slow to resist such a slow force in the first place? Either way, metal remains scattered across Veltrona, ever rebuilding and gathering itself. What a shock it can be when new metal mana forms, surging through the veltron and establishing itself.
These sudden outbursts are all sorts of (proverbial or literal) gold rushes. Whether coming to mine the resulting metal or acquire its mana, fortune awaits those who can grasp it. Yet metal remains unyielding and stubborn, and so great effort is required to compel it toward anything.

Magical Arts

It would be blacksmiths and others close to metal for their entire lives who unlocked metal magic's secrets. Like veltron magic, metal is resistant to all things that seek to change it. Through granularity and flow is veltron moved, but not metal. Tremendous mana is required to stimulate it, and once the threshold is reached, metal can act with alarming speed and sudden explosiveness. By applying principles of fire magic, metal magic could become motivated in a reliable manner. However, two radical forces now had to be controlled, putting great stress upon the metal mage.
Veltron magic traditionalists refused to adopt the principles of fire magic, whether because of pride or inability. As steady as the mountains, they ground away at discerning the nature of metal, and to motivate it purely through the power of veltron. In time, they did discover means of doing so through controlling pressure and intensity, making this the first true 'veltron only' approaches to metal magic.
The net result became two distinct approaches to metal magic, and the history of these approaches can be found across the world. Some places lacked for fire magic, and so veltron only were their norms; others, the opposite. Regardless, metal mages became an uncommon sight and their talents, while particular, were intensely coveted.
As creating metal is ridiculously unfeasible, many artforms sit purely around the manipulation of existing metals. For blacksmiths, armorers, and anyone creating anything with metal, it is the ultimate ability. A talented metal mage can create weapons with unrivaled sharpness with everlasting edges, armor with flexibility yet unyielding durability, and reinforcement (if not buildings outright) that even mighty dragons might break upon. This is to speak nothing of mana-steel and other mana-enriched metals, whose already profound capabilities reach comically absurd heights in the hands of a metal mage.
While the craftswomanship potential of metal magic is what many keep interest in it for, the magic is capable of great feats otherwise. The basis of some veltron magic–unmoving fortifications and overwhelming attacks–went even further in the hands of a metal mage. A thin sheet could stop almost any attack, while a lance of metal would tear apart targets as if it were a living snake. Tiny shards could be blasted out, a thousand arrowheads skewering entire squadrons.
What it lacked for in speed and flexibility, it made up for abundantly in its defensive and offensive capabilities. Moreso, they could potentially use any source of metal that itself wasn't magically protected. There is, after all, much metal to be had upon the battlefield, whether in the weapons themselves or the buttons upon peoples' shirts. Accomplished metal war mages, thusly, became terrifying legends. Handfuls of them could dismantle opposing armies if left unchallenged, creating one-sided slaughters.
It is because of them, or the fear of facing one, that many esoteric tactics arose. The utilization of non-metal weapons became much more important, making exotic equipment like ones based upon insect chitin more relevant. Unwilling to compromise, the various magical schools developed defensive measures to interfere with a metal mage's influence. Perhaps more than any other singular form of magic, the martial ways spent great effort in combating the power of metal magic.
There are extreme downsides to be mindful of. Without sources of metal nearby, a metal mage is almost completely useless. Furthermore, if the metal they do use starts to disintegrate from the extreme forces exerted upon it, they can deplete their source material. Over consumption is a very real concern, but also a lack of availability is another. In matters of the Relentless, for instance, a metal mage only has what they come with.
Running out of usable metal against nature's overwhelming assault has spelled the end of more than one metal mage. And, similarly to veltron magic, metal mages need intimate 'understanding' of the metals they work with. One trained in the ways of iron will struggle to do anything with copper if they lack the experience. Clever generals have often come to exploit these weaknesses themselves, when the opportunity arises.

Appearance

Metal mana in its pure state is a nearly unmoving, stationary existence that is highly reflective. Its intensely iridiscent, showing all the different colors of all the metals that it can potentially become. Only when solidified into one kind of metal, like iron, does it take on the color of iron itself. It is sometimes called a 'rainbow' mana, but this is purely a visual thing people like to see.
Divine metal takes on spectral properties that bedazzle the eyes and distort one's perceptions. As it seeks to structure existence, its presence can begin affecting other structures around it. Hence, it can become dangerous to encounter for one who cannot resist its influence.