' s ▁secre ts ▁have ▁so ▁far ▁been ▁preserved . ▁ ▁Al chem ists ▁today ▁are ▁few ▁and ▁far ▁between , ▁most ▁bas ing ▁their ▁research ▁on ▁the ▁studies ▁of ▁I ris , ▁an ▁al chem ist ▁who ▁lived ▁before ▁the ▁fall ▁of ▁Aven berry . ▁They ▁travel ▁the ▁world ▁in ▁search ▁of ▁new ▁al ch ema ic ▁artifact s ▁for ▁synth esis , ▁ru ins ▁of ▁the ▁past , ▁and ▁M ana . ▁The ▁man a ▁are ▁a ▁race ▁of ▁be ings ▁that ▁allow ▁al chem ists ▁to ▁use ▁their ▁power . ▁They ▁augment ▁the ▁power ▁of ▁the ▁elements ▁which ▁Al chem ists ▁extract ▁from ▁objects ▁in ▁the ▁world ▁and ▁use ▁them ▁to ▁create ▁new ▁and ▁powerful ▁mag ical ▁items . ▁M ana ▁have ▁feelings , ▁emot ions , ▁and ▁personal ities ▁just ▁as ▁people ▁do , ▁and ▁many ▁become ▁good ▁friends ▁with ▁their ▁al chem ist , ▁although ▁some ▁people ▁do ▁forget ▁about ▁this ▁fact . ▁ ▁The ▁protagon ist ▁of ▁the ▁game , ▁Klein ▁K ies ling , ▁is ▁one ▁of ▁these ▁wand ering ▁al chem ists . ▁His ▁advent ure ▁begins ▁when ▁he ▁st umb les ▁across ▁a ▁mon ster ▁in ▁a ▁forest , ▁is ▁res cu ed ▁by ▁a ▁girl , ▁and ▁gets ▁w ound ▁up ▁in ▁her ▁fate ▁and ▁eventually , ▁the ▁fate ▁of ▁the ▁world . ▁ ▁Char acters ▁ ▁Play able ▁characters ▁E ternal ▁M ana ▁contains ▁six ▁play able ▁characters . ▁Three ▁characters ▁can ▁be ▁in ▁a ▁battle ▁party , ▁with ▁the ▁player ▁free