Pactio Card

Pactio Card

All Negi's Pactio Cards

The pactio card, which is commonly used among Western Mages, has two components comprising it. The traditional purpose to this system is to give the Magister a kind of support during battle. Normally, the Ministra's duty is to protect the Magister with physical abilities and his/her artifact, while the Magister is given time and space to cast offensive and defensive spells. One might compare the Ministra like infantry, while the Magister is like the long-range artillery. The Magister fighting alongside the Ministra with combat spells and physical attacks is another version of this system.

If the Magister in a pactio dies, then the pactio card can be considered cancelled. The Ministra would no longer have mystically-boosted abilities nor an artifact, because logically the source of his/her powers is gone.

A Cancelled Pactio Card

The pactio enables the mage casting the spell, the Magister, to transfer some of his/her magic power to the other person involved in the pactio, the Ministra, improving the Ministra's natural capabilities, by an average of ten times their normal capacity. Another advantage included in having a pactio is the ability for the Ministra to summon a magic artifact. Each magic artifact reflects the Ministra summoning it, and as such, the vast majority of magic artifacts will be quite different . In the case of Nodoka, she received a magic picture diary, which reflects her title as a librarian. With Haruna, she received a magic quill and sketchbook, which ties in with her personality as an artist. As Chamo stated, there is no real way of determining just what kind of artifact is given to each new Ministra, but one can assume that the artifact will reflect an aspect of the Ministra's personality. The weakest level, the Botched cards, tend to be badly drawn and are extremely specific, providing little real information. The titles given are blunt and not very flattering. Botched Cards in turn allow for little to no magical effects, there is the possibility of empowering the Ministra with magic much like a normal pactio card, but requiring a great deal of magic power for the Magister.

Neo Pactio Card

Suka Forms

A contract is created between a Magister and a potential Ministra, usually through a kiss. Unlike the manga version, the Magister gets three types of cards (Suka, Cosplay, and Armor). The Magister invokes the Pactio when needed from his Ministra. During invokation, the mage draws one of the three Pactio cards from the Ministra. The card is randomly drawn, but usually he has two out of three chances of drawing something that assists him in battle.

All the different types of Neo-Pactio Cards

Suka: Similar to the botched card, this card ends up turning the Ministra into an Chibi character in an animal costume, where they can do little or nothing to assist the Magister. In many cases, the animal they become expresses a certain attribute or connection regarding that student. This form also mentally regresses the Ministra into a child for the duration of the transformation.

Cosplay: The Ministra gains a special costume and a special artifact or ability for assistance. While not the most powerful of cards, there are skill advantages in this transformation.

Armor: Equated to the Pactio Cards of the manga, the Ministra gains a special costume and weapon or ability that enhances and allows them to fight in battle.

Known Pactio Cards