Why can't Earthland magicians use magic in Edolas without the X-balls?

Question

When Natsu, Wendy, Happy, and Carla went to Edolas, they couldn't use magic at first. Later, Natsu and Wendy were given the X-balls to regain their magic usage. Yet, even without the X-balls, Exceeds could use their magic. This is according to the wiki because they have their Magic located inside of their bodies just like the Mages of Earth Land.

Presumably, this is due to the fact that they are the only beings in Edolas whose Magic is located inside of their bodies, just like the Mages of Earth Land.

If both have their magic located within their bodies, then why are only the Exceeds able to use their magic, but Mages need those X-Balls?

Also related to this question, I was wondering why the Exceeds even lost their magic usage, to begin with. It was said that they need to have the right mindset to be able to use their magic, but when they entered Edolas for the first time, they didn't know magic was limited, so they were supposed to have the "right mindset" at that time right? So why did they lose their magic usage when they arrived?

Answer 1

To answer your first question: because it's said so. (Possible explanation could be that Exceeds were laid there, so their bodies has some mechanism that they just needed to awaken but mages needed the X-balls for that. But this is just a speculation as we only know as much as it's said: mages needed the X-balls, Exceeds didn't.)

To answer your second question: they were not supposed to have the right mindset. They were pretty much in doubt about everything, especially about themselves. What are they, what are they for... what they knew so far changed quite drastically in a few hours of time. While it's not stated explicitly in Fairy Tail, in most of the other universes (including RPGs), using magic needs quite some concentration, so that "right mindset" thing can be more crucial than you think.

Answer 2

I only have an answer to your second question: It seems like the "right mind" was all about knowing who you are as a person. The only real evidence I have for this theory is the fact that when Happy and Carla jumped off of Lucky's island, Happy was talking about them not being Exceeds sent to capture the dragon slayers but they were Fairy Tail wizards who were going to do everything they could to save their friends. Right after that, they got their magic back.

My only other option would be that they couldn't doubt themselves in any way. They had to be confident in what they were doing because right after they got to Edolas, they could obviously be doubting themselves as to what they were doing and why various things, then they got confident again and regained magic.

I don't know if either of these is right, but they are my theories.

Answer 3

Earthland mages both generate and absorb magic from the surrounding area, but in Edolas, it is rare to find Ethernano there as there is a limited supply. Think of it like this, gold nowadays is not found like in the movies in large chunks. But instead, it is a massive amount of dirt dug up and refined into gold. It is the same there in Edolas, the Exceeds evolved to generate their own magic, but since it was in limited supply, humans did not learn to absorb it or generate it, so they have no magic of their own. On the other side, Earthland mages generate and consume the magic of their own, making it so that they need both to use magic. The X-balls allowed them to just generate their own to use magic. So it is like H₂O, but the X-balls let them just use O.

For Happy and Carla, it is because they thought they used magic the same way and thus learn how to as they used magic. Since they believed they need to absorb magic from the surrounding, they did. But once there was no magic to draw on, they had no idea how to use magic. But once they found out the truth, they could use magic without absorbing it. It was mostly psychological as in like Superman. He believed he needed to eat, sleep, and breathe, so he did. But once he found out he did not need to be worried about it, sure he would do those things, but that does not mean he had to.