You know, I was never really sure about whether all magic is elementally aligned or whether it's possible to engage with magic in a way that isn't really aspected like that, or whether there are clean sources of magic that don't come with the alignment. I could see Obsidian being shadow aligned and so skilled alignment doesn't matter, or no alignment at all.
It's possible. Hmm. I might elaborate on this later, since I'm on my phone right now, but basically:
Cielans don't use the traditional elements at all. Rather, their use of magic is flavored by their individual souls.
For people using CT-style magic, there's two primary types, which might be simplest to think of as "source" and "terminal" - or "server" and "user", or other similar terms.
Essentially, most magicians are what you'd call "terminals" - magical energy flows into them from somewhere, is processed by their "self," and is then accessed by their mind to use magic. The act of processing it automatically converts it into their element - which is a collection of related concepts that tie into their identity.
Much rarer are "sources," from which magical energy flows into others. They have access to a purer form of magical energy, which can be shaped with much more freedom - it can be turned into any of the elements and used in that way, or it can be used in its pure form (a la Lavos' Dreamreaver). In Devourer, our only examples of this are Obsidian and (to a degree) Penny - although Blake approaches this through her connection to Obsidian.
Some Shadow users are also able to wield other elements, if they resonate with the right parts of the Shadow element - as described somewhere in-store, Shadow is the gulf that separates the other elements, or when looked at differently the commonality that connects them. This isn't the same, practically speaking, as what Obsidian does to wield all elements, even if the practical results are very similar.
Put another way - Obsidian wields the most basic form of magic, from which all other magic is made. Thusly, Obsidian can wield all other magic, simply by building it from her own.
RWY wield magic that's been filtered by their selves, "refined" into elemental energy that's simpler to use but can't ever be something it isn't. You can't work backwards.
Shadow wielders straddle the line between the two - because it's conceptually malleable, as a representation of the unknown and the void, Shadow can emulate the other elements - but it isn't the same.
Blake, as a Shadow user, could have learned to use the elements given time and practice.
Now, with Transcendent Magic, she's...closer to a "source" than she was before. Not quite there yet...but closer than any other human has been.
