Thanks for the feedback! Don't worry, Inanis is just asleep until the game releases, then he will continue on his quest!
One idea would be using the same key to apply elements, just picking whichever is applicable at themoment. But of course it would cause trouble with overlapping element-dependent items.
This isn't a bad idea at all. Maybe something like this:
Where you have a UI scroll of all the different elements you have access to, and you can scroll through them with either J or L, then press K to use them, perhaps? That way, you could test out powers a bit more without feeling railroaded. I don't mind having to redesign elements like that, especially since I plan to add more elements in the future, such as Iron and Tin, with powers of their own.