Still Falling Types of Power
Humans and divinity races express strength through Magic (spell schools) and Aura (martial energy). Rank math: Stat & Rank.
Overview
| Power type | Resource | Typical Human class |
|---|---|---|
| Magic | Mana (pure Human) or Divinity (promoted) | Mage, Priest |
| Aura | Qi (called Aura in common speech) | Warrior, Thief |
Magic and Aura are separate — they can be layered at high mastery (Combining Aura with Magic or Divinity).
Magic
Pure Human (Divinity = 0)
- Mana only — schools: Recovery, Fire, Earth, Wind, Water.
- Light and dark magic require Divinity — Pure Human Mana magic.
After divinity promotion (Divinity ≥ 1)
- Mana → 0; spells run on Divinity.
- Aura trained earlier is retained.
Affinity
- Angels / Devils: light magic.
- Demons: dark magic.
Channeling
Most Mages and Priests channel Mana for a few seconds before each cast. Sorcerer / Spellweaver paths reduce delay on eligible ranks.
School track
| Taught in schools | Classes | Power type |
|---|---|---|
| Aura (Qi) | Warrior, Thief | Body cloak, footwork, weapon aura, projection |
| Magic | Mage, Priest | Mana schools (pure Human); divinity magic after promotion |
Cross-training outside school is possible but not the default.
Aura (Qi)
Qi is environmental and bodily energy; common speech calls it Aura.
- Does not increase Str / Agi / Sta / Int — those grow only on level-up (stat growth).
- Aura mastery is earned through practice, separate from core stat tables.
Who trains Aura
| Group | Practice |
|---|---|
| Humans | Primary practitioners — especially Warrior and Thief (school curriculum). Promoted Humans (Human Angel, etc.) keep Aura after gaining Divinity. |
| Non-Humans | Can train Aura — compatible with Divinity — but almost never do (see Why non-Humans skip Aura). |
Martial sect leaders may cross-train outside default Warrior curriculum (e.g. Water mana + low Aura on a Warrior base).
Aura techniques
Techniques require higher ranks on the Aura mastery ladder — e.g. reliable body cloak needs Competent+ internal circulation in practice.
- Body cloak — coat the body with Aura for defense or offense (most typical use).
- Footwork — channel Aura through the feet for speed and mobility (distinct from body cloak).
- Weapon shaping — shape Aura into a weapon (e.g. sword aura); requires stronger practitioners.
- Projection — release Aura as an energy beam; requires very high understanding.
Aura mastery ranks (full path)
Single ladder for cross-training (Mage/Priest with outside teacher) and Warrior/Thief serious practitioners. School curriculum teaches techniques — rank labels below are mastery earned through practice, not a separate school grade.
| Phase | Rank | Core ability |
|---|---|---|
| Perception | Initial | Passive feel — pressure/heat from strong fighters; cannot absorb or use |
| Beginner | Actively sense aura with intent; distinguish strong vs weak nearby | |
| Novice | Read / absorb — detect emotions, fatigue, intent; draw ambient or external aura | |
| Internalization | Intermediate | Absorb ambient aura; begin cycling through body; slight physical enhancement |
| Competent | Full internal circulation; reinforce limbs; aura faintly visible | |
| Advanced | Project aura short range — enhanced strikes, basic shields; suppress own signature | |
| Projection | Accomplished | Extend aura to interact with others' fields — disrupt, clash, suppress |
| Expert | Impose aura on area/group — pressure, long-range aura attacks | |
| Master | Dominate others' aura — drain, redirect, suppress, weaponize |
Master enables sustained Aura concealment and fight-defining combat layering.
Rank bands vs technique families
One path for everyone who trains Aura — Warrior, Thief, or cross-trained Mage/Priest. Class does not change which ranks unlock which families; class changes what practitioners usually layer Aura into.
| Rank band | What opens |
|---|---|
| Initial–Novice | Sense, absorb, read — little or no reliable use in a fight |
| Competent–Advanced | Reliable body cloak and footwork; weapon shaping and projection only in short, simple form (reinforced strike, a step too fast, an edge that barely shows) |
| Accomplished–Expert | Partial kit — can use some of each family with intent: Aura as a weapon, mid-range releases and clashes, disrupt/suppress on others' fields. Still costly to spam; high-end combinations wait for Master |
| Master | Full kit — all four families at serious expression (sustained concealment, area pressure, near-invisible or overt release per class flavor) |
Class-typical use
Practitioners reinforce what they already do — flavor, not a hard rule.
| Class / role | Typical Aura layer |
|---|---|
| Thief | Stealth, footwork, precision finish, concealment — quiet and economical |
| Warrior | Frontline body cloak, weapon reach, visible pressure on the line |
| Mage (if trained) | Mana cast stays primary — Aura coats the spell (e.g. fireball hits much harder); still rare in high-stakes combat for most |
| Priest (if trained) | Mana cast stays primary — Aura speeds or deepens Recovery (knit closes faster, hold steadies longer) |
Present milestones:
Aura visibility and color
How much Aura shows depends on how densely it is layered — not on “Aura always glows blue.”
| Use | Layer density | What most people see | What trained / sensitive observers see |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover / mask (body cloak, Aura concealment) | Sparse — spread thin | Invisible — no obvious glow | Faint or nothing unless rank is high |
| Weapon shaping, dense shields | Dense — layered until shape holds | Usually no glow to untrained mortals | Blue Aura form clearly visible to Beginner+ aura-sight |
| Divinity tint on dense output | On compressed weapons / heavy coats | Untrained may catch hue flicker | Base blue + bloodline hues (e.g. yellow, dark purplish-red) |
Blue = default visible color of compressed Aura (martial Qi — not spell Mana). Valaciel's daily concealment stays thin so he does not walk around glowing.
Killing intent (bloodthreat projection)
When Master-tier Aura control slips under extreme grief or rage, a practitioner can leak overwhelming sensory + psychological projection of lethal intent — not a spell or named school technique.
| Topic | Detail |
|---|---|
| What | Feels like being targeted for death — pressure, dread, muscle lock; distinct from steady Aura concealment |
| Range | ~1 km radius when it leaks unchecked; Master control can narrow to one target |
| Who feels it | Heuristic by level gap — ~5+ levels below → freeze; weaker → lock-up, gasping; same-level observers can still feel quality beyond their tier |
| Not | Automatic public Divinity read |
Directed single-target projection @ Sep 2009 John apology.
Combining Aura with Magic or Divinity
Layering Aura over Magic or Divinity amplifies the result (harder hits, faster heals, stronger wraps). The primary action stays the class's main power — Mana spell, Recovery cast, divinity strike — Aura is the reinforcement, not a replacement.
| Example | Effect |
|---|---|
| Mana magic + Aura | Aura-coated fireball hits much harder than a plain fireball |
| Recovery + Aura | Heal closes faster or holds deeper when Aura threads through the same cast |
| Divinity + Aura | An Archangel's spear wrapped in Divinity only is weaker than Divinity and Aura together |
Effective layering needs sufficient Aura rank — Accomplished+ for meaningful combat coat; Master for fight-defining combination at top tier.
How often it appears in combat
| Combination | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Mana magic + Aura | Rare in real high-stakes combat; only SS+ Humans use it effectively |
| Divinity + Aura | Even rarer among divinity races (they rarely train Aura); stronger than divinity-only when someone does combine them |
Rank and mastery gate effective combined use, not class alone.
Why non-Humans skip Aura
Non-Humans can learn Aura. They usually do not:
- Advanced practitioners manipulate Divinity so precisely that they use divinity like Aura — body wraps, weapon coating, mobility — without studying Qi.
- Because divinity already fills those roles, Aura feels redundant next to raw divinity power.
- Divinity + Aura is still stronger than divinity alone; most divinity races never discover or bother with that edge.
This is a cultural and practical choice, not a hard world rule.
Resource coexistence
| Resource | Coexists with | Does not coexist with |
|---|---|---|
| Mana | Aura | Divinity |
| Divinity | Aura | Mana |
| Aura | Mana, Divinity | — |
| State | Mana | Divinity | Aura |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pure Human | Yes | 0 | Optional |
| Promoted Human | 0 | Yes | Retained if trained |
| Pure divinity race | 0 | Yes | Rarely trained |
Pre-rewind human era
Objective sub-era: mortals had no Mana framework, no public Aura training, no rank/class awareness — see Bloodline — Pre-rewind. Present Awakened school tracks and power rules differ.