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 |
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.