Life Force

__NOTOC__
Life Force is a primordial, esoteric phenomena that is present in all living things within The Backrooms.
==Description==
Life Force, also known as Mana, Chi, Ki or Soul is an exceptionally powerful form of psychokinetic energy that is present in all living things in the Backrooms whether it be entity, animal, plant or even wanderer.
Those who have found themselves in the Backrooms gain their own store of Life Force that courses through their body, a result of them becoming just another extension of the anomalous, alternative form of reality.
Although usually invisible to the naked eye, Life Force takes the form of a sparkling, red and orange-colored, fire-like energy when focused into a highly concentrated state or observed via means that would allow metaphysical awareness such as extrasensory perception.
Life Force is believed to be the most ancient and primordial aspect of the Backrooms as it’s said to connect all living things, some even believe it to be evidence that all organisms present in the Backrooms originate from a common ancestor of sorts.
Life Force is also something of an omnipresent force, being present in very rich amounts all throughout the atmosphere and environments of every Level in The Backrooms that we know of.
==Properties==
Life Force is a powerful form of energy that is psychokinetic (derived from mental energy/force) in nature and possessing many esoteric properties.
Life Force is perpetual as it cannot be destroyed or diminished, even after something has died, the Life Force of that entity will still persist and wander the environment and become a part of the greater collective of Life Force that persists in the Backrooms, invisible and undetectable to those who lack the capability to sense it.
Life Force encompasses the full scope of a living thing’s entire being and consciousness as it essentially “records” all aspects of a being’s traits and qualities such as their memories, emotions, skills, experiences, health, personality traits, physical attributes, strengths, weaknesses and more. 
Life Force builds up in an entity’s system and becomes stronger via the improvement and maintenance of one’s physical and mental fortitude. Things like frequent exercise, healthy eating habits and proper anxiety management is shown to increase one’s store of Life Force and even make them more aware of the existence and presence of Life Force, whether it be there’s or others.
It has been observed that one can learn to channel and control their own Life Force at will by means that have been mostly lost to time and are known only by the most ancient of entities and those who follow them. A wide range of powerful abilities can be obtained from learning how to manipulate one’s Life Force.
On rare occasions, some have a natural affinity to control Life Force and discover their capability to manipulate it all on their own but the vast majority of those who learned to control Life Force at an exceptionally powerful level do so from being taught in methods that were practiced in ancient times.
The control over one’s Life Force was thought to be sorcery and referred to as the Life Force Arts during the Backrooms’ equivalent to the dark ages. Life Force users nowadays are known as Espers while in ancient times they were commonly referred to as Mages.
Records detailing the history and capabilities of the Life Force Arts usually take the form of ancient scrolls known as Mage Texts of which there are supposedly thousands of and all in the possession of The Storyteller, stored within his infamous library.
Archeological studies have revealed that some of the methods of learning Life Force Manipulation include meditation, acupuncture, aromatherapy, intense physical training and the consumption of specific herbal concoctions.
Even then, these are simply the first steps of gaining control over one’s Life Force, being the methods of “unlocking” one’s Life Force and making it susceptible to direct channeling and from which the real training can begin. 
It is common for the Life Force of someone who has died to bond with an object that was very close and personal to them, said objects become exponentially more durable and gain the properties of Life Force.
Objects that have been infused with someone’s Life Force act as storage for that person’s memories and experiences which can be experienced by another by holding that object, such as seeing pieces of their memories from their perspective or hearing their voice and the voices of others close to them. Objects that have been been imbued with Life Force are commonly referred to as Mementos.
This makes personal weaponry infused with Life Force for example, very powerful and those who wield said weapons even gain certain traits and properties of the person that the weapon and Life Force belonged to, such as gaining their memories and skills in using said weapon.
According to The Crimson Wanderer, Espers were once much more plentiful than they are now and the ability to control Life Force was a lot more commonplace during his time as well but catastrophes that took place in events such as Daybreak and the creation of The Defiled Crown would see a near extinction of Espers and the practice of the Life Force Arts as a whole.
On top of the few surviving Espers that still exist today such as The Squires, there are also a handful of new Espers that have reared their heads and have become known as The New Generation, continuing the practice and traditions of their predecessors in today’s age, guided by veteran Espers. 
The M.E.G. specifically has seen a large increase of members that have become Espers, the discovery of their abilities are then brought to the attention of those willing to guide and teach them as the full extent of being trained in Life Force Arts is known only by the likes of ancient beings such as The Crimson Wanderer and other members of The Court.
==Usage==
Those who have control over Life Force have access to a plethora of extraordinary supernatural abilities and capabilities that defy explanation, the scope of said abilities and how powerful they are depends on the individual’s level of mastery and what practices they naturally have an affinity for. 
These abilities unlock and become stronger the more an Esper trains and practices their control over Life Force, certain abilities being associated with specific levels or “Tiers” of skill can be honed and improved through specific practices. Those who dedicate themselves to extensive training and study can acquire abilities that most would consider to be godlike.
Abilities gained from learning the Life Force Arts can range from things like the projection of Life Force to energy-based attacks, telekinesis, healing, to even the control over the forces of nature and physics.
These abilities have been extensively recorded and studied since the existence of Life Force was first observed, even if most of said information is lost to time and now known only by a select few.
However, there are rare cases in which an Esper can gain unique abilities that are not typical of Life Force Control and seem to be unique to an individual and them alone, however some historical accounts describe the possibility of these unique manifestations of abilities being “passed down” to another through genetic inheritance.
Life Force is drained as one uses it, essentially using it as fuel for their supernatural abilities. The more Life Force an Esper uses, the weaker their Life Force abilities become and the more fatigued and weak they will feel until their Life Force can recharge either on it’s own (which can take minutes or even hours depending on how much was used) or by eating something, converting the calories of whatever was consumed into pure Life Force. 
In rare cases, Espers can drain so much of their Life Force that they can enter a coma-like state that can last for days, it is however virtually impossible for one to drain so much that they can die as their Life Force will automatically lock them out of using any more than what they can generate in order to sustain their biological functions.
Life Force has the capability to both harm and heal, create and destroy, depending on how one uses it.
==Dark Life Force==
For certain individuals, Life Force takes on a much more dangerous and destructive form commonly referred to as Dark Life Force. Dark Life Force possesses properties that make it a highly powerful yet uncontrollable force as it is capable of degrading, decaying and destroying virtually anything it comes into contact with except for the user themselves and it cannot be stopped or contained by outside forces.
Espers with Dark Life Force, although possessing control over their own Life Force like others find it much harder to control it and it’s destructive properties and can sometimes be overwhelmed by it, whether in a physical sense or on an emotional/mental level.
Dark Life Force usually manifests in those who have allowed strong negative emotions such as anger, sadness and hatred to consume and overcome them or have suffered greatly and allowed their suffering to define them instead of overcoming it, causing their Life Force to become a much darker and destructive version of itself. 
Dark Life Force can also manifest in those who have committed dark and evil acts with zero regret or remorse, resulting in most to believe that Dark Life Force is inherently evil by nature as it is evil entities that are most commonly identified as being users of Dark Life Force.
Abilities and techniques that utilize Dark Life Force are much more powerful to a considerable degree than regular Life Force but much more destructive and harder for the user to properly control and those who overuse and rely too much on using Dark Life Force can easily be overtaken by it, becoming more unhinged, violent and reckless as their minds and hearts are overwhelmed by the darkness that dwells within them. 
It is common for certain abilities associated with Life Force Arts to function much differently as they are corrupted into much darker variants such as giving the user to manipulate Dark Elements that retain the properties of certain elements while also becoming much more destructive as they now embody the darker aspects of these elements or the ability to use much darker forms of Incantations capable of causing undesirable and often deadly effects known as Curses or Hexes.
It is also common for users to suffer from physical deterioration as they overuse Dark Life Force, becoming weaker, frailer and sicker as they are consumed by their own life force. Despite this, some users of Dark Life Force do not try to limit their use as they are addicted to the rush that it gives them, a possible side effect of the influence Dark Life Force has on their minds.
Dark Life Force takes the form of a dark, swirling vortex or void that takes a black, purple and violet coloration within one’s body.
==Capabilities==
The true scope of what Life Force and those who can control it are capable of is unknown but what is observed to be the most commonly manifested abilities and what level of mastery it takes to unlock said abilities is listed below. There are seven identifiable Tiers of mastery known.
=Tier I=
Enhanced Condition: Those who have unlocked their Life Force for the first time are treated to an enhanced state in which all aspects of their body and mind are permanently enhanced to a considerable degree. Espers become ten times stronger, faster, healthier, more durable etc. then the average person after unlocking their Life Force and all of these qualities only become stronger the more their Life Force builds up with training and practice. The Esper’s aging also slows down to a proverbial crawl, almost to the point of not aging at all, allowing them to live exceptionally longer than others.
Physical Augmentation: Espers can focus their Life Force into a specific area or aspect of their body to exponentially augment that aspect of the body and gain unique abilities at the cost of diminishing other aspects of their being until they return their Life Force back into the rest of their system. This includes amplifying their muscle mass for herculean levels of strength at the cost of decreased cognitive abilities, amplifying their brain with Life Force to gain a genius-level intellect with decreased physical strength as a drawback, amplifying the durability of their skin for a natural suit of armor at the cost of diminished speed etc.
Extrasensory Capabilities: Espers gain supernaturally sharpened senses such as hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch as well as a sort’ve “sixth sense” that allows them to sense stimuli that most others cannot such as the presence of Life Force in a being or area as well as gain insight on things by using their augmented senses such as knowing what Level a specific vegetable was grown in by eating it or knowing the exact directions a person has taken as well as their current location by touching their footprints on the ground.
Healing: Espers can use control over Life Force to heal themselves and others of injuries such as broken bones or non-fatal wounds and their capability of what they can heal themselves or others from grows with practicing this ability. The user also gains an accelerated healing factor that allows their bodies to automatically heal from minor injuries ten times faster than others.
Mental Manipulation: Espers can use Life Force to control aspects of the mind such as thoughts, memories and perception and can accomplish a wide range of capabilities as a result such as telepathy, illusions and hallucinations, mind control, dream manipulation, inducing sleep, controlling animals and other simple-minded beasts, altering or implanting memories and much more as this ability grows stronger.
=Tier II=
Ergokinesis: Espers of Tier II skill gain the ability to tap into and channel their Life Force into a highly concentrated state and gain full control over it, allowing them to manipulate raw Life Force energy at will. Ergokinetic capabilities include radiating Life Force as an aura around one’s body for protection, projecting Life Force to a wide range of different energy attacks such as beams, balls, shockwaves and more, shape Life Force into constructs and weaponry, create force fields and much, much more as the Esper’s control over their Life Force grows.
Telekinesis: Espers of Tier II skill gain telekinetic capabilities, having the ability to manipulate objects and other aspects of their environment with their mind by using their Life Force as a conduit, telekinetically levitating and controlling objects with just a thought and gaining other abilities as their telekinesis becomes stronger such as gaining the capability of flight by levitating themselves and using their telekinetic force as propulsion.
Physical Augmentation II: Espers gain stronger and more unique methods of self augmentation at this state such as growing additional layers of hardened skin as dermal armor, protruding sharp spikes all over their body, giving their bodies rubber-like properties to stretch themselves to impressive distances, gaining natural forms of weaponry such as claws or horns, increase the size of limbs, growing additional limbs and more.
Life Force Infusion: Espers can now imbue their Life Force into objects such as weaponry, greatly enhancing their traits and attributes, making them stronger and more durable, improving them even beyond their most prime state etc. Objects imbued with Life Force can even utilize life force energy at the user’s command such as radiating an aura of life force around the blade of a sword for considerably increased offensive power and cutting ability.
Regeneration: Otherwise known as Healing II. Espers can now regenerate large portions of their body including entire, destroyed limbs and heal from potentially fatal wounds and attacks as a result as well as do the same for others, gaining the capability to even bring the recently deceased back to life as well. The Esper also gains a regenerative healing factor, the bodies now being able to instinctively heal massive missing portions of flesh or multiple broken bones, the rate of healing depending on the severity of damage.
=Tier III=
Elemental Manipulation: The Esper gains the ability to transform their Life Force into unique forms of elemental energy and forces that are typically associated with nature and manipulate them at will the same way as regular Life Force such as projecting elements to attacks, forming constructs out of elements and imbuing their weaponry with the elements. There are 18 observable forms of elements Life Force can take, these being Fire, Water, Ice, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Metal, Magma, Sand, Poison, Acid, Gas, Blood, Nuclear, Sound, Light, Darkness, Space and Time. High-level users of the Elemental Arts can even transform into the elements themselves, gaining invulnerability to conventional attacks and enhanced elemental abilities. It is common for those who practice specific elements to gain the ability to manifest and control Sub-Elements related to that element such well-versed practitioners of the Water element unlocking the Bubble element or powerful Space element users gaining control over the Star element. Elemental Life Force is shown to be much more powerful than the naturally occurring elements they take the form of and exhibit unique traits as well, such as Fire Life Force being ten times hotter than regular flames and incapable of being extinguished by regular means, being able to burn for as long as the user’s will permits it.
Ergokinesis II: The Esper’s Ergokinetic capabilities are much stronger at Tier III as they gain overall increased Ergokinetic power due to obtaining a greater well of Life Force that is more than double than what they had before. Giving the Espers far stronger attacks and constructs as well as the capability to utilize more complex techniques such as projecting life force attacks to more unique forms such as a barrage of arrows or creating and commanding sentient creatures composed entirely of pure Life Force known as Familiars, these Life Force entities taking the form of animals, humanoids, entities or perfect duplicates of the user themselves. A common technique learned at this state is Life Drain, the ability to drain someone else’s Life Force and add it to their own.
Telekinesis II: The Esper’s telekinesis has grown powerful enough to lift much larger, heavier objects and larger quantities of objects at once with ease as well as the ability to exert much stronger telekinetic forces, propel objects at high speeds, crush objects into condensed clumps with a thought and even project attacks of highly concentrated telekinetic force such as beams, balls, shockwaves and even “lightning bolts” of psychokinetic energy. These psychokinetic attacks do tend to take a lot out of the Esper however.
Shapeshifting: Also known as Physical Augmentation III. The Esper’s control over their physiology has grown to point of gaining the capability of Shapeshifting, the ability to drastically change one’s appearance and biological functions to match said appearance, whether it be changing one’s appearance to appear as someone (or something) else, shrinking or growing to incredible sizes, forming limbs into certain constructs/weaponry, creating stronger and more complex features such as a spiked, tortoise-like shell or ”mutating” into a monstrous creature of equally monstrous strength.
Health Optimization: Otherwise known as Healing III. The user can control and augment every aspect of a biological organism’s body including their own in positive and beneficial ways such as curing disease, filtering toxins, repairing damage at a genetic level, improving one’s muscular, skeletal or nervous systems, regenerate entire lost portions of an organism’s body etc. Allowing the Esper to always be in peak, physical condition as well as improve the conditions of other beings as well.
=Tier IV=
Plant Manipulation: Espers at Level 4 gain the ability to manifest and manipulate many forms of plant life as well as manipulate pre-existing forms of plants present in their environment via Life Force. The most basic form of plant manipulation usually takes the form of creating and controlling large vines/roots but as this ability is honed, the Esper gains the ability to manifest and manipulate other forms of plant life to a powerful degree such as flowers, trees, carnivorous plant life, fruits/vegetables and even fungi and can learn to utilize said plant life to a wide array of potent plant-based attacks and techniques. What forms of plant life an Esper can control depends on the individual, each Esper gaining an affinity towards a particular botanical species but especially skillful users in the art of Chlorokinesis can learn to control multiple forms of plant life.
Gravity Manipulation: The Esper can manipulate the force of gravity to alter the effect gravity has on objects and the Esper’s surrounding environment such as increasing gravity to greatly reduce movement, ground enemies to even crush objects with tremendous gravitational force or decreasing gravity to make objects float uncontrollably in the air. High level users of this art can even focus gravity and anti-gravity into a highly potent energy and project said gravitational energy to a wide range of powerful attacks capable of inflicting damage and the effects associated with the gravity type, as well as use gravity to control objects remotely in a similar fashion to telekinesis but with a much stronger “grip” on effected objects.
Ergokinesis III: The Esper’s level of Ergokinesis is now so powerful that the force of their Ergokinetic attacks at full power are comparable to a hydrogen bomb and can be formed into unique forms they couldn’t achieve before. They can now create massive and incredibly complex constructs out of Life Force whether it be an entire army of Life Force Clones or an entire, inhabitable fortress, their Elemental and Telekientic capabilities are also heavily augmented to a practically godlike degree and the well of Life Force they possess in their systems is now potentially limitless and isn’t as susceptible to draining.
Telekinesis III: The Esper’s psychokinetic capabilities are so great that they can manipulate every aspect of their environment in both subtle and complex ways in a range of influence that varies by individual skill level as well as further increased power in their telekinetic force and attacks, giving them what can be considered godlike Psionic abilities and control over their surroundings. The Esper even gains a state of psychokinesis known as Ballistic Psionics that is acquired by entering a state of unparalleled fury, gaining highly destructive capabilities such as causing matter to burst into flames or implode with great explosive force with just a thought.
Transformation: Otherwise known as Shapeshifting II. Transformation is a unique type of shapeshifting in that the Esper can transform partially or fully into a specific Form that is unique to an individual, possessing a highly unique appearance and powerful abilities associated with that Form when certain criteria are met such as entering an extreme emotional state or having a reaction to certain stimuli. Unlike regular shapeshifting, Forms can’t be accessed whenever an Esper desires and they are far more powerful than anything that Espers can normally turn into via regular Shapeshifting. Some Espers even have multiple Forms.
=Tier V=
Matter Transmutation: The Esper can transfer their Life Force into any physical matter they interact with to control and change the molecular structure of said matter in a potentially limitless amount of ways, the extent of how depends on their level of skill in this particular technique. The Esper can transmutate matter in ways that allows them to do things like manipulate the state of matter (such as solid, liquid and gas), transform one form of matter into another, transmutate matter into unique forms, bestow matter with unique properties to drastically change their form and function, shape matter into constructs, instantly create complex forms of weaponry out of matter and much, much more.
Chemical Manipulation: Espers at Level 5 gain the capability to generate and manipulate any element on the periodic table as well as manipulate chemical reactions for a near limitless range of capabilities, such as projecting periodic elements to powerful attacks, combine elements together for exceptionally powerful techniques, create specialized chemical compounds for unique applications, manipulate chemicals and periodic elements in liquid or gaseous form, cause chemical reactions for attacks such as creating highly explosive, flaming balls of Chlorine Trifluoride, create constructs and weaponry out of chemicals/periodic elements and more. Espers highly trained in this art can even manipulate the chemical makeup of matter both organic and inorganic for a near-limitless range of capabilities as well.
Absorption: The Esper is capable of absorbing anything into their body, whether it be any form of energy (electricity, kinetic, light, heat, radiation, life force etc.) or matter (stone, steel, crystal, liquids, rubber, DNA etc.) with just a touch and utilize whatever they absorbed in some way such as redirect energy/matter as attacks, use absorbed energy to power up their attacks, transform their body into the form of matter they absorbed, create energy/matter constructs, combine absorbed energy or matter together for unique combinations, enhance their strength, speed, durability and physical combat with absorbed energy/matter or even mimic the appearance, traits and abilities of other entities by absorbing a sample of their DNA (or their equivalent to it). High-level users of this art can learn to absorb things from a distances via the creation of tendrils of energy known as Life Leeches that siphon whatever the user wants to absorb from the source.
Vibration Manipulation: The Esper can emanate their Life Force from any part of their body in the form of powerful vibrations that take the form of red and orange waves of energy. These vibrations or Vibes as they are known as in Mage Texts are capable of pushing, binding, crushing and contorting matter with ease, being capable of reducing solid stone to mere rubble or shatter steel like glass, allowing Espers to utilize them in a wide range of ways for both offensive and defensive purposes such as projecting Vibes to powerful projectiles such as beams, greatly enhance one’s physical combat with Vibe-infused strikes, create tremors and earthquakes by transmitting Vibes into the ground, create massive tidal waves by emanating Vibes into large bodies of water, repel and deflect attacks, use Vibes to sense objects and stimuli around the user in a similar fashion to echolocation etc. Highly trained users of this technique can even manipulate different kinds of wave energy by using Vibes as a conduit such as heatwaves, sound, light, electromagnetic, gravitational, microwaves etc. granting them an even greater range of capabilities as a result.
Ooze Manipulation: The Esper is capable of generating their Life Force in the form of a thick, sticky orange-colored slime known as Ichor and manipulate said slime teeming with potent life force energy at will for a myriad of attacks and techniques. The Esper can project this slime to different projectile attacks, engulf and immobilize enemies, shape Ichor to any construct imaginable, allowing them to create weaponry, limbs and more, create semi-sentient blob-like creatures, harden this Ichor into a highly durable, crystalline state for enhanced offensive and defensive capabilities and most notably, absorb and assimilate certain materials into Ichor to create different variations with unique attributes such as absorbing fire to create fiery “Hot Slime” or electricity to create “Shock Slime”. Highly trained users of this ability can learn to transform themselves into Ichor for a state of invulnerability to conventional attacks and augmented control over Ichor.
=Tier VI=
Thread Manipulation: The Esper at this level is capable of creating unbreakable threads/wire made of pure life force energy known commonly as Soul Threads from their fingertips, said threads can be used for various purposes such as for binding enemies, stitching things together, repairing objects, grappling and tethering, closing wounds, creating constructs such as barriers, ropes, nets and webs etc. One of the most notable uses of these threads being to manipulate other entities against their will like puppets by connecting these Soul Threads to certain limbs of an organism’s body, allowing the Esper to control one’s motor skills against their will. Soul Threads can even be used to manipulate certain objects like mannequins, statues and even actual puppets and dolls. Soul Threads can even be used as weapons as they are capable of functioning as razor wire to slice through virtually anything in the blink of an eye, their speed and cutting ability making them exceptionally effective and often deadly weapons when used correctly. The more trained an Esper is in this technique, the more Soul Threads they are capable of creating, the most skilled of users being able to create hundreds, if not thousands at a time.
Crystal Manipulation: Espers at level 6 are capable of crystallizing their Life Force energy into the form of an esoteric, red-orange crystal that is five times harder than diamond and capable of absorbing and redirecting energy, including Life Force and can even utilize absorbed energy for very powerful attacks. The Esper can manipulate their crystallized life force to execute a variety of techniques such as projecting life force crystal to a variety of attacks, create exploding “Crystal Bombs” that expel potent bursts of shards and life force energy upon detonation, create nigh-indestructible walls/shields/barriers/armor out of crystal, create crystalline constructs and weaponry such as bladed weaponry capable of cutting through virtually anything or “Crystal Cannons” capable of firing powerful beams of life force energy, form giant prisms and other crystalline structures from out of the earth, freeze objects in stasis within a crystalline prison, telekinetically control their crystallized life force and more. Highly skilled users of this ability can even crystallize their own bodies to completely transform themselves into a crystalline being possessing significantly augmented Crystallokinesis and crystal-based shapeshifting abilities.
Golem Creation: Espers at level 6 are capable of using their life force to shape whatever materials that are present in their environment into an imposing shape and command these constructs as an extension of their will, creating what is known as a Golem. Golems can be created from virtually anything whether organic or inorganic, such as earth/stone, metal, wood, paper, water, bones, flesh, pure energy such as electricity or even esoteric forces such as The Void. The size, strength and structural integrity of one’s Golem depends on the amount of materials used, how much of their life force they spent to create them and the strength of their own will to sustain it. Golems can range from being small, puppet-like helpers to an immense colossus capable of decimating entire armies by itself and they can utilize what composes their bodies for attacks, such as an Ice Golem projecting large icicles or even beams of Ice Life Force from it’s body. Golems can take three distinct forms, these being Humanoid, Serpentine and Draconic (dragon-like). Espers that have been significantly trained in the Golem technique can even create golems out of usable materials that they have created themselves such as Elemental Life Force or Ichor, requiring significant focus to do so. The Esper can manipulate multiple aspects of their Golems such as their shape, add more material onto them to increase their size and power, create weaponry for them out of their body and even fuse with their Golem to use their abilities for themselves as a semi-sentient armor, a somewhat rare technique known as Golem Symbiosis. High-level users of this technique can create multiple Golems at once, amassing a small army that they can command all at once, requiring exceptional focus and an equally abundant well of life force to do so.
Life Force Ghosts: Espers at this level are capable of manifesting multi-colored, ghost-like entities of varying shapes and sizes formed from the Esper’s own Life Force and control them as their own personal minions, possessing a basic-level of sapience but retaining complete loyalty to their creators. The Esper can command these “Life Force Ghosts” to fight for them and they all possess the unique ability to sap all of an organism’s vitality by absorbing their life force when making physical contact or phasing through them, leaving them in a state of intense fatigue, weakness and fear while the ghosts become stronger, using the life force they absorbed from their victims to evolve, typically changing drastically in appearance as well, going from cartoony-looking ghosts to frightening demon-like wraiths at full power. These Life Force Ghosts are capable of possessing entities at the Esper’s command, allowing them to control multiple entities at once. Highly skilled users of this technique can create a variety of specialized ghosts such as a swarm of “Mini Ghosts”, gigantic ghosts created by combining multiple ghosts together, elemental ghosts capable of projecting elemental attacks, imposing and physically powerful “Brute Ghosts”, “Banshees” capable of expelling explosive scream attacks, life force ghosts with telekinetic abilities known as “Poltergiests”, cartoonish bomb-like ghosts that can detonate at the user’s command, ghostly chomping jaws capable of biting and devouring matter, ghostly animals, ghostly sentient weaponry and more. Life Force Ghosts can display a wide range of unique personalities depending on their type.
Pathogen Manipulation: Espers at this point can gain the capability to manifest supernatural microorganisms created from Life Force known as the Harikikigaki. Billions of these pathogens can be expelled from the Esper’s mouth in the form of a smog-like cloud, from there, the Harikikigaki are capable of inducing an incredibly wide range of effects upon “infecting” targets, functioning as either viruses or bacterial agents depending on the individual type. The effects that these life force pathogens are capable of inflicting are derived from the Esper’s hormones, endorphins and other aspects of their biochemistry, by infusing certain chemical compounds with these life force germs, the Esper can create a very wide variety of different pathogen “species” capable of inducing different effects and inflictions, such as “The Jitters” a pathogen created with adrenaline capable of inducing intense hyperactivity in the inflicted until eventual heart failure if not properly treated. There are exceedingly deadly Harikikigaki such as the “Crystal Plague” which is capable of crystallizing an effected’s blood until they protrude from their body as giant red crystals of blood and a highly aggressive flesh eating bacteria known as “Mortasheen”. There are Harikikigaki capable of unusual effects such as temporarily changing the gender of the effected, reversing or accelerating the age of effected individuals, a zombie plague that lasts for an average of twenty four hours etc. There are even some Harikikigaki that are highly beneficial such as the “Nurse Pathogen”, capable of accelerating an effected’s healing process and heal wounds near-instantaneously. Esper’s are capable of reversing the effects caused by most types of Harikikigaki at any time after infecting an organism. This technique is among the most difficult to learn as it requires extensive study in biochemistry to master. Highly trained users of this technique can expel large enough quantities of Harikikigaki to infect large groups of organisms, or very large ones.
=Tier VII=
Incantations: Espers at Level 7 now have an abundance of Life Force great enough to use Incantations, also known as Spells. Incantations is the practice of executing special techniques capable of a wide range of powerful effects that don’t normally correspond under typical abilities via a series of words associated with an ancient language that takes years of study to understand, making the art of Incantations one of the most difficult abilities for an Esper to learn but one of the most powerful. Incantations are very powerful and there are many known examples that were created over the many millennia that the Life Force Arts have been practiced by Mages of old. There are Incantations capable of binding enemies in chains of energy, summoning a rain of meteors, projecting a barrage of pyrotechnics, raising the dead, creating Areas of Effects and much, much more. Using an Incantation requires a lot of energy and a particularly powerful one could severely drain the user. Especially proficient and accomplished Espers that are well versed in the ancient language of Espers are capable of creating their own Incantations.
Summoning: Espers are now capable of summoning and commanding entities and other lifeforms by tapping into dimensional boundaries and create rifts that brings forth a desired entity whether it be Blood Wasps, Ravager Apes or even Slashers, the Esper gaining temporary control over the entity of their choosing as well until they are sent back from once they came. The greater the Esper’s skill, the more powerful and the greater number of entities they are capable of summoning. This ability to summon entities is even capable of transcending temporal boundaries as high-level users can summon exceptionally powerful, primordial entities from a time that precedes even the Backrooms itself, embodying elements and certain aspects of reality. These entities are known as Totems and can appear godlike to some, such as a massive, flaming owl-like being or a giant with fifty heads and a hundred arms. There about a hundred known types of Totems and they are all recorded and detailed in their own Mage Texts as they are believed to be inherently connected to Life Force. Although this ability usually retains to non-sentient entities, intelligent ones such as The Crimson Wanderer can also be summoned if they choose to answer the call.
Animation: The Esper at this level is capable of transmitting their Life Force into inanimate objects to bring them to life, using their Life Force to essentially give an object it’s own soul, allowing them to move, speak and even develop their own personalities over time but whatever the user brings to life will always be undyingly loyal to them, allowing the Esper to create loyal minions of whatever is around them. These sentient objects that Tier VI Espers can create have become known as Tsukomogami in Mage Texts and they take an exceptionally wide range of shapes and forms as Espers are capable of animating anything that isn’t considered alive in the traditional sense whether it be clothing, furniture, food, weaponry, armor or even corpses. The Esper can even use the power of Animation to “animate” certain living things such as plants, animals and even Entities, giving these already living things the shape and intelligence of a human being, these anthropomorphized creatures created through the Animation technique are known as Yokai. Especially proficient users of Animation are even capable of bringing non-physical phenomenon to life as very humanoid-looking entities such as fire, water, wind, shadows, the surrounding environment or even weather phenomenon, these are known as Kami and they are known to be among the most powerful kind of Tsukomogami and thus, one of the greatest allies that an Esper can literally create.
Life Force Armor: The Esper is capable of manifesting a suit of armor composed of life force solidified into a metal-like form around themselves that bestows a state of nigh-invulnerability and exponentially greater strength, endurance and boosts to certain traits and abilities depending on the user. This Life Force Armor takes on a unique appearance and possesses equally unique attributes depending on the Esper in question, each Esper having their own unique armor that is tailored to what abilities that Esper excels at, their background and aspects of their personality. High-level users of this technique can gain the ability to manipulate their Life Force Armor in unique ways such as shaping it in different ways, turn their armor into a very powerful symbiotic weapon, create armor similar to theirs for others to wear or animating it to fight alongside the user instead of wearing it themselves.
Spirit Animal: The Esper gains the ability to manifest, command and even take on the attributes or fully transform into a very powerful beast that is an extension of their will and composed entirely of their Life Force energy. This “Spirit Animal” is unique to the individual and possess traits and attributes that is associated with the organism they resemble and what a Spirit Animal can take the form of varies wildly as ones resembling birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, insects, aquatic creatures, microorganisms and even mythological creatures have been observed such as in the case of Weeaboo Jones who’s Spirit Animal takes the form of a Chinese Dragon. It’s been observed that Spirit Animals can be inheritated and passed down and thus, it is possible for a single Esper to have more than one Spirit Animal. Spirit Animals, like every other aspect of a person, can also be imbued into Mementos when the Life Force of someone who possessed one is what’s infused into said object.
=Tier VIII=
Void Manipulation: The Esper at Tier 8 can now tap into and control The Void allowing them to not only Noclip themselves and others on command for practically limitless traveling and teleportation abilities within the Backrooms but giving them a wide range of abilities such as imbuing objects with the properties of the Void, generate and project potent “void energy” to a myriad of different attacks and projectiles, transport objects into other locations or different levels entirely with just a touch, apply the effects of the Void into their surrounding environment, trap enemies in the Void, prevent others from noclipping, use the Void as a pocket dimension for a myriad of purposes, gain a degree of Omnipresence, create portals and even Black Holes etc.
Temporal Manipulation: The Esper can now manipulate the flow of time itself within any Level in the Backrooms, allowing them to do things like rewind time, fast forward time, slow down time, pause time, trap entities in time loops, “scramble” time, create “Temporal Clones” stemmed from one’s possible decisions, observe multiple possible outcomes and timelines at once, manipulate the age of objects and beings etc. This ability is heavily augmented if one spends time honing their control over the Time element and vice-versa. Highly trained users of the Temporal Arts can learn to even transform themselves into time itself, gaining a body composed of temporal energy for highly augmented temporal abilities and power.
Omnifarious: Otherwise known as Shapeshifting III. The Esper’s control over their physiology is now potentially limitless, gaining the ability to take up absolutely any shape, size or form they desire, being limited only by their imagination. Allowing the Esper to do things like mimic the form of any kind of matter, liquid, energy or gas, mimic any form of entity or beast including mythological ones, mimic the form and functions of objects and machinery, shrinking to sub-atomic size or growing to a thousand feet tall, form their limbs into complex constructs, duplicate themselves infinitely, allow their clones to take any form, stretch themselves to potentially infinite lengths, anything goes!
Reality Warping: Espers at Tier 8 have acquired a state of Nigh-Omnipotence (power that is virtually absolute but with certain, defined boundaries) as their control over Life Force is so great that it extends and becomes connected to the Life Force that permeates in the environments of Levels, allowing them to use Life Force as a conduit to manipulate aspects of a Level’s environment, laws, properties and subjective reality itself, allowing them to manipulate and defy the laws of physics, change and control the environment in extreme ways, materialize matter and objects into existence, break down living matter into pure Life Force and absorb it, change and control phenomena and properties of Levels and a potentially limitless range of other capabilities as well.
Life Force Mimicry: Now at the absolute peak of Life Force mastery, The Esper has gained the ability to transcend their physical bodies and actually become Life Force itself, transforming into a truly godly entity of potentially infinite power and strength composed entirely of pure Life Force energy and gaining essentially limitless capabilities in manipulating Life Force to the point where the user can even control the Life Force present in other beings and the surrounding environment to an infinite degree as well. Their Life Force Attacks becoming incalculably powerful in this state.
==Notes==
*According to Mage Texts, it is believed that Life Force is stemmed from an interconnected system of wells or “points” that resides within an organism’s physical body known as the “Spiritual Body” with each well being associated with a specific part of the body such as the mind, heart, limbs etc. This is similar to the concept of Chakras from Hindu and Buddhist belief.
*Abilities involving the direct projection of Life Force such as Ergokinesis and Elemental Manipulation is observed to drain an Esper of their Life Force the fastest out of all known abilities.
*Nuclear, Light, Darkness, Space and Time are the most rare and difficult elements to master and very few Espers have been known to have control over these elements as they are considered to be only possible by the most advanced and powerful of Espers.
*Certain species of Backshrooms are a primary ingredient in the ceremonial herbal concoctions that Espers drink to help unlock their Life Force and strengthen their abilities.
*The Life Force Arts is shown to be highly effective towards Slashers being one of the few things capable of actually doing some real damage and even kill them fast enough to escape before they rise again. The reason for this is believed to be due to the concentrated life energy having an adverse reaction to their undead physiologies, drastically degrading the structural integrity of their forms.
*All evidence points to The Crimson Wanderer being a Tier VIII Espers as he is always in a state of being composed of pure Life Force and has been observed to possess most, if not all abilities associated with the Life Force Arts.
*It is believed that one of Crimson Wanderer’s former protege, Weeaboo Jones is also a Tier VIII Esper as he is capable of becoming a godlike being composed entirely of Life Force similar to the Crimson Wanderer’s “true form” as well as possessing almost all known Life Force Arts abilities. 
*It’s theorized that The Alchemist is at least a Tier V Esper due to his godlike alchemical skills and transmutation abilities.
*Other likely Espers include The Jester, The Keymaster, The Storyteller, The King of Normality, The Dark Sovereign, The Rose Warrior and The Scourge.
*The original 1000 Mage Texts are said to contain highly valuable information and training rites capable of bestowing incredible abilities and techniques so powerful that they could make even a novice in the Life Force Arts an unstoppable force. Due to this, they are kept in a secret location held within Level 906 and guarded steadfastly by The Storyteller so that they won’t fall into the wrong hands. Mage Texts are trusted only to veteran practitioners for the purpose of training their students.
*There are about three to five hundred known species of Harikikigaki that are documented in the Harikikigaki Encyclopedia, a book that can be found in the Storyteller’s library that also details how to create these life force viruses.
*Many examples of etymology used to describe abilities and aspects related to the Life Force Arts appear to be derived from many cultures originating in The Frontrooms, although it’s possible that the reverse is true.
**Familiars are believed to be spirits or demons in Wicca culture that take the form of animals and obey the commands of witches.
**Totems are believed to be gods or divine spirits in Native American belief that embody all aspects of nature, from animals to minerals.
**Ichor appears to be derived from “Golden Ichor”, a gold, honey-like fluid substance that is said to course through the veins of the gods instead of blood in Greek mythology.
**Golems are entities from Jewish folklore believed to be clay idols brought to life with incantations to execute a specific task or to generally be the creator’s servant.
**Yokai are beings from Japanese folklore similar to ghosts and spirits that take many forms such as anthropomorphic animals. Tsukomogami are a type of Yokai that take the form of inanimate objects that have come to life. Kami is the term for Gods and spirits of divine status in Japanese Shinto religion.
**Harikikigaki are germ-like Yokai that are believed to have been responsible for all aspects of bodily inflictions such as causing disease, sickness, pain and even insanity during the Sengoku period.
**Spirit Animals are a concept originating from indigenous cultures to describe a particular animal that is believed to hold spiritual significance to a certain individual, aspects of said animal mirroring a person’s qualities and traits.
Category:Phenomena
Category:Convergence Canon