Breathing Techniques

**Breathing techniques** are what allow Awakened to have long lifespans, as they facilitate world energy into their bodies instead of consuming their own life force (though life force is still consumed at a much smaller rate). When someone Awakens, they always make up their own method, unless they are taught. There are no two identical techniques, which means that those who Awaken with the same technique will breathe in unison. White Cores are granted eternal youth, meaning they completely replace life force consumption with world energy.[*Reference needed*]

One's age when Awakening determines their maximum extended lifespan. For example, if a human has a late Awakening, they won't live the full 1000 year average.

Reaching the deep violet is the perfect time to develop a more complex breathing technique. A basic technique such as Accumulation is incapable of tapping into the auxiliary cores' full potential. Invigoration suffers from the same problem, turning out to be subpar especially during battle. At bright blue one has to compensate for the faulty vortexes and at violet, it is too late.

Guardians have no need to sleep to reset Invigoration, while white cores still need sleep, but usually have no need to reset Invigoration due to their recovery abilities.

## List of Breathing Techniques

* **Abyssal Gaze** (Lith Verhen)
* **Ascension** (Lochra Silverwing)
* **Aura** (Scarlett)
* **Beyonder's Eye** (Zogar Vastor)
* **Bloodborne** (Vladion Dragonborn)
* **Bloodburn** (Crevan Gershal)
* **Foresight** (Ajatar)
* **Guiding Light** (Quylla Ernas)
* **Lifestream** (Faluel/Hydra bloodline)
* **Mana Heart** (Roghar)
* **Mother Earth** (Tyris)
* **Mother Sun** (Salaark)
* **Rainfall** (Aalejah)
* **Regal Flow** (Thrud Griffon)
* **Scalesong** (Jormun)
* **Sky Blessing** (Solus)
* **Sun and Moon** (Baba Yaga)
* **Worldkeeper** (Leegaain)

## Accumulation

*User: Lith Verhen*

**Accumulation** is the practice of drawing world energy into the mana core and, with every cycle, **refining the core** and turning it a brighter shade. The process involves pulling small impurities towards the mana core, and breaking up large impurities over time. After every cycle of expansion and compression, the mana core turns one shade brighter. Every time impurities are expelled from the core, it transitions to the next level.

The breathing technique involves taking deep breaths from the diaphragm to draw small amounts of world energy. After inhaling, the lower muscles are contracted to hold one's breath and the energy as well. Before exhaling, one must try to feel the excess of mana that's in their body. Then, one must focus on the world energy getting in and out of their body with every breath. At that point, all one has to do is to use their core to draw in and absorb great amounts of world energy instead of small bits.

Awakened can use Accumulation without suffering mana poisoning because Mogar's essence never reaches the mana core but is absorbed by their bodies, refining them over time.

## Invigoration

*User: Lith Verhen*

**Invigoration** is a method of **reinvigorating oneself** by allowing world energy to pass through the body and **replenish mana**. It is able to energize an Awakened like a good night's sleep, allowing them to recover from wounds or exhaustion, as well as stay awake long periods of time (ranging from consecutive days to months) without rest. However, the greater frequency of use, the less effective Invigoration becomes, and can only be reset by sleeping. Invigoration can be used on other people, even non-Awakened, enabling world energy to flow through their core and replenish their mana.

Invigoration is a great tool, but if abused it can hinder growth. By rejuvenating one's body, it both keeps impurities from forming over time and one's body from strengthening properly in-between breakthroughs.

Invigoration can also be used for **body imaging**/**diagnostics** by slowly seeping one's mana into another person' body and slowly taking control of their mana flow, allowing the user to know everything about the person's physical condition. It requires physical contact to be maintained, and to search for ways in for the mana without harming the individual. Using Invigoration as a diagnostic tool only requires solely to circulate the world energy without assimilating it. Moreover, an Awakened can use Invigoration on someone to replenish their mana and heal them. In normal circumstances, it is a simple matter to take control of someone's metabolism with Invigoration.

An Awakened can also use Invigoration to help cleanse another person's body of impurities by thinning the biggest clots.

In a similar way, Invigoration can also be used to inspect magic items and artifacts, tracing the mana flow coursing through them. It can be used as a means of bypassing any cloaking device but requires the mage to override someone's or something's mana flow with their own. However, there is only so much space one can cover without spreading their resources too thin, dulling their senses. When examining arrays, it is possible to alter one's mana flow to travel from a safe distance, closing in on the magical formation to make sure that one can study them without triggering their defense mechanisms.

Invigoration is an insufficient technique at the violet core level. It just allows one to draw in the world energy, moving it throughout their body and into the core, but it doesn't make use of the auxiliary cores nor does it nurture them.

## Abyssal Gaze

*User: Lith Verhen*

Developed by Lith and Solus for nearly three months to replace Invigoration and Accumulation after the former reaches the violet core. Despite being tailored to his new form and prowess, Abyssal Gaze cannot stabilize Lith's life force once it gets compromised by the abuse of Origin Flames. While studying Yggdrasill wood with the tower's Greenhouse, Lith finds a flaw in his breathing technique's detection capabilities and not only fixes it, but even improves Abyssal Gaze, leading to him gaining his first breathing skill, **Demon Grasp**.

### Demon Grasp

**Demon Grasp** is Lith's first breathing skill he developed for Abyssal Gaze. It allows him to split the world energy into its elemental components and use his seven eyes instead of his body to absorb it. The emerald eye absorbs Mogar's energy signature and replaces it with Lith's so that the pure elemental energies turn into his own mana the moment they seep through his life force. This way, the mana core offers no resistance to the new energy and assimilates it more quickly than with a regular breathing technique. Moreover, nothing goes to waste - the seventh component of the world energy, Mogar's essence, nurtures his body, making it grow stronger, bigger, and denser. It also reduces the resistance that his flesh and blood offers to powerful mana flows, allowing him to exert a greater power before suffering from mana abuse.

Lith devised such a technique back when he worked as a Ranger, but at the time he lacked Domination and his attempts failed. After opening his seventh eye and learning from the papers in Urgamakka how to alter his breathing technique, he finally succeeded. Lith's technique is similar to Morok's ability to absorb elemental energy through his eyes, but it has no offensive potential and requires having seven eyes at all times, making him the only person capable of using Abyssal Gaze that way.

Demon Grasp requires Lith's full focus. Conjuring a steady flow of world energy that his eyes unravel a split second before absorbing it is no easy feat for a beginner. While a regular Accumulation technique absorbs the world energy solely when the Awakened inhaled, Demon Grasp also worked while Lith exhaled, refining both his body and core non-stop. The downside of this technique is that keeping his breathing rhythm steady while also coordinating his seven eyes to avoid an elemental imbalance requires so much concentration that Lith won't notice anything less subtle than an earthquake.

## Aura

*User: Scarlett*

Scarlett's **Aura** technique has all of Invigoration's properties, but is also able to get a glimpse of the subject's true nature. Under the effects of Aura, no deception is possible as both the body and mind cannot lie. Its effects are also long lasting. Aura is able to mix Spirit Magic with the world energy so that when she floods her target's body with it, she can do the next best thing to mind reading. The world energy allows her to get so deep in the target's head that when they answer a question she knows when they're lying. Also, by seeping deep inside the brain, Aura allows her to obtain an effect similar to the Soul Projection.

## Foresight

*User: Ajatar*

**Foresight** is able to destroy the biggest impurities, reducing them to a size that one can handle while also mending and strengthening the body during the Awakening process.

## Lifestream

*User: Faluel*

**Lifestream** is the breathing technique of the Hydra bloodline, and Faluel's grandmother managed to learn bits of Mogar's wisdom while using it. The Mother of all Hydras invented the Lifestream breathing technique after achieving the violet core, and since then all Hydras have worked to improve it once they reach the violet. Their breathing technique is so powerful thanks to the collective work that Awakened Hydras have shared among themselves for centuries, keeping them from being forced to rediscover the same principles over and over again.

It is capable of seeing more than just life forces and mana cores. It can image a person's body, giving it a golden glow filled with black spots and emphasizing the mana core organ. It can also reveal an artifact's mana pathways and pseudo cores. Lifestream is more focused on the body than the mind, allowing Faluel to almost hijack the mana flow of others. She has demonstrated to be capable of not only manipulating someone's body akin to Body Sculpting, but also making mana cores, flows, and even impurities visible to the naked eye.

## Mother Sun

*User: Salaark*

**Mother Sun** can circulate through the target's body, checking it down to the cellular level. Everything in the Blood Desert is under the effects of her breathing technique, though the problem of checking on such a large territory is that small details can escape her notice. It takes skills just to avoid her detection but once she knows someone's position, they cannot hide from her.

## Rainfall

*User: Aalejah*

Unlike Faluel's Lifestream which feels like being neck-deep inside a river, Rainfall acts akin to a gentle spring drizzle. Her mana reaches the target's skin in small droplets that slowly seep through scales or skin as if they are a cracked wall.

## Regal Flow

*User: Thrud Griffon*

Thrud devised **Regal Flow** with the help of her Awakened disciples and Hystar, and by studying the breathing techniques of the dozens of bloodline legacies she had stolen, learning how each species sought the way that best suits their peculiar nature.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 777: Secrets and Ignorance (Part 1)
2. ↑ Chapter 1307: Parents and Donors (Part 1)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chapter 1426: Filling the Void (Part 2)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Chapter 1439: Birthday Party (Part 1)
5. ↑ Legion on Discord
6. ↑ Legion on Discord
7. ↑ Chapter 1191: A Worried Parent (Part 1)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 78: Interludium (2)
9. ↑ Chapter 1389: High-Master (Part 1)
10. ↑ Chapter 1373: Lightkeep (Part 1)
11. ↑ Chapter 1421: Kamila and Solus (Part 1)
12. ↑ Chapter 1479: Fathers and Son (Part 1)
13. ↑ Chapter 1837: Dangerous Bottleneck (Part 1)
14. ↑ Chapter 778: Secrets and Ignorance (Part 2)
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Chapter 1892: Wisdom Against Mana (Part 2)
16. ↑ Chapter 162: Hard Times
17. ↑ Chapter 938: Genius and Madness (Part 2)
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Chapter 1505: Back in Black (Part 1)
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Chapter 1566: Awakened Madness (Part 2)
20. ↑ Chapter 1541: A New Life (Part 1)
21. ↑ Chapter 1849: Quiet Before the Storm (Part 1)
22. ↑ Chapter 1386: Rebellious Phase (Part 2)
23. ↑ Chapter 11: Encounters
24. ↑ Chapter 20: Ambush
25. ↑ Chapter 1045: Towers and Effects (Part 1)
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Chapter 1627: In the Flesh (Part 1)
27. ↑ Chapter 3: Unrelenting Practice
28. ↑ Chapter 1074: Foolishness and Wisdom (4)
29. ↑ Chapter 13: New Solutions, New Problems
30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Chapter 1057: Elbow Grease (Part 1)
31. ↑ Chapter 693: Retreat (Part 1)
32. ↑ Chapter 919: Spirit and Light Magic (Part 1)
33. ↑ Chapter 1035: The Price of Awakening (Part 1)
34. ↑ Chapter 85: Lith’s Surprise
35. ↑ Chapter 641: Perfect Array (Part 1)
36. ↑ Chapter 684: Trust (Part 2)
37. ↑ Chapter 1491: Changes and Moving (Part 1)
38. ↑ Chapter 1520: United They Stand (Part 2)
39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Chapter 1619: Life and Death (Part 1)
40. ↑ Chapter 1480: Fathers and Son (Part 2)
41. ↑ Chapter 1173: Fear and Suspicion (Part 1)
42. ↑ Chapter 1075: Core Principles (Part 1)
43. ↑ Chapter 1563: Discoveries and Plans (Part 1)