Artes

Breakers, Aura, Mana Abilities, and much more stem from Ether, a form of energy produced from the soul. However, not everything relies on the use of ether. Before Breakers and Aura came about, humanity relied on physical strength, which gave birth to special techniques known as Artes. Like ether-based abilities, Artes come in all shapes and sizes, and anyone can use them. Sword artes, Lance artes, Spear artes, Pike artes, and any other weapon can have artes made for them, or may already have them.

Artes can be as simple as a basic thrust with a sword, amplified with energy, or as complex as materializing and condensing that energy into a beam or blast. Of course, the more complex the technique, the more strenuous and exhausting it becomes. That's why they have been categorized into the following:

**Basic, Advanced, Awakened, and Ultimate**

Artes are classified based on their difficulty and strength, which means a dangerous yet simple-to-perform arte can be considered basic, while an extremely difficult technique that provides little to no offensive capability can be classified as an Ultimate Arte. Typically, the higher the tier, the more dangerous the Arte. The tiering of an Arte can also change; for example, a basic sword thrust arte can become an Advanced arte if it turns from a basic thrust into a thrust that expels condensed energy upon impact. Some might argue that it is a different technique entirely, but the basis behind it remains essentially the same, allowing the user to switch between the basic and advanced artes and providing room for more deceptive individuals.

Artes can be learned in various ways, whether through teaching, copying, or even brute force alone. Although most people learn from a teacher, it is not impossible to learn through other methods. Artes are frequently used in Martial Arts, hence the name, but one does not need to know a martial art to use or learn an arte itself.

> **ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ᴀɴ ᴀʀᴛᴇ**.
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**BEGINNER** - A baseline, workable understanding of an Arte's composition and execution; like understanding the theory behind something, but lacking in real hands-on experience.

**INTERMEDIATE** - Vastly improved strength, accuracy, and complexity of an Arte is achieved as the user furthers their understanding of the technique.

**EXPERT** - The usage of the Arte becomes as natural as breathing; the full strength of the Arte is drawn out with its potential realized; further variation and advancements in its particular use and nuance are now possible.

> **ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴀɴ ᴀʀᴛᴇ**.
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**PROTOTYPE** - Impractical, lacking in many aspects: reliability, power, exact knowledge of execution, etc; must be further honed through training, sparring or otherwise. Attempts to such a technique use in live combat are risky, but may allow for streamlined improvement in the right conditions. (Rate of success during combat varies, tending to trend lower than **30%.**)

**UNREFINED** - The technique holds substance and nears the stage of effective, reliable use during combat, requiring some fine-tuning; on the brink of completion. (Success rate raises to **66%.**)

**COMPLETE** - After accumulating sufficient experience and applying necessary changes, the technique is fully realized and now considered a real **Arte**; it can be used without worry for personal safety (depending on its nature) or randomized fluctuations in power, while also allowing for further experimentation beyond the original technique (Success rate is now **100%.**)

(This does not mean an Arte is guaranteed to land as intended once active. The success rate indicates the chance of an Arte \*working\* on activation.)

> **ᴀʀᴛᴇ ᴇᴠᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴ.**
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Once an Arte is mastered or completed, the user is able to further develop the technique, typically through variations in speed, strength, number of sequential activations, target of application, or any combination of these factors and more not listed.

This is also the gateway to **Arte Evolution**, such as a Basic Arte developing into an Advanced one, meaning some entirely improved, or otherwise severely modified aspect of the original Arte is powerful enough to warrant its higher classification.