Soul

A **soul** is the source of power of each creature and radiates an aura every living being possesses. The strength of the soul determines the resilence against magical attacks, the length of the life as well as the own magical power.

Souls which originate from a physical body (and are still located in it) do not have a shape, but once extracted they form into something similar to a flaming orb, which floats roughly one inch above the ground.

By that they may be held, but the souls themselves cannot be physically touched, unless by the use of magic strong enough to penetrate the intellectual Bulwark. Once touched the other can change the structure of the layers he penetrates as he pleases.

Each soul is unique and highly valued by **soul-merchants**, as the possibilities for the usage of the energy inside souls is seemingly endless.

## Structure

The soul itself is made out of three layers - sanity, memory, life essence - and the will in the center (the intellectual Bulwarks themselves do not count as layers as the bulwarks do not share the same structure). All these components together radiate an aura, which is usually the same as the one the body radiates. Once a layer is directly penetrated and damaged the soul releases an enormous amount of energy to fight off whatever attacks as well as repair the damages which are made, yet this may resolute in mental and/or physical disorders. The further the enemy penetrates the layers of the soul, the more likely it is that the victim ends up with permanent damage(s).

In the case of Artificials, who possess no will yet powers, the magic isn't a part of their soul, but of their body only. This causes their soul to radiate the aura of a human, while the body itself radiates the aura of an Aetherial. Most Aetherials, who do not know about the existence of Artificials, become confused by this, some even misplacing these beings as illusions. As this is very suspicious it may even cause beings to turn hostile.

### Intellectual Bulwarks

The **intellectual Bulwark** is one of the strongest magical protections which exists in the entire Aetherium and encases the actual layers of the soul. Born weak their strength increase the older and more intelligent a being gets, yet they can also be improved by actual training.

The strongest of intellectual bulwarks possess the chance of not only resisting, but absorbing magic partly, thus increasing the own magical potential when hit by a spell. All Dragons are already born with this ability, making them by nature outstanding powerful creatures.

While the purpose of the first, the outer, intellectual Bulwark the mere protection against magical attacks is the second, the inner, Bulwark also possesses the ability to be used as 'extra' room, e.g. to store some more memories, but for the price of less protection.

### Sanity

**Sanity** is the main condition of a healthy mind, thus being able to reason and judge the own or others deeds by moral, laws, virtue etc.. It contains a fair amount of energy, yet it is said to have the strongest visual impact on the individuals actions, as, once the sanity is overcome and the first state of madness is created, the inhibitions for 'wrong' actions like murder or rape are highly decreased. The sanity is also the layer which has the strongest connection to the brain of the being, as a literal chemical explosion occurs once the sanity of the soul is damaged.

### Memory

The **memory** contains the beings retention, remembrance and recognition and is another vital part of mind and soul. How much energy can be stored and how strong the layer is depends on the amount of memories, whereas mental diseases, magic and other things may directly influence the robustness. Interestingly the layer can only dissolve, thus power the madness, once the sanity is completely used up. If that happens the being cannot recognize friend and foe anymore, nor morals, and begins to blindly fight and kill everything and everybody. Beings who reach this particular second state of madness are often compared to enraged animals, a *bloodlust*.

After the madness stopped the being will not remember anything it has done while it was in this frantic state and describe the feeling as if something took control over their body, with their 'real' self either being asleep, trapped in some kind of dark hole or knocked out.

The experiences made while being in bloodlust are stored in the second intellectual Bulwark; the being regains them once it returns to this state of madness.

### Life essence

The **life essence** is the last layer of the soul and by far the strongest, as it contains the pure energy to keep the being alive and heal the other two layers in case they are damaged. Once there is none left inside the layer the being passes out, brain death, and cannot be saved anymore. Technology may keep the body alive, but there is no way to reverse it. Without medical treatment the body will die within minutes.

As long as there is still a little left it regenerates over time though

A few Demons (e.g. **Kaia**), which are usually **soul-merchants**, can drain the life essence from another soul to strengthen their own. It is described to be a refreshing moment, similar to taking drugs for Non-Aetherials. This although is highly illegal, even in **Hell**, and is punished with death in **Purgatory**. However, except to **Hikari Akurai** who keeps this as her ultimative secret, there is no technique known to give own life essence to another one. The only ordinary way how to reduce the own life essence purposely is again through madness, although using the life essence for it creates such a horrible scenario that, out of respect and fear, nobody ever dared to give this state of madness a name.

### Will

The **will** itself is in the very center of the soul and is the direct connection to the **Dimensions Heaven** (with the will of *Order*), **Spirit World** (with the will of *Balance*) or **Hell** (with the will of *Strength*). Depending on being Fullblood or Halfblood it determines which powers the Aetherial has and which spells it can perform. In the case of Non-Aetherials the center does not contain a will in this sense, but another mass of energy (with no connection to the Aetherium) whose purpose is unknown. Vulgarly it's called *Human-will*.

The will itself cannot be used to strengthen the own madness, as its only purpose (when speaking of an aetherial will) is to read auras and providing magic depending on the wills place(s) of origin. An ordinary human-will can perform neither of that, although the will of Artificials seem to be influenced by the magic of the body, changing it slightly and granting them the abilitiy, although these beings often seem to struggle to tell the difference between the wills.

**Eoran Utagi** claimed in the **DW II.** to have created a new will, a will of *Revolution*. What he although described as a new form of will was in reality an expanded version of the will of strength.

### Aura

An **Aura** is what one may call the identity of the being, influenced by soul and body equally. If not hidden purposely aetherial beings are able to read this aura, gaining information the information about their will, strength and powers. The stronger an aura is the earlier Aetherials are able to sense it from a further distance, making them recognize that something or somebody is nearby.

Interestingly even magical objects can possess an aura, which radiates the structure of the spell(s) casted on them. This aura although does not reveal the original enchanter(s) nor their powers.

## Special cases

### General

#### Madness

Once a layer is penetrated the released energy is also noticeable by the owner of the soul, whose powers increase suddenly. This effect, called **madness**, is used by a few beings intentionally; either on other souls to absorb the emerging power or on their own soul, mostly as last resort. The closer the damaging gets to the center, the will, the more energy is released. However, as it depends on the life essence how quickly the layers can heal back, it's recommended, when putting oneself into madness, to approximately use the first two layers (sanity and memory) only, because if an individual runs out of life essence (a process which cannot be controlled while being mad) it automatically solutes in death.