World of Remnant, Volume 2) Aura and Semblances

A/N: Ozpin delivered the last lesson. This time, imagine Professor Goodwitch is giving this lecture.

The Soul…

It would be no exaggeration to claim that the Soul is at the core of everything that lives and breathes. All that a person is… all that they were… all that they have the potential to become… all is embodied within their living spirit.

The exact nature of the Soul is still the subject of some debate, but enough about it is understood to allow us to appreciate not only its significance, but its utility as well. For when the power of one's Soul is properly channelled and focussed, that person can become so much more.

For the majority of people, the power of their Soul remains shackled from the day they were born until the day they die. But for some, when they find themselves with their backs against the wall and their own imminent death staring them in the face, this shackled power… their Aura, can unlock itself in their moment of greatest need.

Perhaps even more than your weapon, your Aura is your most vital tool at your disposal as a Huntsman or a Huntress. Understanding its rules, its limits and its uses is essential if you wish to succeed and survive in this line of work. So pay close attention as we begin to examine the fundamentals of Aura.

While it is true that one's Aura can unlock itself in particularly high-stress circumstances, nowadays many have their Aura unlocked manually by another, using the energy of their own Soul to draw out the energy of another's. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that the individual in question is prepared in both body and mind for their Aura to be unlocked in this manner. An unprepared individual will reject any intrusion into their Soul, which can have negative consequences for both parties involved.

Once your Aura has been unlocked, its energy becomes freely available for utilisation in a variety of ways, both passive and active. In terms of the passive benefits of an unlocked Aura, its energy bolsters every aspect of your body. Your speed, your strength, your reflexes, and even your ability to heal are amplified to levels above and beyond an ordinary person. Your senses sharpen, your stamina increases immensely, and your body becomes capable of surpassing its limits.

But it is the active use of Aura wherein lies its true potential. With appropriate training and experience, these are the abilities that serve to set a true Huntsman above a mere soldier.

For starters, all of the aforementioned passive boons granted by an unlocked Aura can be further amplified by focussing more of your Aura into them. So long as you have the energy to spare, and provided your body can take the additional strain, you can increase your physical attributes many times over, allowing for superhuman feats of speed and strength. Used appropriately in short bursts, this can serve to elevate your combat abilities and give you an edge over your opponent, but take care not to overexert yourself, lest you be left open to counterattack.

Of perhaps even greater value is your Aura's defensive capabilities. When properly focussed, Aura can act as a protective barrier around your body that can reduce the impact of physical attacks, or even negate them outright. Blunt force, blades, bullets… your Aura can protect against much. But be careful. There is only so much that your Aura can do to mitigate damage. Powerful attacks will still be felt, and should your Aura be unable to blunt the impact enough, you can still be injured. In addition, this defensive barrier is not an autonomous defence. Conscious effort is required to maintain this barrier, meaning you can still be blindsided by attacks you fail to anticipate.

Aside from these more direct means of attack and defence, an unlocked Aura can also be channelled in other ways besides. Perceiving your surroundings by expanding your Aura beyond your body, sensing the Aura of others, channelling it directly into other objects such as your weapon… With adequate training, these more advanced abilities also become available to you.

And then of course there is the activation and manipulation of raw Dust, though that is a subject for another day.

Indeed, Aura is a powerful tool in the right hands, but it is not without its drawbacks. We have already heard mention of some of the limits of what your Aura can do, but all of that is tied to the core limitation of Aura: it is finite.

As long as you continue to draw breath, your Soul will always produce energy, but your Aura can only stockpile so much at one time. This is what we call your Aura reserve, and once depleted it takes time to restore itself. Should your reserves completely run dry, your Aura will break, and all of the boons and abilities it granted you will vanish, until your reserves fully replenish and your broken Aura can repair itself.

A broken Aura can be a death sentence in a battle, so you are encouraged to monitor your Aura levels to ensure that you never find yourself left exhausted mid-fight. Until you learn how to instinctively feel how much Aura you have left, you should make use of your Scroll to take stock of your Aura's condition.

The capacity of your Aura reserves and the rate at which they regenerate are somewhat innate. They can be improved up to a point, but each individual has a hard limit that they cannot surpass. Learning to work with what you have is therefore just as important, if not more so, than working to expand your potential.

While the passive abilities of Aura draw upon such little energy as to be almost negligible, all active uses of Aura will deplete your reserves over time. Stronger effects naturally cost more energy to perform, so as your reserves deplete, your maximum potential output will also diminish.

There is, however, a technique to circumvent this: Overburning.

A technique of absolute last resort, by drawing directly upon the energy of the Soul itself, it is possible to force more out of your Aura that you would otherwise have access to. Even if your Aura is broken, this can still allow you access to some of your abilities.

But be warned. Overburning is considered a forbidden technique for a very good reason, as by doing so you are effectively burning up your own Soul as fuel. As such, performing an Overburn will eat into your natural lifespan, and can even kill you outright if you burn too much at once. Many therefore refuse to teach this technique, but we believe that when the choice is between certain death and accepting the risk of an Overburn, you may have no other choice at all. Ultimately, you must use your own best judgement in such circumstances.

Everything we have explored thus far has been information that applies to all of you equally, as these are the fundamental rules of Aura and its use. Now, however, we move into discussion of an aspect of Aura that is much more… personal.

Semblance.

As we learned at the beginning, your Soul, the source of your Aura, is the culmination of all that makes you who you are. And no two Souls are alike. Therefore, each unlocked Soul manifests in a way unique to the individual, granting them an ability that is entirely their own, one that reflects an aspect of who they are. Hence, this is referred to as a Semblance.

Attempts have been made time and time again to classify Semblances into various categories so as to better understand the nature of these unique abilities, but this has largely proved to be a futile endeavour. Nevertheless, a few classifications do stand out as having some utility, so we shall first explore these options before we discuss Semblances in more detail.

One type of classification is 'Active vs Passive' Semblances. Put simply, an 'Active' Semblance is one that requires conscious effort to use, while a 'Passive' Semblance does not. A gross oversimplification to be sure, but a somewhat useful starting point for many.

A second means of classification sorts Semblances into three types: Enhancement-types, Transformative-types and Influential-types. Enhancement-types are Semblances that, as the name suggests, enhance an existing attribute of a person in some way, such as boosting their strength or their speed under certain conditions. Transformative-types are Semblances that alter the use in some capacity, such as rendering them invisible. Lastly, Influential-type Semblances are those whose effects extend beyond the user's own body, such as the conjuring of Glyphs.

No doubt you can already see the issues with attempting to classify all Semblances this way, as many do not fit neatly into one of these categories, if they even fit into any at all. Therefore, such classification systems should always be taken with a grain of salt. The very nature of Semblances as unique reflections of their users should instead be embraced rather than constrained.

So how then can we go about understanding how Semblances work? In the end, that is down to the individual to ascertain for themselves. That being said, there are some things that can be explained that can help one gain a better grasp of how to approach their Semblance.

As unique as every Semblance is, they do follow certain rules. A person can only have one Semblance, as they of course only possess one Soul. A Semblance can seemingly grant several abilities at once, but they all tie back to the same root in the end. Also, like all abilities granted by an unlocked Aura, your Semblance requires Aura to function. Run out of Aura, and you can no longer use your Semblance.

Most important of all to bear in mind is that your Semblance is a manifestation of an aspect of your identity. Thus, the better an understanding you have of yourself, the better an understanding you will have of your Semblance as well.

But people are not static, unchanging machines. Who we are, and who we see ourselves as, can change over time for many reasons. The person you were ten years ago is not the same as the person you are now, nor will it be the same as the person you become ten years down the line. And just as you can change, your Semblance can change as well, via a process referred to as Evolution.

When you first discover your Semblance, it is referred to as being Awakened. Once you gain full understanding and control over it, it is considered to be Mastered. And when a Semblance undergoes a drastic change, granting a new ability as a result, it is considered to have Evolved.

Semblance Evolution is an intensely-studied phenomenon. Through years of research carried out by many experts in this field, the process of Evolution is understood to follow a broad pattern in five stages: Realization, Introspection, Epiphany, Acceptance, and finally Evolution itself.

Realization occurs when the individual acknowledges that there is some part of themselves, some flaw or shortcoming of their person, that they do not wish to accept. From there, they can either reject this realization and stall outright, or make the commitment to try and change. If they are able to do so, they can progress to the next stage.

Introspection is where many find themselves stuck, as it requires them to contemplate this part of who they are and understand why they need to change it. This can take a long time to figure out, and is part of the reason why true Evolution is a less-than-common occurrence.

The Epiphany is when the individual finally achieves that understanding and is able to recognise not only the flaw itself, but the reason behind it as well. This can be a bittersweet moment for some, as it becomes fully apparent to them that they are indeed flawed in some significant way that is actively holding them back.

Acceptance is the hardest stage to overcome. With the understanding of who they are and what they are lacking now laid bare to them, the individual is faced with a choice: embrace their imperfection, reject it, or move past it. Embracing their flaw will make them stronger for it, but doing so will not allow them to truly change. Rejecting their flaw will likewise not allow for any progress to be made. Only be fully moving beyond your flaw are you able to reach the final stage of the process.

Should the individual succeed in moving past their flaw, they will be a changed person, and their Semblance has the potential to change with them if that flaw was in any way tied to the nature of their Semblance and the aspect of their identity it embodied. Thus, their Semblance has undergone Evolution.

Just as there is no limit to a person's potential for change, there is no limit to the number of times a person's Semblance can undergo Evolution. However, for the vast majority of those who do experience this phenomenon, a single Evolution is all they will be able to achieve. Even so, a single instance of Evolution is a significant achievement, as many more are unable to ever accomplish even that.

One final point of note on the subject of Semblances before we conclude is that, much like how it is possible to amplify other abilities by using additional Aura, it is possible to amplify your Semblance this way as well. However, unlike merely boosting your physical attributes, boosting your Semblance past its natural limit before your body is ready is extremely ill-advised. This act of Overclocking your Semblance by forcing more Aura into its activation can result in what's known as an Aura Backfire. This can have serious repercussions, such as permanently damaging your ability to use your Semblance, or even causing irreparable damage to your Aura itself, leaving you with a reduced Aura capacity for the rest of your life. Once again, this should be considered only as an act of absolute last resort.

There is another factor to consider with regards to Aura as well. An unlocked Aura, and by extension an unlocked Soul, comes with one significant caveat: you become more visible to the Creatures of Grimm. With the barriers over your Soul lowered, your emotions are less restrained. Your passions shine brighter, your anger burns hotter, and your fear screams louder without the shackles holding it all back. You are afforded great power, but you also become a torch that draws more danger to you for the rest of your life.

Make no mistake, you are all taking on a great deal of risk by choosing this path, and we cannot guarantee that all of you will even reach the end of the road you now walk down. But if you have the conviction to see this through to the end…

… you can be something truly magnificent.

Hello again to all the long-time readers as well as the readers who have joined us more recently! I'm Not Scot.

I love an imaginative power system, and RWBY's Aura-based system is such a great example of a power system that allows for great variety and creativity. My only real gripe with it was how vague it could be at times, so I wanted to try and clear up a few things I thought weren't made clear in the show, and fill in some gaps as well.

I also wanted to add some more caveats to the system, as well as include a few concrete milestones the characters can be measured against as the story progresses.

For reference, Yang is the only member of the main four who can claim to have Mastered her Semblance, while the other three still have some ways to go before they can claim the same (although Ruby isn't far off). None of the core cast are anywhere close to an Evolution yet, but perhaps later down the line…

Next chapter will likely be the last chapter for this year, as I'll be visiting family over the holidays. But just in case I don't get it finished and uploaded for you all in time, I'd like to extend a warm Season's Greetings to you all and wish you a Happy New Year!

Until next time,

Not Scot.

P.S: I should probably also clarify that Yang did not quite Overclock or Overburn herself last chapter, but she was dangerously close to doing so. She may not be so lucky next time…