As it turns out, dragons are a multiversal phenomenon...and they're about as horny as humans.
Making matters more interesting, while Valresta is home to a shit ton of variants and subspecies of dragons, there are seven types of dragons because of fucking course there are seven types of dragons, that each are considered the truest embodiments of the seven types of aether found on Valresta and are considered the most true blooded... especially since they produced the other...hundred.
For reasons beyond me, these seven "true" dragon types are able to take on mortal disguises really fucking easily in comparison to other aether beasts, not even having to reach to the necessary cultivation stage in order to transform. They're also just... compatible with everything.
Whether it was because that's how dragons be or the deity that made them had a thing for scalies, nobody knows for sure.
But back to the topic at hand, the seven dragon types as far as I can tell are able to cultivate aether like everything else in this whacky world, but they, and their offshoots, have access to something extra and...okay, they technically have these fancy ass names that all end in -dragi: Ignaticorvadragi, Terrasungasdragii, Aquacaudragi, Aerocorndragi, Umbrastodragi, Luxcaputdragi, Omnicorpudragii, and yes I found this dumb so I translated the names into words I could pronounce/understand better...but that won't be till later.
The deep dive I mean.
As for what I call them: Scorch Hearts, Earth Claws, Water Tails, Wind Backs, Shadow Guts, Halo Heads and All-rounders.
Instead, this chapter will be used to better explain that one thing all the dragon clans share: Dragon Force.
*Pause for obvious reference...*
Okay, so... despite the name, dragon force is not a separate energy type in the same way aether and anima are separate types. Instead, dragon force is like...aether plus.
Aether is the energy of nature and order, dragon force is like...absolute order in regards to nature, if that at all makes sense.
I guess it would be more accurate to call it dragon aether, but the dragons call it dragon force and I'm not arguing with them.
Kinda like bloodliner abilities, anything or anyone with dragon blood is able to tap into dragon force and use it to enhance their powers, however, dragon force is also weirdly point specific. I did not use those names lightly, it's a reference to what part of their body the dragons apply their dragon force to.
Aside from Omni dragon force, when a specific elemental type of dragon force is applied to a specific part of the body, the effectiveness is a lot more potent.
For example, suppose there are two warriors with fire dragon blood and earth dragon blood.
Both are at the same level and both can use dragon force to reinforce their bodies.
However, when the one with fire blood applies dragon force to their heart, their physical stats spike sharply and they become hot blooded... literally.
They make the Blood Burners look like fucking candles in comparison.
On the other hand, when the earth blooded one applies dragon force to their hands, they can flick tunnels through mountain ranges.
Not punch.
Not dig.
Just...flick.
Granted they have to be a stupidly high stage for this, but again, I ain't arguing with the guy who can flick my head open like a pop candy tube.
Now with this short explanation in mind and all of of the other dragon clans I just listed off, you're not probably now thinking to yourself: "Hey wait a minute, doesn't this mean there's some kind of dragon ubermensch that has all seven types of dragon force in their body?"
The answer to that is...there was and there might be...?
A really, really long time ago, there was apparently a dragon that had a body with all of the dragon force parts possible, and he was the ancestor to all of the dragon's today.
Because of this ancestral fact, a lot of organizations over the years have attempted to artificially create it...this never ends well.
Despite there being a bunch of arts, rituals and questionable medical procedures to bestow a person with the powers of an aether beast, we'll get to that another time, turns out dragon parts are a bit more...finicky.
Ok, screw beating around the bush, attempts to graft multiple types of dragons parts to a single person ends with death, mutation, explosions or all three.
Now supposedly, it's possible to naturally breed one into existence ala something out of Dune, but that's...unknown.
For starters, when the seven main clans make offspring with one another, the child will end up with either or dragon blood, with a mixed breed happening in one in a million.
And due to the dragon's breeding cycle...this takes a while.
The highest known number of dragon force parts currently in-use is five, a prestige entitled to only one known warrior who is hiding out on the Golden Lotus continent, the Warlord of the Five Scales.
So depending on whether or not that guy has kids...maybe we'll see the return of the Uber dragon...