Alright, due to me realizing that the [Astra] and [Regalia] entries being significantly shorter than j had anticipated, I have decided to try and condense the [Icon] and [Avatar] entries into one section.
The former ability is incredibly straightforward, its honestly just an all around upgrade to a warrior's stats, while the latter ability gets...a little weird.
Hell, this shit gets even wilder when kaijin get involved, but that is a spoiler.
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Aether Kings - Icons.
The ability gained by Aether Kings, [Icons] are the manifestations of their ideology and principals.
Emblems, insignia, coat of arms, whatever you want to call them, these symbols are are supposed to portray to the world what something or someone represents with just a glance.
One can assume a guild with a lion for an emblem are brave, a king with an eagle as their coat of arms will rise above the competition and that most people using a skull as their symbol may or may not have a somewhat murderous history.
In terms of individuals however, [Icons] can be considered their ultimate symbol.
Every king has a crown, every pirate has their flag and famous warriors throughout time and space have always been associated with some form of symbolism, one way or another.
Practically, an [Icon] functions a bit like a...magic engine, filter and condenser.
A fully formed [Icon] is able to filter out and refine the aether in the atmosphere into the cultivator's preferred type at a much higher density and purity, which can then be used to enhance aether arts, alchemy output and treasure creation.
Basically, as long as aether is involved, the output produced by using this condensed aether will be greater than usual.
In some extreme/brute force cases, a warrior can use their [Icon] to create a beam of aether, like from a certain anime characterized by screaming and spiky hair.
Additionally, [Icon] can be used to explore regions that have unusually high concentrations of aether, which would normally be hazardous, by straight up breaking down the surrounding aether.
Some insane cultivators actually make it a point to go to regions where the aether is suffocatingly dense in order to speed up their cultivation.
Some other applications include the ability to "install" certain aether arts in order to quickly access them without needing to circulate aether, the ability to enhance allies via bestowal and/or changing the surrounding aether and the ability to act as an alternative light source.
The reason for this glow ability is related to a statement that a lot of Aether Kings need to focus on: "one's ideals can serve as a beacon in times of darkness and confusion".
...
Yes it's Kingdom Hearts sounding as fuck, I am fully aware, but the long and short of it is that an [Icon] is a literal symbol of power that is unique per user.
Think...NFTs, but they actually have a purpose beyond being an expensive JPG.
Also, an [Icon] can technically be used by other people, the owner of the [Icon] just needs to slap it on someone.
Speaking of video games though, anyone remember Blue Dragon?"
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Aether Emperor: Avatar
This ability is a bit weirder than the others, in the sense that its not as focused on the strength of one's own heart and will, and more focused on how others perceive oneself.
Literally.
Throughout history, there are those who have always been described as being "larger than life" or were given attributes that denote them as being beyond normal humanity.
Pharaohs were said to be gods given flesh, many a king of Europe and Asia were said to be the sons of dragons, many an infamous pirate used flair and their reputations as being devil spawn in order to plunder the seas, and a certain inve(n/s)tor is often referred to as the "Lion of Industry".
While none of these famous folks actually exhibited such traits, it hasn't stopped humanity from imagining them as such, and if these fellows could summon an [Avatar], it would look how their reputation preceded them.
The pharaohs could summon golden giants with bestial heads, the kings of Eurasia would manifest dragon kings that could level mountains with a breath or wingbeat, pirates would summon ocean devils that could freeze a man's soul while that aforementioned inventor would summon a mechanical behemoth that would be the crystallization of his achievements.
In the words of the scholars, an [Avatar] is "the manifestation of one's own legend and the ability to turn those fragments of fiction into undeniable fact."
...
Yeah, this is a persona, a stand, a ka, a shadow, whatever you want to call these damn things, they're weaponized souls.
Actually, before being termed as "avatars", this ability used to be referred as "deity manifestation", people believing that the conjured being was actually a glimpse of the "divinity" that these warriors could achieve.
Additionally, the form of these [avatars] is actually not so much reliant how other people see someone, but how the owner of the [avatar] perceives themselves after hearing about their reputation.
For example, while two warriors could both be called "Dragon King", the way their avatars formed based on that title can be wildly different from one another.
One could manifest a comely immortal with dragon-horns and delicate scales that were harder than steel, while another could manifest an ACTUAL GODDAMN DRAGON with massive horns and that was thoroughly decked out in gold, jewels and everything in-between.
Either way, we just come back to a statement that I think just sums up aether cultivation as a whole: perspective is a bitch and everyone's a critic.
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...
Okay the fact that you read this far means you want to know how these abilities manifest in the kaijin, right?
Well...too bad!
I'm going to condense all of the kaijin stuff into a single section because that shit gets weird, but if you really want to know...I can at least tell you the terms I refer to these two abilities.
[Vandalize]
[Gigantify].
That is all you're getting.
Peace!