The Layers

The Awakening: The Awakening occurs when a human turns eighteen. Here, the human will enter his Soul and must walk forward to kick-start his Soul formation and will be awarded an Elemental Soul and a Familiar to start his journey throughout the Layers.

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The Layers: The Layers is the world created by the Seven Angels, where Layer Beasts reside. Here, Enlightened fight in an attempt to become more powerful, kill any Layer Beast attempting to reach Earth and nothing else. There are Seven Layers in total and the only difference is the average Rank of each Layer Beast.

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The Rifts: Rifts are a naturally generated slice in space that serves as a portal that connects Earth and the Layers. They are guarded by Layer Beasts, as the moment a Rift becomes more and more unstable, they'll be able to use it to reach Earth. Enlightened can stabilize these Rifts by jumping inside.

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The Enlighteneds: The Enlightened are people that survived the First Layer for the first time. These people can go in and out of The Layers how they wish without the need to use a Rift. This terminology is used for every human that has survived the First Layer and the latter.

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Carapace: A Carapace is part of a Layer Beast that has been bestowed to an Enlightened to increase its chances of survival. The tier of a carapace will be measured in Rank as Roman numbers and Class of the Layer Beast the Enlightened killed. For example, a carapace of a Third-Rank Mindful is a Tier-III Mindful Carapace; a Fourth-Rank Mindless would be a Tier-IV Mindless Carapace.

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Attributes: Attributes are a special enchantment for a Carapace.

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Element: An Element is chosen the moment you are born. It cannot be changed by any means into another. It limits your Elemental Ability to that said Element.

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Lineage: Sometimes, a scarce number of people may be born with direct blood from the Seven Angels or any other Element. The conditions for this to happen and what changes their progression path are still unknown.

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Elemental Soul: An Elemental Soul is the base of any Enlightened. This Soul can be transformed into any Element apart from those of the Seven Angels and grow in power once filled with Sacrifices and escape the Layers.

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Soul Sacrifices: When killing a Layer Beast, the Enlightened that has dealt the killing blow will receive the Sacrifice in terms of how many eyes the angels have. First-Rank will count as one sacrifice, a Fifth-Rank will count as five. Since humans only have one Soul, they will give one sacrifice only.

These sacrifices can be transferred between Enlighteneds but only if both parties agree to do so. The more Sacrifices one Enlightened has, the stronger said Enlightened will be. Take into account that it's a linear boost, therefore the effects won't be noticeable until reaching half the limit. The limit is the maximum amount of Sacrifices one Enlightened can reach that increased physical power and defense. The next Sacrifices won't go to waste, they'll serve as a small increase in one's Soul defense when they escape the Layer.

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Soul Tier (AKA: Power-scaling): A Soul Tier is a way to measure the power of one's soul, which progressively increases as one completes Layers. There are seven ranks of them (Humans):

Unseen

Enlightened

Visionary

Prophet

Omniscient

Transcendental

Supreme

Layer Beasts evolve in raw strength. While humans are based on how many Layers they have completed, Layer Beasts are based on how many eyes they possess. A Layer Beast can have up to fourteen eyes and can gain more via Sacrifices:

First-Rank // Second-Rank // Third-Rank // ... // Thirteenth-Rank // Fourteenth-Rank

To calculate the intelligence and properties of a Layer Beast we use these five classes, and it follows the quality of their Soul Tier, which can be known by the color of their eye and can improve the more Sacrifices they gain:

Mindless (Pure instinct // Eye Color: Red)

Instinctual (Basic thoughts // Sense of Danger // Physical Ability // Eye Color: Orange)

Mindful (Complex Thoughts // Complex Strategies // Magical Abilities // Eye Color: Yellow)

Aware (Self-awareness // Capable of slight communication // Control their surroundings // Eye Color: Green)

Transcendent (Self-awareness // Can communicate with Enlighteneds // Influence reality // Eye Color: Violet)

For example, if a Layer Beast has three orange eyes, we would say Third-Rank Instinctual. carries five red eyes, you would say Fifth-Rank Mindless. If it has two violet eyes, Second-Rank Transcendent.

Note: Angels can have an intermediate state between two Classes, where their eyes are half a color and half the other. This stage usually applies to the Ability only, meaning that a Layer Beast with red and orange eyes has the properties of a Mindless but the Physical Ability of an Instinctual.

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Elemental Ability: The Elemental Ability is the main form of damage, support, or utility the Enlightened has to fight inside the Layers. It is always linked with his Element and will never gain something outside of it.

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Familiar: The Familiar is the second unlock from the Awakening. This Familiar takes the form of an animal, even mythological, and will accompany the Enlightened throughout his journey. It can turn into a specific weapon (Familiar Weapon). It is unknown whether they come from one's Soul (Main theory) or from any other place.