Progression & Training Information

Progression

On this site there is a concept known as Progression, which essentially allows characters to continue to grow in strength over time. As a result there is no such thing as a Peak amount of Reiryoku one can obtain in their life-time as a character who continues to train and hone their skills will continue to get stronger until they eventually die from old age. Each Character type has there own unique method of Progression which differenciate them from the others, in addition all Transcendent States require a character to have undergone at least 1 Progression before one can attempt to Transcend.

In addition to those methods there exists an additional method which involves training within the Dangai, however it is an extremely risky method of training which though boosting one's strength likewise shortens one's natural life-span through the passage of time as well as often can lead to one's death if it is not done properly thanks due to composition of the Dangai as well as the beings which dwell within it.

Base Reiryoku Amount

While Reishi does exist in multiple types, these types being mainly Positive, Neutral and Negative, it only refers to the composition of spirit particles. Reiryoku is the power which all spiritually aware beings use and is the joint commonality between the two races, The Living & The Dead. One's Reiryoku amount follows this with only Constant Training, & Progression adding on to the amount.

Amount of Reiryoku - Comparison to Ranks
E - Below Basic
D - Basic
C - Novice
B - Apprentice
A - Adept
S - Expert
X - Master
Y - Transcendent
Z - Primordial

For ease of use the letters are listed so that they can be used interchangeably with the actual ranks in the Rp. Likewise each rank has a system which serves to determine how much of one rank is within another.

Equivalence
E = 1 E
D = 2 E
C = 2 D
B = 2 C
A = 2 B
S = 2 A
X = 2 S
Y = 2 X
Z = 2 Y

[spoiler=Other Equivalence[/b][/u]
For ease of conversion here is a listed version of each level in Below Basic (E) format.
E = E
D = 2 E
C = 4 E
B = 8 E
A = 16 E
S = 32 E
X = 64 E
Y = 128 E
Z = 256

As you can see, it increases by a scale of double per rank, meaning the disparity between Basic and Novice is actually 2x while the disparity between basic and Apprentice is 8x. As a result when concerning the overall power of a character the difference between someone ranked as a Novice in comparison to one being ranks as a Primordial in a certain skill means essentially that they (the latter) are 128 times as skilled as the former (Huge difference right? Sometimes it's okay to just run away..).

The Starting Reiryoku Amounts Differ Dependent on what type of character you start as.

As a Spiritually Sensitive Human you have:
1 E amount of Reiryoku

As a Plus you have:
1 C amount of Reiryoku

Pathetic, yeah I know. Thankfully there are ways to increase it through progression however the most spread means of gaining more Reiryoku is Training. Every character can train to increase their Reiryoku. This is a daily training session which has various amounts dependent on the amount of Reiryoku you wish to train and is only limited by the progression you have obtained.

E - 100 Words
D - 200 Words
C - 400 Words
B - 600 Words
A - 800 Words
S - 1000 Words
X - 1500 Words
Y - 2000 Words
Z - 3000 Words

Current Progression - Amount of Reiryoku Trainable
Starter (Spiritually Sensitive Human/Plus) - E
1st (Base Sub-Race e.g Fullbringer) - D
2nd (1st Adv Base Sub-Race e.g Gillian) - C
3rd (2nd Adv Base Sub-Race e.g Count) - B
4th (Max Adv Base Sub-Race e.g Captain) - A
5th (Base Transcendent e.g Erzengal) - S
6th (1st Adv Transcendent e.g Shikai possessing Zanpakuto Spirit) - X
7th (2nd Adv Transcendent e.g Segunda Etapa possessing Arrancar) - Y
8th (Leader of an Organization e.g Captain-Commander) - Z

That is the most basic means of progressing and gathering more Reiryoku for your character, this Daily Training also takes the spot of your techniques so one training through this method has the option of either training to gain more Reiryoku or learning a new technique.

Reiryoku Control

While Reiryoku itself is important it is just as important to be able to control it, this is of course due to simply throwing around techniques without any control being an inefficient means of fighting opponents. Reiryoku Control goes hand in hand with Reishi manipulation as the better one's control the more skilled they are at their sub-races Reishi manipulation and the less wasteful they are when using techniques. However Reiryoku Control is a constant process which must be done as one becomes stronger as the size of one's Reiryoku is naturally inversely proportionate to their Reiryoku control. The larger ones pool of Reiryoku the more difficult it is to harness it finely as it is Reiryoku's natural inclination to provide more than what is absolutely necessary to use techniques.

In a Nutshell, more Reiryoku one has the harder it is to control it, the smaller it is the easier it is to control it. Large Reiryoku = Shoddy Control, the only way that can be offset is through Reiryoku Control.

Reiryoku Control Basics:

Training Reiryoku Control is simple, just word count based can be done just as frequently as learning a new technique. Meaning this is a Daily training session, where the amount you train is dependent on exactly how much your base Reiryoku is increasing by.

Current Reiryoku Control (1 Time Only Training)
1 A - 100 Words
1 S - 200 Words
1 X - 400 Words
1 Y - 600 Words
1 Z - 800 Words

Past Current Reiryoku Control (Train as Needed)
1 A - 200 Words
1 S - 400 Words
1 X - 600 Words
1 Y - 800 Words
1 Z - 1000 Words


Other Means of Progression

Plus Progression
Plus are capable of progressing in two ways, the first being becoming a Shinigami and the second being turning into a Hollow. Both methods differ like such:

Soul Society Born Plus
Shinigami = 500 Word Topic, Rping your Plus going to join the Shin'ō Academy.
Hollow = IC Topic almost getting eaten by a Hollow which causes the Plus to end up being corrupted into one out of fear.

Human Death Plus
Hollow = 500 Word Topic, Rping your Plus having their chain of fate corroded.
Shinigami = IC Topic getting Konso'd and then discovering you have enough Reiryoku to join the Shin'ō Academy,

Killing or Purifying Hollows

This is a means of progression for Quincy and Shinigami respectively though the means of doing such is the same it is the end result which differs. As either goes through their life they will come into constant conflict with hollows due to their own disdain and fear of the hollows, in the case of the Quincy, while their duty to protect the human world and purify the hollows drive them, in the case of the Shinigami. While doing such their skills increase as they constantly are pushing their limits to do battle with hollows and overtime due to that constant conflict the Reiryoku within them grows to reflect the difficulty of what they face. Both Quincy and Shinigami are the two sub-races which learn the best through trial and combat and thus this is why this method of progression caters to them specifically.

Progression through this method:

Soul Absorption
This involves the consumption of Living Human Souls, which is done primarily by Bount and Kukol. This is what gives them their immortality and while Hollow are also capable of eating living souls they do not gain the same kind of nourishment a Bount or Kukol does due to their bodies being unable to refine it enough to benefit them. The amount of Reiryoku they are able to absorb from a Soul is inversely proportional to their life-span the closer to death they are the less amount of Reiryoku gained while those who have just started their lives are considered something of a delicacy though due to moral reasons it is typically frowned upon to feed on them. There are three types of feeding, the first being an incomplete feeding which does not kill the victim but ages their Soul in proportion to the amount of their Soul drained by the Bount/Kukol this results in them suddenly dying even though physically they are fine once their soul reaches the natural age they were originally supposed to die at. The second is a complete feeding which leaves the victim in a brain dead state as everything but the bare minimum needed to sustain their life is taken from them and finally the last is the true feeding in which the entire soul is taken and the victims body turns into dust.

Progression through this method:

Proximity to Reishi
Proximity to Reishi is the latent ability of Fullbringers and Transbringers to siphon Negative Reishi from the environment in order to grow more powerful, this differs of course form the Quincy and Erzengal ability to harness Positive Reishi in order to empower themselves due to being unable to control or rather be aware of this siphoning. When in close proximity to beings comprised of Negative Reishi the same occurs as they gradually siphon off the victims's Reiryoku converting it into their own Reiryoku. It is this which leads most Fullbringers and Transbringers into conflict with Hollows however likewise it can cause them to hunt themselves as well due to the Reiryoku which comprises their bodies. However while the former is a passive uncontrollable thing, the latter is something which can be controlled and is called Power Transference which is the willing exchange of powers on both sides while another version is Power Stealing in which a stronger Fullbringer/Transbringer is capable of dominating and stealing the power of a weaker one either by sheer intimidation or by defeating them in battle.

Progression through this method:

Reishi Eating
The consumption of Reishi is perhaps the most spread around means of growing stronger however, it is only Hollow and Arrancar which change it into something of an art form. Rather than eat food produced in any dimensions other than the Human World, Dangai and Hell, they instead consume sentient beings. This voracious hunger is driven by an eternal and insatiable hunger to devour other souls, living or dead, to fill the void caused by its descent, said decent of course being the transformation from Plus into Hollow. The need to consume is etched into Hollow instinct as it is their means of survival, to grow stronger evolve and prevent regression after reaching a level of comparable strength. Any soul would do, however the stronger the Soul and the more Reiryoku it possesses the more the Hollow/Arrancar gains from it's consumption, likewise the level of a Hollow is inversely proportionate to their hunger after they have past the threshold of becoming a hollow through and through. The weakest hollows are the most voracious, while Gillian are a bit less however consume more souls in one sitting than a weaker hollow ever can, Adjuchas are less hungry but are driven by the need to continue eating lest they regress back into a Gillian permanently, finally Vasto Lorde rarely get hungry nor are they possessed by some urge to keep eating as during their transition the other Hollows within them were silenced. The one main drawback to all of this however is IF a hollow gets Even One Part of their body eaten past the Hollow stage their evolution ceases they neither regress nor can they progress through Reishi eating as a Hollow any further. Once they become Arrancar however they can continue to grow stronger however that which they missed out on if they did not become an Adjuchas or a Vasto Lorde before a part of them being eaten is forever lost to them.

Progression through this method:

Memory Assimilation
Blanks and Zanpakuto Spirits are capable of assimilating the memories of those they use their Reishi manipulation abilities on in order to create a new personality in order to progress further. Blanks are empty, lacking memories or purpose and are completely emotionless upon initially being formed, as they assimilate more memories from other things they are capable of taking the fragments and joining them together to create new memories and thus create a new personality from the memory fragments they have assimilated. It is this formation of an identity which gives a Blank power and that power results in them having more Reiryoku as a direct result of this. Those Blanks which behave more like humans are stronger than the Blanks which don't, this does not mean that their are no stoic blanks rather it isn't just the expression of emotion or the capability of both empathy and apathy but rather the choice of whether or not to express these emotions which separate the weak Blanks from the strong ones. A Blank's desire to eventually regain their original memories it what motivates them to first seek a body, whether a Gigai or a freshly deceased corpse which serves as their host body. Once they have obtained that they are able to begin to assimilate memories and as the proceed the further they develop their new personality the more of their original memories start to return to them.

Progression through this method:

Inner World & Its Relation to Progression & Transcendence

The Inner World is one of the major means of Progression and is the core concept revolving around Transcendence. Each Sub-race has it's own means of doing such, except Quincy, Fullbringers and Transbringers, this is due to both using their latent power in order to fight rather than calling on the dormant power within their Souls similar to all the other Sub-Races. This of course changes in the case of Quincy when they become Erzengals. Due to the Inner World being wide-spread each Sub-Race has it's own version as well as own method of using this as a means to progress further.

Shinigami & Visored

It is not enough to simply know the name of one's Zanpakutō for a Shinigami to progress further. If a wielder were to lend its power to its Zanpakutō, the weapon would become stronger. To fully use a Zanpakutō's power, a wielder must get to know its Zanpakutō's spirit and must preform Jinzen This method is the only way to carry on a proper conversation with one's Zanpakutō. One places their sword over their lap, takes a meditative pose, and forces their mind to become one with the Zanpakutō.

In this form, one can call out the true form of the powers of their Zanpakutō. It has been refined over thousands of years, since the beginning of Soul Society, to allow one to commune with their Zanpakutō. This advanced form of training is far different from attaining abilities by force. In this form, one enters a state of calm to enter the inner world of the Zanpakutō and engage them there. In this state, a wielder will have to fight their Zanpakutō spirit in order to attain access to new abilities. Unwilling to teach its owner these abilities, the Zanpakutō spirit engages its wielder in a battle.

Progression Through Jinzen (Shikai):

Progression through Jinzen (Bankai):

Zero Division Training Regiment:

With Visored however it is a bit different, as they all possess an inner hollow within them and in order to obtain mastery of Hollowification and their Hollow Mask they must first dominate it in battle. This must be done twice, the first being to prevent them from turning completely into a Hollow, while the second time is to obtain Fukkatsu. Other than that every now and then or more specifically every time one doubles their Overall Reiryoku Pool (excludes boosts via releases) after mastering their inner hollow they are challenged to a new fight as the inner hollow always wants to eventually come out on top and change the Visored into a pure hollow.

Progression through Inner Hollow (Mask):

Progression through Inner Hollow (Fukkatsu):

Bount & Kukol

The Relationship between a Doll and it's master is complex, as a result while a Bount may possess a Doll they are unable to reach their full power without first manifesting it. However a Doll will never obey a master that is weaker than it even while it is a Baby and will kill a weak master. As a result the process for subjugating one's doll is very risky however due to a Bount's Doll possessing the bulk of their stronger abilities it is necessary to do such.

Progression through Doll Subjugation (Zeige Dich):

Progression through Doll Subjugation (Pokazat' Seubya):

Kukol is different however, as rather than attempt to Subjugate their Doll they are on much better terms with it and both wish to to become stronger together through increased Synchronization. Unlike a normal Bount their Doll has it's own Reiryoku which is equal to the Kukol's Reiryoku upon Transcending however it is not available to them until they manage to synchronize with their Doll further. Due to being two separate Reiryoku pools it is possible to increase one's Doll's Reiryoku or the Kukols own Reiryoku separately, neglect one in favor of the other and vice versa. While Kukol's Reiryoku increases naturally through Vampir, their Dolls increase naturally through the use of Bitto.

Progression through Doll Syncronization (Nezhit'):

Progression through Doll Syncronization (D'yavel):

Hollow & Arrancar

Hollows, rather Gillian and beyond hollows are filled with the Souls of their victims as well as other Hollows that they have eaten. These Souls don't disappear instead they constantly chatter in a Hollow's head at random times with only the constant consumption of Souls causing the chattering to dim. When all the voices speak as one it is known as being a Gillian. In order to become the Dominant personality and gain control over the Gillian's body a hollow must first defeat all the other hollows within their body without being defeated in turn. Throughout their progression hollows will need to go on what is known as Feeding Topics to eat and increase their reiryoku as well as progress.

Feeding Topics:

In order to Evolve into a Gillian one must first have at least:
Amount of Reiryoku = Adept (1 A Minimum)
Feeding Topics Completed = 1
500 Word training to go through transformation.

This is merely the first step in evolving into a higher state and the initial challenge is what changes the Gillian's Mask into being unique.

Progression through Hollow Evolution (Adjuchas):

Progression through Hollow Evolution (Vasto Lorde):

Arrancar are a bit different, mainly due to the lack of needing to eat as well as the lack of voices which echo in an Arrancar's head. This is because during the process of Shinigamification an Arrancar rips off their mask and in the process the whispers cease completely instead being compressed into the Arrancar's new Zanpakuto. In addition when one Transcends into an Arrancar they are given a 1 time choice either they keep their Rapid Regeneration or they can Double their Overall Max Reiryoku Pool. Once the Choice has been made it can not be taken back.

Progression through Sealed Power (Ressureccion):

Progression through Sealed Power (Segunda Etapa):

Erzengel

Erzengel are unique in that their progression revolves around control rather than Reiryoku amount as part of the requirements in order to obtain their additional releases. Both Releases require differing amounts however both draw the Quincy in their inner world for them to meditate and understand the Reiryoku flowing through their body.

Progression Through Inner Meditation (Herrschaft):

Progression Through Inner Meditation (Aufstieg):

Blank & Zanpakuto Spirit

Blanks have an inner world which is comprised of the memories they assimilate from others the more memories fragments they assimilate the more complex an individual they become. However in order to progress they must delve into their mind and relive these memories before completely assimilating them and personalizing them in order to contribute to their personality.

Progression through Memory Incorporation (Gikon):

Progression through Memory Incorporation (Mod-Soul):

Progression through Memory Incorporation (Variant Mod-Soul):

Zanpakuto Spirits however are much different as a result of regaining their old memories and fusing that with the memories that they assimilated to further change their personality. The fusing of the two results in their new personality and the memories they assimilated become altered with the Zanpakuto Spirit instead considering those memories to be their own giving the impression that they have done multiple things while in actuality it is merely them having incorporated so many memories that those memories are now a part of them.

Progression through Confronting the Past:

Progression through Confronting the Past:

Training

Training on this site is intertwined with Progression however at the same time is separate from it, there are 5 types of training on the site each having their own time-period in which they may be trained as well as the various things associated with them. These are In-Battle, Daily, Group, Weekly and finally Progression Training, there respective time frames are listed below:

In-Battle = IC within a Characters current topic.
Daily = IC Liquid Time, Once Per Day
Group = IC Liquid Time, Once Per Day if topic extends past a day no additional ones may be made until it is complete.
Weekly = IC Liquid Time, Once Per Week
Progression = IC within a Characters current topic no other form of training can be done during this.

Daily Training

This is the solitary training of a character in order to improve their skills. Solo training is achieved by making a single post of a certain word count which gives an chronological account of the character attempting to learn and eventually gain use of whatever skill they are attempting to attain. Characters can solo train ONCE every day (OOC Time) and upon using up their training for the day they have to wait till the next day to train again.

There are Three Things which can be gained from using Daily Training. Each consumes the Daily Training per day, meaning a character can either train to Increase their Reiryoku OR Increase their Reiryoku Control OR Learn a new technique. In addition it is possible to "Bulk" Train. Which involves making a larger post and listing out what you are training before doing the Word Count for them all at once, to train multiple times all at once. Doing this however consumes a day for every thing training and you won't be able to Solo train until that time passes.
E.g Trained Reiryoku 3 times, Trained Reiryoku control 2 Times, Learnt 2 techniques. Unable to Solo Train for 7 Days.

Increasing Reiryoku
*Explained in Detail in the Above Post.

Learning Techniques
Simply refers to learning techniques every Progression has a limited amount of techniques they are able to learn. However training for these techniques follow the following word counts:

Spoiler:

Progressions & The Amount of Techniques they can learn Total:

Optional Reiryoku Control
How to initially train Reiryoku Control is explained in detail in the above post.

It is split into Advanced Reiryoku Control and Reiryoku Control Refinement.

Advanced Reiryoku Control

It is possible to further improve ones control for those who favor control over their Reiryoku rather than just raw amounts of it. Just like Reiryoku Control it is based on one's amount of Reiryoku the larger it is the harder it is to refine it. In this case when one gains more Reiryoku it causes all the Refined Control to either go down a level or in the case of extreme increases can actually cause one's refinement to completely RESET back down to the base.

Every time a character gains a certain rank amount of Reiryoku according to the current Progression one is in, that character's Advanced Reiryoku is lowered by 1-rank and must be retrained again to get the rank back. In addition if multiples are gained it is lowered multiple times. Their Reiryoku Control completely resets however if their max Reiryoku doubles or increases by at least a Primordial amount (1 Z-rank). (This excludes Releases but applies to Zero Division Training Regiments and Progressions)

Training Advanced Reiryoku Control

Spoiler:

Progression - Minimum Reiryoku gained in order to lower Advanced Reiryoku Control by 1 Rank

Spoiler:

Advanced Reiryoku Control is needed to fine tune one's Reishi Manipulation, for everyone else this merely results in one's speed type requiring 1-rank less Reiryoku to trigger it however for Quincy, and Erzengel it affects the speed at which they are able to draw in Reishi to utilize Heiling Pfeil. Kido users also may or may not use this due to it working to speed up the incantation time for Kido.

Rank of Control - Speed of Drawing in Reishi (Quincy/Erzengel) - Incantation Time Lowered by (Kido)

Spoiler:

Reiryoku Control Refinement

Reiryoku Control Refinement works based Progressions like everything else. A Character is able to Specialize in a particular style of technique, and that is what their Refinement will work on. This is called a Refinement Slot, as they progress further they gain more Refinement Slots however if they transcend they immediately get all the slots that would be available to them if they took the long route instead. Characters can only Specialize in techniques which are available to them.

The Styles of Techniques Available for Refinement are:

Spoiler:

Refinement Slots

Spoiler:

Reiryoku Control Refinement

Spoiler:

In-Battle Training

In Battle Training is essentially delayed Daily Training that is done within a topic. As a result it has all the requirements as Solo training but can either function as an extra training session if done immediately or can be used to learn things in the middle of a topic. Thanks to functioning like Daily Training it resets each Day (OOC) so topics which drag on result in a character able to In-Battle Train once again.

In the Dangai however time passes far quicker and thus In-Battle Training gets a boost. Instead of refreshing every day, it refreshes every Hour (OOC).
*Note: Do not worry about different timezone's since every post is time stamped a Mod will be able to tell if your hour is up by your next post. If you miss your window (1 Hour OOC to post) then you miss the refreshing for that specific post and won't get 2 upon your next hour and so on. (For example you train at 3 am, are really tired and fall asleep till 11am then you missed the 10 In-Battle Training you could of done.)

Group Training

Group Training is essentially training through rping with another character, this is required for combination techniques or if one simple wishes to get more out of their available training times. A Character is only able to be in 1 Group Training topic at 1 time, however the number of characters in a topic can vary but the more people involved the longer the training requirements are. Unlike Solo Training which require word count, Group Training requires Post Total, meaning the more posts in a topic the higher rank of technique can be trained.

Requirements for Group Training

Spoiler:

Requirements for Combination Techniques

Combination Techniques follow the Equivalence in order to determine their strength and rank and entail two or more individuals combining their techniques together to create a new one. The Reiryoku price is taken from all the parties involved based on what they are contributing to the combination. (For Example: 2 Novice level techniques make 1 Apprentice level combination technique, 4 Novice level techniques make 1 Adept level combination technique.)

Spoiler:

Weekly Training

Weekly Training is for the learning of a new Release and can be done once Per Week (OOC) resetting upon the passing of 7 days.
The techniques which fall under this Include:

Spoiler:

Progression Training

Progression Training is how one goes from one progression to another as well as Transcendence, these are all explained in detail above. Progression Training overrides all other training in that when it is being done nothing else can be trained. Likewise it occurs in a topic and doesn't have any time limit, if it is possible to Progress again or Transcend, then it can be done again & again as long as all the requirements are fulfilled before hand.