A- Soul Projection

Name: Soul Projection

Technique Power Ranking: A

Description: The Soul Projection Technique is a heretical Ki path that revolves around training, refining, and externalizing one's soul—something considered sacred and untouchable in most doctrines. To tamper with the soul is to defy the natural design of existence, making this technique forbidden in places like Kanti, where the soul is seen as Kami’s sacred creation. Few who walk this path survive intact, and even fewer reach its end. But those who do wield power few can comprehend: a hardened, manifest soul that bridges the boundary between life and death.

Pathways:

Stage One: To master the first stage, the user must develop a deep understanding of their soul, its nature, structure, and essence. This is achieved through personal rituals, introspective training, or spiritual communion. Every soul is different, and so the path to recognition is entirely individual.

• Bonus: The user gains direct awareness of their soul, able to sense its state, perceive other souls, and recognize any influence or damage affecting it.

• Backlash: The mind becomes increasingly sensitive to harm affecting the soul—even minor spiritual wounds feel catastrophic mentally.

Stage Two: With awareness established, the user must now refine their soul by confronting their own inner chains: attachments, trauma, regrets, or emotional bindings. Only by embodying and conquering these aspects can the soul be tempered.

• Bonus:

  • The soul becomes resilient to magic, making it difficult to manipulate or corrupt.

  • The user gains resistance to death, able to resist fading even with grave physical wounds.

  • Minor soul injuries now recover naturally over time.

• Backlash: The soul’s refinement process conflicts with Ki techniques involving outside embodiment, making it much harder to learn other paths that involve taking on additional forms or spirits.

Stage Three: The user must now externalize their soul, projecting it outward as a defensive, semi-autonomous layer. This requires incredible discipline and varies by individual; some may do it through rage, others through serenity, others through sheer willpower.

• Bonus:

  • Allows the user to project their soul over their body, forming a spiritual armor that reduces damage by 65%.

  • The soul projection enhances their presence and passively regenerates soul wounds over time.

  • They can use their soul to interact with things within 25 meters of them.

• Backlash:

  • The user becomes highly visible and attractive to soul-hungry entities, drawing attention even across realms.

  • While active, the soul cannot be fully hidden, making stealth and concealment nearly impossible.

Stage Four: To advance, the user must maintain their projection for 75 continuous days, including during sleep, training, and combat. This forces their soul to remain externalized and in harmony with their body at all times, elevating it to near-mythical strength.

• Bonus:

  • The soul becomes a magnet for ambient mana, allowing the user to passively absorb raw mana in a 40-meter radius.

  • Soul-based magic against the user is reduced by 50% in effectiveness.

  • The soul’s anchor is so strong that it can delay death temporarily, allowing the body to move even while mortally wounded for short periods.

  • The user retains memories after entering the wheel.

• Backlash:

  • The process permanently shortens the user’s lifespan, capping it at 10 years, regardless of race or regeneration.

  • The soul becomes so bound to the body that true rest becomes nearly impossible; dreams and unconsciousness are flooded with phantom echoes.

Final Stage: A legendary and almost mythic level of mastery. This stage allows the user to reshape, weaponize, or even fragment their soul, making them capable of feats such as soul cloning, soul anchoring, or manifesting their essence into the world. Only two people in recorded history are rumored to have reached this level.

• Bonus: Unknown.

• Backlash: If the user fails or loses control, their entire being is instantly annihilated, body, mind, and soul. No resurrection is possible. The user suffers true erasure from all existence.