Each of the races inhabiting Sherash had their own unique type of Kalna technique, based on how they affected the Pillars, the metaphysical representations of a person's talent.
The Mind, the Body, and the Spirit, or Soul.
The Kalna techniques of the elves and the dwarves fused the Pillars into a single form, boosting their stats across the board.
The beastfolk, spiritfolk, and demonfolk each possessed great talent in one Pillar, while being far inferior in the others. They sacrificed these weaker ones, using their race's main Pillar as the foundation for all they were, and could become.
The humans had no specific talent in any Pillar, and were not as in tune with the world as the elves and dwarves were. What they did have was incredible adaptability. Each human could use multiple techniques at once, gaining the auxiliary benefits of each.
But there was a reason the dragons were considered the strongest.
Even if one discounted the natural advantages the dragons' possessed, the Manaheart, the Dragonheart, and the Mindfire's Eye, they would still be the strongest, based purely upon their Kalna techniques.
Despite all of the benefits the other races gained from their unique methods, when compared with the dragons', they all had one common weakness.
They could complete each circle only once.
The dragons, however, were not so limited.
Their techniques could allow one to fill each Circle two to four times.
The first time would give the standard 100% boost. The second would give a 50% boost. The third and the fourth would each give 25%.
A dragon using the highest quality technique would receive a 200% boost per Circle, completely dwarfing the other races over time.
This wasn't all, though.
If it was, then at the very least, the top geniuses of the other races would still be able to compete.
But the dragons were able to fill a Circle multiple times. How could you fill something already full?
Simple. By emptying it.
Each time a dragon fully filled a Circle, they would engrave it upon one of their Pillars. This would increase their baseline abilities, a completely separate enhancement from the boost granted by filling a Circle.
A dragon practicing a quadruple-Circle technique would be able to engrave each Pillar once, using the last fully filled Circle to trigger their Trial of the Gate.
Which brings us, now, to the Silver family. A family of unique dragons.
[Voracious Vessel] had one last gift to give.
The Kalna technique passed down through the Silver family allowed for not just four completions of each Circle, but six.
Though the fifth and sixth did not improve their percentage enhancement, it provided two additional engravings.
Which brought Nickel to his greatest problem when it came to advancing on the path of ascension.
Not only would he need double the amount someone with incredible potential would need.
He'd then need six times that increased amount.
To not just fill, but to complete his First Circle, Nickel would need 18,000 Kalna. Enough for a non-dragon to nearly complete their Third Circle.
It was a good thing he had [Gluttony].
Moving on to his third Attribute… he couldn't find anything about it. Not even its name.
Despite finding records of some of his ancestors possessing Tier five Aspects, there was no trace of what this Attribute was, or what it did. Which was greatly concerning.
The Aspects of the Destroyer were based on the seven vices. And Nickel was incredibly lucky to be born to the only family whose Aspect didn't have a negative effect on the people around him.
But what if this [???] Attribute was that negative effect.
[Devour] already felt like a disaster waiting to happen, if he ever lost control of it.
He wasn't thrilled about having another unknown and potentially dangerous ability.
And that wasn't even mentioning his second Aspect. At least it was an Aspect of the Saint. Unless the Saint families' holier-than-thou attitude was caused by their Aspect, that is.
He'd probably be fine.
It'd be nice to know more about it though.
He could make a few inferences, at least. [Loyalty of the Sword] seemed straight forward, on the surface. Use the elements to form a weapon. Easy enough.
But no matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to do so.
Nickel had so much mana now, but no matter how he willed it, it never formed a sword.
Which led him to his second theory.
He probably needed to use the mana gathered in his [Elemental Wells] to create the sword. He made a note to check his Internal World later.
[World's Beloved] was also quite easy to understand. He awakened the Aspect, and his affinities increased. Simple.
The last Attribute was another [???].
It stood to reason that all Tier five Saint and Destroyer Aspects would have one. That made Nickel feel better about the unknown Aspect from the Blood of Gula, but he'd still need to keep an eye on it.
And that was everything he could learn or guess at without practical experimentation.
Leaving the manor's private library, Nickel called Kalvin over his Guild Card.
Kalvin answered the call. "Master Nicholas. Finished with your reading?"
Nickel nodded. "Yep. I need you to meet me in front of the vault."
"Certainly, Sir."
—
A few minutes later, Nickel stood beside Kalvin before the large door that led into the family vault.
"May I ask what you need from the vault, Sir?" Kalvin said, a curious look on his face. His young master had avoided this place like the plague. He was certainly curious why he'd come here now.
"I need an armor artifact. Nothing fancy," Nickel responded as he opened the door. "I'd rather avoid revealing I'm a dragon once I start dungeon diving."
"Do you plan to begin soon, Sir?" Kalvin asked as he followed him into the vault.
"I want to practice with my Aspect first, but, yes." Nickel's brows furrowed. "I'm on a deadline. I want to grow as strong as I can before the semester at Alyn starts."