Ki — The Breath of the Body
The most common and disciplined form of energy.
Ki flows through the body's inner channels, sharpening the flesh and hardening the will.
Those who cultivate it forge their strength through discipline, endurance, and pain.
It enhances speed, power, and senses.
It cannot create — only strengthen what already exists.
It demands a body honed through relentless training.
The warriors of the Central Dominion have built entire sects upon its mastery, shaping Shinmur's martial foundation for centuries.
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II. Mana — The Breath of the World
Where Ki belongs to the body, Mana belongs to nature and spirit.
It flows through the rivers, the storms, and the stars — the invisible current that weaves the world together.
Only those born with strong minds and pure focus can channel it.
It allows the shaping of elements, illusions, and spiritual forces.
It is drawn from the outside world and guided by thought.
It demands inner harmony; a mind clouded by emotion can collapse under its pressure.
The Eastern Reaches revere Mana as divine, believing it to be Heaven's true language.
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III. The Lost Breath — The Whisper Between Heartbeats
Long ago, before the division of Ki and Mana, there existed a third power — one that neither strengthened the body nor controlled the world.
It resonated with the soul itself.
Those who awakened it could sense the rhythm of mountains, the pulse of rivers, even the stillness between heartbeats.
But such beings were hunted, their existence erased, their knowledge forbidden.
What remains are only fragments: stories of a power that could make Heaven tremble.
Some call it myth. Others, blasphemy.
Yet, every few generations, a faint echo returns — a trembling in the air when a warrior breaks his mortal limit.
As if the world remembers something it was told to forget.
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Two breaths known. One forgotten.
The balance of Shinmur rests upon this silence.
But when body, mind, and soul move as one…
even Heaven itself may learn to fear the sound that follows.
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