The Hierarchy of Being and Tier Jumping
The Hierarchy of Being is a categorization system to organize all living beings in the universe (or at least the universe that Pelepia exists in). The main categories of the Hierarchy of Being goes from beings that are most powerful/less common to least powerful/more common starting from Gods on top all the way down to plants and other organic materials. So in a way this would make a pyramid scheme if every being was categorized in a diagram. The categories are as listed from top to bottom, they are also known as "tiers":
Everything from the Spirit tier and above are also known as Celestial Beings.
- The Creator - the creator of the universe
- Gods - Beings that can control certain aspects or elements on a large scale
- Demigods (includes Archangels and Archdemons) - Beings that can control certain aspects or elements and create more spirits
- Spirits (includes Angels and Demons) - Beings that cannot die (by natural means) and have supernatural abilities. (some species of Demon are mortal however)
- Mortals - Beings that are capable to think abstractly and have a much higher level of thinking than animals.
- Animals - Beings that can move on its own and need to consume organic material to survive
- Plants and other organic materials - Pretty much everything else that exists and doesn't fit in the categories above
Everything from the Spirit tier and above are also known as Celestial Beings.
Tier Jumping is a special ability gifted to some individuals that allow them to "tier jump" on the Hierarchy of Being to higher states of being temporarily. This ability is granted from Celestial Beings, such as Spirits, Demigods and Gods that make contact with these special individuals. However this ability is very rare and only happens to a select few who deem themselves worthy. When they gain this power they are able to transform and evolve instantaneously, making them far more powerful than they once were. When an individual jumps from being Mortal to a Spirit, Angel or Demon, they are said to be going into Spirit Mode. In extremely rare cases, those who have jumped from Spirit Mode can jump further to Arch Mode, where they gain the power equivalent to Demigods/Archangels and Archdemons. Going from being a mortal to God Mode however, is only restricted to fallen deities. So basically an individual would have to be a God in their past life to unlock this ability. However, if a being goes into God Mode, they no longer can return to their previous form. The duration of how long a person can stay in this form depends on the experience and will of the person. Usually a person who tier jumps for the first time will not be able to stay in their form longer than 5 minutes, but after they change more frequently, they'll be able to stay in the form much longer. Characters affiliated with the Metal element have an alternate Spirit mode called a Berserk Mode, where a special property causes the metal material to overtake the person body and become a living entity itself. The person will still have control over the machinery however.
The appearance of a person's Spirit or Arch Mode depends on the personality, character and element that the person is affiliated with. Also, most of these modes have a drawback and counter effect on the persons body to prevent the person from using (or abusing) this power too frequently. The power level of these modes also depends on how powerful the Celestial Being was. Spirits tend to give smaller boosts of power while those lucky to have been gifted from Gods have much powerful Spirit or Arch Modes. Demigods and Gods will often erase the memory of the individual meeting them and how they obtained their powers to keep their existence a secret. So far no one has discovered why these higher powers do this and what the purpose of it all is, but some have speculated that the individual chosen must be very important to the Celestial Beings for some reason.
So far Tier Jumping has only been found in Mortals and Spirits. The only animal that has successfully tier jumped is Poi, who jumped from being an animal to an Archdemon after death. She was unable to turn back to her previous forms however.
The appearance of a person's Spirit or Arch Mode depends on the personality, character and element that the person is affiliated with. Also, most of these modes have a drawback and counter effect on the persons body to prevent the person from using (or abusing) this power too frequently. The power level of these modes also depends on how powerful the Celestial Being was. Spirits tend to give smaller boosts of power while those lucky to have been gifted from Gods have much powerful Spirit or Arch Modes. Demigods and Gods will often erase the memory of the individual meeting them and how they obtained their powers to keep their existence a secret. So far no one has discovered why these higher powers do this and what the purpose of it all is, but some have speculated that the individual chosen must be very important to the Celestial Beings for some reason.
So far Tier Jumping has only been found in Mortals and Spirits. The only animal that has successfully tier jumped is Poi, who jumped from being an animal to an Archdemon after death. She was unable to turn back to her previous forms however.