Weapons

Students are trained in various weapons until they find their niche or their preference and are then trained in just those one or two. Academies keep many types of swords, knives, staffs, etc. available to better cater to the students’ strengths.

Unless a student chooses to become a ghost hunter or a spirit-smith, weapons training will cease when they reach the secondary level of training. Hunters become highly specialized with one or two (occasionally three, but this is normally too much of a hassle) weapons and have a general knowledge of how to use most others. Spirit-smiths need to have a general knowledge of how to use all weapons in order to form them in a manner that they may be used effectively. Smiths will usually find that they prefer to make a certain type of weapon and that will become their specialty for which they are known, but there are times where they may be asked to repair any type of weapon and so need to be vaguely familiar with it. Students of the other three career paths may continue in weapons training only if they make time for it outside their current schedule; it will not be taught to them formally.

The weapons that ghost hunters use have ambient energy imbedded in them by spirit-smiths that make it possible to use the weapon to battle with spirits (so the weapon can actually make contact rather than passing through the spirit like a normal weaopn).

Weapon training is more than just learning how to use the weapon. A student must also steadily gain the ability to deal with the energy. During training, the teachers will use nulls to seal off the weapon’s energy, gradually taking off the seal(s) as the student’s personal energy matures and he or she is able to handle it. If the weapon is too powerful for them, it will simply be too heavy and they will have difficulty lifting or wielding it, or not be able to lift it at all. The more ambient energy that is contained within the weapon, the more potential damage can be done to ghosts. The longer a Hunter trains and uses their weapon, the more of their personal energy will unconsiously be imbedded into it as well. This causes the weapon to become gradually stronger over time, but lessens its ability to be used by other Hunters.

There are legends of five weapons that were crafted when ghost hunting was first developed. These weapons are said to be the most powerful weapons ever created, but no one knows what became of them. Some spend their life searching for these weapons, but no one has ever found one.

Pre-crafted spells are also used during battle (though they are used by all career paths for their own specific purposes). Hunters use these spells in a number of offensive and defensive tactics. These strips of paper are usually kept in pouches on the hunter's belt, allowing for easy access and swift execution of the technique.