Is it bad to pick up girls in a dungeon: What is Falna?

Key things

• Falna is the foundation of power in DanMachi, granting adventurers the supernatural abilities and growth necessary to face the threats in the dungeon.
• Powered by the gods through Falna, Excelia determines the adventurers' upgrades in levels and stats gained through effort or monster energy.
• Falna's limitations include god dependency for upgrades, personal motivation to grow, and vulnerability to ability overuse.

IN DanMachiFalna is a divine blessing bestowed by gods and goddesses who have descended into the mortal world upon adventurers who choose to become their followers. This divine blessing allows adventurers to gain supernatural abilities and grow exponentially, transforming them from mere humans into powerful adventurers capable of facing the threats in the dungeon.

Falna is essentially the foundation of the energy system and development in Orarium, allowing adventurers to gain power, magic, and skills that become more refined as they face trials. Without Falna, adventurers are mere mortals, unable to gain and use the special abilities needed to face the horrors of the underworld. Falna also affects Orario and the world DanMachi as a whole significantly influencing the growth and stability of the city and beyond.

The origin of Falna

Life like mortals

Before the descent of the gods, humans were already fighting monsters in the dungeon. However, they had trouble dealing with them due to their limited ability to fight monsters. The gods with their immense powers could only watch the humans in the mortal world. Out of boredom, the gods decided to come down from the heavens to live among humans, connect with them and experience life more intimately. To achieve this, the gods had to seal away most of their divine abilities. However, they retained the ability to bestow blessings upon mortals who chose to follow them. This divine blessing is called Falna.

The gods decided to descend into the mortal world and understand humans, but not as mere mortals. They still wanted to be recognized as gods and influence the evolution of the mortal world, and Falna was the perfect way to do that. With Falna, gods can significantly influence the mortal world while still being worshiped as gods. Falna can also be granted on items. An example is the Hestia Knife, forged by Hephaestus with Hestia's blessing. The knife currently wielded by Bell is believed to be an extension of the Hestia Familia, reflecting the bond between her god and the adventurer.

The Falna system

How the gods empower adventurers through Falna

Although Falna is often referred to as a blessing from the gods, it is much more than that. It acts as a stimulant used to awaken an adventurer's innate power. The gods pour some of their divine power, also known as Arcanum, into the adventurers they have chosen, and the adventurers gain power. However, the power boost they get varies for each adventurer based on their type and level, which Excelia plays a big part in.

Excellia

Excelia is essentially an advanced experience that helps build on your physical abilities. Falna's blessing opens up a kind of vessel of hidden potential, and Excelia is what fills that vessel and allows adventurers to level up. Excelia can be obtained in two ways: effort and monster energy, with monsters being the richest source of Excelia. In places like the Amazon homeland, they prioritize effort and kill other Amazons to increase their level.

However, getting Excelia does not immediately lead to leveling up, as they are not immediately converted to stats. This requires a god granted Falna so they can properly direct the stats to where they need to be. Excelia is also a conduit through which the gods can relive the experiences the adventurers underwent to obtain it. This strengthens the bond between the gods and their followers and allows the gods to know exactly where to allocate those Excelia points in their stats.

5 parameters

Falna tracks five key parameters: basic abilities, development abilities, level, magic and skill, but the area where its effects are most felt are basic abilities. Consisting of Strength, Defense, Dexterity, Agility, and Magic, the basic abilities are ranked from I to A, then S, with S being the top. These letter rankings are also numbered, each with a 100-point difference, i.e. I (0–99) to S (900–999). However, there are adventurers like Bell Cranel who defy this ranking, able to break the limit and achieve ranks in SS and even SSS. In the case of development abilities, these are obtained after leveling up and unlock the adventurer's potential and improve his abilities. It's more like excess Excelia put into a fighting technique or way of life. However, it is not guaranteed.

Additionally, skills and magic evolve independently of the leveling system. They evolve with use, and the more they are used, the faster they increase. Skills are born from the soul and stem from the character's personality and desires. For example, due to Bell Cranel's intense admiration for Ais, he was able to gain the Liaris Freese skill, which allows him to grow rapidly while in love. Magic can also be acquired, but one adventurer is limited to three categories of natural magic. However, there are exceptions, such as Lefiya, who can use any elven magic she witnesses, and Riveria, who can change the effects of her three natural magic categories at three different levels. This shows that the progress of each individual is determined by his personal experience, which ultimately leads to him reaching a higher level.

Leveling

Although getting Excelia leads to a level upgrade, there are​​​​​​other criteria that you must meet before you can level up. While most of these criteria were not clearly stated, one requirement is that the adventurer must have at least a D rank in any basic ability and use that ability to achieve a great feat. Once Falna is granted, the adventurer starts at level 10 and then builds an Excelia to increase his level. Upon reaching enough Excelia, their god assists in upgrading their level and their stats are reset back to I0, although the previous level's stats remain as a base for the next level.

Additionally, the higher one levels up, the more difficult it is to level up. The quality of Excel is measured by how difficult the activity was in relation to the character's level. For example, if a level 1 character were to fight a high-danger monster, they would gain higher quality Excelia than a level 3 character fighting the same monster. As seen with Bell Cranel, who often faces a lot of monsters and characters much stronger than him, he gets a lot of high quality Excelias that allow him to level up quickly and increase his stats exponentially. This drastic growth also extends to his weapon, the Hestia Knife, as it also has a Falna granted by Hestia and is directly linked to Bell's status.

Limitations of Falna

Dependence on God

Falna, for all their amazing perks and effects on adventurers, have their downsides, the most difficult being that they rely heavily on their god to level up. When adventurers acquire Excelia, they need their god or goddess to use it to enhance their basic abilities according to their strengths. Without their gods present, the Excelia the adventurers acquire cannot be used to boost their stats or even level up, and the gods may be absent, sometimes even permanently. Although gods cannot be killed, they can be banished back to the heavens if they violate any divine rules, resulting in the loss of their ability to meddle in the affairs of humans. An adventurer in the family of such a god will undoubtedly lose the ability to advance.

The growth of one's Falna is also heavily dependent on the adventurer's desires and personality. While this can be a plus for some adventurers like Bell, it can be a severe limitation for others. Adventurers with no personal desires or motivations may never reach their full potential, even with Falna. In addition, Falna does not spare adventurers the disadvantages of extreme use of their abilities. While this can increase their pain tolerance, these adventurers are still vulnerable to injury, exhaustion, and even death if they are not careful.

Meaning of Falna

Orario stability

Falna remains a fundamental concept in the world DanMachi. This is what the adventurers need to survive the dangerous Dungeon full of monsters and grow strong enough to make a name for themselves. Adventurers depend on their Falna to improve and survive, giving them a fighting chance. This is one of the main reasons why many people want to join the Family. Falna also greatly extends the lifespan of adventurers.

The arcana that the gods pour into the adventurers contains some of the essence of their being, causing them to age slowly. The higher the level, the stronger they are and the slower they age. Hestia mentioned that leveling up shortens the distance to divinity and each step closer causes them to age more slowly, greatly extending their lifespan but not guaranteeing immortality. As a pillar of stability and development, Falna not only empowers the individual, but also enriches the world DanMachi as a whole blending divine influence with mortal ambition.

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