Sparring and lineage
What it is
Two ways to grow with other players. A spar is a safe practice fight. A master and disciple bond lets a strong swordsman teach a newer one over time. Both start with a deliberate gesture, and either player can leave.
Sparring
How to start
Hold a blade, sneak and use it on the other player to salute them. They accept by saluting back within 20 seconds. A normal attack never accepts.
Both players need a breathing method, a blade, at least half their health, and a short break from combat: ten seconds after taking damage, thirty seconds after fighting a player or finishing a bout. Creative and spectator players can’t spar. End any awakening first.
How it works
Four cloth standards mark the ring. After a three-second count-in, fight with blades and Aura. Spells, projectiles and pets can’t hurt your partner.
| How it ends | Result |
|---|---|
| Bring your partner to one heart | A safe knockout; nobody dies |
| Walk out of the ring | You concede |
| Two minutes pass | A draw |
| Someone else hurts you | The spar is called off |
Afterwards, damage and harmful effects from your partner are undone and spent aura is refunded. Momentum resets, and an awakening ends.
A spar gives experience only after ten seconds of fighting in which both players landed a hit. Up to three spars per partner per Minecraft day give experience. Spars don’t grow bonded blades, technique ranks or mastery.
Clashes
When two Aura Slashes meet, or certain opposing arts collide, they can lock. A small rhythm panel above the hotbar shows three beats.
Press Attack once on each beat. A perfect press scores 2, a good press 1, a miss 0. Extra presses lose a point, so don’t spam. The higher score wins and its strike carries on at 80% damage. A tie breaks both.
The Way of the Blade gets slightly wider timing windows and wins ties against fighters without that edge.
Masters and disciples
How to get it
- A master must have reached Form.
- A disciple must be at least two stages below the master, or not have started Aura yet.
- A master can have three disciples at once. A disciple has one master.
The master holds a blade, sneaks and stands still until the breathing stance settles. The disciple kneels (sneaks) close in front, facing the master. Both hold still through the eight-second ceremony. Standing up, turning away or breaking the stance cancels it.
A disciple with no breathing method learns the master’s. A disciple with a different method gets its manual and can choose.
How to use it
- Stay close: within 24 blocks, the disciple gains normal Aura experience 25% faster.
- Take a lesson: kneel before your master again. A five-second lesson teaches one technique part they know and you don’t, helps you find your crossroads, or counts as practice. One lesson per Minecraft day.
- Beat your master: a knockout in a spar can count as a waiting breakthrough trial for a stage below your master’s.
- Give back: each of your breakthroughs gives your master 25% of the experience, saved for them if they’re offline.
- Receive their blade: a master can pass their bonded blade to you.
- Graduate: when you reach your master’s stage, the bond ends with honour and their record remembers you.
The Lineage tab
On the Aura page, the Lineage tab shows your master, your next lesson, your disciples, graduates, and your spar wins, losses and draws. Gold marks people nearby, green marks people online.
To end a bond, press Release and then Confirm within five seconds. Either player can do it, even if the other is offline.
Server settings
aura section: sparring, spar_ring_radius, spars_per_day, spar_xp, mentorship, max_disciples, disciple_gain,
master_share, clashes, clash_carry. Turning a feature off keeps saved records.
See also: Aura · Ways · Techniques
Mages have their own version: see Mentoring.