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Chapter 3: Basic properties and harmonization, an introduction
Flames have three properties: Amount, Strength (the average of these two is called Purity) and Accuracy (the precision at using the flames).
Amount and Strength are fixed for a user's entire life and are usually counted. As every individual has different quantity, they are counted in numbers rather than in percentages. The agreed average (in the Sicilian mafia) of one flame, not Sky, of a person’s Amount and Strength is 70. Parting from this number, other’s flames are calculated. Skies have a usually higher amount of flames due to unknown circumstances, easily three to nine times more than the average. In addition, they are the rarer flame users, amounting to less than ten individuals in all of Sicily. This last fact is coherent with their flame amount when thinking about harmonization:
The Amount of someone’s flames play an important role in harmonization; If a Sky has 100 of Amount, they can harmonize with six guardians with 100 Amount each.
If a, let’s say, a Lighting guardian, has 50 of Amount, the Sky can harmonize completely with them and partially with another Lighting with more than 50 of Amount or completely with another of 50 or less. The second harmonization of a type of flame, no matter the Amount, is always secondary to the first one and less potent.
The Amount of flames depends on someone’s innate will, that’s why a Sky cannot hold (at least completely) a larger amount of another element’s flames than their own.
Harmonization has other factors added to the amount of flame, some of them is if the ‘will’ (the flames) of prospective guardian and Sky is ‘awake’, the minimum amount of flames that the Sky requires from an individual to harmonize with them (some trusted guardians can harmonize with more than one type of flame once they have the ‘required’ amount with another), the personality compatibility…
When a Sky cannot hold completely an element, ‘Guardian sharing’ can happen between two harmonized Skies. This guardian can get strained if the two Skies are not physically close one to another due to the stress of not being able to be in more than a place at once (Mists can subvert this thanks to being able to reach distant places with their flames and Clouds are usually not affected due to their temperaments).
Sky harmonization is different than harmonization between a Sky and another element. A Sky can harmonize with any other Sky that has an affinity (emotional or of another kind) with them. The amount of flames doesn’t limit how many Skies they can harmonize with either.
Another matter entirely, that will be addressed in chapter 16 (page 183), is Resonance between two elements, neither being a sky. For this, none of the flames’ principal properties are involved.
The strength of somebody’s flames limits how heavy are these individual ‘hits’, the amount of flames they can use at once. Someone with 100 Amount and 100 Strength can use all their flames at once. While someone with 300 Amount and 100 Strength can only make bursts of 100 Amount, 1/3 of their flames.
The amount of flames usually replenishes at a steady rate of 300 per hour, 5 per minute, (though it is a bit faster for Suns and Skies and more slowly for Rains), that means that someone with 300 of Strength will be able to use a 300 burst every hour.
Mists usually need a 10 burst to create a middle-grade illusion and 1 flame per minute to maintain it.
Storms can disintegrate a newspaper with a 2 burst and a tank with a 100 burst.
Suns can activate their body muscles with a 4 burst and maintain them activated with 5 flames per minute if they are going at sprint velocity (for them it is equivalent to a quick walk). Their brain, instead, needs a 20 burst and a 1 flame per minute to maintain. The last being more fine work, it’s not usually something more physical-oriented Suns use. With a 150 burst, they can punch through a tank.
The lower purity (average between Amount and Strength) ever registered is 2 and the higher 637.
Accuracy is different in that you can train it. It’s with how much delicacy you can use your flames, and how much of your flames you have to expend at a time for a given task. It’s calculated in percentage.
Mists are usually the ones with more accuracy, as illusions need it to be credible and, as a result, they train them. A half-decent Mist doesn’t have an Accuracy lower than 50%.
Other flame users have been known to have high accuracies, even with flame types that are considered more heavy-hitting, like Storm (usually around 23%) or Lighting (11%).
Some of them are the Arcobaleno Reborn, with 99% of accuracy over his Sun flames, only surpassed by the Mist Viper (100%), also of the Arcobaleno; and Fon, with an impressive 85% way over the average for Storm flame users, but not surpassing (nor needing too) some world-renowned, but less strong, assassins. Another individual known unusually accurate flame user is Lancha of Northern Italy, who has a 93% of accuracy, surpassing any other Lighting alive.
All these numbers are averages and particular, the effectiveness of someone’s flames are not confined to their accuracy, as the purpose they are used too can need a surgeon’s precision or a breaking ball can be all the needed carefulness.