Dragon Hourglass

The Dragon Hourglass is a large structure which indicates the time until the next Wave of Calamity. It is also used for various rituals and ceremonies.

Description
The Dragon Hourglass in Melromarc is a massive hourglass about 7 meters tall. It is covered in detailed decorations and has red sand within that counts towards the next wave.

Waves of Calamity
The sand within the dragon hourglass indicates how much time until the next wave. When a wielder of a Legendary Weapon or Vassal Weapon (also known as a Hero) encounter a dragon hourglass, it will be registered to their weapon. Upon registration, they will receive a countdown to the next wave within this hourglass' territory and will be teleported, along with their party, to the wave once it begins. A world may have multiple dragon hourglasses. If a hero is not registered to them, they will not be made aware or be teleported to waves within its respective area.

Levelling-Up
As non-heroes level-up, they will eventually reach a point where they can no longer proceed. For example, in Raphtalia's World, there is a level ceiling at level 40 and 100. In order to break through this limit, they must participate in a class-up ceremony at the dragon hourglass. This is also called a limit-break or job-change ceremony.

A person may know when they are eligible to receive a class-up ceremony when they have levelled-up enough to have a star beside their level. Since this allows a person to get more powerful than the common population, this ceremony is often restricted by nations to a hero's party or individuals they trust such as knights or special adventurers. Heroes do not need a class-up ceremony since their level and potential are not limited. Special creatures can have different level limits. For example, the Hakuko Demi-Human race have a limit at level 120 instead of level 100 while wild monsters do not have a limit.

During the class-up ceremony, the recipient touches the hourglass and are presented several options which will decide how they will grow in the future. Options include which stats or combat style they want to focus on, or special abilities (like spitting poison or gaining traits of the Raph species). Upon completion, they will also see an instant increase in stats and unlock abilities related to the chose class-up path. By using special items, one can modify the class advancement procedure. For example, the cowlick which Fitoria gave Filo forced a hidden, but powerful path which doubled all the statuses of Naofumi's party. Special tools which modify a class-up ceremony usually only increase stats by 50%. The dragon hourglass can also reset the levels of an individual back to Level 1. It is mostly used on criminals but also allows an individual to redo the class-up ceremony.

Heroes
While the wielders of the Legendary and Vassal Weapons do not need the dragon hourglasses for a class-up, they can use them for other purposes. However, the abilities change depending on the world the hero is from. In Raphtalia's World, sand from the dragon hourglasses unlock the Portal Series of weapons. This allows the hero to save and then to return to a set amount of locations. In Glass' World, the dragon hourglasses can be used for Return Dragon Vein which allows teleportation from one dragon hourglass to another, previously visited, hourglass.

Pacifier
A pacifier serves to make sure the Heroes are not using the weapons for their own selfish gain. To this end, they use the dragon hourglass heavily for their rituals. In Q'ten Lo, it was used to anoint the new Heavenly Emperor (or pacifier). Upon receiving this blessing, the new Heavenly Emperor is given authority and it able to use Heavenly Emperor abilities. The dragon hourglass could also be used to listen to Weapon Spirits across the world to hear if any of them are being misused.

Army of the Waves
Through experimenting with the dragon hourglasses, the enemy has gained incredible understanding of the dragon hourglasses and are able to use it for purposes that the heroes are unable to replicate.

The first example of the enemy manipulating the dragon hourglass is Kyo Ethnina. He was able to use the dragon hourglass for several functions including teleportation, long-distance scrying, and recreating an artificial wave.

In the second case, enemy weapon wielder Miyaji was able to experiment on the dragon hourglass with guidance from S'yne's Sister. Together, they were able to use the authority from three of the four Legendary Weapons to suppress outsider weapons. This prevents the use of Legendary weapons as well as magic and techniques from other worlds.

Technology
Through research into the Legendary and Vassal Weapons, the people of Glass' World are able to replicate some of the abilities of these weapons.


 * Drop Item Replicator

Through a special pendant, the common people of Glass' World are able to collect "drop items" from monsters like the Heroes. However they can only access the acquired drops at a specialized machine or dragon hourglass. The dragon hourglass almost always provides more drops.


 * Hourglass Teleportation

The Return Transcript (or Scroll of Return) skill allows a person to return to a specific hourglass from anywhere (after using some specific tools). The Return Dragon Vein skill allows a Hero to teleport from one dragon hourglass to another which they have previously been to. While the Return Transcript ability has been replicated for a while, the technology to replicate Return Dragon Vein was first successfully tested by Trash #2. The Jewel people have also developed a way to prevent unwanted people from teleporting to a certain hourglass. Teleportation can also be blocked by the magic Sanctuary.

Regions
The dragon hourglasses exist on several worlds (such as Raphtalia's World or Glass' World). Within these worlds there are often several dragon hourglasses scattered across the land which have their own "territory". The location of these hourglasses may change over time and they are often seen in major population centres (such as the Melromarc and Siltvelt capitals). While there may be several dragon hourglasses spread across the world, all can provide the same function. The location of known Dragon Hourglasses are shown below:

Status Magic System
The Status Magic System is the fundamental concept responsible for the levelling-up and stat system available on certain worlds. The dragon hourglasses are currently responsible for breaking through level limits. It is unknown how the levelling system was used before the dragon hourglasses were created.

Guardian Beasts
If a guardian beast is about to be unsealed, the red timer on the dragon hourglasses stop. It is then replaced with a blue timer which counts down until the guardian beast is fully awakened. Depending on how much life the guardian beast consumes, the time until the next guardian beast is extended. The more life is consumed, the longer it is extended.

Within each guardian beast is an hourglass with blue sand. This hourglass represents how much soul energy the guardian beast has collected through its destruction.

Trivia

 * Their origin was a mystery as all the records of it were destroyed or forgotten in the course of time.
 * It seems like the dragon hourglasses are not innate to each world. There was a time in Raphtalia's World where Legendary and Vassal Weapon wielders existed but no hourglasses.