Isekaied into the Naruto world, a classic power fantasy where the unsuspected author steps on the stage and takes it upon himself to write the script in a literal and metaphorical way. A tale of indulgence we take on good taste, for the chance the relive the closed-off cherished dream and their characters… yet the main actor, gifted in this world with the scriptures of fate remains the biggest sore spot in the tale, less a real person than a vehicle for the audience's fantasies the person that experienced transmigration insist on being ordinary despite the transformative implications of such experience should carry so to not overshadow the main actors, because he knows he lives in a dream. This is a story about living in Naruto world about actually living and walking alongside its people, Destiny is neither as kind of cruel as it seems, for life simple is life.
-//-
Magic, the power to materialize one's imagination and breathe life into its dreams. Something every human dream of in some way shape or form, from soft magic systems like Harry Potter to hardcore Nasuverse; a panacea to ordinary and safe lives that seem more and more sterile in our scientifically oriented society comprised of 0s and 1s.
I am trapped in my own body, likely the result of an atrocious accident. Possible in a vegetative state, completely cut off from the outside world. My limbs barely respond and my mind is fussy unfocused and light, typical of heavy medication. In this limbo, the only thing I can sense is this light.
The first thing a gained awareness of was magic, a circuit starting from my heart, going down to the base of my spine, and shooting upward toward the brain. This silver ladder between heaven and earth is like a brand in the mind's eye – these vaporous principles, these Essences meet like a mountain river meet the endless sea and where they converge the mélange gives rise to an altogether new mystic force coursing as if it was meant to be. If I were to describe this unexplainable force coursing through my body, I would call it a Mange biome.
More interestingly, as I familiarize myself with this magical essence by riding the currency it, a picture starts to take shape. A human picture. A baby's picture. I guess this explain my debilitated state then, newborn humans really are fragile. Born prematurely at nine months instead of two years old, an evolutionary concession for our oversized brains.
Things are starting to make sense now, I suffered some gruesome accident beyond my current scientific capacity to heal me, forcing people to preserve my brain with cryogenics and now people from a distant future are reconstructing my body with nanomachines… or I died and have been reborn.
Unnecessary to say, skepticism was literally thrown out of the window. Magic is real and reincarnation is real, meaning there actually is a right religion after all! That is so unfair! Here I am, having the most earth-shattering religious experience of my life inside the body of a baby! I need a priest!
I have so many questions yet the world outside is a razed mess only punctuated by familiar pangs of needs and their reliefs. It's like I am going mad in solitary confinement and tortured by sensorial deprivation. I have so many questions yet it feels like my mind is going to give out to this raze, so as to center myself I swallow my reservations and dive into this Magic like an anchor to my sanity. In an uncertain and obscure world, this light is the only thing I know to be true.
This vaporous energy and its vessel that a now can presume to be my subtle-body are not composed of a simple circuit but a veritable network. If the brain-to-heart circuit is likened to a combustion engine then their resulting bleed-off goes to a network comprised of nodes that are like components to an electric battery that subsist from the combustion aligned to the broad nervous system. This essence then stabilizes and settles in the core of the stomach which proceeds to direct it back toward the body, bleeding off to the ambient as if sweat.
These small insights are the only marker of time for me in the opaque mist that is the outside world. Not really that much but at least I am a bit surer of myself now. While some fantasy settings make a distinction between life force and magic energy, others state they are the same. If this Essence is my life itself, then is best to not let it go. Even if this vapor is just my MP (Magic Points) it should be better to not part with it.
Using the power of imagination I exert my will over this vaporous essence, making an image of it wrapping around my body like a burrito, kind of like basic Nen training of one's aura. It kind of works, the essence collapse from vaporous to almost liquid into a blanket that shrouds my body, and suddenly I am a bit more comfortable and warm; almost like being hugged. This small act gives me back the ability to assert myself, even in the smallest of ways. The collapsing damn holding back my despair at losing everything gets patched for the time being.
-//-
I feel myself becoming more as this poll is forced to grow now that the leakage is closed. It is a novel experience I never had before. I don't think this is as simple as an increase in power level. It is more like the lines that contour my existence have thickened, granting me greater definition.
This leads to a rectification; it seems that even if some religions are more right than others it is still worth checking out every single one before I forget everything about them. See what is useful and what is not. The reason? Whatever I did put enough pressure on my magic engine to foster it to grow, and the more MP I have the more distinct its impression became. This is especially true at its highest concentration point, the belly. From my tummy a multitude of "streams" make themselves known to my awareness, there is an elemental system of some sort!
Time like this you go back to the basics.
And from the four concerns of the world God himself took dust from and with each color he made Adam.
The world of humans is ruled by sensibility and at the moment these impressions are the more novel discovery of my world. The ridiculousness of something as childish as "elemental power" gives way to the door of new possibilities. The ancients believed that four primary elements constituted the world (earth, fire, air, and water) and they consisted of a subtle, vaporous principle and a gross corporeal substance. These powers were detected by the combination of dry to wet and hot to cold.
While ridiculous to the skeptical modern man the reality of the situation is that the very fact I can even remember this while separated from my old meatware proves that there is irrefutable validity of souls despite all scientific bowmanship. As they never proved it did not exist in the first place I will go with my new magic senses.
In the legend, Elementals are beings comprised exclusively of one such element while humans possess both a Soul and a Body comprised of all four elements. While they could live longer than humans since their body composition is simpler, making them less prone to wear and tear, they don't possess an afterlife.
The soul of Adam is the image of God, and as God fills the world, so the soul fills the human body: as God sees all things, and is seen by none, so the soul sees, but cannot be seen; as God guides the world, so the soul guides the body; as God in His holiness is pure, so is the soul; and as God dwells in secret, so doth the soul.
Who knows, maybe God has a plan for me. Isn't this a miracle? I do not remember dying yet I remain here, there must be something worth in me and in this tribulation… or maybe god is a prick that designed this purgatory to scar straight rebellious souls like mine; it has been doing wonders to dust off my catholic classes at least.
That said, some things don't really line up, there are five distinct "streams" in my body instead of four. I thought at first that this might be the Ether element for a moment, but it is distinct and just like the other four in their combination. Warm and Dry (Fire), Cold and Dry (Earth), Cold and Wet (Water), Warm and Wet (Air), and the last strange mélange between them.
The thought that the Chinese elemental chart might be more precise passed through my mind. It is also associated with Feng Shui and is more interested in promoting internal balance and a state of homeostasis. Supposedly Chinese alchemy is the pursuit of immortality by transmuting these elements inside one's body instead of a cauldron. That said, immortality seems a rather petty goal we you know there is a Thereafter for one's soul.
Maybe if you want to hold on to something it would be worthwhile but living as xiaxian character has little appeal. Now magic on the other hand actually does have appeal, I want to know how far I can take this gift so a Western approach of "transmutation of lead into gold" is more aesthetically pleasing for me. In that case, my useless self is lead, and gold is "my better self" and better being a more "Ideal self". Theory of Form is an ever-present underlying principle of our philosophies and these are the only things that I have kept from my old life. With this resolution, I tackle my new project. Really, what else can I even do? Watch paint dry?
I start with the most obvious one the Warm and Dry stream, which is definitely Fire. I suppress all the chemistry lessons that say how stupid that assumption is with the power of as many prayers as I can remember and focus on the task at hand. It doesn't matter if this Essence is "like" fire, in the "likeness" of fire, or whatnot, fire is fire that is fire. It is simple, while in the western elemental chart, Earth subsumes both Wood and Metal, in the eastern chart they are different and have a "conquering" relationship that is sort of too "gamey" to be an underpinning principle of reality. I am playing by ear so best to not make any assumptions.
Although I can feel its stream more distinctly at the belly, concentration shows a tapestry that encompasses the entirety of the Subtle-body, some parts of the body have a "bigger" impression and with focus, I can perceive some "spots" that I know for a fact correlate to the places where certain organs of the gross physical body are supposed to be.
If we are talking about Fire then concepts such
as consumption, heat, entropy, fuels, energy transfer, and
thermodynamics in general should be under it. I meditate about everything I can remember related to each of these principles and open myself to perceive their patterns in my body. Humans are good at it, finding patterns where there is none even. At the very least, I should be able to see my body as an infrared light, not because I replicate those mechanics with this magic but because this should be the very Essence of this element.
Slowly the picture takes shape, and there is something comforting in how familiar it is, I am on the right track, or at least didn't accidentally touch anything that will have me killed yet. My taste for Nasuverse at least gave me a healthy sense of respect for forces I do not understand. Magic does not necessarily come in a user-friendly form. I have no intention of disturbing anything until a clearer picture emerges. This is a proof of concept only for the time being.
Next, comes Cold and Wet, labeled Water because, well, what else could it be? The principles related to it should be
flows, forms, cycles, combinations, and
manipulations. Considering humans are 70% water as well, perceiving the flow of one's blood should be well within its capacity.
I follow the Cold and Wet impression to where I know my heart is and start to chart my circulatory system. It is slow and I am tempted to skip minor detail but haste makes waste. I pour over it until I can picture my vascular system in its entirety.
The experience is peculiar and the way it weaves and braids with fire is so nonsensical it is nauseating, but considering they should be "dissonant" concepts this is a win in my book. They are both elements that are omnipresent in elemental charts for a good reason. Now I just need to see where and what I call the other three.
The Cold and Dry Essence comes next… here goes nothing- it is a bit of a gambit but I would say it has more to do with Earth/Wood. The principles I likened to it would be
form, grounding, cultivation of energy, and
energy embedding. They share a solid property with the element of water and now that I know how to look, I can see they are both "Heavy".
Fundamentally, the bones are the best bet for me to start from, since they are the hardest part of the body, and bone marrow is associated with vitality that should tie to Wood as well. Emboldened by my previous successes I focus on the Cold and Dry essence bundle in my stomach and follow it the best that I can and- OH MY GOD! I was so not ready for it!
There is knowing about something in the academic sense and then there is actually seeing it. I knew human babies are born premature, but nothing prepared me to see my own head soft and weirdly shaped and my row of teeth ready to grow. The picture is closer to creep pasta than an actual human being. Talk about nightmare fuel, good thing I am no longer in charge of taking care of my personal hygiene anymore. I crapped myself a little here.
-//-
After this incident, I at least walked away from it with the consolation that my speculation had merit even if my already ragged pride take another beating. The chaotic mess comprised of these vaporous energies circulating my body is starting to make sense. The pieces clicking into place and the elemental chart is taking shape.
In my head the imagine a pentagram with the heaviest Essences, Earth, and Water situated at the bottom, one "following" the other, as if pieces of a Lego set. Fire follows from Earth, standing just above it at the left pillar while keeping the greatest distance possible from Water. Maybe because while Earth is "Heavy", Wood "flow upstream", being lighter than wood and propelled by Fire emanations.
Suddenly there is no doubt who is at the top of this pentagram, scattered pieces clicking into place. People can live for 3 Weeks without food, 3 Days without water, 3 Hours without shelter but only 3 Minutes without air. In the Chinese elemental chart, it embodies "vitality" and in the Western chart it is the "noblest", as SYLPHS have the longest lives and their element being the highest, making them in turn the highest ranking elementals of "higher frequency".
Wind was by far the easiest to chart to map in the subtle-body and it was obvious why. The Wind element comprises by far the biggest proportion of it, of me. I did not even have to meditate on related principles to complete it. Its principles should be at least
air, kinetic forces, static energy, free energy, and directed movement. They come so naturally to me that they even cut through the blur of my immature senses to sense the outside world. Just by replicating the same exercise externally, I get a first real glimpse of my new world. Like an extension of the sense of touch, a pseudo-echolocation of Daredevils.
I am in a nursery; the small bundles of erratic movements give away other infants like myself. It should have been expected really, but what is unusual is that for all that these babies whale for attention there is no real sight of nursery machines for life support. If we were not under observation then it would be more prudent to keep us around our new mothers in reserved rooms.
I hope I get a nice new set of parents… I think. Living as an orphan would be far more difficult at the very least; this is about survival! I pointy avoid thinking about my own family. They either reincarnated and are in new places like myself or they are in a better place and this is some kind of punishment. Regardless, this is the kind of can of worms I don't have the emotional endurance to face right now!
Now that my existential crisis was avoided for another day, back to the board. There is a "last element" to this chart, which makes the connection with Wind and Water, closing this circuit of my personal Elemental pentagram. The problem is that Wind pretty much went out of town with it, got it shit-faced, and then abused and disabused it as he pleased. However, it has a "high frequency", it "path of least resistance that Flows downstream", getting heavier as it prepares to "Follow" Water Essence.
I would waver this is either the Chinese element of Metal or that I have a personal affinity toward Lighting because it would be difficult for me to use it without Wind Essence taking it on a ride. Considering they are following water, I might be able to either feel my nervous system flaring toward "least resistance" and following water, I might be able to sense the iron in the blood.
With this project completed a bolt of inspiration run through me as the insight about the vagaries of the subtle-body clarifies. Looking closer the vague sense I felt from my belly at first were pangs of discomfort. Something easy to ignore when you are effectively tetraplegic and deprived of senses and body coordination, it simply fades into the background. Yet now I understand how the dissonance of these elements is being aggraded by the quantitative increase of my MP pool.
Ancient and medieval medicine was based on the principle of four humors; disease and health are determined by the balance or instability between these humors. The state of optimal health was called 'Eucrasia'. Using the mental image of the pentagram in the core located at my belly, the point of densest Essence concentration, then took each picture of the correspondent essence and arrange them in a form that promotes "resonance" between those correspondent essences while insulating and promoting distance between dissonant elements a beautiful internal harmony and equilibrium is reached. I release a breath I did not realize I was holding. The feeling of being settled in one's own skin takes place. More importantly, this opened a new door.
Alchemy, and to some extent cultivation, seems to be the real deal after all. Though I doubt things are as simple as xiaxian novels would lead one to believe. If breathing through your mouth was the secret to godhood the world would already be chockfull of idiotic retarded gods.
There is a promise though. The stress my body was under due to the rigors of containing this mysterious essence is replaced by a sense of surety. As more and more of these disparaging essences find their balance and stop to waver war inside me, my body feels more like mine. Theoretically, this should already be enough, I have no interest in immortality even if I really do not want to die or be ill and this brand-new body is getting a thorough scrubbing as the rough edges in its Essence coalesce into a polished engine but the taste of success spurs me on.
There is one element left, from the Western chart: Ether. Fundamentally, it can be summarized as Dark Mather: that which fills the universe, binds it together, and give the cosmos structure. When the scientists finished the mathematical quantification of the universe, they noticed this immense hole in human awareness that is mathematically proven to exist but we cannot interact with it.
Well, as the God in the bottle, I can attest that it feels very real now, people around me are like little mount hills of this concentrated Essence. I can use it as a reference point and feel because I happen to hold it within, allowing my signal to ping others. It is supposed to fill the upper atmosphere in classic theory but being ever-present makes more sense. We are all drifting in a space rock revolving around a nuclear active ball of fire, nothing of this ever made any sense! I am more surprised they got away with disbelieving it in the first place.
After this whole business of reincarnation, the idea that "magic" is not as foreign to humans as it seems has a fundamental appeal simply for the chance to normalize this bizarre situation. Some phenomena like the Greek "diminishment of the world" could explain high and low magic ages. Maybe even the belief in such things can affect how effective they can operate, so a scientific-oriented society is like an "anti-magic field" for all I know. That I am just a cog in this vast cosmos never sounded so sweet, better than a petty god out to get me.
Ether-related principles should be among the lines of
composition, dissolution, modification, separation, unification, spiritual bodies, conceptual armaments, and the like. In Greek mythology, it was thought to be the pure essence that the gods breathed, filling the space where they lived, analogous to the air breathed by mortals.
Since systemic aesthetics already got me this far, I might as well see how far I can go with it. If the Theory of Forms checks out then those five fundamental Essences I sense are "emanations" that derivate from the "degradation" of this True Ether into a 'flawed' form. It is as if the elements of the periodic tablet catalyze and degrade by the half-life. Plus, if there is one place where the degradation of said half-life can be reversed it would be a particle accelerator, but alas we will have to do with me as a replacement "caldron". Each element so far moves at their own frequency but Ether is supposed to move circularly, having no intrinsic quality besides "motion". Convenient for me that I just made a "circular circuit" in my belly then.
…this is crazy; I am fucking out of my mind! I can genuinely explode or die of magical cancer if this goes wrong. Idle hands are really the devil's workshop – do not think of the demon that the demon appears! I don't want to know if Satan is real!
-//-
I was still trapped in this helpless infant body without anything to occupy my mind. Before long, I succumbed to curiosity and started to toy with these dangerous ideas again.
On the favorable side of the argument: I will have a forewarning next time I "respawn" that doing this is a bad idea, instead of succumbing to curiosity later on and ruining a "run" I have committed into. If it was not in fact a one-time deal. It is like burning a brand new account in a gacha game account… I could just reincarnate until you roll as the son of a Shake, business Magnate or Diamond's dealer.
Counter argument: there are so many wrong things and unfounded assumptions in the last statement I do not know even where to start! I do not want to die!
The vaporous essence react to my emotional outburst, ignition shoving me into the half step I previously refused to take. The sense of vertigo is not unlike freefalling from a cliff. I messed up. Like I had been driving into the unsteady bridge and suddenly decided to park on it sightseeing. Now this imprudence caught up to me. Everything was already in place, I only needed to turn the key and this little episode is what was needed to grind together the confluence of forces in my body the success was so effortless that I felt I just pushed on the Red button to the nuclear warhead inside of my belly.
In my mind was as if a Ring of pure coruscant white light took shape from the frame of the Pentagram and collapsed into a single point right at the central and densest point. I did not dare to move or breathe, afraid of what is to come. However, the other shoe never drops and eventually, I relax. I did not explode or spontaneously combust. The new quintessence did not collapse or melt my body. It is simply there.
Now that the pentagram is complete I take stock of it. The Ratio between these elements has kept an even balance through the Eucracia and further increase through these…days? Weeks? Time is uncertain for a baby; it feels like an eternity in here.
Regardless, considering the ratio hasn't changed they might never change through my lifetime. There is merit in quantifying their proportion
. In my case, Wind is 42%, Iron 7% (and it is polluted by the Wind), Water 15%, Earth 15%, and Fire is about 20%. This Ether is roughly 1% of my essence now and it seems stable. The balance my body achieved is settled and no matter what I did, it seems to actually resist efforts of overt manipulating it, as if the vaporous essence was now on rails.
Crisis averted, good job everyone, mission accomplished, time to go back home.
…Seriously. Enough of playing with things that might make me explode. I cannot see how I might improve my elements at this point. I guess some things can only be granted by time. Time for me to think of another hobby for a pastime and I know where to start. I know for sure that my memories were never this reliable before and an infant's brain is not my idea of an upgrade either so a more cerebral endeavor might be in order.
-//-
After mulling and reviewing what I remembered, I made another hypothesis. Maybe these different Elemental Essences really are affecting my 'humors', they might be hormones of the soul. Therefore, the inclination of their balance might serve as some kind of personality test. Hey, make as much sense as zodiac signs and blood type personality tests! Which gives me precisely nothing! Except…
The Muses of the Greeks were believed to have been sylphs, for these spirits are said to gather around the mind of the dreamer, the poet, and the artist, and inspire them with their intimate knowledge of the beauties and workings of Nature. Their temperament is mirthful, changeable, and eccentric. The peculiar qualities common to men of genius are supposedly the result of the cooperation of sylphs, whose aid also brings with it the sylph inconsistency. The sylphs labor with the gases of the human body and indirectly with the nervous system, where their inconstancy is again apparent. Maybe my high ratio of Wind elements is actually augmenting my mental capacity in a more tangible and concrete way. Might even come with good reflexes and good awareness. The fact I could actually remember about this is worth noticing! Who knows? Earth and Fire element might give me super strength and durability in time.
-//-
Alas, boredom is a hell of an insidious killer and right track or not this new body is still too immature for me to do much with it. My senses have cleared and I now can somewhat assert where I am but the hot and humid weather, the constant cry of toddles, and the lack of a permanent adult figure sort of disenchanted me of the world around me for now. Pretty clear I am an orphan. Well, at least I do not have to worry about creating an emotional bond with any adult for the time being, seeing the way I circle through them. Looks like I got myself into a refugee camp… God, what do I even say to that?
I am scared yet relieved that this is my situation, putting me in a somber mood that makes me want to just enjoy the latrine of shitty emotions. The only way out of this pity party hut is magical training for a couple of hours.
My situation on the elemental balance is still in order even if it is still hard to keep track of time. As my MP pool increases the overhaul concentration of Ether Essence has slowly spread, settling in other parts of my subtle-body as the energy circulate. At first, they seemed to appear at random in small dotes across the body but over time these dotes started to paint a bigger picture in their constant symmetry. From what I have seen, it looks like these dotes of Ether Essence are gathering into control valves of the magic networking system. This magic network kind of reminds me of magical circuits but better. They are well-integrated and harmonic, looking like just another part of the human body.
The overhaul ratio of Essences remains the same, just the pool that has increased. The bigger the total pool the easier it is to sense it too. Just maybe as Ether Element is associated with both Light and Revelation the greater proportion present in the magical network is making the picture clearer. Even if I never get to use Light magic due to its low ratio within my body the sheer certainty it gives about myself and this gift I have been granted is more than enough…
By the way, posthumous congratulations are in order for my parents. It is a baby girl!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!................. . . . . . . . .
A fucking coin flip. That is all it was. I know I should be thankful I did not get reborn as a dog or insect, but still, the reincarnation gacha is one hell of a pity system. I mean, if this magic is half of what it is cracked up to be then I might not be the last that I have seen of my little friend. Magic might be able to reunite my Johnny yet. I will defy Will of Heaven that a man only Schlong once! That is right, I am now a man on a mission to reunite with my Johnny. I am like Ed from Full Metal Alchemist, challenged God, opened the Gate of Truth, and promised then and there that I would rescue him one day. Wait for me Johnny, our story doesn't end here! If magic is real then a small miracle like this should be possible!
Filled with the resolve I move on to my next project, to find a hobby that will not get me killed. What? Is not like I even know if people around me know about magic and visualization seems to be a fundamental step necessary to command one's own magic. Shirou spent years toiling away in his garage until he cracked out the cheat code that allowed him to break the magic law of conversion of energy, creating tools with more energy in them than it takes to create. In a world where magic was fading, he turned his Intern World into his personal and exclusive use Greater Magical Foundation, bypassing the Dispersion of Mysteries caused by disbelief in magic.
I decided in going for mental exercises and meditation not only because it is less liable to get me killed but also because I have no intention of dealing with the ropes involved with learning magic through whatever institution administers the learning of magic this world might have. The thing about these places is that their primary goal is self-perpetuation, followed by whatever their mission is as a distant second. It might be my anti-social tendencies talking, but I have always been boneheaded and now is not the time to change. I do not know if they are like Harry Potter's Ministry of Magic or Type-moon's Clock Tower but both have ways to track magic and their users so privacy is the name of the game. Disappearing with an orphan would be child play.
More importantly, I am gender savvy enough to take the hint. So far, this magic Essence has followed an "Eastern" aesthetic.
While magical hearts is something I come to expect from western inspired media, as these traditions had put a greater emphasis on the Heart, the other seven giant Nodes following from the one in the heart, traveling up the spine to the brain are a giant give away that there might be some truth to the Indian concept of Chakras.
Hell, it is downright embarrassing how much time it takes me to make the connection: heart to the brain, Yang and Ying. I know very little about them as a topic besides that one episode of Jack Shan cartoon his "good" and "evil" side splinted. If anything, I would be more comfortable associating them with
Id and
Superego. The heart (Id) is the source of the "instinctual" components of one's personality that is present at birth and is the source of bodily needs and wants, emotional impulses and desires, especially aggression and libido. Meanwhile, the Brain (Superego) can be described as the unique physiologic phenomenon that happens in the human species that allow the internalization of cultural rules, mainly taught by parents applying their guidance and influence, the voice inside one's head that strives for perfection.
That says they are not good enough.
To be a man is to be part Beast and part God, to have the head on the clouds and the feet on the dirt.
Memes and genes, and from their confluences come to the Ego, much the same way these two sources merge and mix in this resulting mélange I call "Magic Power". Mana, faith, ki, chi, Shine, MP, whatever it is called; can be conceptualized as the spiritual life force that permeates the universe, a spiritual quality with a supernatural origin and a sacred, impersonal, and indiscriminate force. To have mana implies influence, authority, and efficacy: the ability to perform in a given situation. The supernatural force or power that may be ascribed to persons, spirits, or inanimate objects.
The concept of Mana originated from an anthropologic discussion about religious power, the universal source of supernatural power that manifested itself in extraordinary phenomena and abilities. The source that due to being "invisible" end up supplanted by the personable force of the personality of deities and their miracles, even as it is a universal explanation for their mysteries.
Who would have guessed that my hobby of mythological studies would come in handy now? Maybe that is why I was chosen for this. No, that is just ego-talking.
More importantly, now that I have conceptualized what this ethereal force might be I can more readily tackle it. It is believed that mana is a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a source of power. The quality of mana is not limited to individuals; people, governments, places, and inanimate objects, even ideals may possess mana. Moreover, its possessors are accorded respect. Mana protects its protector and they depend on each other for growth both positive and negative. It depends on the person to whom he takes his mana. That is why mana can be gained or lost by one's actions.
An idea starts to form in my head but I best shelve it for later. For now, the very fact I can ascribe a "source" and pin a name to this Essence already settle my grip on it. I feel its response. The Ying essence can be described as a product of my animatic thought process, being born from the brain, while the Yang essence is the product of biological activity. The rest is sure to follow- it's time for my meal.
Hey lady, baby formula is not as good as the real deal. Free the goods! Can't I have one good thing going for me?
-//-
Now that I have more or less settled on what this Essence might be, how it is generated, and where it comes from, I think is time to focus on the more "mechanical" and "know-how" of Essence channeling. The Nodes channel and regulate said essence through the body. Starting from the Primary Nodes of the heart through the spine to the brain, the bridge between Heaven and Earth, so to speak.
Thanks to the Ether Element circulating through myself, I have a clear picture of my sublet-body and the nodes that regulate it. Since they can only be in very specific areas, it is a fact the Ether Element accumulates at points of greater concentration of MP. To my mind's eye, they shine with searing light, 361 points of light to be precise.
While far too well integrated into the material body it resembles a machine too much with the Nodes as circuit breakers of MP for me to not call each cable between nodes as "magical circuits". Although its primary function in the administration of mental faculties and physiological functions is evident, as my mind and body both experienced refinement through my improvements its purpose is still uncertain. Yet if an increase of MP improves the self the expenditure jeopardizes both, from there I can speculate the following.
I would waver that whatever god designed this magical circuit network had "religious communion" as the primary goal, leaving its potential as a tool for the actualization of a supernatural phenomenon in a secondary parameter. In theory, if a wizard runs out of MP then he can just rest or meditate to refresh his mind until it he recovers. However, as the spiritual energy is tied to the body's life force, running out of MP means risking organ failure and even death. Any prospective wizard is literally cannibalizing himself through each spell. Killing oneself by using too much magic would be exceptionally easy in a high-stress situation… and that is a good thing.
When you take into stock how hardcore people can be about whatever trivial and transient crap they put their faith into I could easily picture the pandemonium that any primitive society would become with easy access to Fireball spell, and let us not even start with technological stagnation. Considering I see electricity here, I think the use of magic might be reserved and constrained for esoteric purposes. The biggest users would then, be found among monks, scholars, and priestly types that would be also physically compromised by this lifestyle. The avenue of physical enhancement by manipulating MP should be the most viable route for most warrior types due to sheer reliability as the body is already calibrated to manage basic manipulation of MP.
Good job God, being too generous with gifts can spoil a child rotten; making magic safe and idiot prof would just increase the number of people disabusing it for petty reasons, and this is coming from someone that will actually have to live in this world. This is not a primitive world where all daily comforts are supplied with magic spells and mana as electricity.
Though I admit that a mage hand cantrip would be handy right now. Get it? Life as a baby consists of sleeping and standing around while not sleeping or making a nuisance of myself, who doesn't cry and doesn't get to eat but this is a serious crushing to my self-esteem here. I am counting the days for pot training.
Anyway, what is important here is that it is closer to the concept of "subtle-body" of the East than not. While not as many as 88.000, these 351 nodes do the same job of regulating Prana. Add to that the 8 giant primary nodes from the heart to the brain, being extremely reminiscent of the Indian concept of Seven Chakras and suddenly I have enough pieces in the puzzle to guess what it is. While I would be hesitant to call the subtle body the soul itself, it is at least connected and fueled by it.
Maybe the Soul is more Idea than substance- no, I am sure of it. If the soul is not in any way material it would make sense it is not restricted to the Space-time axis. If I am to reincarnate as a human through whatever Godly device (Samsara) souls are processed then it would have a far easier time if this were the case. It is basically about energy conservation, if the Buddhist concept of 3 Million Realms is to be real and akin to the concept of parallel worlds then reallocating souls becomes more doable. The energy requirements otherwise would have caused the heat death of the universe by now. Considering they are the most prominent proposer of reincarnation, I have to bend the knee here. Both Prana and subtle bodies are emanations of the soul, which remains on the "Other side" yet still holds a connection to this realm by the link to this body.
Far better than having this energy simply coming from nothing at the very least, since then science is still somewhat useful and universal. While turning something as precious as a soul into a mere engine make me second guess this endeavor I simply am too tempted in my speculations to stop now. Whatever god devised these invisible mechanisms probably strived for mortals to search for enlightenment. It is what gods always do, so using it to understand myself and my place in the world would not be a sin or a waste, right?
I already have all the pieces, refinement and fine-tuning can come later, methodology is what matter and foundations determine how grand a building one can construe.
-//-
Time passes excruciating slowly, a side effect of being a baby, I guess. A shitty time hyperbaric chamber. Maybe Dio trapped inside a coffin at the bottom of the sea is a more accurate description. Everything I have is my thought as a company, so I might as well make this experience useful and discover a way to reach Heave. Humans, you see, are like trees.
The more he seeks to rise into the height and light, the more vigorously do his roots struggle earthword, downword, into the dark, the deep - into evil.
I am going to take this as far as I feasible can. A man does not have to think through the process of putting one foot in front of the other but a baby has to struggle all on its own through trial and error until the process and internalized as second nature. I am not just a baby; I am me, myself, and I. For whatever reason this cosmic accident had given me magical powers, maybe an angel or saint got the wrong papers in their Bureaus of Heaven and my soul never got recycled but I am beyond care. Time to shoot for the stars! Arrogance is like Morning Star himself!
I am going to create a Gate of Truth; rather, I am going to become it. The reasoning is simple: if this Ying Essence comes from the Idea 'World of Form' and the Yang Essence comes from the 'World of Substance' then Mana is fundamentally the power to materialize one's imagination. There is something to be said about overreaching, but sometimes you have to overshoot to hit the target.
I know little to nothing about Tai Chi, Chakras, and Buddhism as a whole but Sefirots are another story. Maybe it is a cultural thing but each one of the ten Sefirots is easy enough to understand and they are displayed in an orderly sequence that goes from ideation to materialization of phenomenon. So overall, Sefirot is more user intelligible, friendly, and more oriented toward magic. Each one of the ten correlates to one imaginary step that serves as a mental trigger, similar to the seven steps to tracing magecraft from Shirou's. Plus they are split between the ten into the higher five related to ideation and the lower five related to actualization. To assert control over this Ying-Yang force I will frame them into an internalized Greater Magical Formula.
I am hoping this magic juice is good enough for syncretism to kick in and fill the gaps. The fact that the Sefirot also have a chart configuration to the body that I can use to assert control over the Nodes of the subtle body also helps. This is crucial because of the Heavenly Bridge concept of "as above so below". Heaven and Earth are sympathetic toward each other, so the state of one should affect the other. A self-justifying precept that holds strength more due to faith and aesthetics than rationality.
The soul of Adam is the image of God, and as God fills the world, so the soul fills the human body. This child of (Adam/the Earth) will become the one place where the Divine owes to manifest, a Temple, and its God will be MYSELF (MY HIGHER SELF/SUPEREGO/SOUL).
Socrates was widely regarded as the wisest man in all of Greece because despite knowing he did not really know or understood anything he had a Daemon whose advice he always followed. This voice did not come from outside but from within himself. God is an Idea inside our heads, this "captain of my own ship" is all crap, the very thoughts, and words we use to express ideas are something passed down by others that came before. No matter how might, nobody is born into this world through one's own strength but because they are wanted. The body is a House of Spirits of the sum of human experiences, memes, and the DNA of the soul.
To be a man is to be part God and part Beast.
The advice of the Daemon made a man who openly stated he did not know anything the wisest man in Greece but when people came claiming his life he refused to flee at the behest of this Daemon. He walked to his own death yet his influence, his Mana, now reach this Otherworld right now, through me. This Daemon was his ideal self that he ever strived toward and those that knew the man judged it to have reached the realm of the divine.
Whatever function those Eight Primary Chakras have I can take my time figuring out. Right now it is enough that they are the pins holding together my personal Tree of Life. Just as the first Buddha once achieved enlightenment by meditation under a Tree, this Sefirot Tree will be my Gate to "Heaven". This Light surely belongs there and even if 1%, this is still proof that I can walk proudly under this light. For light is revelation and it will settle me "free". The measure of a man is decided by how much Truth he can tolerate because while it set you free it also destroys everything about you that is not worth it. Maybe I am already crazy, but even if I end like Icarus, I am resolute to see this through to the end.
-//-
Grandstanding aside, some things are easier said than done. Some things in life are difficult because they are simply tedious and time-consuming. Fortunately, I found myself with a lot of free time. I, fortunately, remember enough about the theory behind the Method of loci, the famous Mind Palace. While I never had the proclivity to pursue it in my last run (life) at the moment my agenda is only vacant spots. All truths worth knowing are paid for in blood, for they come from so deep everything else feels fake in comparison.
The Gate of Truth will be a world inside a nut, following the World's Egg theory. If there is such thing as Truth and we derive from it, then to retracing the steps back should be possible. At least here, where Soul meets Flesh. Every memory I can reach, the sum of things I have memorized are compiled in the most "honest" way that I can. All my conjectures and hypothesis are measured and I try to syncretism my way to godhood: Idealization.
The process was painfully slow, months I presume. Time perception for an infant is a far different beast than for an adult, but at the very least this keeps my mind occupied, easing my transition from the old life bearable as days stretched into weeks and months.
At some point, my body gains locomotion and I feel surer of myself, a hidden strength that defies belief lies within. I can see the world in sharp focus this really is an orphanage. The caretakers do their best but it's clear they are understaffed. It is poor but not miserable, which is good. Life is likely not going to be easy but it will not be the march of tribulations.
The result of my diligent efforts slowly start to take shape and it is beautiful. In my mind's eye, I see it. Made of solid white Marble, it has a figurehead at the top of the frame the depiction of wings from which eyes peek from while the true face remains unknowable, the realm of
Keter. The "topmost", the sublime and most hidden of all things; that which is above the mind's abilities of comprehension. It is not considered part of "Sefirot proper" because it is the "source". While all of the other Sefirots are likened to the body, which starts with the head and goes its way down into action
Keter is special. The crown of a king lies above the head and connects the concept of "monarchy", which is abstract and intangible, with the tangible and concrete head of the king.
The frames go on, nest comes to
Binah and
Chokmâh, Understanding and Wisdom, the right and left side of the brain. One is the 'intuitive understanding' born of 'contemplation' of deductive reasoning while the other is the "Divine Wisdom" "found" by God and passed down from person to person. Together they form a "palace of mirrors" with each other. One '
sweetens all severities and neutralizes their bitterness, one should repent and rectify all flaws' while the other is the very '
breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty, therefore can no defiled thing fall into her. For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness. And being but one, she can do all things and remaining in herself, she makes all things new and in all ages entering into holy souls, she makes them friends of God, and prophets.'
They Meet in
Da'at, "Knowledge". The perfected state of infinite sharing and union with the others for it is not a Sefirot but all then meeting as one. In the body, it is charted as the Central brain.
Embodying the Right and Left Arms, come
Chesed and
Gevurah, Love and Mercy paralleled by Strength and Judgment. One arm to bring others closer, the other to push those unworthy away. Acting together to create an inner balance in the soul's approach to the outside world.
Manifested in the Torso, comes
Tiferet, Sefirot of "Balance", "Integration" and "Beauty". For what is Beatify but the very balance brought about by the Golden Ratio in all things? It is where the most spiritual upper Sefirots meet with lower material ones. Harmony between Form and Substance. If Keter is the Crown and Malkuth is the Kingdom then Tiferet would be the "King".
Netzach (Victory) forms the left leg, representing victory through adversity, fortitude, and patience to follow through on passions. The will-to-power to overcome all barriers and limitations, and is associated with emotion and passion, music and dancing. It is a "Pillar of Mercy"(Chesed) for their purpose is not inherent in themselves, but rather as a means for something else. Whereas the upper Sefirots deal with God's intrinsic will, and what it is that He desires to bestow upon man, these lower Sefirots focus on man. What is the most appropriate way for man to receive God's message? How can God's will be implemented most effectively? Netzach is the attribute of leadership, the ability to rally others to a cause and motivate them to act.
Hod (Glory) is under the same level and is represented in the body by the right leg, forming a pair with Netzach. The feet not only bring a person to their place of intention; integrity here at the base of the pillar is foundational to all that stands above. In Hod are the righteous attributes related to group interactivity, as Hod is the spirit of community, the ability to do the footwork needed to follow through on ideas and make them happen. Prayer is seen as a form of "submission", Hod is a force that instead of "conquering" an obstacle in one's way, subdues oneself to that "obstacle" is related to the quality of Hod. It is analogous to how will-to-power a person has dominion over them: "Everybody is a slave of something".
More importantly, Hod is a force that breaks down energy into different, distinguishable forms, and it is associated with intellectuality, learning, and ritual. Hod is where the form is given shape by prayer in its widest sense, being the key to the "mystery of form". Our unconscious desires come from Netzach, and are given form in the symbolic realm by Hod, manifesting unconsciously through Yesod to Malkuth. Intention becomes action. Hod is said to be the sphere in which the magician/priest mostly works.
Now comes
Yesod (Foundation), found in the sexual region…Johnny, wait just a little longer. Moving on, It is seen as a vehicle allowing movement from one thing or condition to another (the power of connection), the foundation upon which God has built the world. A transmitter between the Sefirots above, and the reality below.
The light of the upper Sefirots gathers in Yesod and is channeled to Malkuth below. In this manner, Yesod is associated with the sexual organs. The masculine Yesod collects the vital forces of the Sefirot above and transmits these creative and vital energies into the feminine Malkuth below. Yesod channels, Malkuth receives. In turn, it is through Malkuth that the earth is able to interact with the divinity. The 'engine room' of creation.
Malkuth (Kingdom), being both the Mouth and the Feet, embodies revelation, the final Sefirot. Unlike the other nine before it, Malkuth is an attribute of God, which does not emanate from God directly. Rather it emanates from God's creation—when that creation reflects and evinces God's glory from within itself; due to this I modified the Gate of Truth to also be found in the Heart, where the biggest chakra Node if found so the 8 Nodes are juxtaposed with the Tree of Life.
It is associated with the realm of Substance, as the receiving sphere of all the other Sefirots, Malkuth gives a tangible form to the other emanations. The Divine energy comes down and finds its expression in this plane, and our purpose as human beings is to bring that energy back around the circuit again and back up the Tree. Although Malkuth is seen as the "lowest" divine emanation on the Tree of Life, it also contains within it the potential to reach the highest. This is once again exemplified in the Hermetic maxim 'As above so below', and "Kether is in Malkuth, and Malkuth is in Kether".
To be a man is to be part God and part Beast. At the foot of the frame, I put a dragon, the Serpent of the Earth. Malkuth is also associated with "filtering" Qliphoth, the "rusk" that hides the light of God. Malkuth is associated with the anus since they "expel impurities".
The Gate of Truth is virtually complete and is modular enough to be my Foundation. Time for this show to start.
-//-
Waiting for nighttime to descend, I take my first step toward Heaven on a hot summer night. By now, the Gate is as real and tangible as I can touch it, so I do just that. I pry the Gate open as it was my very soul that was been unveiled. With an effort of will I flare all these small stars in my body at once. The knot holding back the spirit was been pulled apart, tread by tread until it finally gives and my soul is free.
The Gate opens and then there is Light!
This is the most Right I felt in any life I can remember. Like a lightning bolt out of the blue sky. This is no longer a prison of flesh but a vessel of the divine. How do I explain eve it? The gap between thought and action has been mended. This body went from a clumsy doll of mud to a certainty that make me question if I ever had any control at all until that point. The world suddenly reveals its hidden deep to me. I have been blind, deaf, and mute my entire life; this I now know to be true. The Ether that binds all Creation together is revealed to me. The same forces I discovered in my body underlie the Texture of Creation. The Essence of the world was alive and its breath was music, a beautiful cacophony that surrounded all things.
I could see the sprawling city carved in the heart of a forest, with houses stacked on top of each other to mimic the chaotic life that surrounded them. They live like tiny stars doting the sky. Their emotions bleed out together into the maelstrom of colors I can barely make sense of, yet my mind remains clear. Synesthesia; my cultivated supernatural senses have merged with my ordinary ones.
More than that, I could see myself. That such power lies in something so small really cannot be called anything but miraculous. It seems that the biggest surprises really come in the smallest packages. A small one-year-old baby, ordinary in all aspects of the flesh except for the bright blue eyes that shine like shards of the Heavens.
I succeeded then; it is not surprising really. To have no doubt, this is strength. Normalcy only gives back mediocrity.
"Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the Honored one."
Those are my very first worlds I speak to my new world. It is fitting really.
Higher powers 「Knowledge of the Unimpeded Bodily Function」
Divine ear 「Understanding of Breathing of the Living World 」
Mind-penetrating knowledge 「the Comprehension of the Hearts of Others」
Remember one's former abodes 「Recolection of Soul's Memory」
Divine Eye 「the Comprehension of the Empyrean Eye」
Extinction of mental intoxicants 「Knowledge of the Destruction of Defilements (Klesha)」
Six Supernatural powers/knowledge of Buddhism. The fundamental pre-requirements in the head of Nirvana.
At the tender age of one, I became a Pratyekabuddhayāna 「Self Made Buddha」.
An individual who independently achieves liberation without the aid of teachers or guides in that lifetime to reach their aim and without teaching others to do the same.
This is Ominous with capital letters on it though. Solitary Buddhas are only supposed to appear during dark ages.
When the teachings of a Buddha are no longer available. These enlightened ones do not study with spiritual teachers, because there is none, and they teach only by gestures, since others are not receptive. Living either singly or in small groups, they must rely on their instincts to learn of Liberation. They are described as 'secretive about their teachers, live in solitude, are afraid of Samsara, yearn for Nirvana, and have little compassion.'
They are also characterized as arrogant.
Well, fuck you too! I can see the children being tortured into living weapons from my cradle! Now that I know to look for it, this society is more than happy to groom children into weapons! These people were blessed with such an invaluable gift and the best they can think of to do with it is to bludgeon each other to death with it.
Fucking Monkeys!
I am living proof that even when the Four Noble Truths are not preached, they still exist and can be discovered by anyone who makes the necessary mental and moral effort. Put your back into it, lift yourselves by your bootstraps, and become super-human [Übermensch]!
Me? Well, supposedly Pratyekabuddhayāna is incomplete. They cling to the idea that the unsullied meditative absorption they experienced is Nirvana (Heaven) when it is more like an island to find rest on the way to their actual goal. Rather than letting them feel discouraged, the Buddha taught the Pratyekabuddha paths for rest and recuperation. After finding rest in states of meditative absorption, they are encouraged and awakened by the Buddha's body, speech, and mind to reach the final Nirvana. Inspired by the Buddha, they then cultivate Bodhicitta and practice the Bodhisattva path.
That is right bitchs! I am going even further beyond, transcending my limits to become super-duper-human! This gift is wasted on these people. If they had spent a fraction of the time they committed practicing to killing each other trying to make people around them happy then this world would be a paradise already. The poor Bodhisattva presiding over this Realm must be at the wit's end of his infinite love, talking with a real person surely would uplift his spirit!
Having made my resolve, I reluctantly let go of this power and my eyes return to their opaque onyx color. I do not know this world's policies on Mystic Eyes. I am not that surprised they exist either though. I really hate it, I can feel the clarity of mind slipping, and once again, I am nothing more than another sad prisoner of the flesh, cursed to live in this gross and dull world of substance and sensibility. I yearn for this higher world.
Magic to truly see… it is regarded as primordial, right? Marduk, the king of gods of the first proper human civilization (that I know about!) has a crown literally made of eyes. The power is valued because humans are visual-oriented creatures and cultural cross-pollination marks him at the root of the Judeo-Cristian idea of truth. Religion is the creative expression of human imagination and is something that they pass on as humans interact with each other. Both Greece and Semites have flood myths inspired by Divine Wrath and you can even find this myth in the background of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is significantly older. Gods are a mirror to the soul of man.
Then comes the power of language, to hear and understand, to speak and be understood. Follow by written language and proclamation of laws. That does sound like a proper plan. This is the power to materialize and breathe life into one's imagination, visualization is key. As long as I can picture a version of myself that freely surpass my current limits then I can move forward one step at a time. I have everything I need already inside myself. Even if these savages have destroyed all records of the teachings of this Realm's bodhisattva in their pettiness, ignorance, and Cain's resentment toward the Divine I can put the pieces together.
Pratyekabuddhayāna is called monarchs for a reason, and like Gilgamesh, I am a great king cursed with ignorance. He who had the power to truly see was left adrift in his own obliviousness by the viziers that had the responsibility to guide him and embarked on a journey searching for immortality and finding wisdom. The prototype of the archetypical "Heroes' journey" to "see everything" in order to find and internalize the knowledge and understanding he needed to fulfill his potential… I do not think I will have in me the impetus to share it afterward though.