Chapter Text
Ryūjin (pron.) /riew-jeen/ (Kanji: 流りゅ刃ジン), means ‘Flowing Blade’, to describe how the blade appears to flow when wielded at the pinnacle of martial prowess. An indirect title of honour conferred upon the blade master.
FIRST to come was its sense of self, flashing into awareness.
Then oblivion exploded.
And everything was chaos.
It tried to see – but everything everywhere was churning, roiling, whirling and spinning and tumbling, exploding with shocking forces, erupting in cacophonous blasts, with all manner of bursts, bangs and flashes thundering in between, venting against it so blindingly, scorchingly and forcefully, it immediately retreated to return to oblivion.
But oblivion was nowhere to be found.
Safe, dark oblivion was all gone. Without a trace.
No safety existed now.
So it tried to see again – and flailed, disoriented and dizzy, as erratically exploding lights and flashing shadows strafed its sight. It persisted, straining its vision, and was gratified when the madness cleared and sharpened and its dizziness passed.
And it found itself in a dazzling, kaleidoscopic maelstrom.
All manner of things and forces a wild, violent anarchy, all tossing and jumbling and exploding and materialising and disappearing in blinding, drowning, explosive riots all around, pummelling it from every which way and scorching it from every direction, sparking blindly when they glanced off–
Pain seared.
Tearing, jarring, burning it everywhere all at once, nigh debilitating it. Hurting, confused, terrified and disorientated, it frantically fought to escape the excruciating storm, all but deafened and smothered and crippled. Several times it nearly lost itself. All it could feel was scorching, devastating pain.
Mustering all its strength, forcing back its agony as the attacks pounded on mercilessly, it began searching wildly. Dashing between collisions and explosions, missing some but struck by others, desperately it sought for any escape or shelter and then, simply anything, anything at all, which could offer some aid. And thus was shocked frozen when it saw, with frightening vividness, the blazing fireball hurtling from the depths of the raging chaos.
Hurtling directly towards it.
In that split instant, it saw the flaming, molten missile incinerating, melting and vaporising everything too slow to escape – and heard a strident, soundless command scream from deep inside itself.
Without thinking, it obeyed.
Twisting, it slanted aside.
The fireball roared past, trailing a great, fiery tail, spraying it with scorching, molten drops.
Missing it with mere breadths to spare.
No sooner had the fireball shot past, another one came flying.
Again without thinking, it obeyed its inner screams, and twisted and slanted aside.
And avoided the second fireball.
But a third one came. And a fourth one. Then another, and a few more, and several more, and then in rapid successions, more and more and faster and faster until a roaring, fire flood of blazing, molten fireballs was thundering towards it.
It exploded into a blur of movements.
Twisting, slanting, bending, then leaping and flipping, it dashed and darted between the deadly missiles, avoiding some, hit by others. It had no time to think, could only act, keeping itself on and on in flurries of evasive motions until exhaustion began to seep in.
Fear began rising.
If its strength ran out…
Then in its worst moment, it spied a dark shadow coming.
The looming object was ploughing through the flaming floods, distinctive because it was the only thing not burning.
It squinted, trying to see the dark thing better.
Abruptly, the looming shadow shifted into stark, detailed clarity: a very large, irregularly elongated object, with rough, craggy, dull-grey surfaces, ponderously tumbling lengthwise end over end through the fiery tides of lethal, flaming missiles, completely impervious to all the fiery pelting and explosions.
Then one long, craggy side rotated into view, revealing the shadowed mouth of a cavity – and a glimpse of a calm, still darkness within.
Immediately, it shot for the dark cavity.
It found it caught up easily. Surging forwards, it aimed straight for the mouth of the cavity: a ragged oval opening, small, but thankfully still large enough for it.
Without another instant’s hesitation it flowed forth and into the hole, descending into cool shadows, huddling down as deeply as it could reach.
And for several moments it remained still, enveloped in familiar darkness, willing itself to calm.
Then finally, when it felt more composed, it cautiously looked around.
There was little it could see beyond a mere span away from itself. The tiny distance was weakly lit only by a weak, golden glow. It needed more light–
The golden glow flared.
Dull-grey, craggy surfaces sprang into sharp, vivid relief, gleaming with yellow highlights in bright, golden light.
Startled, it looked down at itself, seeing itself for the first time.
It saw that its form was a dense, shapeless cloud of golden light, shining so brightly that its light was opaque. However, singed, dark patches littered it all over, many still smoking.
And throbbing.
Still, the throbbing paled in comparison to the way all its senses were excruciatingly burning.
Bearing up against its agony, it hurriedly inspected its refuge as best as it could.
The dull-grey, craggy surfaces all around were hemming in close, forming a roughly circular space. The space soared upwards in a nearly vertical slant, ending high above in that ragged, oval hole it had come through. Beyond the hole was the chaotic, blinding storms it had escaped from.
The hole seemed even smaller than the widest width of the space down below.
Gathering its form, it contracted its mass into a taller, narrower cloud to fit its shelter, creating a small gap all around between itself and the walls of its tall, columnar sheltering hole. And in that small gap, it saw that some parts of the grey, craggy surfaces glittered with sharp, crystalline protrusions, while other parts gleamed with a smoothness coloured with irregular, darkly iridescent swirls. Save for these, its refuge was bare, devoid of anything else apart from itself.
In fact, there was no room left for anything else. Its mass was already filling the space almost entirely and wherever the grey surface brushed against its form, the surface felt hard and stinging.
It dismissed the discomfort at once.
Wherever it was now, and whatever this refuge was, it badly needed the shelter.
And this one would keep immediate dangers away for a while.
Finally giving in to its pain, it sought for a way to rest.
The endeavour was trickier than it expected, for the entire bottom of its refuge was a jagged bowl covered with sharp, threatening-looking protrusions.
Still, the uncomfortable spot was more appealing – and far safer – than going out again into the chaotic storms which so nearly ended it.
So gingerly, it began to lower itself.
Loosening its control enough to allow its mass to sprawl and puddle, it discovered to its great relief that it could pool itself without pain about the sharp protrusions on the bottom. So gratefully, it let itself go, sinking down into a golden, glowing pool onto the bottom of its narrow, vertical hole.
Then it woefully examined its collection of burns.
The ugly, dark patches had, at least, ceased smoking. But they continued throbbing painfully, and were very tender.
And on top of the scorching pain afflicting all its senses, the discordant choruses of agony all melded into one raw, excruciating tapestry.
But it would have to bear with them all from hereon. It had no other choice. Already, it had no idea who it was, no idea what it was, where it came from, where it was, how it ended up like this, and least of all, what it was to do. All these were much larger and more worrying questions than its discomfort.
It would just have to live with the pain now.
As much as it could bear it, it began to shunt the pain away, to relegate the agony to the background of its awareness so that it could function. Or at the very least, think. Since it knew not what else it could do to–
A small flare of golden light leapt up from an uninjured part of its mass, and landed upon the nearest throbbing dark patch and disappeared into it.
Immediately, the burn – and the throbbing – of that spot began to fade.
It stared.
Then peered closer to see what was happening.
The small flare of golden light was swirling about inside the injury, quickly lightening the patch even as the pain faded into nothing. In short order, the spot was glowing golden and unmarred, the burn gone without a trace, as was the pain.
The patch had completely healed.
It turned its attention to another wound, an idea rising.
Experimentally, it visualised another small flare of light leaping from an uninjured spot to the burn.
The same thing happened again. A glowing flare of golden light leapt up from the spot, dove into the burn and rapidly, began healing the damage.
Encouraged, it gathered itself and flowed upwards once more, returning to its floating position so that its entire mass was unobstructed by any contact with its hiding place. Then, with deliberate care, it began composing thought-images of healing all its burns at the same time.
And watched, amazed and delighted, when small flares of golden light began leaping up from all over its mass and diving into its burns, swirling into its wounds, the strange activity intensifying and becoming so frenetic that soon, its mass was blazing so brightly that all it could see was a dazzling, golden fog even as it felt the throbbing of its burns begin to fade.
It pushed on, rejoicing when the pain began receding even faster, persisting until it no longer felt any discomfort, before letting up on its efforts.
No sooner after it relaxed, the blinding, golden fog of light began dimming, the dull, craggy walls of its refuge began emerging, becoming clearer and clearer until finally, its light was once more glowing at its former luminosity.
It hastily examined itself.
Only to see that the glowing, golden cloud of its form was now perfectly unmarred. Not a single burn remained in sight.
Nor did a trace of soreness or throbbing remained.
The pain was entirely gone, cleanly erased.
What it now felt was a light, buoyant sensation of perfect balance, a well-being encompassing even all its senses–
It stilled, immediately noticing the change.
The searing, tearing, jarring, all the excruciating assaults upon its senses…
They were also all gone.
In their place thrummed a muffled mix of distant, muted vibrations and messy, rhythmic beats. They were discordant, but did not hurt.
Nothing hurt, in fact.
Then it noticed, belatedly, that it was now perceiving with heightened detail, observing with sharper focus, and thinking with keener clarity.
The chaos outside must have passed.
Eagerly, it looked up and peered through the ragged, oval shaft opening – only to see the wildly crashing and exploding anarchy still raging on heedlessly.
Nothing had changed outside.
Yet, within this deep, dark hole, it felt nothing more than those distant, muted vibrations, heard no more than those vague, muffled drumming.
It looked back down at its refuge, quickly realising that the grey, craggy surfaces all around it were somehow diminishing the effects of the violent turbulence beyond. And doing so with astounding effectiveness.
Beginning to wonder, it gazed up again at the chaos raging beyond the small, ragged, oval hole.
All its questions – who it was, what it was, where it had come from, where it was, how it ended up here, what it was to do… the questions were all brimming to overflowing. It needed answers.
But to venture out there again in that lethal maelstrom… to once again experience the full, direct assault of agonising pain, the debilitating burning and tearing of its senses, to fight those deadly, incomprehensible forces while crippled… if it went out there again, it would once more be crippled by the same excruciating pain and disorientation and be rendered completely useless. Much less find any answer.
Yet, it could see no alternative.
For neither would it be finding any answer by hiding in this hole, however safe it felt.
Its only remaining course of action was clear.
As terrifying as the prospect was, it must return out there.
But perhaps, this time it could go out there equipped.
It had already made one fortuitous discovery: the very material of its refuge was dulling and diminishing the blows of the chaos significantly. If there was a way to take the muting effect with it, it could overcome the attacks of the maelstrom.
Resolved, it began searching around its refuge once more, this time contracting its cloudy mass to a long and thin shape so that it could see more of the cramped space it was in and, hopefully, find a means to take along the muting effects of its refuge.
However, no matter how it bent and twisted itself, or how small it contracted its form to free up more space, its search yielded nothing. The deep, narrow hole was as bare as when it first entered, offering nothing which it could use or improvise upon.
It stared at one darkly iridescent surface, disappointed – and was suddenly wrenched forwards at a dizzying speed.
Then in the next instant, it was jolted to a halt.
Dazed, it looked wildly around.
For one terrifying instant, it thought it had fallen out of its refuge and into somewhere else – until it saw the same dull-grey, craggy surface of its hiding hole.
But superimposed over the image was something else.
A pattern.
An intricate web of fine, jagged, interlacing lines snaking away unevenly into every direction as far as it could see.
It blinked.
The web was growing. Spreading farther and farther out away from it.
Hastily, it blinked again.
And once more, found itself looking upon the uneven, dull-grey, darkly iridescent surfaces it had been staring at.
This time, however, it was also seeing the growing web of fine lines.
It turned quickly in place, scrutinising every surface of its hideout, up, down, all around, even the sharp, jagged bottom.
With increasing alarm, it began to see webs upon webs of fine, jagged, interlacing lines spreading through every part of its shelter. No part was spared.
Remembering its brief glimpse of the exterior of its refuge, it suddenly realised what it was witnessing: the very object it was hiding in, which was lending it this deep, narrow shelter, was fissuring, the minute cracks spreading through every part.
In that same instant, it realised two things at once.
No longer suffering a relentless punishment of agonising sensory pain, its senses had sharpened to such an extent that it could now see into the very substance of things.
And what it had seen were signs that what it had thought was a safe refuge was safe no longer.
The object it was hiding in was beginning to shatter. The webs of fine fissures were still a distance away from the craggy walls all around it but they were coming closer with the appearance of each new crack, inexorably spreading through the very substance which made this deep, narrow hole.
Alarm escalating into near panic, it stared up at the small, ragged hole above.
Ready or not, it would have to leave before this place broke apart and ended it as well.
Holding down its rising terror, it began to float back up towards the small opening.
* * * * * * * *
Mad, chaotic maelstroms of flashes and explosions raged. Wild, pounding forces battered, and stinging, slicing missiles strafed.
Its only consolation was that this time, the attacks assailed it only on one side. Its other side was clinging tightly – and desperately – onto the exterior of its refuge, its mass spread out as flatly as it could manage over rough, dull-grey surfaces, feeling the surfaces stinging it.
It had belatedly realised that the stinging discomfort was due to the deeply frozen state of the object it was riding upon. Despite that fact, the dull-grey, craggy surfaces were warming up – and warming up rapidly. When it had risked a look ahead, it had immediately understood why.
A blinding, white-hot conflagration lay right in its path, burgeoning in white, searing clouds, belching out blast after oppressive blast of decimating heat, the swelling, incinerating phenomenon consuming more and more of the chaos.
The terrible sight persisted, and then began slanting and sliding away, until it was began seeing the chaotic storms once again, the tempests raging on oblivious to the encroaching destruction, before they began fading, becoming whiter and more glaring until the scorching white light slanted back into view again, only to burn into its vision for what felt like long, excruciating moments before beginning to slide away.
It watched, transfixed, as the white-hot glare blazed into view and then dimmed out of sight a few more times before it realised that the intervals were caused by the rotation of the elongated object it was clinging onto. When it focussed, it could feel the inexorable, forward momentum.
And each time the searing, swelling, white light returned, the heat burned more hotly, the glare pierced more blindingly, and the craggy, frozen surfaces it was clinging upon heated and cracked more dangerously.
For the object it was holding onto, which it had thought was a safe refuge in, was tumbling closer and closer towards that blinding, burgeoning heat. All the chaos, all the crashing, exploding and jarring anarchies all around, bit by bit, they were all vaporising completely the closer it fell towards that white-hot, expanding inferno, whose roar was becoming so deafening, all the thundering of the maelstroms were now melding and blending into one continuous, furious bellow.
The outcome was clear.
This entire region would soon be swallowed and become no more than swelling, searing clouds of white, killing heat.
And it had no suicidal wish to brave the chaotic storms it had awoken in.
But letting its fissuring refuge take it into that spreading conflagration ahead was also not an option, for that meant a definite destruction.
So it began to scour rapidly the mad tempests all around, seeking a clearer opening it could aim for, hoping that such an opening would soon appear for it was running out of time.
Then its refuge turned, to a halfway point with the white-hot, blinding conflagration on one side and the comparatively dimmer chaos on the other side, when the strangest sight was revealed.
Clusters and clusters of small, colourfully twinkling orbs of light, all of them whizzing past, their little, round bodies flaring distinctly for brief moments as brightly glittering, colourful dots before quickly fading and disappearing into the flashing, kaleidoscopic tempests of the chaos.
Struck, it observed the strange sight, trying to trace where the maniacally shooting orbs were coming from.
Then, abruptly, it realised that they were hurtling from the conflagration. The overpoweringly blinding, white-hot heat had been drowning out the lights of the small, twinkling forms, obscuring them from its notice all this while.
But it was noticing them clearly now.
And becoming intensely intrigued.
For the colourfully twinkling little orbs, though very small, and their lights much dimmer than its own golden blaze, were speeding unerringly through the storms without mishap.
As if they knew where they were going.
Then a few clusters came rushing towards it, veering very close.
Before it could react – so fast were the little, round orbs – the small bodies were colliding against its back in a shower of soft patters, sliding over its mass, and then whizzing madly into the storms behind it.
And the flashes of contact sent frissons of shock through its entire being.
For each fleeting touch lanced its very being with screams of intense, echoing emotions.
/Abject terror. Blind panic./
/Frantic desperation to live./
Stunned, it craned its vision around, staring frozen at the twinkling clusters fleeing into the storms, watching as they adroitly evaded every single explosion and wildly careening projectile before rapidly vanishing into the strobing, dazzling chaos.
Before it could recover from its shock, more small, round bodies were colliding and brushing over its back, then fleeing past its sight into the same direction.
With each touch, it felt each twinkling orb being choose the violent anarchy as the lesser peril, each one wanting to survive just as much as it did.
Feeling all their tiny sparks of awarenesses.
The orbs were living beings. All of them were aware.
Just like it was aware.
It was not alone in this storming, mad chaos.
For it had found fellow beings who knew how to avoid the deadly storms.
It knew it had to follow.
Gathering itself tightly, drumming up all its strength, it pressed its underside hard against the fissuring surface of its refuge, looked up, and with one single, furious, golden burst catapulted forth, lancing out into the violent chaos, speeding into the thundering maelstrom in tight pursuit of the fleeing, twinkling clusters.
On and on it sped, streaking and swerving tightly in the wake of the orb beings, weaving and veering as fast as it could between everything clashing, crashing and exploding. The orb beings leading it through an incredible, evasive trail that left it safe. Elated, it surged forwards even faster, its mass blazing like a great, golden comet as it hurtled away from the white-hot, incinerating, encroaching heat, chasing tightly upon the tails of the small, shooting, bright, little orbs.
It was almost upon the last speeding, bright cluster when there was a split instant of a terrible, searing, blinding flash, followed by a sudden, loud, low hum.
And then everything turned upside down.
* * * * * * * *
Pain was all it knew. Again.
And much worse this time. For it was being flayed, flayed alive, from all directions. By blinding, burning, white-hot forces tearing at it, broiling it, leaving it helpless to do anything else save cling desperately onto its sanity and hope against all hopes that it would survive.
Then, in the midst of the excruciating torrents, something soft – and insistent – thudded against it.
In quick succession.
Each thud speared a bright agony through its battered mass.
Frantic to stop the new pain, it peeled its vision a slit and squinted.
Blinding, white-hot light strobed agonisingly into its sight.
But not before it saw the most inexplicable thing.
An indistinct, shifting patch of light. Hovering right in front of it and, unbelievably, outlined against the scorching, searing, white glare. Like a patch of light within an endless sea of blinding light. Appearing to be roughly about a third of its own size. It thought the bright mass was round in shape when suddenly, the phenomenon shifted into an ovoid, then into a smudge, and then back into a sphere again, not staying in any fixed form. And with each change of shape, the mysterious patch of light pulsed differently: first white, then iridescent, and then dimmed before pulsing white again, the changing, bright pulses wreathing about a swirling, centre node shining with all colours yet no colour at all.
The patch of light continued to bump against its mass. Gently, and should not have hurt, but it was over-sensitised now and felt acutely every light bump as pure, stabbing pain.
However, through each stabbing contact of the gentle yet insistent bump, it felt an intent not its own.
An intent that it should follow.
The instant it understood, the odd patch of light stopped bumping and began drifting away, then stopping again a short distance from it and swirled urgently.
Beckoning.
Nearing the end of its strength and endurance, it followed.
* * * * * * * *
The going was horrid.
The inferno was everywhere. Glaring, searing. Shock waves tore and clawed at it, flaying it mercilessly from every direction. Its only beacon of escape was the strange patch of light ahead, shimmering clear and distinct even within this blinding, white heat. The bright, beckoning, iridescent light was deliberately keeping just close enough for it to follow. So, mustering all its flagging strength, it forged on.
On they went like this, for what felt like an interminable eternity.
Then, at last, the devastating, blinding, white heat began to dim, began to cool and then, faintly at first, only to become more and more distinct rapidly, familiar collisions, explosions, and all manner of violence and chaos began coalescing from the blinding, glaring white ahead.
It never expected to feel so relieved to see that murderous maelstrom once again.
With a new surge of strength, it lunged forward, plunging across the remaining distance.
In the next instant, it was bursting back into wild tempests, shooting as fast as it could between explosions, collisions and dizzying, strobing lights, feeling shock waves licking its tail and searing, molten drops pelting its back.
And feeling utterly, utterly grateful to be back within the familiar, killing storms.
The strange patch of light was still ahead of it, insistently leading them away, heading towards what appeared to be a bright, vermillion sphere in the far distance.
It followed, laboriously, smelling a charred stench rising from itself and feeling the throbbing of what it now knew had to be new burns.
But the pulsating mass of light turned out to be as fast and agile as those small, twinkling orb beings. Swerving, diving and leaping through the storms with preternatural accuracy, seemingly anticipating each and every erratic projectile and wild tremor before they struck or exploded. The mysterious being either had an extremely keen precognition for danger, or knew the chaos very well.
Whichever the case, it would not complain, for the being was leading them safely through the maelstrom.
Striving with all its might, it followed its strange saviour as closely as it could, keeping itself in the wake of the shifting light mass where it was safer. And despite being smaller in size, the being seemed approving that it was following thus, even slowing deliberately for its benefit.
Presently, they began approaching a wildly raging phalanx of flaming, bombarding, molten fireballs.
Another fireball flood.
But its guide continued onwards, heading directly for the fiery barrage.
It balked. And halted.
The being ahead stopped instantly, noticing its refusal to move. The swirling mass of iridescent light began to glimmer encouragingly.
It still did not move.
Its mysterious rescuer drew closer, pausing right in front of it. And then glittered insistently.
It remained still.
Then the strange being began bumping against it, shifting shape and pulsating angrily.
But it was resolute. It was already throbbing with new pain and smelling its own charred stench. It did not have to look at itself to know that it was piteously smoking all over once again.
It would not go forward.
However, the bumping motions became more strident, more painful.
So it made a decision.
They would have to part ways here. As grateful as it would always be to this strange being for saving its life, the last thing it wanted to do was head into a new danger immediately after escaping the last one. It would have to take its chances with those small, orb-like beings instead.
So it began to turn, intent on leaving.
However, before it could move further, the shifting mass of light rippled and then, without warning, flashed towards it.
It dodged.
But it was too late.
The being was incredibly fast, plunging and disappearing into its mass.
An electrifying bolt jolted through its entire awareness, firing through all its thoughts.
Then, suddenly, a rush of deep, booming and infuriated thoughts came at it from behind.
In a flash, it understood them as a tirade of arcane expletives.
[…you obstinate tool! How can you still be so stiff-necked when you now have no neck?! Are you hearing me now? Did you think I risked everything to come get you just to let you get killed again?! Have you left all your wits in that hole?]
It whipped about.
And nearly collided into the changeable mass of light.
Which was rippling furiously in front of it.
Too close in front of it. The anger was a palpable force.
It backed away hurriedly.
[Ai, stop! You witless naihoku[i]!]
It froze.
Feeling insulted. Yet not understanding why.
The being let out a deep, booming bark of triumph. [Hah! Took that to make you finally hear and understand me, ne?! ‘Tis your own fault for choosing this place to awaken! You should be thankful I came after you and just in time too! Now let us get out of here before this whole region blows! Follow me now!]
That was out of the question. One look at the floods of the fireballs was enough.
The strange being made an irritated noise. [Ai! Do not be a fool! I got you out of that inferno at great costs, why would I let anything happen to you now? We need to get you fixed up, but not here! Come on!]
The being had a point.
But it still hesitated, staring uncertainly at its odd rescuer.
Suddenly, its vision shifted, and then it was looking inside the being, seeing a steadily swirling, shining node – and within the node, a waving, swaying stream of iridescent light entwined with a waving, swaying stream of darkness. The two contrasting streams of brightness and darkness were melding together, blending into a different, ever-changing light which was pulsing white, then iridescent, and then dimming before pulsing white again, in that cadence it had first seen.
It had no idea what it was looking at.
But somehow, the strange sight felt… right.
[Wait! Are you seeing my Soul?] Its rescuer suddenly began glimmering excitedly. [Then are you also seeing my Spirits? Seeing how my Hard Spirit and Soft Spirit are forming my Soul?]
Soul?
It blinked, and then was seeing normally again. It stared at the being uncomprehendingly.
Spirits?
[Ai! Seems you have lost even that memory!] lamented the being.
Memory?
[But at least you have retained the ability to see them, even if you have forgotten them!] fretted its rescuer. [I suppose we ought to be glad for that, though we must still discover what you can and cannot remember– Ai! But this is neither the time nor place for this! We must leave now! Hurry!]
The strange, shifting light mass made to leave.
But a jumble of questions had begun whirling, clamouring for attention. And from the morass, one particular query rose so stridently, it instinctively seized upon it and, concentrating very hard, framed the inquiry in its thoughts as clearly as it could
[Who… are… you?]
Its guide stopped, glittered, and then audibly, rattled with annoyance.
[Seriously? Now? Here? Is that even important after I have gotten you out of that starburst?]
It was desperate.
But it was even more desperate for answers.
And clearly, its answers now lay with this strange being who not only seemed to know who and what it was, but knew everything quite well too.
So, [Yes,] it emphatically replied. [Your… name?]
[My name?!] The being boomed with near apoplexy. [You truly cannot remember a thing if you are even asking that! We do not use names! Names constrict our perceptions! Blind our Awarenesses! Falsely bind our Souls into fixated delusions of self! Especially for beings like us, names do more harm than good! So we neither have nor want any name!]
[But… how can I… identify you then?]
[Argh! Fine! If you must call me something, then do what we all do, call me by my job description. That is Manakoshi[ii] to you. And before you ask what that means, it means The One Who Calls The True Name. That is what I do. Satisfied?]
It was not.
[You do not want names… yet your job… is to call the true name?]
[Only for those who need names!]
It was even more confused. [There are those who need names… and those who do not?]
[Aye, aye! Beings like us, names are more hindrance than help so we do not have them. But most others need names to even begin to understand their existences, so my job is to name everything for them. Clear?]
It was not.
[So those like us, we do not need names because we have this Soul thing?]
[Soul thing?] The being glittered with visible upset. [Have more respect for your Soul! You are among the fortunate few with fully intact and awakened Souls! Most only possess one Spirit and the majority of those wretches live in oblivion!]
[But I am not understanding–]
[I told you, this is no place to do any explaining! If you keep us here asking questions, not just you, but both of us will be ended! We must leave, now!]
Suddenly, it felt the nearness of shock waves and heat.
The catastrophe they had just escaped from was drawing closer.
So it let its confusion rest.
For the moment.
[All right, we leave.]
[Argh! Finally! Come on now, follow tight!]
Its infuriated, strange rescuer immediately spun and once more, led their mad dash for the lethal, fiery floods of molten missiles.
It hesitated for an instant, then mustered its courage and strength, and chased after the being.
* * * * * * * *
Manakoshi, for all that it had insisted that they were in no place to talk, was nevertheless flying and talking at the same time – or more precisely, scolding. Without pause and totally unfazed by the wild explosions and close collisions they were dashing through.
It laboured to split its concentration between keeping up and paying attention. The strident litany was peppered with meanings it did not understand and found faintly humiliating, but nevertheless it took no offence, for along with the vague insults came a veritable fount of information it so desperately needed.
They arced around a huge gust of flaming fireballs.
[Hah! Fireball meteoroids! Have not seen these for awhile! For your information, you were dodging them the moment you awakened! Fireballs can be very small but these ones here are enormous! Another reason why I have to come get you, I told you this place was a bad idea! You must avoid the bigger ones, they can end you! But did you listen? Of course not! Shortest route, you said, puts me closest to my destination, you said, now do you see what happens when you try to take a shortcut like this? What good can you do if you end before you even start?]
It could not reply at all. Manakoshi was extremely fast and nimble. Every last spark of its power was reduced to keeping up and listening.
[And speaking of start, do not even get me started on that stupid rock you hid in! I told you and I told you again and again ‘tis a dreadful idea to pick a ride veering so close to a starburst but nooo, you insisted it was an acceptable risk, you said, a serviceable resting stop, you said. Bah! Where is that asteroid and its ridiculously cramped hole now? Kaboom! All vaporised in that starburst before your powers could even fully open! Exactly like I told you they would!]
Thankfully, they soon passed the tides of fiery meteoroids. The flaming barrage began thinning and they were swerving and weaving in and out through increasingly sparser volleys of smaller, pelting, hot projectiles.
It followed with a new surge of strength, straining harder.
[If you had listened to me and gone with my plan instead, you would be leisurely getting reacquainted with things, but nooo! So now I have to risk everything to come get you out of trouble, nearly be extinguished searching for you in this mess, was almost frozen into stone and then nigh vaporised into gas just waiting for you to realise that you have the power to come out of that ludicrous hole in that absurdly cold rock! And then I called and shouted and yelled until I went hoarse only to find out that amongst everything else you did to yourself, you have also landed yourself in a state which completely sealed your Awareness against me! So I had to unseal your Awareness with whatever power I have left, but now that I have your attention at last, I end up with too little time left and too much to do!]
At last, they emerged through the small debris storm and for a moment, there was a lull in their surroundings.
And thankfully, a lull in its rescuer’s diatribe.
It looked.
And stared.
* * * * * * * *
All around, the chaotic violence and turbulence it had first awoken in had fallen into a strange, visible order. And as it stared about, the strange sense of order began to feel colossal, as if the organisation extended far beyond what it could see. And blazing right in the heart of this enigmatic region was…
A titanic, brilliantly burning, vermillion fireball.
It had no other way to describe what it was seeing.
The bright, fiery sphere was emanating floods upon floods of liquid light and heat from boiling surfaces flaring with long, dancing, flaming tongues, each flaring tongue fanning waves and waves of sheer, intense, radiating power into the flooding, liquid light and heat.
And as each radiating wave stroked over its mass, it felt its own light respond.
The sensation was indescribable. As though the radiating power was…
Alive.
A shifting sensation stirred, rising from deep within itself – from something it had not known was there before. The odd feeling was the strangest thing, as if the core of its very being was finally rousing from a deep slumber it had not even been aware of.
So it looked down at it itself.
Its form was blazing incandescently, its golden light all but blinding where it was facing the titanic, fiery sphere. Indeed, its light was now as blinding as the white-hot conflagration it had so narrowly escaped from. And felt warm, not scorching, the kind of warmth which it knew would only become hotter the closer it went towards the bright, vermillion fireball. Yet, it felt no fear of the heat, felt none of the ominous doom it had previously felt from the white-hot fire it had been trapped in. Instead, all it felt was a gentle warmth, a sense of… welcome. A feeling of…
Life.
An indescribable sensation of life. So intensely pure, that as it watched, its mass began flaring all over with little leaps of golden sparks, the sparks diving into its wounds.
It stared, astounded, as its burns began to fade.
Its light was healing itself without its conscious will.
[Finally, at least something is now going right! The star is having an effect!]
It looked up to see the swirling light of Manakoshi pulse in vindication.
[What is a star?]
The pulsing halted. [You, of all beings, are asking what is a star? Ai! You truly have forgotten everything important!] The mass of light began rippling in agitation. [If you had followed my plan, you would have awoken knowing what a star is! But you were obstinate, so now I have to tell you what you ought to have known! Fine! Look there!]
Somehow, the shifting mass of light managed to glitter in the direction of the titanic, vermillion fireball.
[That, is a star. Countless of them exist across all tangible realities. Its light is called starlight, ‘tis the power you are now feeling, the power causing you to heal.]
It looked at the star, squinting against the brilliance, then looked down at itself again.
Only mere moments had passed, but all its new burns were halfway faded.
And it no longer felt even the smallest bit of discomfort.
The speed of healing was far beyond that with which it had healed itself.
It narrowed its vision speculatively at the blinding sphere.
[Its light, this starlight… it feels alive. How is that–]
[It feels alive to you, ne?] cut in Manakoshi, shimmering with odd excitement.
[Aye, it does,] it replied, puzzled. [Are stars alive–]
But it was interrupted again.
[Stranger and stranger! You can see my Soul and Spirits, yet you know not what they are. You can sense the true nature of starlight, your light is responding to it like it always does, yet you know not what is a star! I am starting to wonder just how you crossed the Sankandō[iii]!]
[What is the Sankandō?] it asked, and before it could be cut off again, hastily pressed, [Clearly something is special about starlight, because I am feeling it. But why did you imply it has some kind of significant connection to me? And can you please explain now what is a Soul and what are Spirits?]
[Ai! First things first!] chided its guide.
It decided not to point out it had been interrupted twice.
[Starlight feels alive to us because we ourselves are alive! Stars may be the most powerful things in all Ages in all realms but they are not living things, and starlight is not living power. If you were an inanimate object, say, like that rock you were holed up in, you would be feeling this starlight very differently now.]
It could not quite grasp the logic. [But if starlight is a non-living power, then how is it that it is not only healing me, but healing me so quickly?]
[Ai! Did I not just explain?] The mass of light swirled with impatience. [I did not say it is healing you, I said its power is causing you to heal! ‘Tis the touch of the star’s power on you stimulating your light to heal you, not that the starlight itself is doing any healing, see the difference?]
It realised that it would have to pay much closer attention from hereon.
For the being was clearly an extremely precise sort.
[Let me rephrase that,] it amended itself. [How is starlight causing my light to heal me? And heal me so quickly too?]
Manakoshi rippled fretfully. [I can tell you, I want to tell you, this is why I came after you, but will you understand? You cannot even remember what is a star, all your basic knowledge must be gone! Without the basics, how will you make sense of anything I say?]
[Then explain to me the basics?] it suggested. [Help me regain them.]
[There is a lot for me to explain and you to know if we start from the basics,] Manakoshi glittered warningly. [And things will become harder and harder to grasp the more we proceed. I am no teacher either, I can only try to explain as plainly as possible. Are you prepared? Can you keep up?]
[I will have to.] It was resolute. [I cannot and will not carry on like this, in this dangerous ignorance.]
Finally, the being simmered down somewhat. [In that case, the very first thing you must learn, or relearn, in your case, is the about the forces of,] there was a minute pause, and then with purposeful emphasis, [Teizundōshin[iv].] And then a silent anticipation followed.
It stared, waiting likewise.
After several moments passed, the being began glittering agitatedly again.
[Ai! Not stirring a thing? Not even slightly?]
[Should it be?] it asked, puzzled.
There was a vexed growl. [I was hoping the sound of the term would be familiar to you, but it clearly does not stir the slightest recollection! Ai! I truly cannot understand why your memories are so… so patchy!]
Comprehension dawned.
[I see what you are attempting. Perhaps you can simply go on? If anything sounds familiar to me, I will let you know,] it offered.
[Seems that is how we must proceed with you now,] agreed its guide with visible woe. But then, with a ripple, shook off the momentary gloom. [There is nothing for it, then, but to go on. So, the basics. The first thing you need to understand are the elemental forces of Teizundōshin. Because they are the foundational powers without which nothing can ever exist. You have been sensing them since you awakened. All the chaos you feel storming all about? They are the results of the forces of Teizundōshin perpetually at work everywhere. These forces never cease, never pause even for the slightest moment, they constantly stir all materials in this cosmos to form all things tangible. Follow so far?]
[Aye,] it responded. [So far so good.]
Manakoshi glimmered, visibly assured. [To truly realise and appreciate how vital they are to everything, you must first learn and understand the characteristics and purpose of each elemental force. Pay attention now.]
It trained all its focus upon the being.
[Tei is the force of resistance, it births solidity and stillness. But we cannot perceive the forces of Tei directly. We can only feel them as resistance against us. And observe their effects and influences in all tangible things. For instance, take that asteroid you hid in. It was hard and solid, ne? Because it was formed to be hard and solid by the forces of Tei, which we regard as hard, yet passive forces. Hard, because they obstruct and resist. But passive, because they do not initiate anything.]
The new knowledge began to arouse a kind of excitement.
[What about the forces of Zun, Dō and Shin?] it asked eagerly.
[Zun is the elemental force of adaptability. ‘Tis the force behind all change and conformation. Zun forces are more elusive than the forces of Tei. Whereas we can at least feel the forces of Tei as a resistance, we can feel nothing of the forces of Zun. The only means for us to know whether Zun forces are at work is by seeking for their effects. You did notice how your frozen asteroid heated up the more it tumbled into that terrible, white inferno, ne? That was the Zun forces at work, you felt how they were changing that rock from frozen to hot, adapting the asteroid to the increasingly hotter conditions.]
[I knew the change was occurring!] it realised, elated as it finally began to understand. [But I did not know the whys of it before. Now I do!]
[Aye, ‘tis always better to know what we are observing, ne?] Manakoshi approved. [Where the forces of Tei are hard and passive, the forces of Zun are always soft and passive. For they are never direct, they never initiate anything. But never, not even for one instant, ever think them weak. As soft and passive as the forces of change and adaptation always are, they can wreck a transformation so complete, that the result becomes utterly unrecognisable. Think back. That inferno in which you were trapped, which nearly ended you, it changed the entire region. What was once the usual chaos of the cosmos has now become a vast, terrible zone of pure devastation.]
There was no way it would ever forget that.
And it could not utter a single response for the awe which the memory invoked.
[Now, the forces of Zun find their complete opposites in the forces of Dō, the elemental forces of movement. All forces of Dō are hard, active forces. They birth all non-elemental forces in existence, and from these, all activities arise. The forces of Dō are the only elemental forces we can sense directly. We see them as lights, even your light and my light. We hear them as sounds and noise. Feel them as heat or cold or any manner of other sensations, feel them as every push or pull against our forms. When we fly, when we move, ‘tis one or more of the forces of Dō which are enabling us to perform these actions. When that asteroid took you into that white-hot fire, ‘twas also the forces of Dō responsible for that.]
[So the forces of Dō are almost everywhere,] it concluded.
[Almost? Nay, the forces of Dō are everywhere,] corrected Manakoshi. [They must be. For they carry upon them all other forces in existence. ‘Tis the forces of Dō which brings all other elemental forces into every aspect of every realm. Without the forces of Dō, nothing else can even hope to exist. For despite their importance to all other elemental forces, the forces of Dō neither reign supreme nor are they the most fundamental. Because at the end of every Epoch of four Aeons, the forces of Dō will be the only force remaining active, while all the other elemental forces will lapse into passivity. When that happens, Dō forces are only capable of creating pure, absolute chaos in which nothing else is possible Dō forces thus depend on all other forces for their very purpose. This critical dependence of power is one which you must always remember.]
[I will,] it promised. [And the forces of Shin?]
[Shin, now that is my favourite!] Manakoshi shimmered brightly. [Shin forces are the forces of expansion. They are the complete opposite of the forces of Tei. From the forces of Shin, arise all growths, all developments. Soft yet active forces they are. Like the forces of Zun, the forces of Shin cannot be sensed directly, only their effects can be perceived. But unlike the effects of Zun forces, it takes an advanced Awareness to able to identify the forces of Shin at work. You did not know it then, but when you discovered how you could heal yourself with your light, you grew in your power and learning. That was the force of Shin at work inside you. But the healing process was an active effect, for they erased your wounds. That was one observable effect of the active aspect of the forces of Shin.]
[So all elemental forces, they are present and at work even inside living beings?] it asked.
[Inside living beings? Not merely inside, all living beings are nothing without them!] Manakoshi shimmered grandly. [The very life of beings, ‘tis an elemental force of its own kind. For all beings of corporeal forms, even shapeless clouds of living lights like yours, and the one I now wear, ‘tis the four elemental forces of Teizundōshin which make up each and every one of our bodies. Remember, these forces constantly stir all materials in this cosmos to form everything tangible. And by everything, I do mean everything. Every object, every power, every phenomenon and event, every single thing we can see, feel, touch, smell, hear and sense across all tangible realms across all Ages, they are all made tangible by the four forces of Teizundōshin. And when things are tangible they become perceivable to us. This is why we call this realm the Yūkeikai[v]. ‘Yūkei’ meaning being tangible and ‘kai’… well, ‘kai’ once meant a state of perception, but now it has become oversimplified to mean realm…]
[And beings?] it asked avidly. [Do living beings have a nice name like that too? Always calling us living beings or beings sounds very rude–]
[Beings are more complicated,] Manakoshi cut in, clearly unheeding of manners, and even followed with a sardonic snort. [But no surprise there, ne? For starters, all beings who must exist in a tangible realm, like this Yūkeikai, must assume a corporeal form simply just to live. Otherwise its very life would not withstand the sheer power of the elemental forces and would be commingled and lost into oblivion among chaos. We call these beings Keitaisei[vi], ‘keitai’ meaning corporeal form, ‘sei’ meaning life, and so together, Keitaisei means living beings of corporeal forms.]
Reflexively, it looked down at itself, seeing its own glowing cloud of opaque, golden light. And then it looked at its guide again, seeing the being’s mass of swirling, iridescent light.
[But our forms do not appear corporeal,] it pointed out doubtfully. [Are we still Keitaisei?]
[Your light is visible,] Manakoshi reminded. [Did I not just tell you the forces of Dō can be perceived as light? So aye, even bodies of shapeless clouds of living light are corporeal. This is why you are a Keitaisei.]
It noticed the omission immediately. [But you are not?]
Manakoshi rippled with uncertainty. [Answering that will probably be rushing you too fast, but since you asked…] Then the being sighed. [Well, since you asked, know that I am a Mutaisei[vii], ‘mu’ meaning without, and ‘tai’ meaning tangible form. This means I am a being without corporeal form. I do not need to inhabit any tangible body simply to live. Does not mean I cannot adopt one if I wish to. Like now. And before you ask, aye, you were like me, a Mutaisei too. Though you ended all that the moment put yourself into this mess!]
It ignored the chastisement, for the revelations were much too intriguing. If Keitaisei with their tangible forms lived in this tangible realm called the Yūkeikai…
It decided to hazard a guess. [So Mutaisei without tangible forms live in, what, an intangible realm? Let me guess, it is called the Mukeikai[viii]? Meaning Intangible Realm?]
[Formless Realm, to be more exact, but you made a very good guess regardless!] Manakoshi praised. [Aye, you and I used to exist in the Mukeikai. It is a realm of no tangibility, hence it is everywhere and nowhere all at once.]
[But this means…] It hesitated briefly, then plunged ahead with another guess. [This means the forces of Teizundōshin do not exist in the Mukeikai?]
[Nay, the exact opposite is true. The Mukeikai is nothing but pure, elemental forces. ‘Tis not a physical realm at all. When I said that ‘kai’ originally meant a state of perception, that is the Mukeikai. Think of it as a realm which exists solely because the collective Awarenesses of all Mutaisei are perceiving it to exist. Hence it has no materiality, and without materiality, no elemental force can bring anything into tangibility. Hence there is no form.]
It stared, lost. [I fear all I can understand of that is it seems the Mukeikai is a higher realm? It must be. If something does not even need to be tangible in order to exist, then logically, it must be extremely powerful.]
[We do not think in terms of power,] Manakoshi corrected, but agreed nevertheless, [But aye, the Mukeikai is considered a higher realm, simply because it takes a much broader and deeper Awareness before a being is able to perceive it.]
[Beings like the Mutaisei, who no longer need to inhabit corporeal forms in order to live?]
[Correct!] Manakoshi glimmered, pleased. [One of the natural results of transcending to a larger Awareness is that we no longer need any corporeal forms. As Mutaisei, we exist at a purer state untouched by any materiality. And thus every aspect of us is unconstrained by the limits of substance.]
[That sounds handy,] it remarked appreciatively.
[Oh, it certainly is! ‘Tis the most convenient way to exist, in my view. We can go anywhere, be anything, do practically anything. You will see when you are finally done with all these heavy Keitaisei business and can return to the Mukeikai.]
[When will that be?] it wondered, curious. [And what is my business here?]
[You ask difficult questions, Tomo[ix].] Manakoshi dimmed. [I cannot answer the first, for time moves very differently in the Yūkeikai. Very much differently. The only certainty I can tell you is that as long as you keep up that logical deductive gift of yours, you may just progress much more smoothly and quickly than any of us expect. As for your second question,] the being sighed. [Like I said, I can tell you, and I sorely wish to. But will you understand anything at this moment? When I have to even explain what you are to you?]
It could not argue with that.
[All I hope for now is that I can cram in more than just the basics,] Manakoshi went on. [The effects of the Sankandō are very permanent, but if you can keep on using your reasoning abilities like this–]
It at once latched onto the term. [Wait, can you tell me now what is the Sankandō? I already know some basics now.]
[Just enough,] Manakoshi pointed out. Then relented and explained. [Simply put, the Sankandō is the Three Routes of Return. The Route of Souls, the Route of Hard Spirits, and the Route of Soft Spirits. All Keitaisei, be it as Souls or Spirits, must pass through the Sankandō to be reborn back into this Yūkeikai. Passing through one of the three Routes erases all memories of its past lives so that it will be reborn with a new, blank Awareness, devoid of memories, ready to live its new life in a way that will exhaust the ill consequences riding upon it. And hopefully, avoid inflicting new causes upon itself that would prolong its miseries.]
Once again, it found it could grasp only one thing in that explanation. [So is this why I cannot remember anything?]
Manakoshi swirled thoughtfully. [I am now not so certain that you do not remember anything at all… Newly reborn Keitaisei are always as helpless as… well, newborns. But you, it seems only the memories of your Awareness were erased. For some reason, your senses are still instinctively recognising what they used to be able to… Ai! This is most puzzling! Nay, do not ask me for any explanation yet, I do not even have the slightest inkling of how to begin guessing what might have happened to you when you passed through the Sankandō…]
Accepting the explanation for now, it turned and stared at the brilliant, fiery, vermillion star, and then scanned beyond, tracing its vision across the strangely distant-looking vistas of chaos and anarchy storming on heedlessly.
[Tell me something,] it began. [I have been sensing the forces of Teizundōshin like you said. I have been feeling them since I awakened. They were excruciating. But they no longer bother me. Since I healed myself, they do not hurt anymore. Now I sense them as… as a kind of dull, thrumming noise which are of no consequence and do not hinder me at all. Like a harmless background sound. What caused this change? The forces of Zun?]
[I will do something better for you. Why not you try telling me what you think caused this change? Test what you have just learnt.]
It thought for a while.
Then hazarded, [The forces of Zun must be at work in me to cause the change, but… also the forces of Shun? I do feel like my power and knowledge have grown…]
[But you are exactly right!] Manakoshi shimmered. [The first time when you healed yourself, it took all your focus and will, ne? Now, you do not even have to think about it. This is the result of the elemental forces of Zun and Shun adapting and growing your power. Each elemental force has its own family of related forces. There are whole disciplines devoted to each one of them but the most important thing you need to know is that the four forces of Teizundōshin, together with their families of related forces, they combine into infinite permutations. The unending chaos out there are not merely signs of only the four force at work, but also all those myriads of permutations reacting with other forces and the materials in the cosmos. When you healed yourself the first time, your light was wielding a mix of the forces of Zun and Shun. And right now, ‘tis a different mix of the Zun and Shun powers which are enabling you to heal. Though this time I see that they are of a more complex mix than before...]
It looked down at itself once more.
All its burns were gone.
What was more, there was a strange flow of a new power surging through its very being.
A power it had never felt before.
Yet, inexplicably, it felt as if this power had always been its own.
[What is this I am feeling?] it marvelled wonderingly. [‘Tis unfamiliar, yet it feels as if it has always been a part of me!]
Manakoshi rippled, confounded. [This is becoming more and more vexing! How is it that you are feeling the familiarity of starlight but your Awareness still cannot remember it? Your affinity to starlight is the greatest among all Souls, can it be that your senses retained their memories for the light of stars? There must be something I am not yet seeing, or the Nyorai-bu knew a lot more than they were letting on when they asked you to do this. Knowing how cryptic they are, I am betting ‘tis the latter…] The monologue began trailing off into indistinct mutterings.
But it had already caught the slipped information.
[Who are the Nyorai-bu?] And then, slightly suspicious, it asked, [Did they give me a command dressed as a request? The way you are putting it, it sounds like the Nyorai-bu control everything and I had little choice in the matter.]
[Control?] Manakoshi abruptly shook, upset. [That is not how things work! You had a choice. You had total freedom to choose! And you did not have to choose to do this at all!]
So it had guessed very wrong this time.
[To the Nyorai-bu none of these is ever about control at all! The moment you are free of this Yūkeikai, nothing and no one can command or coerce you into doing anything. Every single one of your deeds is still ultimately done purely out of your own volition, you are still the only one inflicting all causes and consequences upon yourself!]
[Slow down!] it hastened to stop. [What are you speaking of? What causes and consequences? You are rushing too fast!]
Manakoshi dimmed its light, slightly mollified. [Perhaps I am. But I hope you will forever remember after this how much pain I took to come after you. There is simply too much you need to know, and I am uncertain if I can impart everything you need to know in the time I have left here. Come along now, you have completely healed, so I think we can risk going nearer to the star. Perhaps a closer touch of starlight will stir in you more than just vague familiarity for its power.]
With that, its mercurial guide and rescuer began hastening towards the titanic, brilliant, vermillion fireball.
Once again, it followed.
This time, without hesitation at all, for it was now entirely consumed by its hunger to know.
[i] Naihoku /nigh-ho-kuh/ (HN: ナイホク) is an archaic, now obsolete term for table cutlery.
[ii] Manakoshi /mah-nah-koh-shee/ (KN: 真名呼士シ) means ‘The One Who Calls The True Name’.
[iii] Sankandō /saahn-khan-doh/ (KN: 三さん還カン道) means ‘Three Routes Of Return’.
[iv] Teizundōshin /tay-zuhn-dou-sheen/ (KN: 抵順ずん動ドウ伸シン) is a phrase consisting of four separate words of:
- Tei /tay/ (KN: 抵), meaning the force of resistance, which gives rise to solidity, hardness, tangibility, resistance to movement and change, stubbornness, collectiveness, stability, gravity and sureness, represented by earth;
- Zun /zuhn/ (KN: 順ずん), meaning the force of adaptability, which gives rise to fluidity, formlessness, conformation, adaptation, flexibility, suppleness, magnetism, defensiveness, represented by water;
- Dō /dou/ (KN: 動ドウ), meaning the force of movement, which gives rise to power and all phenomena which releases power such as metabolism, movement and physical activeness, and active non-physical desire, intention and motivation, represented by fire; and
- Shin /sheen/ (KN: 伸シン), meaning the force of expansion, which gives rise to growth, freedom, development, learning, open mind, wisdom, carefreeness, elusiveness, benevolence and compassion, represented by wind.
[v] Yūkeikai /yu-kay-kai/ (KN: 有ゆう形けい界) means ‘Tangible Realm’, in which everything is tangible, has form and substance.
[vi] Keitaisei /kay-tie-say/ (KN: 形けい体タイ生セイ) means ‘Living Beings Of Corporeal Form’.
[vii] Mutaisei /muh-tie-say/ (KN: 無体タイ生セイ) means ‘Living Being Of No Corporeal Form’.
[viii] Mukeikai /muh-kay-kai/ (KN: 無形けい界) means ‘Formless Realm’, in which everything has neither form nor substance nor tangibility.
[ix] Tomo /toh-moh/ (KN: 友) means ‘Friend’.