Soul

The soul ｢魂, tamashī｣ is the most essential component at the root of all beings. It is the most fundamental self and the source of power for all living beings.

Composition

The innermost facet of the soul is known as the ego ｢自我, jiga｣, which is an amorphous wavelength that acts as the source of intention and will. The ego is surrounded by a supercluster of infons known as the heart core ｢心核｢ココロ｣, kokoro, lit. "spirit nucleus; mind's center"｣ or the thought body ｢思念体, shinen tai｣, which serves as both a container for the ego and as well as a recording device for information. The core is then surrounded by an energy crystal ｢エネルギー結晶, enerugī kesshō｣, a dense collection of spiritrons^[1] which acts as a source of power. The energy crystal is usually the topic of discussion when the term "soul" is used.

All three of these aspects work together and form a cohesive mechanism similar to a living cell, which is then covered in a protective housing known as the astral body.

There is a base minimum amount of soul power ｢魂の力, tamashī no chikara｣, also known as soul energy ｢魂のエネルギー, tamashī no enerugī｣, within the energy crystal granted to every soul equally, but based on the quality ｢質, shitsu｣ and quantity ｢量, ryō｣ of infons within the core, this energy can increase dramatically. The quality and quantity of information (and the resulting soul power) of plants and animals is extremely small; while the information of sentient beings is vastly superior in quantity and quality and results in a much higher amount of soul power. It is this soul power that fuels the activation of abilities like skills and magic, acting as the source of power for all living things. Though it is possible to use the magicules from the individual's internal storage or the environment as a replacement for soul power for use in battlewill and magic, this is not possible for skills.^[2]

Properties

As a rule of thumb, it is generally held that energy and skills rooted within the soul are nigh-on impossible to be affected by abilities such as those that can steal energy and skills from their targets. Though this is usually the case, if the right conditions are met these things can be taken away. However, anything rooted within the heart core cannot be deprived of its rightful owner.

It is also possible for two souls to be temporarily linked together inside one of the parties' inner spiritual world — also known as their mental landscape ｢心象風景, shinsō fūkei｣ — if their astral bodies are touching. In this sort of situation, it is possible for abilities to affect things rooted in the soul as long as the soul in question does not resist and has consented to the action.^[3]

Normally, it is impossible for the same soul to exist twice in the same space-time — the same world and point in timeline — with the only known exception being the skill Parallel Existence, which duplicates the user's soul and allows all copies of it to coexist. In all other circumstances, if such an anomaly occurs, the souls would react to each other and one of them (presumably the weaker one) will disappear. It is possible to avoid this by isolating one of the souls using Holy Ark. For the same reason, it is impossible to use Time Warp to travel to a location in a spacetime where the user/target already exists, even if the user/target has Parallel Existence.^[3][4]

Soul wavelength

Each soul has its own unique soul wavelength ｢魂の波長, tamashī no hachō｣, which seems to radiate from the core. An individual can be identified by their soul wavelength,^[5] and based on the frequency, one could gain a feeling of an individual's personality. These frequencies are known as color ｢色, iro｣ and it can develop and change depending on the growth of an individual. Daemons, in particular, place a great deal of importance on color, with their society being built around it.

Colors can be broadly split into 8 types, which exist on a spectrum and vary from individual to individual. The known colors are as follows;

• Colorless ｢無色, mushoku｣: A person who has yet to develop a color due to immaturity.
• Red ｢赤, aka｣: Typically denotes a person who is prideful and has a strong sense of self-importance.
• Yellow ｢黄, ki｣: Unknown characteristics.
• Green ｢緑, midori｣: Typically denotes a person who is calculating and constantly weighing the costs and benefits of everything around them. They're the type that heavily values things like contracts and wealth.
  • Muddy green ｢濁った緑, nigotta midori｣: A corrupted hue of green that denotes a completely selfish person that cares about their own profit above everything else.^[6]
• Blue ｢青, ao｣: Typically denotes a person who upholds law and order above all other values, a person who does everything according to the rules.
• Purple ｢紫, murasaki｣: Typically denotes a person who enjoys seeing others struggle or in pain, especially if they overcome it and become stronger for it.
  • Muddy purple ｢濁り切った紫, nigori kitta murasaki｣: A corrupted hue of purple that denotes a person who enjoys pain for the sake of pain, without any deeper reasoning.^[7]
• White ｢白, shiro｣: Unknown characteristics.
• Black ｢黒, kuro｣: Denotes souls that don't fit into any other category, those who are outliers or oddballs and cannot be predicted based on their color.

Names

A name ｢名前, namae｣ is a powerful piece of information carved into the soul, usually at birth by one's parents or later in life by an independent namer. The acquisition of a name can cause drastic changes within the soul, strengthening the ego and resulting in a massive increase in the quality and quantity of infons within the core.

Soul lineage

Soul lineage ｢魂の系譜, tamashī no keifu｣ refers to a special kind of link that connects the cores of two or more souls together across space-time. This link seems to be deeply tied to or synonymous with Divine protection and can be created in many ways, including but not limited to naming, magic, belief, blood relations, and marriage. Information as well as energy can be exchanged through the link and said link has two different names depending on its strength. The two known levels are soul connections ｢魂の繋, tamashī no tsunagi｣ and the superior soul corridors ｢魂の回廊, tamashī no kairō｣.

References