Intermission


    Eirlathion: Magecraft the path of Sorcery and the path of Wizardry


    Aerien: Warrior god combat meditation.


    ‘I have been meaning to ask,’ Gaerien said to me later in the day, ‘I am going to be helping you to figure out your path, so I should probably start by asking you a few things about this fighting style of yours and what you know about your meditation.’


    ‘Ok, I guess that makes sense.’


    ‘Well, to start with, what is it called?’


    ‘It’s a bit of a crazy name. It is called Bujin Taijutsu. I am not certain if you know Japanese, but to translate that name into English, Taijutsu means a style focused on body movement, of always having your body in the optimum place and position to disrupt your opponent, exploit their blind spots and weak points, and gain leverage on their joints in the case of using a Jujutsu, which means a joint manipulation technique. As for Bujin, that term literally translates to warrior god. So, the name of the style, if I were to translate it to English, would best be translated as combat movements of the warrior god.’


    ‘Hah, just as I thought.’Gaerien responded. ‘That’s exactly the sort of name a high level meditation would have. You said it was a crazy name, but actually that’s perfectly normal among the top tier meditations. Combat movements of the warrior god though? So, it may really not be all that cut out for magecraft. With a name like that, it would probably be a physical cultivation technique. But, the only reason it would even have a method to pierce the world barrier would be if it was meant to be used in spellcasting. This is pretty confusing.’


    ‘Well, it’s possible the whole thing is a deception. The style actually has quite the history behind it. Maybe your confusion will be cleared up if you hear it.’


    ‘Ok, I’m sure it will be.’


    ‘Well, as I said, it came from Japan. Japan is a rather large Island back on Earth, but it is still an Island. What’s more, it was a harsh land with very poor resources available to it. As a result of this, the people of Japan became a very war like people. Warlords were a rather regular thing for them up until the United States where I lived defeated them completely in war a little over half a century ago and forced them to fully disarm due to how little the rest of the world could trust them in their war-like ways.’


    ‘Anyway,’I continue ‘before they were forced to disarm, life consisted of the warlords tearing up the country on a regular basis. There were some people in this time who, in order to survive, went to hide in the forests in order to avoid the wrath of the warlords. However, they also had to defend themselves, so they created their own fighting force that used secrecy, guerilla warfare, and indirect methods to win battles and protect themselves. Eventually, some of the warlords took note of these people and began incorporating them into their own forces.’


    ‘As I said before, the very name “combat movements of the warrior god” could be a deception. The people I am speaking about were masters of information warfare, and it was them who developed the fighting style that I used. The fighting style emphasizes adaptability above all else, and it incorporated the fighting technique of the Samuri, the top warriors of the warlords. The number one principle of the style, being developed by peasant villagers who were hiding just to survive and perfected a powerful warrior art as a result, is to use everything you can in order to survive.’


    ‘Wow! With a history like that behind your meditation, I guess I can understand now why you were so upset about not being able to sense threats in advance. But, you say it emphasizes adaptability. In that case, this ought to work out well. If it adapts to and incorporates anything it comes across that’s useful, then there HAS to be something you can do to fix the problem with sensing enemies without dumping out the meditation. There ought to be some kind of potential for a fix already baked right into it.’


    ‘Now then, something else I would like you to explain to me. Normally, these kinds of meditations of such a high level are divided into tiers, and each tier could have several sub levels to it as well. Are you aware of anything like that?’


    ‘Hmm... well, now that you mention it, there are a number of levels. There are... if I were to count all the sub levels, I guess you could say there are 45. However, most of that is repeating through a cycle over and over again. It is a cycle through the four elements, and then a fifth element of the void. Those five elements are repeated for each of three influences, as we call them. Everything about this style is described in terms of what you influence. First, at the most basic level, is the influence of heaven. Yes, we start with heaven as our first one and consider that to be the most basic. Next, is the manipulation of Earth. Finally, at the most advanced level, is the manipulation of man.’


    ‘Well... exactly the opposite of how most would arrange it. I had thought that your style seemed fairly unorthodox from what I had heard up until this point, if you reverse the order of man, earth, and heaven then there definitely has to be something very different about your methods.’


    ‘Oh, we very much pride ourselves on being unorthodox and unintuitive in our approach to just about everything. It is specifically because we use such unconventional methods that we are able to circumvent the usual defensive tactics most people take. When the forebearers of this style were incorporated into the imperial armies, they mostly acted as secret body guards and information warfare specialists, never appearing on the front lines, and yet they were among the most effective members of the military that were the difference between winning and loosing the war.’


    ‘So, you said you cycle through the same process again for each level. I take it then that you go through those five elements for each of the three influences you just mentioned. That only totals up to 15 levels though. I take it there is another greater cycle of three more that increases the count to 45?’


    ‘Yes. They are called the focuses. The first, and lowest focus is called the focus of Taijutsu. Again, this means body movement technique. The second is the focus of Ninjutsu, human manipulation technique. Finally, the top level is Bushin. The focus of the true warrior god.’


    ‘Well, after hearing this, there is no doubt at all that this is a very very high tier meditation. It’s really too bad it’s incomplete and you have to rediscover its true secrets and reform it on your own. Anyway, one more thing I want to confirm. You keep bringing up this movement thing, Taijutsu as you call it. I remember you saying once that movement is important in your meditation.’


    ‘Yes, there is a still meditation portion, but that is not going to help you at all. The meditation of the Bujin Taijutsu school is a form of moving meditation. Really, the still portion is only practiced to teach beginners what they should be focusing on and contemplating while they are in training.’


    ‘Hmm... by any chance, is there anything about it advancing faster for people who have been in real battles?’


    ‘Well, yes.’


    ‘I see. Well, this really is quite the meditation. I can see where the warrior god part of it comes from. The cultivation method in your meditation improves while you are moving, is better while in combat training, and is at its best while on the battlefield. You grow stronger while you fight. Once again, this is a cultivation method most cultivators would literally kill for. I simply cannot tell you how envious a method this is.’


    Gaerien: Divine presence cultivation technique (modified)


    ‘So, you prodded me all about my cultivation method, how about you tell me a thing or two about yours?’


    ‘Oh, you’re curious? I thought you didn’t have any interest in this godhood stuff.’


    ‘You keep telling me that my method is so incredible people would kill for it. However, you have not actually asked me to teach it to you once. That got me curious. There has got to be something in your method that’s also pretty powerful if you have shown no interest in my method other than what you need to know in order to help me.’


    ‘Hehe, well, yes. Supposedly it’s the best cultivation method there is, at least the best that I’m aware of. It’s the same method that the one you worship as your personal god used to become so powerful.’


    ‘WHAT!?’


    ‘Well, actually! I should probably correct myself on that. It’s a modified version. Normally, only pure deified souls can use it. It’s a high level meditation meant to be used by those who are already very very high level. So, I had to try and invent a lower level to it that can be used by mortals myself. It’s not actually his method, it’s my method to try and create the conditions that allow someone to just begin on his method.’


    ‘Ok, but still… you’re saying you actually know his method?’


    ‘Well, yeah. He spread it around pretty freely. You’ve heard of angels, right? That’s what deities who use this cultivation method are called when they are on the lowest stage of it, and the strongest angels are able to match the strongest regular gods who use other meditations. However, even though it’s a very powerful method, it actually has a flaw to it. It’s designed for an entity with a multi-part composite soul.’


    ‘Wow, this is a lot to take in. So, angels are actually lesser gods? But, wait… multi-part composite soul?’


    ‘Yes.’ Gaerien said, almost with an air of disgust in her mental voice. ‘If you don’t have at least a split 2 part soul, you will not be able to make it past the 9th choir, the choir of the Seraphim. A Seraph still has amazing power, I was quite content to just reach that level and call things good. However, you go and step into my inner world with a 2 part soul and demonstrate to me that, yet again, my methods were wrong from the start and I ought to have been following your example since the beginning, and it’s already WAY too late for me to use the same method you used! I am SERIOUSLY cursing my selfconsciousness from early on right now. You have absolutely no idea how much I’m lamenting that loss. Then again, I don’t think I actually know anything about how to progress after the Seraphim choir anyway. So, I would just be blindly making it up as I went along after progressing past that point very much like you and your attempts to re-form the warrior god technique you’ve got.’


    ‘I’ve got one more thing to ask about. You said something about the pre-condition being that you had to be a pure deified soul. Is there something special about that that’s different from other kinds of souls?’


    ‘Oh, yes there is! Pretty much, you have to be someone who reached the level just shy of the godhood transformation without cultivating for a single day in your life. In addition, you have to go through several layers of additional purification all throughout your life in order to get the natural impurities that come from the world and affect your soul.’


    ‘Wait… reaching the level near godhood without cultivating?’ After hearing that, my mind naturally went to the state of our mother, who apparently had her spirit enhanced like it would have been through cultivation just by being near some exceptionally dense spirit energy.


    ‘Yes, I think you’re probably figuring it out. That’s another part of the reason all the spirit energy was contained inside of Earth’s barrier. When it is dense enough, it will forcibly re-form a person’s spirit and prepare it for a godhood transformation even if they do nothing to cultivate. Because of this, when a person on Earth died, they had the opportunity to possibly transforming into a god immediately instead of reincarnating as someone on any other world would. And then, if it was someone who had diligently gone through the proper purification methods through their life, they would be invited to his kingdom in order to cultivate on the angel’s path.’


    ‘Hold on, hold on, you just said your soul has to be prepared without cultivating! You said you are using a cultivation method in order to prepare your soul for the angel’s path though.’


    ‘Yes, this is what makes the method I’m using so hard. You saw all the impurities that had developed already inside my spirit. I’m going to have to cleanse those off rather regularly. Also, I’m doing nothing in my cultivation to reinforce my spirit. Instead, I’m just gathering the mana and spirit energy and trying to let it infuse into my spirit naturally. Fortunately, this body seems to be one that can last a very long time. It ought to be capable of lasting the time that’s needed for such a long process. There is absolutely no way I could have ever attempted this if I was born a human.’