— — — — — —
[Spiritual Power (Lv.1)]
[All things under Heaven possess spirit. Awakening the spiritual nature of the self—this is Spiritual Power.]
That's how the Trait System explained "Spiritual Power." Honestly? Sounded pretty mysterious.
"We did it?"
The moment his Spiritual Power awakened, the others noticed the same glow within themselves. Kaguya beamed with joy.
"Yeah, we did it," Veyron replied with a nod.
He let go of their hands and raised his own, letting a faint, white glow swirl around his fingertips.
"That's high quality," Eirin observed after sensing the glow.
When it comes to the Spiritual Power system—setting aside cases like divine possession—there are two main factors that determine its strength:
First, the purity of one's original spirit. The purer it is at the moment of awakening, the higher the quality of your Spiritual Power.
Second, the development of one's mind and spirit. A refined mind brings a stronger spirit, and a stronger spirit leads to more powerful Spiritual Power.
---
After some time of Eirin explained Spiritual Power ...
"That's it? Nothing more concrete?"
Veyron had thought the process of visualizing your inner self and awakening your original spirit was already abstract enough.
Now that the training method for Spiritual Power was even vaguer, he couldn't help but mutter: "So there is no limit to how abstract this can get."
"Concrete like what?" Eirin asked.
"Like... actual techniques or methods," Veyron replied, tossing out a few examples. "Stuff like breathing exercises, spirit refining, mental focus training, spirit-control…"
"Those all work," Eirin nodded.
"Huh?"What do you mean 'they all work'?
"The essence is elevating the state of your mind. All the techniques you mentioned help clear distractions and direct your focus inward. So yes, they all count," she explained.
Seeing that Veyron was still a little confused, Eirin gave a clearer example:
"Take the shrine maidens in this land, for instance. Their training usually involves visualizing the deity they worship. The clearer that image becomes in their minds, the more their Spiritual Power increases."
"Oh!"
"On the way back this time, I actually ran into a shrine maiden with incredibly strong Spiritual Power. Honestly, I felt like even if she had to face a high-level yokai, she could probably hold her own."
Veyron thought back to Midoriko and asked, "But she told me her shrine had already been destroyed by yokai a long time ago..."
"That doesn't matter," Eirin said. "Visualization is visualization. Belief is belief. And gods are gods. As long as you can separate the three, you're fine.
"To put it bluntly—if you visualize a god, what does that god actually have to do with it?
"I've lived through the wildest era this world's ever seen.
"Back then, gods walked the earth. Even if you were hiding deep in the mountains, it wasn't rare to hear about some god falling.
"Many of them died in god-wars, sure. But some were killed by their own so-called 'followers'—just because the god didn't live up to the perfect image they had in their minds."
Veyron was lost in thought.
— — —
Moments later, a huge Tomoe ring slowly took form in his mind—black and white in perfect balance, the Yin-Yang (Inyo) patterns spinning clockwise.
At first, he had tried to visualize something OP—like the Infinity Stones from Marvel.
But he quickly realized something. This wasn't called imagination, it was called visualization for a reason. You had to at least know what you were trying to visualize in the first place.
Otherwise, you're not sharpening your mind—you're just letting it drift.
It made sense why shrine maidens often picked the gods they worship. If you can form a belief, it means you've already formed a mental image of that god—even if it's not complete or even real.
Those "followers" Eirin mentioned, the ones who turned on their gods for not matching their ideal... were probably just victims of their own shallow or distorted visualizations that slowly morphed into obsession.
Since visualizing OP things didn't work, Veyron turned to something more familiar—something ancient: the balance symbol.
The intertwining Yin/Yang, light/dark, moon/sun, black and white in harmony—he couldn't be more familiar with it.
He chose it based on Exorcist and Onmyoji-themed anime, especially Naruto—with the whole Six Paths stuff. Plus, he figured that with so many different powers and skills, things could get messy later. At least now, he had a backup plan if something went wrong.
[Spiritual Power (Lv.1) gained 1 EXP]
[...]
[Spiritual Power (Lv.1) EXP full – ready for level up]
[Spiritual Power (Lv.1) has advanced to Spiritual Power (Lv.2)]
Not bad for a test run.
Even though he didn't really feel like he'd had some deep breakthrough while visualizing the Tomoe ring… the Trait System said otherwise. So sure—he'd take the win.
As the level increased, the glow around his fingertips became noticeably brighter and heavier.
"What were you visualizing, Father?"
Once his meditation ended and he opened his eyes, Kaguya curiously leaned in to ask.
"Obviously… you."
Veyron was just messing around, but before he could finish the joke, he caught Eirin giving him a long, silent stare from the side. He coughed awkwardly. "Alright, alright—I visualized this."
As he focused his will, the Spiritual Power at his fingertip condensed into the shape of a harmony Tomoe ring.
"I actually got my hopes up for a second... but I was wrong, clearly."
Kaguya theatrically wiped her eyes with her sleeve, her voice low and dramatic—as she was deeply hurt.
"Not bad. Suits you," Eirin said, far more serious than Kaguya. "Come with me to the study later. I've got some books about Yin and Yang stored away—they might help you."
"Thanks, I really appreciate it."
Veyron quickly bowed in gratitude.
He'd just awakened a brand-new power, so of course his mood was great.
Still, even in his excitement… he had a nagging feeling he was forgetting something.
Let's see… Kaguya's on his left, Eirin's on his right, Hmm....wait.
Where's my dog?
"Did we forget Inukimi at the door?" Veyron asked, turning to Kaguya.
"If she didn't wander off, she should still be there," Kaguya replied with a nod.
Veyron: "..."
Meanwhile, outside the gates of Eientei...
Inukimi, the royal Inu-Yokai, stood staring at the bamboo mansion veiled behind a barrier, blinking slowly.
They've been in there forever... Did something really go wrong with his body?
And why haven't I been allowed in yet?
.
.
.