A normal day in Imogyeran’s life currently flows as follows:
First thing in the morning, the boy would get up very early in the morning, basically still during nighttime. He would use this time of the day, since it was the one he felt most comfortable with.
The average morning starts off with him doing some stretching exercises and warm-up-exercises. He was focused on stretching his leg muscles as well as his back muscles primarily and his arms and shoulder muscles secondarily. Imogyeran would typically do about 20 minutes of rigorous stretching, resulting in a strikingly agile and flexible body.
Next thing in the morning, he would start to go for a light jog, circling around the three-acre-wide field of barley. The tempo itself is relatively low but the straining part about this section of his training regimen is the time duration. Though it is hard to discern in numerical numbers, the boy would typically run his jog until he started hearing the blue-feathered Wingbirds chirping. The blue-feathered Wingbird is a typical kind of perching bird that has adapted itself over time to the Estican landscape.
Back when there were a lot of forested areas, the blue-feathered Wingbirds would lay inside the thick trees and prepare their nest in their tree-crowns far away from other potential predators. Ever since the Esticans accelerated the deforestation within their territory, this kind of bird started being seen in the vicinity of human towns, some of them even going as far as to lay their nest on top of the citizen’s houses. Especially during the earlier years the farming social class was outraged by their arrival due to a popular belief of the birds interfering with and destroying their well-prepared fields as a food source.
However that anger over them quickly subsided once they noticed that this wasn’t the case.
In fact, this type of bird eats all types of smaller insects that are attracted to the sweet crops and even acts as a deterrent against them. Ever since that knowledge became more widespread, the blue feathers of this Wingbird changed into a symbol of good fortune and a rich harvest. Incidentally, the Wingbird only starts its period of activity during the late morning, making its inconsequential to the one of the Estican public.
Going back to topic, Imogyeran finishes his light jog after approximately 2-3 hours of running with a constant tempo. Though the old man Hyoran does wake up at a similar time to his from time to time, that happenstance is more of a coincidence, when it actually happens for once.
By the time, that the boy has finished his jogging and is craving some food, the old man commonly also starts his day, which he does so by cooking the two of them a nice meal.
The word cooking is used very loosely here as the motions, that Hyoran goes through, are simply the boiling of water, the mixing with broth and animal fat, which he gets from the marketplace nearby, adding some basic spices to it and Et voilà, the two of them are able to enjoy a warm broth of soup, that might taste a little bland but it definitely counts as an effective meal to start the day with. For the sake of thermal efficiency the amount of food cooked is well above one portion for each person. Imogyeran alone stuffs himself full with at least 4 separate refills to a maximum of 6.
Eating this much in such regular intervals as well as strengthening his own body through the repeated use of physical as well as spiritual training has greatly enhanced his physical features and appearance.
Imogyeran started wearing an old pair of shoes that was lying around in this shack and his feet, that once were discolored covered with blisters and wounds from the harsh environment have started to heal up and though one can still visibly make out a purple discoloration of his feet, that would probably never go away in his lifetime, they have physically healed up and are now a pair of sturdy and well trained feet in his possession.
The once decrepit and ghostly looking frame of the boy has fattened up slightly and there is now more than just skin and bones to his limbs. Instead, this sight has been replaced with a lean but sturdy body-frame with clear definitions and strong and capable limbs attached to it.
The skin, that had looked as thin as paper when the two people first met, has thickened up a bit. Apparently Imogyeran’s complexion would not darken regardless of the solar rays hitting his skin: instead he would often get a sort of allergic reaction when under the sunlight for extended amounts of time. He would remedy that by using a combination long-sleeved clothing(old clothing from Hyoran, which was too big for him) and his spiritual arts to keep the sunlight from shining on his body for too long.
His stature has drastically improved as well: The back, that tended to have a slight hunch in it from the boy always looking down on his feet, started straightening itself once it felt Imogyeran’s will of improvement and his ever-growing sense of confidence. He held his back straight and his chin high in life. This made his most excellent features, his sharp and all-encompassing eyes, stand out more and also gave him a stronger presence than before.
The scars that once decorated his body from the boy’s childhood have also started to fade out more and more due to the influence of the spirits on his body. It almost feels like a rebirth. A rebirth of a burnt tree into a lush forest of prosperity and fortune.
After refilling his craving empty stomach the boy typically goes out for second running period. This period of running only lasts about 20 minutes but instead of being focused on endurance and warming up his body, this series of runs focuses on speed: Imogyeran is focusing on using his spiritual familiars Dogogo and ‘Yun’ as well as the spirits in the direct vicinity of himself to his advantage while doing the physical task of running. The results can already be said to be tremendous.
The boy uses the next few hours of his time to relax a bit and help out old man Hyoran with different house chores and anything, really, where he can help out, even if it is just a minimal amount. The chores he helps with include things such as sweeping the interior, helping him preparing the meals, keep the farmland safe from critters and such, making smaller repairs to various pieces of furniture in the house, etc..
Imogyeran spends his afternoon mostly in solitude. He sits down in a corner of the house and meditates. The purpose of this exercise is nothing productive such as communication with his spiritual familiars or steeling his mind and discipline, although the latter is a fortunate side result from this action. He simply does it to free himself from the constant voices inside his head.
Ever since the day that he got to create and meet ‘Donmir’, who was later renamed into Dogogo, and even slightly before that day the boy has been very sensitive to the spirits and their thoughts. Even though the spirits are generally closer to lifeless matter than to living beings, they do still possess a minimum of an emotional compass. That said, most of the emotions they emit are very superficial and instinctual but especially in cases of larger clusters of spirits the amount of emotional variety can even rival that of a singular being such as animals or humans. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem for one, who strove to venture into the territory of spirit channeling due to multiple reasons, one of which being the average age of such researchers averaging at around 35-40 years of age.
The reason for that lies not only in a difference in aptitude and talent but instead represents a precautionary measure:
Communicating with the spirits.
Cooperating with spirits.
Commanding the spirits.
Creating spirits.
Each of those increasingly more complicated steps relies on the establishment of a clear boundary system between oneself and the spirits one is trying to influence. The biggest danger of utilizing them to do your bidding is the so called “Eating”, a backlash-process, that occurs only when the channeling person oversteps their allowed amount of influence over nature’s phenomena. The spirit that one controlled will literally take everything.
They will take the body of the wielder, mincing it into dust and absorbing the dust into themselves, the “Body-Eating”.
They will capture and disintegrate the heart, robbing him of his ambitions, his dreams, his wants, his needs and essentially taking his humanity, the so “Heart-Robbing”.
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They will seize the mind and devour it into the stream of spirits, leaving the wielder without knowledge to eventually die and decompose into waste, the “Mind-Deprivation”.
Only the most experienced and wise people are able to walk a path, that takes advantage of the spirits without succumbing to their greed and overexerting their authority.
Imogyeran on the other hand is oblivious to this and is risking his very life by accepting the two spirits familiars and even establishing an equals-position with them. The bond between equal parties is one that shares everything including thoughts and emotions.
Unless he is specifically addressing this issue, the young boy is constantly bombarded with the impressions of multiple consciousnesses during every moment of his life. From morning to night, in his dreams, in his general life: It feels like he is under a constant stream of stress and tension that won’t go away ever. So how does he deal with this problem?
There are two main ways of dealing with it.
Solution number 1: Meditation. By concentrating his mental focus on his own body, heart and soul the residue thoughts are simply not able to enter his headspace that is already filled to the brim with himself.
A simple analogy would be thinking of his mind as a relatively empty bottle. In a normal state the streams of thoughts and emotions that are represented as water steadily stream down into the bottle, steadily filling it up, eventually reaching the top of it and overflowing. Instead the meditation uses thoughts about the bottle itself, it’s form and material and its purpose and fills the bottle with that to the point that there simply is no space for any other stray stream of thoughts and impressions. The result is a clear mind that is able to recuperate from the constant stress.
Solution number 2: ‘Yun’. Imogyeran has already cast multiple sleeping charms on Mr. Astaros and ‘Yun’ has gotten to the point of being proficient enough to cast them herself. That way, she has lately been able to enchant Imogyeran himself, resulting in his first good night of sleep in a while.
Going back to the original analogy, the concept of using the outside force ‘Yun’ as a medium to close off his mind into a near comatose state is akin to simply putting a lid on the open bottle, making it impermeable for any kind of thought to intrude.
While the first method has some inherent benefits such as a steady increase in his capacity to influence and command the spirits, the second method is one that is focused on rejuvenating
Imogyeran’s mind and body in the form of a sound sleep as well as having the fantastic benefit of needing a tremendously shortened amount of sleeping in general.
After he has finished his daily meditation, Imogyeran passes a considerable amount of the rest of the day by training his body, socializing with Mr. Astaros and learning more things about Dogogo and ‘Yun’.
‘Yun’ has gotten a lot more responsive lately and is already showing signs of a metamorphosis into a new higher spirit. She is very energetic, blowing around the house and playing around with Dogogo, oftentimes circling around Imogyeran and showing her affection to the two of them. She loves drifting around his arms and legs and then going back counter-clockwise until landing of Imogyeran’s head or shoulder. However, every time she ever accidentally runs into the area in front of his collarbone, she strictly avoids it. There is a thick gray area around it, ominously swirling around and making her feel almost afraid. She just can’s pinpoint what it is.
Whenever she looks over at Dogogo with a questioning gaze, he simply turns to her and gives the closest thing to a smile that he can produce and afterwards goes back to doing his own thing.
Anyway, regardless of that the connection between Imogyeran and his spiritual familiars has considerably evolved. They are getting rapidly more responsive and even their physical presence is solidifying at a considerable pace. It is to the point, that the old man Hyoran is able to roughly make out their existence with his own eyes, which is a moderately difficult achievement for them.
Honestly however, most of the day is only focused on the boy’s own convenience and comfort as he doesn’t see any challenge in his current lifestyle. No, what is truly propelling his growth and demanding the most out of him is the night.
..
It is now nightfall. Hyoran has already gone to sleep. As always I did a little something for his sleep so he doesn’t disturb my activities.
<
At my call the two burst out of my body, where they had been resting. While Dogogo is running circles around my legs and trying to snuggle up close to me, ‘Yun’ is swirling around my head and arms with a rapid pace, making me laugh from the ticklish feeling.
<
I smile for a while and then I stop. I use the spirits to erect a small hill in the ground, where I place myself upon while sitting down, both legs crossed and arms rested on top of them.
I take a couple of deep breaths as always and open my eyes.
In the meantime, every bit of my self is fleeing from my mind. My hobbies, my preferences, my age, my parents, my appearance. Only one thing remains, that which I keep on calling out.
<>
That’s right. I must never forget. I am Imogyeran Ashenwald, this is the one truth that nobody can take from me. This name is my proof of existence. I am Imogyeran Ashenwald.
..
In order to maximize one’s ability to communicate with something outside of oneself, one first has to give themselves as warranty. Imogyeran uses his emptied consciousness as a vessel of communication with his spirits. Inside his empty mind, ‘Yun’ and Dogogo are freely entering, instinctively understanding the kind of trust their master is showing them. The very notion of entering a human’s consciousness is the only prerequisite to the fatal condition of Mind-Deprivation. This means that If the spirits had harbored even the slightest bit of animosity or repulsion to the boy, they could have easily killed him; multiple times every night.
But the story goes even farther than that: Not only is Imogyeran Ashenwald opening his consciousness to the spiritual familiars he created, no. There have been several occasions where he went even farther and opened his mind to every environmental spirit in the vicinity, not distinguishing between any of them. In fact, before he created ‘Yun’, this method of open consciousness was at the level of an everyday-occurrence to him.
Was the young boy simply oblivious to the dangers? Was it a high pride in his mental fortitude? Whatever led the boy to do execute this action for extended periods of time was neither of those reasons. There are many reasons to his decision of opening his mind to the spirits despite quickly coming to understand the dangers connected to this action.
The time. The location. The circumstances. The need. The greed. The pride. And one more.
..
<
A voice is awakening my comatose consciousness and I am able to return inside my own head.
Having come back, I am greeted with a room. The walls and ground are made out of gray bricks, there are two beds, constructed from different wooden joints being combined with each other into a stable frame and an old and worn down mattress on top of the frame, that is made from a combination of plywood and deep-moss, a very finely textured piece of cushioning.
On the front of one bed, there is a red silhouette of blood splashed on top of. On the other, smaller bed, I can see a large handprint marking its front. When I first arrived at this space, I couldn’t help myself from having a panic attack, so it feels weird to be this accepting of my mind in my current situation.
There is however one change that I just noticed, which surprises me a little: There is a slight smell of dung and fertilizer in the air. It is the same air, that I have been breathing for the last few weeks and has started to affect my mental world. I can still smell the cold and dusty smell of the ground as well as the dry air that has caused me multiple throat diseases until I used ‘Donmir to humidify the area a little…
I am trailing off again.
I turn back to the smaller bed and climb on top of it, being greeted by my two spiritual familiars. On the one hand, there is Dogogo lying on top of the bed, slightly huddled up into a ball and watching me climb up while fiercely wagging his tail.
On the other hand, ‘Yun’ is simply swirling around my body and even tries to support me on my ‘climb’ by conjuring up winds that support me.
How is she even able to do that in my mind?
At the end of the day it doesn’t matter.
For some reason the climb on top of the bed always takes a long time and I haven’t yet figured out why.
After finally achieving the climb, I am promptly attacked by a drooling canine being that is bogging me down and rubbing his body against me.
<
I say while tightly hugging Dogogo and stopping shortly after,
since I do notice ‘Yun’ getting very jealous just about now.
I change my posture and turn towards her: <
From the side I can hear Dogogo bark a small <
<>
‘Yun’ spins around once to signify her affirming my statement and we start the ‘lesson’.
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