I hadn't properly studied it yet, so I couldn't be sure, but I understood magic to be a technique for shaping and processing ‘mana,’ the crystallization of nature's power, according to your own will to produce the phenomenon you wanted. Mana was based on nature's power, and dragons were a race you could call nature's children. Naturally, using a little magic was nothing to them. I was still too young to use magic, but with Mom's help, we magically controlled the minds of goblins, orcs, and various other monsters—I saw monsters for the first time then. They weren't very different from what I'd imagined.—and made them generate the 7 emotions and other feelings without pause for 3 days. Finally, I saw black energy seep out of them.
The monsters gradually shriveled as though that black energy were sucking out all their life force. When it took on a single form, their bodies all became like bone-dry pollock before crumbling into drifting powder. The black energy gathered into a shape like a person's shadow. If I had to name a difference from an ordinary shadow, it was that this one stood on the lair floor in 3 dimensions, like a person. Then it ‘transmitted’ a voice to me.
[Emotions are the outward expression of the mind, and also the mind itself. Who was it? Who gathered the emotions of countless minds, bestowed intelligence upon me, and brought me into existence?]
Huh? This is like the voice I heard when I first met Mom? Mom did it because I didn't know the dragon language then, but why's this fellow talking like that? Is it because it's a mind spirit?
[Correct. I'm the crystallization of the mind. I exist because living things possess mental energy, a being apart from nature. Are you the one who ‘wanted’ to summon me?]
Oh-ho? Is it reading my mind? Maybe that's only natural. A mind spirit is the mind itself, after all. Yes, I'm the fellow who ‘wanted’ to summon you. The person, no, the dragon who summoned you is over there.
[The one who summoned me with such leisure and confidence despite the troublesome effort involved is a dragon, and you're a dragon, too?]
Can't you tell by looking?
Apparently, its eyesight was surprisingly bad. One glance would tell you I was a dragon.
[As a mind spirit, I have no eyes. If you're a dragon, what's this human presence I sense in you? Your mind closely resembles a human's. No, it'd be more accurate to say it's almost identical.]
Can it read not just my mind, but my soul, too? And isn't Mom picking up this conversation?
[No. This conversation takes place by my will. There's no reason anyone else should hear it. I can't read your soul, but I can read the foundation of your mind. Mentally, you could be called completely human. Even a mind spirit can't read a soul until its owner opens it of their own accord.]
Heh, let's just leave it at that. Everyone has secrets they'd rather not reveal. Now, putting that aside, do you know why you were born into this world?
[Why I was born? There's no such thing. I merely exist, with no reason for that existence.]
What? You just exist? My mom brought you into being, and she did it for me. Are you saying you don't understand that?
[Who brought us into being, and for what purpose, are unnecessary concerns for mind spirits. We're born as concentrations of mind, and simply exist.]
Haha...... This is getting rather absurd. Fine, fine! Fine by me! I'll cut straight to the point. You're a spirit, too, so you should be able to make a contract. Make one with me!
[I refuse.]
Refuse? Why? For what reason?
[The mind can't be bound to a single place. I've only stayed here this long because this is where I was born. There's no other reason. I certainly won't bind myself to a little dragon like you.]
So it has some hometown loyalty, at least? And did it call me a little dragon? Does my existence mean nothing to it?
[Correct. You offer me no benefit, so I've no further business with you.]
A benefit? Is that what you want? Then read my soul. Look at it and feel it. That'll give you plenty of benefit. How do I open my soul?
[There's only one way to open your soul. Empty your mind. Make it a blank slate, and render yourself numb and powerless.]
Following the mind spirit's instructions, I drained all the strength from my body and tried to empty my head. Thinking nothing, my mind a blank slate, I stayed still and did nothing, even holding my breath. Then I felt something enter my head, and a voice immediately followed.
[You...... Just...... Who are you? A human soul in a dragon's body? And a soul completely different from those of the humans here? What on earth...... Are you?!]
That's a secret, too. Well? Isn't that enough of a benefit? Won't you make a contract with me? I promise it'll be plenty of fun.
[Very well. I'll bind myself to you, and when your life ends, I'll either follow you or leave you. Give me a name. And tell me yours.]
A name? A name, hmm. I thought it over carefully. It was brusque and utterly unaffectionate, but had its good points. A fellow like this was much better than spirits who did nothing but obey. A name fit for a mind spirit, huh. Isn't there something good? Mind, mind, mind? Mind!
“Psy (Psy). Your name's Psy. My name's Rainisis. Rainisis of the Red Dragon clan.”
Psy. It was also the stage name of a singer where I'd lived, and a word meaning mind. I was calling a mind spirit Mind......
Hmm, that's not very stylish, is it? Ah, who cares! That's what I'll call it!
Soon, I heard the mind spirit's voice.
[Understood, Master Rainisis. My name's Psy. From this moment, I'll bind myself to you. My abilities may depend on the excellence of my master's aptitude and abilities. I'll teach you how to use me. I do hope you'll become a master capable of drawing out all my abilities.]
Good. Understood. Then off to the Spirit Realm...... Wait! You're a spirit that doesn't belong to nature's power, right? Then where do you stay when I haven't summoned you?
[I'm a mind spirit. I dwell in my master's mind. To me, that place is as good as the Spirit Realm.]
Then can I communicate with you whenever I want? Are you always awake?
[No. I answer only my master's call. When you aren't calling me, I settle down in your mind and sleep.]
Good. Go on in, then. Congratulations on binding yourself to me. And welcome.
[I'm looking forward to seeing how much fun you can give me. I'd like you to call me again soon.]
It seemed very arrogant and full of itself, but I liked it a great deal anyway. Wouldn't developing it be more fun than those fellows who sprang out when called and eagerly obeyed every order?
From then on, I stopped studying the 5 elemental spirits and began studying the 5 non-elemental spirits.—Sylph and the others seemed very unhappy about it, but I still called them out to play once every 3 days. It's like looking after children......
The 5 non-elemental spirits.
These fellows were originally based on nature's power—except for the mind spirit—but had been born after that power underwent further processing, so I had to chant incantations to summon them, like human spirit wielders. These spirits were something like subcategories of the 5 main spirits—lightning spirits, in particular, had to be summoned using the mediums for all 5. Normally, summoning spirits required a medium. The substance underlying a spirit had to be present; through it, a door to the Spirit Realm opened and spirits sprang out.—but their attributes were completely different.
For instance, ice spirits were a subcategory of water spirits. Since they were subordinate forms of water spirits, they were a kind of bonus(?) that came with summoning a water spirit. But forest, lightning, metal, and life spirits had entirely different attributes, so despite being subordinate forms, they weren't treated as such, but as separate entities. Apparently, you could only summon them through special mediums. These spirits also supposedly had no ranks. They were so rare, and so difficult to summon, that rather than ranks, each individual spirit was tremendously powerful. You could call them high-quality(!) spirits.
Since I'd already completed a binding contract with a mind spirit, life, lightning, metal, and forest spirits remained. In order of difficulty, from easiest to hardest, it went forest < metal < lightning < mind < life. Mom said that now I'd bound a mind spirit to me, summoning those below it should be easy. Then the remaining problem was...... A life spirit?
Life meant living[being alive] one's life[one's lifespan]. All living things had a life, and since life existed, perhaps it was only natural that life spirits existed to govern it. Being able to summon one would be incredible. You could have limitless life and make an immortal body. But apparently, there was no way to summon a life spirit. Why? Why not? Seeing my reaction, Mom spoke quietly.
“A life spirit's practically a god of life. It can control the lives of everything alive. According to some elder dragons' theories, life spirits are actually another form of the God of Life. We're close to gods and the greatest race among living creatures, but even we can't cross the immense wall called death. Only a being that has nothing to do with death and isn't alive could summon a life spirit. Does that mean the undead can summon one? That's not true either. The undead have negative(-) life.”
Let's pass over whether life could have a negative value to begin with.
“Everything that lives and moves has life and a mind. Those with minds can't summon life spirits. Those without minds can't summon spirits. It's a dilemma that applies to all living creatures. Only gods can summon life spirits. Even we dragons can't do it. So give up, dear. You've got a mind spirit, haven't you? The majority of us dragons don't even have one. In that sense, you're exceptional enough. I failed to make a contract myself because I had no benefit to offer a mind spirit. So stop looking so glum. All right, Rainisis?”
Sigh, if you put it that way, I suppose I'll have to give up. Just having a mind spirit made me exceptional enough. Let's not get any greedier. A life spirit was a being on a par with a god, and according to others, a god itself. It wasn't something within my reach.
And what if I died trying too hard to summon one? I'd managed a ‘reincarnation as a dragon with my memories intact,’ something that might happen only once or twice in the entire universe. If I just died, wouldn't that leave me right back where I started? So, safety! Safety first! Let's learn everything I can, as long as my life isn't in danger!
TL Notes:
TL Note: Psy - Rainisis chooses a name meaning mind that is also a singer's stage name in his former world.