Volume 6 Chapter 15 The Duality of Light and Shadow
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Gemini said
”Um, Lady Kororon? About the history of the Spirit Clan… I have a feeling it’s an incredibly long story,” Karin said. “If possible, I really need to set out from here first thing tomorrow morning…”
[Goodness. The youth of today are such restless things noja. To understand the old ways is to find the very sustenance of life. I hardly think delaying your journey by a single morning would be a loss. But very well, Karin. I shall tailor my tale to what you seek.]
”Wait, really? Thank you! I have a million questions for the Spirit Clan!” Karin replied. “I mean, Ki¹, Mana², Yggdrasil³… I’m completely in the dark about any of it.”
[To think you were sent here as an emissary without knowing even that noja. Used as a pawn by the Elves… humans truly are a piteous lot. Yet, Karin, that very ignorance is the story of our people. Listen closely, and take it to heart.]
Wait, what? I tried to get her to skip to the end, and we’re right back at the beginning? Still, this is a rare chance. It wouldn’t hurt to get my facts straight for once. I steeled myself and asked Lady Kororon to continue.
[First, regarding **Ki**. What we call Ki is the sum total of all things that dwell within the natural world noja. It is the water, the air, the earth, the flame, the frost, and the thunder.]
”Huh. I always thought Ki was just a type of energy. You mean even dirt and water are actually Ki?” Karin asked.
[Indeed. Ki exists as both the seen and the unseen, forever caught in a cycle of transformation. That which has form dissolves into the formless, and the formless congeals into form noja. It never truly stands still.]
”Hmm. I don’t really see dirt turning into air or water, though…”
[Hmph. I suppose a human wouldn’t. Yet, that is how the Spirit Clan is born. Formless Ki flows through this world for eons, pooling and stagnating until it slowly thickens into Ki with form noja. When that mass gathers and is finally granted a soul by nature itself, it becomes a Spirit.]
”That sounds like a painfully slow process. So, the Spirit Clan doesn’t… you know, get married or have kids?”
[We do not noja. As the Ki condenses, an abundance of positive energy-the Yang-results in a male, and a preponderance of negative energy-the Yin-results in a female. However, because the negative is far more difficult to crystallize, there is an overwhelming surplus of positive energy in this world. Consequently, female Spirits are exceedingly rare noja.]
”I see. You’re actually the first female Spirit I’ve ever met, Lady Kororon. But there are others, right?” Karin asked.
[The women of our clan are all Shrine Maidens or Shamans noja. We reside within this mausoleum and seldom venture beyond its walls. When we do, we must shroud ourselves in veils, as you saw before. We cannot allow the men of the tribes to look upon us directly.]
”Is that because… they might attack you?”
[A Spirit would never stoop to such things noja. I told you, did I not? The men are Light, and the women are Shadow. If the two should touch directly, their spirits would fray and erode one another. The veils are a safeguard against such a calamity noja.]
”Whoa… ‘Erode’? So that means male and female Spirits can’t even hold hands, let alone get intimate?”
[What you call ‘intimacy’ is a biological function unique to creatures of Mana noja. Both the Demon Clan and the Elves depend on Mana for their very essence. That is why they must mate to multiply.]
”Um, humans can’t use Mana either, but we definitely multiply that way,” Karin noted.
[I confess I understand little of humans. You aren’t exactly native to this world, are you noja? Regardless, as Yggdrasil continued to produce Mana in the ancient past, there came a moment when certain Spirits evolved. They became the first of the Demon Clan.]
”What?! The Demon Clan evolved from the Spirit Clan? Then what about the Elves? Or the Beastfolk?”
[The Elves are a branch that split from the Demon Clan noja. As for the Beastfolk, they were originally mere animals used by the Demons and Elves. Over vast stretches of time, they absorbed the influence of Mana, eventually gaining both power and intellect.]
”Wow… that’s a massive bombshell. I wonder if the Queen even knows that. So, Lady Kororon, if Yggdrasil makes Mana, why did that trigger the birth of the Demon Clan?”
[You may have surmised this by now, but Mana is different from Ki. It is an energy uniquely specialized for life-force noja. Spirits do not require Mana to exist, though we can wield it. In the old days, there were those among us who sought out that power. Now, as for Yggdrasil-it creates Mana during the day, but it consumes it at night.]
”Wait, wouldn’t that just cancel everything out? And why would a tree even do that?”
[We know Yggdrasil manifested eons before even the Spirit Clan, formed from the condensation of Ki over a span of time we cannot fathom noja. But how or why it functions as it does remains a mystery. When it bathes in the sun, it draws in the surrounding Ki to forge Mana. When night falls, it drinks that Mana back in and returns it to Ki noja. We call it a ‘Tree,’ but in truth, it is a shimmering, spectral presence with no fixed shape. However, the Mana it creates diffuses through the air. The balance never truly hits zero, and it was from those lingering traces of Mana that the first Demons were born noja.]
”Lady Kororon… this is way over my head. But why would the Demon Clan want to hide something like that?”
[The reason is simple noja. Their power grows in proportion to the Mana available. Thus, they forcibly moved Yggdrasil to a realm where the sun never sets.]
”A place of eternal sunlight?! You mean the Celeste Corridor⁴…”
[As I said, I do not know the place noja. That name seems to come from Demon legends; whether it truly marks the resting place of Yggdrasil, I cannot say.]
”I see. If the sun is always on it, Yggdrasil never stops making Mana. But if the Mana in the world is currently decreasing… then something must have gone wrong. It makes sense,” Karin said.
[It seems you understand noja. I’ve rambled a bit, but that is the gist of the history between the Spirit Clan and the Great Tree.]
”Thank you so much. I’ve learned a ton. But… Lady Kororon, have you ever seen Yggdrasil with your own eyes?”
[I have noja. I cannot recall how many millennia have passed since then, long before the Demons stole it away. I remember standing before it as if it were yesterday. Though… it wasn’t awe or divinity I felt. It was a cold, paralyzing fear noja.]
”Huh. And where exactly was it back then?”
[Let me think… it was further to the southeast noja. Somewhere near the center of this continent, I believe.]
”Um, Lady Kororon? I was just thinking… if Yggdrasil is really that terrifying, could even the greatest mage really just ‘hide’ it away so easily? If it were me, I’d probably hide it somewhere close to where it already was. Oh, ignore me. Just a random thought.”
[Hmm. Karin… you are quite the slacker, aren’t you noja? Only a lazy soul would think of the path of least resistance. And yet… as a strategy, beginning our search at its point of origin does have a certain logic to it.]
”Haha, yeah, I’m a total slacker. But Lady Kororon-the place where Yggdrasil first stood! Please, try to remember!”
[Goodness, child. I saw it thousands of years ago noja. Who knows what it looks like now? My people were driven to the fringes of this continent ages ago. The mountains, the forests, the very earth has shifted… I haven’t the faintest idea noja.]
”I see. That’s a shame. But even if we don’t know the hiding spot, maybe the Queen knows the original location? I have to get back to Zerlant tomorrow morning after all.”
[What is this, Karin? Still leaving tomorrow noja? The history of my people could fill a library; one night isn’t nearly enough. Why not stay for a few more days? You’re a wonderful listener. I’m quite enjoying myself noja.]
”I’m honored, really! But… Oh! I have an idea! Lady Kororon, why don’t you come with me and help me find the original site of Yggdrasil?”
* * *
A few days later.
After rushing back from the Spirit Clan’s lands, Karin secured an immediate audience with Queen Asuka at the royal castle.
”…And that’s the gist of it, Your Majesty. I’ve brought Lady Kororon, the High Shaman of the Spirit Clan,” Karin said.
I introduced her to Queen Asuka. Because Chieftain Fedelate had insisted this be a top-secret, incognito visit, the Queen had been told nothing in advance. She nearly tumbled right off her throne.
”I did invite her to help us search… but she put up quite a fuss about coming along,” Karin explained. “Chieftain Fedelate eventually had no choice but to give in.”
I shot a slightly exasperated sidelong glance at Lady Kororon, who was standing tall beside me.
[Hmph. So you are the Queen of these clever little Elves noja? For Karin’s sake, I shall lend my aid in locating Yggdrasil. But mark my words: once we find it, I won’t have you lot doing as you please! I came all this way just to make that clear noja!]
”Ah! Lady Kororon! You can’t start a fight the moment we get here!” Karin cried.
Watching the exchange between Karin and Lady Kororon, the Queen let out a long, weary sigh.
”Honestly, Karin… the High Shaman of the Spirit Clan is practically a living deity. To think such a person would come here in the flesh… Truly, you’re just like your father. You always manage to exceed my expectations in the most baffling ways possible.”
—
Summary:
Karin receives a deep history lesson from the ancient shaman Kororon regarding the elemental nature of Ki and the life-force Mana produced by Yggdrasil. It is revealed that the Demon Clan, Elves, and Beastfolk all evolved or changed due to Yggdrasil’s Mana. In a surprising turn, Karin convinces Kororon to leave her mausoleum and accompany her back to the Elven capital to find the tree’s original site.
—
Trivia:
- Ki is the physical matter of the world (earth, water), not just invisible energy.
- Spirits are born from condensed Ki, while Demons/Elves are creatures of Mana.
- Male spirits are Yang (Light) and female spirits are Yin (Shadow).
- Direct physical contact between male and female spirits causes spiritual erosion.
- Yggdrasil consumes its own Mana at night to return it to Ki.
- The Demon Clan moved Yggdrasil to a place of eternal sun to maximize Mana production.
- Kororon felt paralyzing fear when she stood before Yggdrasil thousands of years ago
—
Character Insight:
Karin shows her ‘slacker’ intuition by suggesting they look for Yggdrasil near its original site rather than some complex hidden dimension. Kororon demonstrates unexpected flexibility and curiosity by actually leaving her sacred home for the first time in millennia.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The ‘noja’ speech tic emphasizes Kororon’s role as a ‘loli-baba’ archetype—an ancient, wise soul in a potentially youthful or small form.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Kororon – The oldest and most powerful Shaman of the Spirit Clan. Despite being over ten thousand years old, she appears as a young girl.
• Fedelate – The clan leader of the Spirit Clan. He is kind, gentle, and shows a unique interest in Sofia. Fedelate is powerful, capable of using telekinesis and healing magic. He is intrigued by human emotions and experiences, especially love.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply