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Fracturing Skies: Chapter 2. Draft 2
Chapter Two
-Revealing Identities-
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Welcome back!
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NOTICE! This story is being listed as a Mature Audiences story due to impending dark themes, blood and gore, swearing, and maybe, later on, some sexual themes/limes/lemons.!
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I have seen people put disclaimers at the beginning of their stories. So, I will do the same.
***I do NOT own Bleach, nor any of the characters associated with that universe. *****
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Speaking guide:
Normal text.
Thinking.
"Spoken out loud."
'Weapon speaking.'
Spoken/felt through an Imprint. Primary Wavelength.
'Spoken/felt through an Imprint. Secondary Wavelength.'
"Spoken/felt through an Imprint. Tertiary Wavelength."
Essence ribbon/Spirit ribbon sensing.
'Essence Aura/Spiritual Pressure sensing.'
Mental communication outside an imprint.
'Mental communication through a connection. Not a spell or Imprint.'
"Recalling what someone else said."
I think they are thinking this with their face.
I am recalling something I read to myself.
"I am reiterating what I read or heard about out loud."
I am dwelling on what happened or how I felt.
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*Name* is indicating the character the following passage is told from.
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*Chapter 2: Revealing Identities*
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*Jonas Mazeri*
He brought Tasha Rein back down to his side. "How do you know my name? Jonas choked out, surprise coloring his face and voice. He was too stunned to be angry or defensive. He didn't know how it was even possible. He was in an unknown location without a clue about where he was or how he got here. And somehow, one of the first people he met here knew exactly who he was? He wasn't certain whether he should be excited or preparing to fight.
"Come now, do I seriously look and sound so different here?" the blonde queried, a serious look in his gray eyes.
That voice. The way he moved. Jonas frowned. It wasn't possible. There was no way. His eyes were the wrong color. He never wore that green kimono nor wore those ridiculous shoes. But everything else. Even his power felt similar. Not quite the same, but close enough that he could make a guess.
"Yretro Kosuka?" The Shadow Man. The sword master that was training them all how to use their abilities before they got to Magic School. But how?
"Uh huh!" the blonde replied joyfully, folding the fan in one motion as he began clapping. He seems so…weird here. Is he really Master Kosuka?
"Hey, Hat and Clogs. Do you two know each other?" the orange-haired boy demanded, putting himself directly in the path of the archer, sword on his back. Hat and Clogs? Is that what those things on his feet are called? Clogs? The archer deactivated his bow and approached, although the bluish-black-haired boy hung back a ways. So, that was a hint of blue in his hair…
With a serious stare, Yretro looked at the boy that looked oddly like a more pissed-off version of himself, and replied, "Yes, Ichigo." Gesturing to everyone with a sweep of gray eyes, Yretro requested, "How about you all follow me to my shop. We can't exactly have this conversation out in the open." Startled, Jonas realized that he could see people staring and pointing at them. He could sense their 'confusion' drifting in the air like a strong stench.
Yeah, it would probably be a good idea to leave this place.
"Disappear, Tasha Rein," the silver-haired teen uttered, causing his Magic Weapon to obediently shimmer and vanish. Ichigo tensed beside him before relaxing again, obviously shocked at what Jonas had done. Why doesn't he dispel his Weapon too? Or does he not know how?
Probably wouldn't be the first time he met someone like him that didn't immediately learn how to dispel their Weapon. In fact, if Jonas hadn't been prodded into asking, then he surely wouldn't have learned yet either.
A glimmer and shuddering of rising power through the air caused Jonas to glance to his side. With a start, he noticed how the ground was glowing around his friends and the big guy with the thing on his face in front of his eyes was standing there with them. Gesturing to him and his friends, Jonas inquired, "What's that guy doing with my friends?" Concerned, he raked his senses over whatever power the man was using but came up empty. There was something there, but it felt distant.
This place is so strange. I can barely feel anything here. It's almost like it is too far away. If I couldn't see their ribbons, I would think I was alone here.
"He is transporting them back to my shop." As Yretro finished speaking, the big guy, along with all of his friends, disappeared into thin air. Jonas felt a spike of alarm before he calmed, his friends' essence auras reaching him from not too far away. He could still sense them. And they still felt fine. Calm. Gotta calm down.
Trying to put all the strangeness behind him for the moment, he followed Yretro to his shop while the others trailed behind. The archer guy huffed before leaving, abandoning them before they even left, 'irritation' or even 'distrust' radiating from his retreating form. I wonder what that was all about.
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*Ichigo Kurosaki*
As he seated himself around a table in Urahara's shop—after a short scuffle where Kisuke had Jinta and Ururu go to bed—Ichigo couldn't help but to stare at the boy sitting across from him with bandages wrapped around his arms. The other teen looked kind of like him. Except different too. Same unruly hair—even if it was silver in color instead. Dark blue eyes instead of brown. And he had had a big sword, just like him. But his face appeared more mature and without the scowl he himself was known for. The entire situation was strange, and he couldn't help but to wonder how this could have happened.
Could it have been because of that big hollow that Rukia called a Menos Grande?
Rukia sat herself down between him and Urahara just as Hat and Clogs cleared his throat. "I think it is time for some introductions before we get to the hows and whys of this happening." Kisuke didn't have his silly fan in front of his face either. This must be serious. The blonde continued, "Before I begin to explain what happened, you must all keep quiet about what I am about to tell you. No one in the Soul Society can be made aware of this." Everyone around the table nodded, even himself.
With a slight dramatic pause, Urahara began, "In this world, my name is Kisuke Urahara. In truth, I originally came from the same world that Jonas here did, and my name then was Yretro Kosuka."
"A different world?" Ichigo asked, not quite sure where to begin. There was only one world. Wasn't there?
Of course, there was that Soul Society place that Rukia mentioned. And wherever the hollows went too…
With a nod, Kisuke—Yretro, whatever—gestured toward the silver-haired boy. His duplicate gave Hat and Clogs a shallow nod before looking directly at him, saying, "My name is Jonas Mazeri."
"Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Rukia Kuchiki."
Tessai stepped forward from somewhere in the back and knelt down on the floor. "Boss, our other guests have awakened. Shall I send them here?"
"Yes, please. I think it is important that the others join us." Kisuke—he was never going to remember his other name—replied.
It was then that what Hat and Clogs and Tessai mentioned dawned on him. Guests? Remembering back to just a little bit earlier, he recalled, that's right. There were a few of them that showed up at the same time as my duplicate did.
Moments later, a group of teenagers sat themselves at various positions behind Jonas. Ichigo noted that two of the males sat at either side of the silver-haired copy whereas another one was gawking and reminding him a lot of Keigo.
Once everyone was seated, Kisuke had them introduce themselves.
The blonde introduced himself as Michael Koto. He had short light blonde hair that looked like it was never combed and brown eyes that shined with the intelligence he came to grudgingly notice in Uryu's eyes. He was seated directly to Jonas's right.
The boy with brown hair introduced himself as Neil Agamon. He had short and straight brown hair that looked recently trimmed and he had brown eyes. He was seated to Jonas's left and slightly behind him.
There was a girl with long silver that flowed past her shoulders that introduced herself as Shila Mezere—seriously? Mezere? Mazeri? How the Hell was he supposed to keep these bizarre names straight? She had light blue eyes and held a grace about her that struck him as incredibly efficient. She was seated behind Jonas and Neil, in the space between them. For some reason, he got the feeling that Uryu and her would get along well.
Then there was a girl with shoulder-length black hair and dark blue eyes that were nearly black. She introduced herself as Casey Urdoni with very little to no emotion either in her voice or on her face. It was very strange. Almost like she was robotic. Do they even have robots there? She positioned herself behind Jonas and Michael, in the space between them.
And finally, there was a boy with short black hair and black eyes that introduced himself as Kienan Urdoni. He came across as very high strung and sat directly behind Jonas, bouncing on his hips the entire time. Ichigo hid a groan. Dear God, he is just like Keigo! Now there are two of them!
"Do you know where Sheila is?" Jonas asked, jerking Ichigo's thoughts back towards his duplicate.
Duplicate. Twin. Look alike. It was all so strange. How was he going to explain that particular fact to anybody? All he could hope for was that the other boy wouldn't join him in school. He was not looking forward to having to explain his appearance.
"No, she never arrived here." Hat and Clogs answered, scattering the orange-haired teen's distracted thoughts.
With a frown, his silver-haired copy closed his eyes and Ichigo felt a faint sensation of electricity race through his body.
What is he doing?
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*Jonas Mazeri*
She wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead. Despair shuddered through his entire being. The light of his world suddenly seemed dim and shadowed, like someone had tossed a blanket over a lamp. It was too hard to accept that she hadn't made it here. He wouldn't give up on trying to find her. With a worried shiver, he closed his eyes and concentrated, putting his entire mind toward finding her.
His light. The beacon of brightness that glimmered in his heart every time she was around. He hadn't ever thought about what she meant to him. And now she was gone without a trace. Missing. Or dead. And he hadn't told her how she made him feel. Why did I wait so long to tell her? Was I afraid of what she would think? What she would say? I know she felt the same way. I felt it through her ribbon. Now I'm too late…
He focused as hard as he could, determined to find Sheila, searching far and wide for her unique ribbon. It was surprisingly easy to locate the ribbons of his other friends. Compared to his own world, it was simple. No mass of ribbons floated in his path to block his sight, his grasp on the connection with this world fading quickly. There was little to no interference in his quest.
He could see Shila's blue ribbon. It had specks of white scattered across its surface with a black outline to the ray's body. It froze his fingertips when he gently ran them along its length, the familiar cool power radiating off her body tangled with confusion and concern.
He brushed Neil's red ribbon, the crimson length glittering with spots of ruby. It too had a black outline, the warm ray heating his fingers to the point of almost blistering from the heat. He was agitated, his ribbon shimmering iridescent in increasingly frequent bursts. He felt unstable.
I have to ask him if he is still okay. We're going to eventually have to deal with what happened to the both of us. I just wished we were home instead of wherever the hell this place is. Back home, they had both been stabbed by people wielding Kisi Ri, a rapier used by feral vampires during a recent attack on their home. It was something that shouldn't have been possible—two different people using the exact same Weapon. But it had happened. Both wielders were now dead, but the question remained about how that was possible.
He glanced at Michael's amethyst ribbon, the purple length with a black outline shifting uneasily in the air around him. His best friend was on guard, tense and ready to strike if necessary. Jonas released a calming pulse of essence aura, willing the blonde to relax. Michael glanced at him with sharp brown eyes and nodded.
Jonas turned his attention to Casey's blue ribbon with a black outline, the swirling greens dancing amongst the sea of blue faintly ruffling his hair. She did her best to hide it, but her ribbon couldn't fake her calm like her face did. She was nervous and worried.
Finally, he shifted his gaze to Kienan's white ribbon with a black outline. It had a silver line that separated the outer edge from the body of the ray. It wasn't surprising that the other teen's ribbon shuddered with both confusion and excitement, but Jonas hoped he would calm down a little bit so they could all have time to figure out a way home.
Sensing the friends all around him was easy. Breathtakingly simple. But he still couldn't feel Sheila. Her ribbon was hidden or destroyed. He couldn't say which. Part of him argued that she wasn't dead. That she couldn't have died. But he couldn't argue with the fact that neither her body nor spirit arrived here. She was gone.
He gritted his teeth against her loss, telling himself that until he found out otherwise, she was still alive. He wasn't going to give up on finding her so easily.
'You will find her,' Tasha Rein reassured, comforting her wielder with gentle pulses of energy.
You're right. I will find her, Jonas vowed. He wasn't going to accept failure.
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Terminology
My Universe:
Beasts:
Dark Severiin: think of a Deviljho from Monster Hunter when you think of this thing. Physically, it is a bit different, but I am using a lot of comparisons to describe characters and things. This is the thing I am vaguely describing at the beginning of the chapter that Jonas and his friends were fighting. The characters from my story are being pulled from their timeline during the Dark Severiin fight in Arc 1 of Chronicles of Seraphia (the book series I am working on).
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Magic (Weapons):
Magic Weapon: a magical Weapon bound to an individual from birth. Magic Weapons are created from Weapon Spirits that choose a child as it is born and meld with the newborn's spirit to become their Magic Weapon later in life. Weapon Spirits are reincarnated whenever they choose a new wielder (after they are separated from their current one). Typically wielded only by living people in either the Light World or the Dark World. Used to send spirits on to the realms.
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Weapon Spirit/Weapon Essence: the personality and appearance of a Magic or Spirit Weapon within and beyond the wielder's inner world. Each one has a unique appearance and powers. They choose to bind to an individual's spirit (typically at birth) and help to shape their wielder's development. In the end, it is hard (sometimes) to distinguish the two from each other (what is the natural state of the wielder and what part of the wielder's personality and traits were influenced by the Weapon kind of question).
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Magic Weapon Classes: Magic Weapons have classes which determine how exactly they are used, along with describing total size of the Weapons etc. Basically, a dual longsword class is different than a dual short sword class and indicates the length of the blades. There are also dual classes which will be explained later.
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Tasha Rein: Jonas's Magic Weapon
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Magic (Incantations):
Magic (Spellcaster):
Magic (Spiritual):
Magic (Elemental Spirit):
Vampire Specific:
Werewolf Specific:
Shini/Light Spirit Specific:
Shade/Dark Spirit Specific:
Sinner/Hell Spirit Specific:
Demon Specific:
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Humanoid Characters:
Jonas Mazeri: main character in Chronicles of Seraphia. short, spiky silver hair. Dark blue eyes. 5'7". Skinny and toned. 16 years old. Wields Tasha Rein.
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Neil Agamon- 5'7". Short and straight brown hair. Brown eyes. He appears average build with clothes on but is physically fit. 16 years old. Wields Engeta Zanu.
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Shila Mezere- 5'4". Long silver hair that reaches between her shoulder blades. Light blue eyes. Thin. 16 years old. Wields Juka Reyno. Uses Ice Subclass Magic.
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Casey Urdoni- 5'4". Long black hair. Dark blue eyes so dark they are almost black. Impassive face. 15 years old. Wields ?
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Kienan Urdoni- 5'8". Short black hair. Black eyes. 16 years old. Wields ?
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Michael Koto- 5'7". Brown eyes. Short light blonde hair. 16 years old. Wields ?
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Shila Emetere- ?
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Extra Notes/General Seraphia Worldbuilding:
Jonas Mazeri's appearance: So, I never fully describe exactly what his face (or anyone else's face really) in my universe looks like. I give the basic hair and eye color, heights, and builds but I leave the faces open to the imagination (unless there is a specific scar I wish to address). So, I thought, how cool would it be if Jonas looked like Ichigo? (guess you can figure out which character I like the most, eh?)
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Light World/Dark World: two different worlds that exist as copies of each other. This is where all life lives before it dies. (think of them like the World of the Living in Bleach.)
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Realms: There are actually 12 realms where spirits live after life. 10 of them exist where their specific magics are prominent (and each of these 10 have a light side and a dark side to them). Then, there is Hell (realm of Sinners). Finally, there is the Otherlands (which is the realm of ALL Weapon Spirits).
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Betweenlands: The dimension that keeps all the realms and the worlds connected. (kind of like the Dangai).
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In my universe, all things give off essence ribbons. Everything has a small amount of magic essence which then strongly or weakly gives off an aura of power. So, Jonas has the ability to see these ribbons (all ribbons) and since there aren't that many Essence Ribbons in this universe (because the only ones currently belong to him and his friends), it is far easier for him to search for his missing friend this way.
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Bleach Universe:
Magic:
Kido: The over-arching classification of spells used by soul reapers. Divided into Bakudo, Hado, or Kaido.
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Bakudo Spells: Way of Binding. Spells used to restrain or restrict movement or spells.
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Bakudo #1 Sai: a weak binding kido spell that forces the target's hands behind their back.
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Hado Spells: Way of Destruction. Spells used to inflict damage.
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Kaido: Healing Spiritual Arts. The spells and abilities used by soul reapers to heal injuries.
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Quincy Specific:
Quincy: A human that can manipulate spirit particles in the air to form a bow and arrow. When they kill hollows, they destroy their souls.
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Soul Reaper Specific:
Zanpakuto (Soul Cutter): a weapon born from a soul reaper's soul. The fragment of their soul that is forged for battle.
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Shikai: the first true release of a zanpakuto. Considered the second form of a zanpakuto since all normal soul reapers wield sealed swords.
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Bankai: the second and final release of a zanpakuto. Considered the third form of a zanpakuto since all normal soul reapers wield sealed swords. The achievement of Bankai can increase a fighter's power by 5 to 10 times and oftentimes takes up to 10 years to master its usage.
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Hollow Specific:
Hollow: A spirit being that ate out its own heart in its suffering and one that continues searching for spirit energy and souls to relieve its never-ending hunger and desire to fulfill the emptiness of its existence.
(You all should read 'On the precipice of defeat' by MissFlesh. Holy crap! I loved the unique perspective of a Hollow that this writer gives. So many fanfictions skip over the gruesome aspects of existing as a hollow and portray it like some sort of glamorous existence that downplays how horrible being a hollow really is (they romanticize it, not that I am saying the other stories are bad by any stretch. They aren't, but they don't fully immerse you in the terrible state of being a hollow like this fanfiction does) and this author got into the nitty-gritty of life as a hollow and truly captured how bad life as one is. Truly a magnificent read and gives a whole new perspective of life as a monster.) It isn't completed and I don't think it ever will be, but there is plenty of story here to sink your teeth into that it fully captures the hopelessness of that life.
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Menos Grande: A classification of the three most-powerful forms that hollows can take. Gillian is the lowest. Adjuchas is the middle. Vasto Lorde is the highest.
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Gillian: that monster hollow that Ichigo and Uryu fought at the beginning. The lowest of the class of Menos Grande hollows.
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Hybrid (Visored/Arrancar) Specific:
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Characters:
Ichigo Kurosaki: Main character for Bleach. Wields the zanpakuto, Zangetsu.
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Uryu Ishida: He is a Quincy. Calls himself the Last Quincy.
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Rukia Kuchiki: The Soul Reaper that gave Ichigo his soul reaper powers.
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Tessai Tsukabishi: an employee of Urahara Shop and a childhood friend of Kisuke and Yoruichi. He is also the former Kido Commander in the Gotei 13.
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Extra Notes/General Bleach Worldbuilding:
Hueco Mundo: The world of the Hollows.
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Soul Society: the place where spirits pass onto (heaven).
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World of the Living: Earth. Where humans live out their lives and die.
Urahara Shop: the candy store belonging to Kisuke Urahara. Based in the World of the Living. Home to Kisuke, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu.
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Close Similarities/Similar Skills:
Magic Weapon/Zanpakuto/Spirit Weapon: Magic Weapons and Spiritual Magic Weapons are similar to zanpakuto in that they are Weapons unique to an individual. However, their origins are different.
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Essence Ribbon/Spirit Ribbon: In Bleach, Spirit Ribbons turn red if a person is a soul reaper, otherwise they are white. This is how Uryu said that he figured out about Ichigo and Rukia. They are visible rays of spirit energy.
In my universe, Essence Ribbons change color and pattern based on the magical abilities the person has demonstrated to be capable of using. They can also have auras. They are visible rays of magic energy and get their name from magic's base term: Magic Essence.
In this fanfiction, one can detect how someone is feeling (emotionally or physically) by touching their ribbon. This is a more advanced technique than simply feeling someone's pressure/aura.
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Divine Sight/Seeing Spirit Ribbons: In Bleach, Rukia states that the ability to see Spirit Ribbons (rays of spirit energy) is something that only high-ranking soul reapers can use.
Divine Sight is the special ability to see Essence Ribbons.
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Essence Aura/Spiritual Pressure (Reiatsu): In Bleach, Spiritual Pressure is the pressure that a person's spiritual power (Reiryoku) exerts (described like reiryoku output).
Essence Aura is the pressure that a person's magical power exerts. It gets its name from magic's base term: Magic Essence.
In this fanfiction, one can detect how someone is feeling (emotionally or physically) by feeling their aura. This is typically a beginner technique, but the more advanced sensing requirements put it more in the intermediate category.
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Energy/Spiritual Power (Reiryoku): In Bleach, a person's spiritual power/spiritual energy is referred to as Reiryoku. It is their personal wellspring of power that is all their own. Each person has a certain amount and a limit they cannot surpass.
In my universe, this is referred to as Energy. In my universe, Energy can be divided into 2 categories: Magic Energy and Spirit Energy (with Spirit Energy being a mere subset of Magic Energy).
In this fanfiction, when one's spiritual power/energy is exhausted, the person collapses from lack of remaining energy.
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Magic Essence/Reishi (spiritual matter): In Bleach, reishi is what makes up objects in Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. The concentrations there are higher because they are the two spirit worlds of Bleach although some does exist in the World of the Living.
Magic Essence: the basis of ALL magical happenings in my universe. My entire world is formed from Magic Essence (which broken down is called Essence Elements, which we won't touch on until much later). Therefore, nearly all magic skills have some part of their name coming from one of these two words.
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Essence Elements/Atoms (Kishi): Kishi is like the World of the Living version of Reishi and makes up nearly all objects in the World of the Living and is a term to describe atoms as a whole.
Essence Elements are my universe's version of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The term as a whole can be used interchangeably with magic essence while referring to a single element cannot. They are further broken down into Sub-Elemental Essences (which are basically subatomic).
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Inner World/Mindscape/Realm of the Zanpakuto: this definition is basically identical between universes. Regardless of what phrase one wants to use, they all mean the same thing. Inner World. Inner Mind. Mindscape. Landscape of the Mind. Realm of the Weapon Spirit. Realm of the Zanpakuto. Literally all refers to the place in a wielder's mind where the Weapon resides and where they go to commune directly with the Weapon that is a part of them.
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Yretro Kosuka- is Kisuke Urahara.
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Final Notes:
I want to thank Andygoesrawr from Reddit for the amazing breakdown of the differences between the terms Reishi, Reiryoku, and Reiatsu that he posted nearly 8 years ago on the Reddit page: The Difference between Reishi, Reiryoku and Reiatsu. He also covered the concept of Kishi. I found this page and read it to make sure I wasn't messing up the distinction between the three too badly (turns out that I really was and, in my confusion over the terms when I was laying the foundation for the magic in my world, I ended up doing the same thing as this here was. Go figure).
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Also, I am editing how I am doing the terminology, etc. and how it will all be organized. Hopefully, it is better than previously. I am also planning on including all the definitions etc. at the end of the chapters (as opposed to stating which chapter I defined them at the beginning of the chapter and pushing off the start of the story each time).
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I know I stated that Kisuke is Yretro from my universe. So, based on the above information, one would be correct in believing that he should have an Essence Ribbon. However, the reason why this is not true is because he was essentially reborn in the Bleach universe. Therefore, he follows their natural laws not mine.
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And the people in my world do not use glasses. This is why Jonas has no clue what they are.
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I am also aware that I am repeating the terms, etc. at the end of the chapters, but I felt it would be easier on the reader than if they had to search a different chapter each time they wanted a refresher.