Spirits
From Inga no Kusari wiki
Contents |
There are two parts to every mortal human, the body and the spirit. Whilst the body may whither and die, the spirit is immortal, lasting beyond the life of the body and eventually becoming reborn into another body when the spirit, too, dies. All spirits emit a type of energy known as reiatsu, some moreso than others. Those spirits that do project a lot of reiatsu whilst still living are known as fullbringers, some undergo a form of ceremonial training and are called quincy. Spirits with strong reiatsu in death can undergo a type of training too, becoming shinigami, members of Soul Society's military forces.
Some spirits are capable of manifesting fullbringer-like abilities in death.
Plus Spirit
Plus is the term for a spirit that has died as a mortal and has been un-sent to soul society. They are characterised as faint forms resembling their human selves with one exception, they have a chain attached to their chest. This chain is known as the inga no kusari (chain of fate). When a spirit has a strong emotional connection to a person or place, their chain becomes attached to that, the feelings they had rooting them to that spot. Over time an inga no kusari will begin to corrode, developing mouths upon the end of the chain with consume their opposite side.
When an inga no kusari has completely corroded and reached the chest of the spirit, its heart is eaten away and it undergoes a transformation into a monstrous creature known as a hollow. This can happen at a faster rate if a hollow were to attack the spirit and sever its inga no kusari before the corrosion sets in.
This corrosion can be stopped completely by a shinigami performing a soul burial on the spirit. By pressing the pommel of their zanpakutō against the spirit's forehead, they are sent on to soul society. If the zanpakutō's blade is used against a hollow, the spirit that the beast once was is also sent on to soul society, purified of the sins it committed in its afterlife.
Reiatsu
Reiatsu (spirit pressure) is a form of energy that is generated by all beings, whether living or not. Normal living humans generate very small amounts of reiatsu, whilst those who have much higher reiatsu are stronger spiritually, and tend to be able to sense spiritual forces and the paranormal.
It comes from within the body of the person, and can be pushed outwards to be focused into many different means, including a zanpakutō's shikai, or a fullbringer's fullbring. There is also reiatsu in the air in all three worlds, though the amount of it in the Mortal World is negligible. When enough reiatsu occurpies a small space, it becomes solid; this is known as reishi.
Reishi is to reiatsu what particles are to energy. It is an infinitely small amount of concentrated reiatsu, concentrated to such a degree that it can be counted as a particle rather than just a wave of energy. Reishi, unlike reiatsu, can be compacted to form objects, and most structures and objects within the spirit realms of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo are made up of reishi. When reiatsu is pushed outwards and focused, it becomes reishi. Thus a shinigami's zanpakutō, the visble energy of kidō and a fullbringer's fullbring are all made up of reishi that is so densely compacted that it is visible. A quincy uses their reiatsu in conjunction with their artefact to draw in 'ambient' reishi which floats in the air, loosely forming it to make their energy bows. The strongest quincy form solid bows rather than those made of loosely compacted reishi.
