Diary Entry
The Torii gate is still there. Red, silent, and utterly unyielding, planted in the centre of my Spirit Domain like it owns the place. By all accounts, it shouldn't be like that. A powerful being—whatever it is—should have attempted to destroy me outright. That's what SK said. That's what every fragment of research I've done on the topic implies. Soulbound entities encroach, corrupt, consume. They don't manifest signs of their presence and remain dormant. And yet here it is.
Which is… weird. Fascinating, even.
Based on everything SK said—soulbound artifacts are simply containers for fragments of will instead of resedual essence. The clever part is that the will itself can influence or manipulate the soul contained within, provided there's enough energy to maintain it. I figured out that SK's Trait is 'The Hierophant' and that he uses his own soul as a kind of amplifier to direct or subdue the resedue or the will. Thats how he makes his artifacts. I've been wondering if, given time, I could replicate that. Theoretically, I can. I have the energy. Perhaps not the finesse yet, but the raw power is there. Flow is a blunt tool; a scalpel is learned.
The Torii gate complicates things. It's not destructive. It's just… standing.
Waiting.
Like observing a neihgbourhood before moving in. My guess is that it's a very strong soul—stronger than most—trying to anchor itself to mine. It may have succeded if SK wasn't around at the time.
Still, It fascinates me more than it worries me. Perhaps I should be terrified. Perhaps I am. But curiosity always outweighs fear in situations like this.
Even though the gate hasn't moved against me, I've decided not to leave anything to chance. Measures have been added to the domain. Layers of reinforced boundaries. Barriers of energy within which constructs can appear instantly if anything foreign breaches the perimeter. I think I'm not doing enough but this is the current limit of what I can do. Mybe after getting the old man to teach me...
Anyway speaking of constructs, I've been creating them, too. Partly to test my energy limits, partly because it's fun, and partly because I need to see if they can interact with the Torii gate in ways that raw energy alone cannot. There's no drain here, no real consequences; it's my domain. So why not?
I started small: a bloodhound, with silver fur that seemed to flicker like mist and eyes like molten gold. It moved with preternatural grace, its orders simple: attack the gate and anything that isn't me. Then I tried bigger things: a drake with crystalline wings that refracted light into jagged rainbows, a six-legged shadow-panther that stalked across the domain with silent menace, a hulking bone golem stitched together from imaginary fragments of monsters I've read about in stories. I named them all internally. Doesn't matter if they have names; it just makes it easier to keep track.
I told them to attack the gate.
I expected some movement. Some spark of reaction. Some obliteration.
What I got was… explosions. Flashy, chaotic, satisfying explosions. The drake rammed the gate mid-flight, wings scattering shards of light across the empty sky. The panther's claws screeched along the barrier, shadows flickering violently. The golem slammed its fists repeatedly, creating bursts of concussive force that should have torn through it.
And still the gate stood. Unmarked. Silent. Immovable.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Even with all this energy and creativity, I'm still learning the limits of soulbound structures. It doesn't scare me. It doesn't even frustrate me. It's… interesting. It's a puzzle. And puzzles are meant to be solved. Eventually.
I could theoretically drive it out, force it to bond to some kind of construct artifact of my own. But that would require more precision than I'm ready to give right now. So I've fortified the domain instead. That's sufficient for now.
Switching gears, there's the matter of Jamie.
She's been driving me absolutely insane lately. Last time she drew on my face with ink while I was tsting stuff out. She thought she was hilarious. I think it took me two hours and multiple rounds of scrubbing before most the ink finally faded. She laughed all the way through. I chased her across the house, throwing damp towels, nearly tripping over the stairs and the furniture, until she finally escaped behind the kitchen door. She's lightning quick when she wants to be.
Quiet days in this house are rare. With her, at least, things move. Things change. Things get messy. I've been watching her quietly. She doesn't realize I notice how much she's learning from everything we do. How much she adapts. And how much of it she deliberately hides behind her tomboyish, chaotic facade.
Back to more technical matters.
I've been experimenting with soulbound artifacts on my own. Small things first. Tiny fragments. Bits of essence that I can tether temporarily to a minor construct. The results have been… informative. I can't replicate SK what SK said.
Yet.
Arrays are surprisingly logical when you think about them. Enhancements, bindings, functions. The energy amplifies the intent. The artifact acts. The soul responds. It's a chain of cause and effect. One weak link and it all fails. I also discovered that a soul can be barred from bonding to an artifact if you have enough energy to force its will away. Which is promising. I have that energy. I don't know if I have the precision yet. But I have enough time. And right now, time is what matters.
Mom has roughly a month before delivery. A month is both a lot and nothing at all. I intend to resolve the Torii gate, understand the arrays, understand the mask, and at least make a dent in SK's techniques before then. I can't allow anything to go wrong at such a critical time.
I suppose that's enough for one entry. Tomorrow we'll go see SK again. I dunno but something tells me that this time he will be willing to cooperate with us.
...
If i learn these things and how to interact with sould would I be able to affect my own soul, maybe even...destroy it?
You know what, never mind.