Here's the rewritten version with magic/fantasy terminology replaced by *Avatar: The Last Airbender* terminology:
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**Prologue**
So this is the Spirit World. It's not what I imagined. Strangely, my memory remains, but it feels one-sided—all the information is impersonal. No name, no loved ones, as if they never existed. I remember being a middle-aged man when, for some unknown reason, I ended up here. My entire life flashed before my eyes, but the emotions I once felt are gone. I recall being in kindergarten, blowing bubbles through my nose. From school, only subject knowledge and abandoned sports clubs remain, along with the anime I watched and books I read. University memories are even fainter—just bare theory from my major, relationships with girls, then work and daily routines. It all flashed by in what felt like seconds. Maybe it's for the best. I doubt I could think clearly now if I had all my memories drenched in emotions.
Looking at myself, I see only a transparent, spherical form with pulsating white lines inside the outline of a body. I'm definitely not human anymore. I look more like some strange spirit from the anime I've watched. Though I can still see perfectly, as if I had eyes. Now it's clear why my thoughts flow so calmly, and I don't feel human needs. It feels strange, but there's no discomfort.
The place I've landed in isn't much different from the ordinary world: the same trees, grass, earth, even a gentle breeze rustling fallen leaves. It doesn't really feel like the Spirit World or a place of punishment.
Thoughts of being in another world keep intruding—the colors are too vivid and contrasting compared to my memories. It's like the colors in cartoons. I think I should find the locals, if there are any.
Choosing a direction at random, I started moving—or rather, floating—toward the forest. After what felt like several hours, I hadn't met anyone. The thought that I might be alone here was creeping in when I heard a rustling ahead.
From behind a tree emerged a creature that looked like it was made of earth, with leaves on its head. If I were still human, I'd definitely be shocked, but my emotions weren't that strong. I only managed to be surprised as the creature started running around me and jumping, making strange sounds.
"Pryuu-ryuu-ryuu," it chirped, continuing to jump and radiate joy.
Somehow, I understood what it wanted. It was like a transfer of thoughts through emotions. This guy wanted me to play with him, and his thoughts were simple and impulsive, like a child who hasn't fully grasped themselves yet. I tried to send him my questions about the world and himself. It seemed to work—at least, he stopped, tilted his head, and stared at me in confusion. Question marks seemed to hang over his head. He probably hadn't even asked himself these questions or wasn't interested in them. After standing like that for a minute, he started running back and forth again.
I felt like sighing. I wouldn't learn anything from this guy. There's still hope that not everyone here is like him. Continuing my journey with my new companion—who apparently doesn't want to go his own way yet—at least it's less lonely.
As I went deeper into the forest, it grew darker and more unfriendly. It even felt uncomfortable, like something was physically pressing down on me. The spirit, who had been cheerful earlier, started pulling me back and whining that I shouldn't go there. It made me curious about what was bothering him, but I decided to go on alone. Pushing my new acquaintance back, I conveyed my message: I'm going further. Seeing I'd made up my mind, he started walking back, turning every few steps as if to ask, "Have you changed your mind?" After saying goodbye, I ventured deeper into the dark part of the forest.
A few hundred meters later, I felt tremors in the ground, like rocks collapsing. Soon, it became clear why the ground was shaking: in a clearing, two creatures were battling, altering the forest landscape with every move. One looked like a cluster of tree roots in an anthropomorphic form, and the other was a hulking figure made of stone.
Even at a distance, I could feel their power. They'd crush me without even noticing. Their battle lust and fury spilled out around them. At least it was clear that the world wasn't populated only by friendly beings—that would be too good to be true. I should've listened to the leaf spirit. Now the battle was shifting toward where I'd come from. I'd have to go around them and keep moving. It's getting more and more confusing. I need to find someone who can explain everything.
After traveling some distance from the battle, I felt a cry of pain filled with fear and hopelessness in the space around me. The source was a large root resembling an Ent from *The Lord of the Rings*. It seemed the winner and loser had been decided, so I'd better get out of here fast. While they were fighting, they hadn't paid much attention to me, but at the edge of my senses, I knew they'd noticed me. As soon as they could, they'd come after me.
At that moment, the Ent began to dissolve into multicolored particles that quickly evaporated in the air, though some managed to enter the stone giant. Immediately, the giant grew taller, and the pressure intensified. Great. It looks like things are the same here as in my memories from my human life: the strong devour the weak, but here it's literal.
Without hesitation, I started floating as fast as I could. However, after traveling some distance, I began to feel that I couldn't keep up the speed—it was like a chi reserve I hadn't felt before was running out in speed mode. So even I have a limited energy supply, and when it's depleted, I feel tired. Stopping, I noticed I'd grown dimmer. Before I could really get scared, I realized my energy was slowly replenishing.
Yes, after expending my chi, I began to sense something in the background, like I was absorbing it from the outside to replenish my supply. Of course, analyzing that battle, it became clear that those creatures emitted the same energy, but with additives—strange as it sounds, the stone man's energy felt like earth and stone, while the other's felt like wood, water, and earth. My old friend must be too weak, since I didn't sense anything from him, or maybe I'm too insensitive to detect it. That battle was intense, and the burden I felt near them seemed to resemble their chi, scattered during the fight.
I'll count the neutrality of my chi as a plus. My chi reserve is replenishing faster and faster. But I should still wait somewhere until I'm fully restored before continuing my journey.
After wandering a bit, I saw a large tree. Hiding in its roots, I decided to try sleeping—maybe that would help me recover faster. After some time, I still couldn't fall asleep, tossing and turning, thinking. Only when I gave up and stopped moving did my body start to drift into sleep. My last thought was the wish not to be killed during my first sleep in this world.
**Chapter 1. The Realm of Spirits**
I woke up reluctantly, and what finally roused me were some strange pokes to my body. As I opened my eyes, I certainly didn't expect to see a parody of Sun Wukong. Even as a monkey, he looked more human than any other life form I'd encountered before. Most importantly, he could speak. Not through the transmission of thoughts via emotions, but in a simple and understandable language, though it sounded like a mix of Eastern languages from my past life.
"Interesting," he said after poking me a few more times.
At that moment, I wasn't too concerned about what he found interesting. Instead, I was glad to have met a non-aggressive and rational representative of the local, so to speak, fauna.
I stirred and began to get up. The whole time, he was staring intently at me, as if peering into my very essence, which made me a bit nervous.
"Hi, who are you?" I decided to break our mutual staring contest and start a conversation. Transmitting my thoughts was getting easier and easier. It seems this form of communication is instinctive for beings like me.
At that moment, his squinted eyes beneath bushy brows widened, and his mouth formed an O. A second later, he jumped back several meters.
"You're rational?!" he shouted, pointing at me.
"You too?!" I decided not to let him outdo me.
Calming down, he approached me closely and began sniffing me. Honestly, it was strange, and I was taken aback for a moment. Before I could protest, he asked:
"Where are you from? Why can't I sense any bending in you? How did you become rational as a lesser spirit?" The questions poured out of him.
"Wait, wait, wait. First, you explain to me where we are, who you are, who I am, and then I'll answer your questions," I managed to say before he could ask more.
"Alright," he said. "My name is Wong. I'm a baboon spirit, a higher spirit already at 730 years old," he finished proudly. Judging by his constantly twitching tail, he wanted to learn about me right then and there, but he held back.
For several hours, I listened to the endless information from the talkative Wong, and I began to understand the world I had found myself in.
As it turns out, we're in the Spirit World—a place even its inhabitants don't fully comprehend. As Wong says, you can walk along a familiar path but end up in a completely different place.
There are two main types of spirits here: spirits of darkness and chaos, and spirits of light and harmony. But this doesn't mean they command darkness or light; it signifies their path of development or the direction of their chi. All spirits grow stronger and wiser over time, whether they're of the first or second type. The main difference is that light spirits are naturally peaceful; they see no point in senseless violence. They grow stronger and wiser as they understand themselves or the world around them, and as they enhance the quality, density, and quantity of their chi.
Dark spirits, on the other hand, are more inclined toward chaos and destruction. They can grow stronger by killing spirits and absorbing their chi. This inevitably affects their already unstable minds. Spirits themselves are chi, so when they absorb another spirit's chi, they also absorb its essence, which further destabilizes their psyche. It's rare to meet a sane dark spirit that doesn't immediately attack you. Essentially, dark spirits with weak wills rarely stop themselves from taking the easy path to power. They're no longer just dark spirits but become corrupted.
As he said, determining what a spirit is can be very difficult if you don't see external signs of their nature or sense their chi. There are countless types of spirits, both dark and light, ranging from water spirits to cat spirits or even spirits of inanimate objects. However, the primary inhabitants of the Spirit World are spirits of the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air, as well as spirits of various animals. Beyond these, there are numerous derivative spirits of these five types, such as a stone badger spirit or a nature spirit, whose chi is a proper blend of water and earth. This list could go on forever.
Spirits themselves can live indefinitely, but even the oldest spirits eventually grow tired of existence and dissolve into the world's chi. According to Wong, he became a higher spirit despite his young age by spirit standards.
"What's a higher or lesser spirit?" I asked in confusion, as these terms frequently appeared in his stories.
There's a hierarchy among spirits. All spirits are born as lesser spirits, of course, except for the great ones, who, as spirits remember, have always existed. My friend Leafy turned out to be a lesser spirit too. Their characteristics include the reasoning ability of a 5-7-year-old child, low chi density and quantity, and usually an inability to bend their element far from their body.
The next level is the average spirit. Their chi is denser, and their reserves are several times greater than those of lesser spirits. Their reasoning resembles that of a teenager, and they have much better control over their bending. They consciously seek to understand themselves, the world, and their abilities.
The elite of spirits are the higher spirits. They're not much different from average humans, often wiser in some matters, and some can transform into various creatures. All their chi parameters are several times better than those of average spirits, and most importantly, they have their own source of chi. This means they don't need a highly chi-saturated place to replenish their reserves; their self-generated chi is enough for them to live and function like humans. They can bend their element as they please and begin to understand related aspects of their element. For example, a water spirit might comprehend not just pure water but all liquids as a whole—blood, clouds, even mud.
Ancient spirits are almost like the embodiment of something specific; they may have appeared shortly after the great spirits. They're stronger than higher spirits and often have quirks, so it's best to avoid them unless you're sure what kind of spirit they are. They may not be tied to a specific element or may be its very embodiment. Wong knows Tui and La, the Spirits of the Moon and Ocean, who haven't been seen on the spirit plane for a long time, or the Mother of Faces. At the mention of her, he paled slightly.
I repeated his words, and immediately, the *Avatar* cartoon came to mind. Now I truly see the resemblance between the beings here and those in the animated series. It even made me much happier, because if the story follows the script, I'll be able to participate in these events, maybe even become like the Avatar with a harem. After all, my memory is filled with too many series and books about all-powerful heroes with countless girls. I just need to find a way to the human world and, most importantly, become human again. Of course, being a spirit has its advantages, but I'd rather be human.
The most powerful spirits are the great spirits Raava and Vaatu. As Wong knows, they've always fought only each other. You could simply leave them alone to live peacefully, and their balance lasted for centuries. According to him, with the arrival of the Avatar era, the lives of spirits changed. The balance maintained by the struggle of the great spirits is gradually crumbling. Raava, during her time on the spirit plane, unconsciously supported and helped the emergence of light spirits, while Vaatu took excess dark chi from the dark spirits. Now, there are more dark spirits than light ones, and they've become much more aggressive. As he knows, spirits used to often feud with humans, but now they have to restrain the dark spirits. In the material world, most humans no longer remember spirits; human life is short, as is their memory. But many spirits that adapted to the human plane mutated into various animals, and some retained their strength, like dragons and spirits of places that passively sustain their existence.
When he finished his story, Wong began asking me everything he could about myself. In his life, he'd never seen a completely neutral spirit with even a small source of chi, yet with such a minuscule amount and low density. And to be rational as a lesser spirit, in his opinion, is simply impossible.
I didn't tell him about my origins; I don't think he needs to know yet. After all, I've only just met him, though he seems quite friendly.
Not getting clear answers from me, he waved his hand but looked quite satisfied. Almost all the rational spirits he knows are too boring, in his opinion. They're always either sleeping, meditating, or busy with their own affairs, asking him not to disturb them. And those who could keep him company, he himself doesn't want to engage with, saying they have too many issues. He's understandable by spirit standards; he's very young and can't sit still.
"Uh, what's your name?" he asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, only just remembering he didn't know my name.
I paused for a few minutes, as many names came to mind, but I felt in my soul that the time for a name hadn't come yet.
"Hey, it's no problem. I only learned my name after becoming a higher spirit, and it just came to me somehow. Maybe you're not ready yet," Wong said, seeing my difficulty. "For now, I'll just call you friend, okay?"
"You don't mind being my friend?" he asked excitedly.
Agreeing with him, I was once again struck by his joy from simple communication. He must have been lonely without a companion, as he was so happy about things that seemed ordinary to me.
And I didn't mind his company; I'd be safer with him around, without dark spirits threatening me. Seeing that I'd stay with him for now, his face lit up with happiness. For a spirit, he had such expressive features.
"Alright, friend, let's go. I'll show you how strong my earthbending is," he said, puffing out his chest. Recently, dark water spirits had settled near a nearby pond, attacking the light spirits under his protection.
To help their weaker brethren, they fight to reclaim territories from the dark spirits, who constantly threaten to devour the peaceful ones. Not all are capable of fighting back; some don't even have offensive abilities.
As we walked along a well-trodden path, we reached a small pond where the dark water spirits had settled. They looked like overgrown earthly piranhas, with a whole school of them led by an average spirit and three lesser ones.
"Stay behind me. Usually, average spirits already know how to use various tricks," he said, his expression turning serious. His entire demeanor took on a certain animal grace, and his steps became springy.
Obediently, I stood behind him as we approached. As the distance shortened, the spirits began to snarl and move closer. Though the leader could sense the monkey posed a threat to them.
As we neared them, I began to feel their emotions: excitement and an overwhelming sense of hunger. In my mind, I kept hearing, "Food, stronger, mine," from the lesser spirits. The average spirit remained silent, preparing his attack.
The tension grew until, in a unified surge, the dark spirits leaped at us. Without hesitation, Wong extended his wooden staff to nearly five meters and, in one strike, defeated the lesser spirits. Seeing such swift retribution, the average spirit hesitated but continued his attack. The spirit was just a meter away when Wong bound his body with his elongated tail and simply crushed him into colorful particles of chi.
Before I could marvel at the swift defeat and my new friend's strength, most of the chi from the destroyed spirit swirled around Wong and was absorbed into my body.
With the last particle entering me, my mind was flooded with pain, like when a nerve in a tooth is touched, but the source was my entire spirit.
"What—how is this possible?" I heard Wong say before I lost consciousness.
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