Umoya

The **Umoya** (うもや, *Umoya*?), also called **Seishin** (精神, *Seishin*?, lit. "Spirit") in Japan and **Jingshen** (Chinese: 精神, *Pinyin: Jīngshén*?) in China, are a species of humanoid Apparition in the *Apparition Tales anthology* who trace their origins mainly from Africa and partly from the Eastern World on Earth.

## Etymology

* The name term "umoya" originates from the Xhosa and Zulu people of Southern Africa, which all mean "spirit".
* The term "seishin" means "spirit" in Japanese.
* The term "jingshen" means "spirit" in Chinese.

## Overview

Umoya are an omnivorous species whose primary diet is all sorts of foods that humans eat. They are immune to sunlight and will absorb both solar energy and qi to power them, making them operate both during the day and at night. Umoya also have an abnormally powerful physical constitution and potent regenerative abilities, making them immune to normal weaponry and granting them the ability to heal from any wound with ease, even re-growing their head. The only known way to kill an Umoya and other apparitions, as demonstrated by Yuzuha, is to attack the lower daitan (below the navel) and the middle daitan (at the centre of the chest) to disrupt the flow of their Qi and finally overwhelm them with numerous attacks that tires them and their regeneration out, before delivering a final blow to kill them. Once an Umoya dies, their bodies emit a glow of light before they die a normal death similar to that of a normal human being, showing how this species is more human than anyone thought.

Umoya are also known to mutate and grow stronger over time as they absorb more solar energy and qi, allowing them to grow powerful and improve their physical and regenerative abilities among other attributes. Once Umoya absorb enough solar energy and qi, they can perform and utilize Shamanic Arts which vary and are unique to each and every Umoya.

Dumisani Mavundla's and his wife's own blood, along with the blood of members of the Big Three Clans, are also shown to have special properties that can strengthen an Umoya, proportional to the amount of blood infused. The blood, however, can be weaponized by them to be extremely potent so as to be dangerously toxic in higher concentrations and can force a mutation in the recipient's body far beyond what they can withstand, causing death. However, if they do endure the process, which is shown to be more excruciating the higher the dose is, their strength will grow tremendously. Conversely, Dumisani has been shown to be able to nullify a Umoya's immortality and regenerative ability, being able to revert them back to human without a second thought if they so desired.

## Personality

Unlike the heard mentality of humans and their emotions such as jealousy, the Umoya live by their own standards and ideals that prioritizes values like obedience equality, guidance, wisdom and fair judgement which has maintained long-term relationships between each other. They possess an instinct to protect the natural world and rid it of anything that will be a hindrance. Which is why the Umoya's goal after killing all demons is to create a better earth to be similar to the world before European colonization, even if it means killing anybody that stands in their way, be it Umoya or human; an act they will not hesitate to do and have done several times, even to imprisoning them knowing some of their members have been mentally colonized.

Due to some humans who were given a second chance at life due to spiritisation into an Umoya, they whole-heartedly inherit the Umoya's will with no hesitation since spiritization opens their eyes to the truth. Every Umoya stays true to their core beliefs and ensure they commit actions with no regrets. When faced with death, all Umoya do remember themselves one last time before they die, making them see if they regretted or not, before finally dying in peace.

## Transformation

### Creation

Other than Dumisani, the first Umoya who was born naturally from human parents, some, if not all Umoya can be born naturally, mainly through the following:

1. Two Umoya have a child that is has 100% Umoya genome in them.
2. An Umoya and a human have a child that is an Umoya-Human hybrid inheriting 95% Umoya DNA and 5% human DNA.
3. An Umoya-Human hybrid (95% Umoya 5% human) and a human to form a similarUmoya-Human hybrid (95% Umoya 5% human) to the parent.
4. Two Umoya-Human hybrids (95% Umoya 5% human) having a child that has 100% Umoya DNA.

Most other Umoya are not only born naturally but are also formed by converting a human by reshaping their genetic, lifeforce and soul structure through manipulating the Qi in their body. Only Dumisani Mavundla, his wife, the chieftains of the Big Five Clans plus Umoya skilled in Transfigurative Sorcery are the only ones capable of spiritizing a human into an Umoya.

No human nor living organism is immune to spiritization by an Umoya.

The creation of Umoya is both a mystical process due to Sorcery and reshaping their life force and soul, plus also being a biological one achieved through changing the individual's genetic and anatomical makeup.

### Restoration

An Umoya's transformation is not permanent for the spiritized and can in fact be reversed using a reversed application of Transfigurative Sorcery. As an Umoya as powerful as Dumisani or Yuiko, any chieftain of the Big Five Clans, or any Umoya who is a master at Transfigurative Sorcery can be and is able to resist the effects and can take minimal to massive effort to do so.

## History

### Origin

The first Umoya that is said to have existed is Dumisani Mavundla. He was born as the first Umoya from two shaman parents who could invoke rain, predict future events in perfect detail, spoke with the spirits of the deceased and received revelations from the gods of their culture and God. Due to this, they received a blessing and a prophecy that their middle child will be stronger, will look for a greater purpose outside his home continent, meet new friends and his future efforts will play a pivotal role in the ending of two supernatural wars, and that he will be born with supernatural abilities similar to the adversaries he will fight but greater and will live eternally in a physical body. All this came to fruition on August 10th 1427 in Southern Africa when Dumisani was born, and him becoming a powerful shaman in Japan, truly makes Dumisani the first Umoya to ever exist.

## Status

After the events of the Apparition-Demon Wars, the Umoya plus other apparitions have always still being an active race and species, although there have been many individuals who lost their lives bin ancient times. They continue to live even in the 21st century.

## Abilities

Umoya have a myriad of abilities that sets them apart from most apparitions and mostly, humans and earth's species:

**Physiology:** The Umoya have an appearance similar to a human (since their progenitor was born from human parents) and share the same anatomical and morphological structure as humans. The only differences are through the following anatomical structures:

1. **Faster Brain Processing Power:** An Umoya's brain and body are different from a human's to a seemingly supernatural level are are highly complex. To explain this phenomenon, studies on their body by Yuzuha showed that their brain and body possess bio-telekinetic neurotransmitters that grant the Umoya powerful telekinetic abilities to manipulate their abilities freely, even going as far as wield their weapons from a distance. Their brain processes information within the range of milliseconds, allowing them to process information faster and make numerous decisions on the fly whilst analyzing an event or process even in tense situations. This was demonstrated by Loyiso Sango in his battle against Hokori where he came up with a total of five different tactics within the range of 4 milliseconds.

1. **Dominant Genetics:** An Umoya, be it human or animal, have dominant and prominent genetics over other species. As stated by Tatsuji Fujita, that when an Umoya with 100% pure genetics were to have a child with a human, the offspring would inherit the genetics of the Umoya parent which would be dominant over the human gene making the offspring an Umoya-Human hybrid with 95% Umoya and 5% human. If an Umoya-Human hybrid were to have a child with a full-blooded Umoya, the offspring will be 100% Umoya like their full-blooded parent.

1. **Accelerated Growth Rate:** Umoya gain power at a faster rate than compared to demons, instead of targeting humans as a source of power, they absorb energy through their skin from the sun during the day, and the qi from their surroundings at night or when the sun is clouded during the day. most Umoya are so skilled in absorbing energy that they can absorb energy from both sources simultaneously, which will they will in turn use their qi to reinforce their flesh and bones which in turn increases their physical abilities. Due to this process, it has allowed even the weakest humans to become one of the most powerful Umoya in existence in mere months. As a result, Umoya are able to reach further heights that are impossible to attain when human as long as they keep cultivating their qi as high as possible and training their Spiritual Talents to the point of refinement of their techniques.

1. **Longevity and Nigh-Immortality:** Umoya, unlike every apparitions, can age, except at a much slower rate that humans and other organisms. Their longevity is similar to the Ocean Quahog and Immortal Jellyfish, both known for their incredibly long lifespans. Due to these long lifespans and longevity, an Umoya is capable of living for thousands of years, the first Umoya, Dumisani Mavundla, as an example since he is physically is 55 years old yet genetically he is 596 years old by the year of 2023. Since he has passed the 500 year mark, it entirely confirms the species thousands of years longevity. Some can still stop their physical age at their mid-40s yet continue to genetically age by thousands of years.
	* Apart from their immense longevity, plus having the three weaknesses of Qi-blocking, Qi Extraction and Negative Qi, the Umoya are labelled as nigh-immortal. They seemingly Umoya also possess eternal life that allow them to live for centuries without showing the slightest sign of deterioration or aging. They are unable to be killed by conventional means, like suffering excessive injuries, getting cut by Nichirin weapons or poisoned by wisteria won't work, with the chieftains to decide who gets to continue being an Umoya and who gets stripped of their abilities and be reverted back to a human.

**Superhuman Physical Capabilities:** Some of the weakest Umoya still possess inhuman strength, speed and endurance, being able to outmatch the average person in all physical categories effortlessly, even outmatching a weak demon and a demon capable of using Sorcery. An Umoya's physical abilities are implied to be directly tied to the amount of solar and nature energy absorbed by them, the amount and flow of qi in their bodies and if they've made their bodies durable and greater than above average with their flesh manipulating abilities.

* **Superhuman Stamina & Endurance:** All Umoya, like almost every apparition, Umoya have a shared physical trait of seemingly endless and limitless stamina and vitality, simply being unable to accumulate fatigue or get tired no matter how hard they try to exert themselves. They can also endure pain and discomfort much better than humans and even better than members of the Demon Sins and have been known to take heavy barrages of attacks as if they are nothing, knowing full well they'll still heal and come for another round. In few cases, Umoya are known no not sleep, which shows that Umoya too, like all living things, need to sleep as well. They are also known not to feel pain or exhaustion.

**Biological Absorption:** Some Umoya have displayed the ability to absorb biological matter into their bodies through physical contact, mainly as an alternative method for consumption. This is only when they are eating their food to avoid the long process of chewing.

**Enhanced Senses:** Umoya possess very sharp sensory abilities, even trace the origin of something from a great distance. Like demons, Umoya are also able to distinguish things humans hardly understand, such as blood type, sickness, and genes.

**Menacing Aura:** Most Umoya have a naturally menacing presence and aura that evokes fear, with stronger demons having a more intense aura. This is only used by Umoya like chieftains, the Five Guardians or Divine Generals to assert their dominance in the hierarchy and command order, along with inducing fear and physical pain into their opponents or even make them lose the will to fight.

**Auspicious Aura:** Nearly all Umoya give off an aura meant to be conducive and successive so as to ease any tension rising and build another individual's morale. This aura is stated to even drown the menacing aura of an Upper Rank demon and rival a Demon Sin's menacing aura.

**Extrasensory Perception:** *Main Article: Extrasensory Perception*

**Flesh Manipulation:** *Main Article: Flesh Manipulation*

**Regeneration:** *Main Article: Regeneration*

**Disease and Poison Immunity:** Umoya have an innate immunity to all types of diseases and ailments, even to the complex anti-demon drugs and poison derived from wisteria that are known to weaken and kill demons respectively if they receive even kilograms of the substance.

**Information Sharing:** Nearly all Umoya, specifically members of the Five Great Clans, along with skilled enough Umoya, possess the ability to disseminate and transmit information to one another through psychic means, and even to humans. During the Reiwa era when Aneko Motozaki and Ami Motozaki shared information among each other using Ocular Sorcery on how to battle the Demon Sin Two, Gekido as they simultaneously fought him.

**Qi:** The life energy that flows within both living and non-living entities and in the atmosphere, can be harnessed by the Umoya plus using it to further surpass , this is the most important aspect of an Umoya as once they become strong enough and what can make or break an Umoya if not refined enough, they develop supernatural abilities unique to themselves known as Onmyojutsu, energy magic-based powers that uses a Umoya's Qi as a power source.

**Great Spirit Body:** *Main Article: Great Spirit Body*

## Weaknesses

**Qi Extraction:** Umoya possess only one of two known weakness and that is abrupt and forceful Qi extraction from their bodies. As Qi flows within the Umoya's entire body, forceful removal of this energy will prove devastating to the Umoya itself. The effects of this process are severe brain damage and immense strain from the body since Qi also flows in an Umoya's brain. Once removed plus using attacks to block the meridians from absorbing more Qi, an Umoya is now subject to being killed like a demon capable of using Negative Qi or a human using an enchanted tool. This weakness was discovered by Yuzuha when she was studying the seemingly dead body of Dumisani Mavundla after their first fight. Over the years after their rematch, she would develop a way that would use the Qi extraction process and passed it on to her entire demon horde, bringing forth demons that were capable of killing Umoya.

**Qi-blocking:** It is a technique that has been practiced by both apparitions and Demons. Blocking someone's qi through their meridians renders the victim's ability to use Qi useless and temporarily disables an Umoya's capabilities to use Onmyojutsu.

## Trivia

The Umoya are also inspired the five clans of **Wenren** (闻人, *Pinyin: Wénrén*?), **Shentu** (申屠, *Pinyin: Shēntú*?), **Rongcheng** (容成, *Pinyin: Róngchéng*?), **Xuanyuan** (轩辕, *Pinyin: Xuānyuán*?), and **Gongyi** (公仪, *Pinyin: Gōngyí*?) from the Chinese donghua, Fog Hill of Five Elements (Wu Shan Wu Xing: Zhuo Yuan Shen Huo and Wu Shan Wu Xing: Xi Chuan Huan Zi Lin) by **Lin Hun** (林魂, *Lín Hún*?).