The in-game understanding of the Maluin is limited. While the Maluin are understood to be a kind of collective energy, the individual energies that make up the Maluin are not fully known or understood. You can think of it like knowing the concept ‘color’ but being unaware that there is such a thing as ‘red’, ‘green’ or ‘blue’. Only very experienced characters may have a kind of intuitive understanding that there are distinct facets to the Maluin, but this understanding will not necessarily be of any utility to them in-game.
In reality there are eight different Maluin, each of which govern a different aspect of existence. The eight Maluin are: sef (flesh), aht (mind), vih (wind), hod (wood), pek (stone), besh (flame), qur (wave), met (time). You don’t have to remember these, but the information is included here for posterity. Again, the best analogy is to think of these as colors. If reality is a canvas, then the Maluin are the colors that make up the artwork.
Once again, your character will be unaware that there are eight Maluin and instead think of the Maluin as one, abstract concept describing the life-force that permeates all things.