Chapter 287: Battlefield of the Mind |
Saul finalized the last suitable candidate for “History Watcher,” but since Little Algae couldn’t enter his mental realm, there was no rush to carry out that step just yet.
He closed the diary and walked toward the four dazed soul consciousness forms.
As he moved, the platform beneath his feet began to shift its shape.
The once gray, circular stone platform started transforming—its color, material, and structure all changing from before.
Underfoot, it turned into light-colored marble tiles etched with intricate patterns.
One section of the ground rose up, rapidly forming a black flat panel.
One side of the panel was exceptionally smooth, clearly reflecting the images of the four soul consciousness forms.
The four stared at the panel in front of them, unable to comprehend what it was.
But Saul knew—it was a screen he had manifested.
Resurrection.
At the same time, the clothing on Saul’s body changed with a shimmer of light. When the glow faded, his apprentice robe had become a white lab coat.
In his mind, that’s what smart people always wore.
He curled his index finger and tapped on the screen.
“Let’s move on to something serious.”
“My current focus is on dark-element magic, particularly in the field of souls. It’s foreseeable that resurrection will definitely become a major topic in the future.”
At the mention of “resurrection,” the four soul were overcome with complex and conflicting emotions.
As without body soul consciousnesses, they were essentially the luckier kind of dead.
And as undead, how could they not yearn for resurrection?
But even simple death was a domain accessible only to Fourth Rank wizards and above.
And throughout the Western Continent, not a single Fourth Rank wizard existed.
The most powerful one around was only Third Rank—and even he had no strong backing, only able to throw his weight around a bit in the Western Continent. In front of someone like Gorsa, who had a powerful family behind him, he still had to tread carefully.
Saul gave the four a few seconds to digest this before continuing, “Of course, this topic might be one I can’t complete even in my entire lifetime. So it’s only our ultimate goal—we can’t afford to neglect our other studies and development either.”
As Saul spoke, the words on the screen shifted:
Soul Attacks.
He went on, “Soul attacks are the direction I plan to research next. It’s currently my strongest method and the one I’ve studied most thoroughly.”
Next, a large curly bracket appeared beneath the phrase “Soul Attacks.”
Inside the upper half of the bracket, two words emerged:
External.
“For now, I’ve got two initial ideas for offensive approaches. The first is external.”
Saul stretched out both hands. Before their eyes, his hands gradually turned transparent, then elongated and transformed—from human hands into octopus-like tentacles.
“External means transforming my extendable soul form into a weapon, attacking the enemy’s soul directly.”
Then the screen displayed the words:
Internal.
Saul stared at those words for a moment before continuing, “’Internal’ might not be the most accurate term. What I mean is—pulling the enemy’s soul into here.”
“What?” Agu and Morden exclaimed almost in unison.
Angela—still unnamed at the time—and Herman, who didn’t know much about soul matters, just looked on blankly.
“I’ve actually done something like this before,” Saul said, looking at Morden. “It was after I established this Mental Realm that I was able to defeat Mr. Morden, who had already turned into a wraith. So when I’m facing enemies who are stronger overall but weaker in mental or soul strength, can’t I just drag them in here and beat them senseless?”
Morden spoke first. He didn’t mind Saul having once defeated his chaotic self. “If the master can achieve this, then even a First Rank wizard would stand no chance once inside. And even a Second Rank wizard with weaker soul strength might lose to you.”
At the time, though Morden had been a Second Rank true wizard, he had been dead for years and had become a fragmented wraith—he no longer truly counted as Second Rank.
Once Morden gave his approval, Agu stepped in to advise caution. “But Master, no one’s ever done anything like this before. Pulling someone else’s soul consciousness into your own mental world is extremely dangerous.”
He continued, seemingly worried Saul might rush into it. “A person’s mindscape is actually quite fragile. Only soul-specialist wizards, prepared for mutual destruction, would ever draw others into their mental world for a final showdown.”
At this point, Agu suddenly realized that Saul’s Mental Realm wasn’t so simple.
Never mind the mysterious, unsettling starry sky overhead, or the ever-shifting platform underfoot. Forget the miraculous diary in Saul’s hand that could forcibly dispel corruption and restore clarity to soul fragments. Even just Saul’s ability to freely reshape his mental form—that alone was something many true wizards couldn’t do.
With this in mind, Agu changed his tone. “Of course, Master is not an ordinary wizard. That diary alone has the power to forcibly extract another’s consciousness.”
He sighed inwardly. “Still, for safety’s sake, unless absolutely necessary, don’t pull in a Second Rank wizard. At that level, their self-awareness is extremely solid. Plus, they usually come prepared with protective measures specifically against soul-based attacks.”
Saul nodded. What Agu said made sense.
Both Agu and Morden had once been Second Rank true wizards. Their experience and insight were valuable.
Still, Saul wasn’t discouraged. His Mental Realm had the diary as an anchor—it was extremely stable. And the diary’s capabilities weren’t limited to just Second Rank opponents.
But there was no need to explain all that to them.
“I understand. For now, using the Mental Realm as a battlefield is just a theoretical concept. We haven’t even solved the basic problems yet. Whatever difficulties arise in the future, we’ll tackle them one at a time.”
Hearing this, the others understood—Saul had firmly decided to turn his Mental Realm into a battlefield of the mind.
Seeing their tense expressions, Saul said flatly, “Let’s start by working on the first step: external attacks on other people’s soul consciousness.”
“I plan to combine my soul tentacles—” he wiggled his octopus-like tendrils to demonstrate “—with the Second Tier spell I’ve been studying, Touch of Torment. Do any of you have relevant experience or advice?”
After speaking, Saul’s two tentacles wrapped around each other.
Other people crossed their arms once or twice—he did it a dozen times over.
As usual, Agu spoke first. Having once served as the Wizard Tower’s librarian, he had considerable theoretical knowledge.
“Touch of Torment is also a dark element spell, but it mainly inflicts damage on the physical body. If Master wishes to incorporate the soul tentacles, the damage could be split between body and soul. But first, we’ll need to address the conflicting nature of the two spells…”
Before he could finish, the ground beneath them suddenly trembled.
He quickly fell silent, turning in surprise to Saul—who was also looking around in confusion.
“Is time up?” Agu asked cautiously.
“Maybe.” Saul had been the first to sense the instability in the space.
He had spent a long time on the Mental Realm this time—far longer than last time. A satisfactory result.
Still, having to end the brainstorming session halfway was a bit of a disappointment.
“Agu, Morden, Herman, and An…” Saul paused. The girl with Angela’s face—the newly formed fusion soul—still hadn’t given herself a name.
The other three, upon hearing their names, all turned back into black pages and returned to the diary.
Only the girl remained standing in place. Suddenly, she smiled.
“I’d been thinking all this time about what name to give myself. But when Master called me just now, I realized—no matter what I’m called, I’m still me. My essence doesn’t change.”
She traced her finger along her lips thoughtfully. “Since that’s what you called me, maybe it’s fate.”
“I’ll go by An from now on.” She walked up to Saul, leaning slightly forward with a tilt of her chin and a pout, her big round eyes sparkling. “Thank you for naming me, Master~”
(End of Chapter)
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