âCan the bronze gate really let me traverse space?â
Saul found it hard to believe. Did that mean every time he left the 20th floor, he would end up on the first floor of the East Tower?
But the bronze gates on the first floor of the East Tower couldnât be opened simultaneously.
âMaybe itâs a one-way passage. Or maybe itâs a single-use gateway. I just asked my mentor for helpâmaybe he thought it best I not wander around the Wizard Tower before I get the puppet.â
Whatever the reason, it was a great convenience for Saul.
The first thing he did after returning to the second storage room was to retrieve the red-eyed puppet doll and stuff it into his pocket.
Then Saul walked to the front of the corpse cluster in the storage room, checked the number of candlelamps, lit a few to replenish them, and came to a stop before Hermanâs body.
He opened the diary within his soul bodyâthis was the signal that he allowed the souls within to observe the outside world.
âHerman, can you see the corpse in front of me?â
[Herman: âŠYes, Master. That⊠is my body. ]
His voice was strained. Clearly, the experience of seeing his own corpse was not pleasant.
âSorry, I know it might be uncomfortable, but there are some things I need to confirm.â
Saul told them that whenever his soul left his body, he was often pulled into these corpses, despite them having no life left in them. Sometimes, he even saw the things these bodies had once seen.
It was as if these corpses standing in the storage room werenât dead, but instead acted like monitors.
âDo you know why that is?â
The consciousnesses in the diary fell silent for a while, and then Agu was the first to speak.
[Agu: I once heard a theory. The soul relies on the body for protection, and the body relies on the soul. So at the brink of death, the body releases a massive surge of energyâits functions desperately trying to retain the soul.]
âSo you think our bodies also have consciousness?â
[Agu: Itâs just a theory. Thereâs no experiment that proves the body can have consciousness on its own. I think it might just be a rule of how life operates.]
[Morden: I disagree. Being on the brink of death still isnât the same as being dead. The soul and consciousness are still present in the body, still exerting control. So I believe that the bodyâs final struggle is the soul issuing one last command. Just like how some women, when pregnant, unconsciously prioritize protecting the child over their own lifeâthatâs the soul giving the body that order.]
[Agu: Then how do you explain the Dwarven Valley Effect?]
[Morden: Iâve never been to Dwarven Valley. Maybe the wizards back then just werenât powerful enough to detect the presence of a soul. Or maybe there were just lingering fragments of consciousness.]
[Agu: Youâre calling a Third-Rank wizard ânot powerful enoughâ?]
âHold on! Both of you, stop arguing! Someone tell meâwhat is the Dwarven Valley Effect?â Saul quickly cut them off, seeing the two most knowledgeable souls about to clash again.
[Agu: There was once a Third-Rank wizard on another continent who tried to capture a group of dwarves. But when he entered the valley they lived in, he found that all the magic and mental power had vanishedâit had become a no-magic domain. Any being with a soul that entered would feel immense rejection. If forced to go in, the soul would be forcibly ejected, leaving the body behind. But the body would continue forward, acting as if it still had a will.]
[Agu: If the soul couldnât be drawn back using material means before the body got too far away, it would never be able to return. That place became a forbidden domain for all soul-based beings. Yet there are rumors that some have seen bodies still walking around the edge of Dwarven Valley.]
âThereâs a place like that?â
[Morden: Master, sometimes itâs simply that we havenât uncovered the truth yet. That doesnât mean the laws of the world are being broken.]
[Agu: Oh? So you think the worldâs laws are already all known?]
âEnough!â Saulâs expression darkened. âI know academic circles love to argue, but donât forgetâIâm the one asking the questions right now!â
The black pages belonging to Agu and Morden immediately fell silent, trembling faintly.
Clearly, the anger of the diaryâs owner exerted immense pressure on the soul bound within its pages.
Even Saul himself was surprised by how powerful that reaction was.
He didnât rush to comfort the two hurt souls. Instead, he began sorting through the new information heâd just received.
âSo right now, there are two mainstream theories. One is that the body acts on the soulâs last command. The other is that the body itself can generate consciousness.â
Saul looked at the heavily modified Herman in front of him.
âHerman, Iâm going to touch your body now. Let me know if you feel anything.â
From Saulâs right palm, a translucent gray tentacle, shadowy in appearance, sprouted out. It was as thick as an adultâs arm, but if needed, it could grow to half a meter in thicknessâthough that would shorten its length.
The tentacle coiled around Hermanâs head, then slipped through his forehead.
But it quickly withdrew.
âHis brain is empty.â
Saul directed the tentacle to several other spots.
This modified body of Hermanâs⊠really had been altered quite a bit.
Not just the brainâeven the spine had been replaced with some other material. Its shape didnât even resemble a humanâs spine anymore.
Looking at this Patchwork-Herman, Saul quietly retracted his tentacle.
âDid you feel anything during that?â
[Herman: âŠMy feelings are a bit complicated. ]
His handwriting appeared sluggish, clearly shaken by what had just happened. But he quickly pulled himself together.
[Herman: I didnât feel anything different. Though it might be because my perception isnât that sharp.]
Saul nodded. âMm. Or maybe there are too many barriers between you and your body nowâyour sense of it isnât as clear.â
He stepped past Hermanâs corpse.
There was also the possibility that Hermanâs body was different from the others in the corpse cluster.
When Saulâs soul had left his body, he had never been pulled into Hermanâs. Maybe the newer members of the cluster didnât have the ability to draw in souls.
âWell, of course. The relationship between body and soul is one of the biggest mysteries in wizardry. Itâs not something Iâd solve just like that.â
Still, Saul wasnât ready to give up. This time, he chose a body he had previously possessed and began probing it again.
He had all the soul consciousnessesâincluding Anâfocus together to see if any sensations could be detected.
But once again, the four souls sensed nothing at all.
Throughout this process, Agu and Morden didnât argue even once. They just quietly did what they were told.
âOh, rightâwe have a new member.â Saul remembered that Nickâs body was still âairing outâ in the stone coffin.
âMaybe something fresh will be different.â
Though Saul still felt sad and wistful over Nickâs death, when facing a corpse, he returned to being a rational wizard.
Nickâs stone coffin was in the corner of the storage room, with a few boxes stacked beside itâone of which had once been used by Saul as a makeshift step stool.
He walked over and had Little Algae open the box, while he stayed alert for any signs of corpse transformation.
But Nickâs corpse lay quietly, showing no signs of attack or escape.
He lay there with the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, as if dreaming a pleasant dream.
Saul had rarely seen Nick smileâof course, that time he smirked at Saul didnât count.
Because Nick specialized in emotional magic, he was extremely restrained when it came to his own feelings. Whenever he sensed a wave of emotion rising, he would hide it away.
Saul still remembered the pained sound of his laughterâthat wasnât joy. That was torment.
âNo abnormalities. He can go into the storage clusterâŠâ
After completing his check, Saul was just about to lift Nickâs body out when the diary flipped on its own.
[Agu: Master, you might want to take a look at the puppet you just put on yourself.]
Saul frowned and immediately pulled out the red-eyed doll from his pocket.
âWhen did this happen?!â His pupils shrank.
At some point, the puppetâs eyesâhad turned black!
Yet Saul had never even left the storage room since getting the puppet!
(End of Chapter)
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