Chapter 355: Strength in Numbers

The Elven Valley—also known as the Forest of Seasons.

When Saul learned of its location, he couldn’t help but feel it was quite the coincidence.

The entrance to the Elven Valley was actually near Hanging Hands Valley, separated only by a steep cliff.

If Saul and Byron had climbed the other side of that cliff back then, they would have arrived at the Elven Valley.

Of course, without the “key” to enter, they would’ve been left wandering around the outskirts.

Not many people wanted to approach elves anyway. That’s why the key to enter the Elven Valley ended up being sold by a Third Rank apprentice to a Second Rank one.

And the one who bought the key—Kongsha—was already considered as good as dead by most people at the time.

Saul hadn’t been optimistic about Kongsha either.

After hearing Gorsa’s descriptions of elves, Saul had made a habit of staying far away from anything related to them.

If not for the diary issuing a long-term death warning, he would’ve just let Monroe swallow his other eyeball too.

Of course, Monroe wasn’t doing so well these days either.

Though Saul hadn’t deliberately asked around, he knew that shortly after that day, Monroe had stopped showing up to the “Basic Knowledge of All Things” class.

That cushy teaching job had been taken over by another well-read Second Rank apprentice.

The spacious carriage rolled from flat land onto a scarcely-traveled trail. Thanks to a cushioning formation etched into it, the ride was still smooth, and those inside barely felt any bumps.

Yes—those inside.

This time, Saul had requested a two-horse carriage. It was large enough to comfortably seat six people.

Aside from himself, three emotionless men and women with black veils over their eyes sat inside. The coachman wasn’t the usual mushroom driver (Saul really feared the mushroom would end up planting him in the Elven Valley), but rather another veiled, expressionless figure.

These four were actually corpses Saul had taken from the second storeroom.

Gorsa had said before: no one was to take anything out of the storerooms without permission. But Saul had filed a report and easily walked away with five corpses.

Four of them were now housing the soul bodies of Herman, Morden, Agu, and An.

The last one was a spare—just in case he ruined another vessel again, he’d have a backup ready.

Thanks to Herman’s courageous spirit of sacrifice, Saul had fully mastered the technique of infusing soul bodies into vessels. Now, the only challenge left was how to delay rejection.

So before setting out for the dangerous Elven Valley, the first thing Saul did after leaving the tower was head to the lakeside cabin and retrieve all four soul bodies, placing them into physical vessels.

Now, including the driver, Saul had two men and two women with him—perfectly balanced.

This was because, aside from Herman, the others didn’t need to switch genders.

This was another of Saul’s discoveries.

He found that soul bodies who had once held True Wizard power could resist the rejection of same-sex corpses and remain in vessels matching their own gender identity.

Only Herman, after trying once, quietly entered the body of a True Wizard-level female corpse.

In truth, the others could have used vessels of the opposite gender too. For someone at the True Wizard level, a small cognitive mismatch wasn’t much of a challenge.

This was something previous soul infusion researchers probably hadn’t known—because they never had access to True Wizard soul bodies willing to enter low-level apprentice vessels.

The mentors might’ve known, but they lacked the means to experiment.

Same principle.

The carriage suddenly jolted, dipped downward, and then began to ascend again.

An turned her head and pushed open the window. Branches stretched in from outside, almost poking through the opening.

“Master. The woods are getting denser. Should I activate the protective shield?” An’s voice was cheerful—sharply contrasting with her stiff expression.

“Do it.” Saul was still holding the notes Senior Byron had given him.

He’d brought a lot with him on this trip.

On his wrist was a faint scar—that was Stitch, a curse Saul had cultivated himself.

Beneath his cloak was a doll with red eyes clipped in place.

In the cage beside his seat were two half-dead little mice.

These were his test subjects for experimenting with the toxin Keli had made.

Originally, he’d prepared more than a dozen mice. But they’d been used up too quickly. Now only two barely-surviving ones were left—and clearly wouldn’t last much longer.

Saul figured they’d be dead before they even reached the Elven Valley.

No denying Keli’s metal-based toxin was potent. Saul could only try developing an antidote using knowledge from his past life.

Though he’d made some progress, he’d given up hope of completing an antidote during this trip.

So now his attention returned to the notes Byron had given him on gray matter research.

At that moment, Agu leaned forward slightly. “Master, are you planning to craft a potion to enhance mental strength?”

Saul looked up from the book. Aside from Herman, the other three soul bodies had adapted quickly to their new vessels. At the very least, none of them still mistakenly called him “pig” when they spoke.

“That’s right. You’ve all seen Byron’s notes. Though the components of gray matter haven’t been fully analyzed yet, this potion does significantly enhance mental strength and sensitivity to dark-element particles. And so far, no uncontrollable side effects have been observed.”

When Saul prepared to craft and consume the potion, the diary hadn’t warned of any danger.

While Saul no longer used the diary to blindly cobble together items or concoctions, he still relied on its danger alerts as a safety net.

The wizarding world was a dangerous place, after all.

Agu nodded in agreement but then offered a caution.

“Master, even if this potion seems safe, now might not be the best time. You’re heading into elf territory. If your mental power increases too abruptly, uncontrolled mental radiation could attract unwanted trouble before you learn to contain it.”

Saul immediately saw the logic in Agu’s words and gave up on crafting the gray matter potion inside the carriage.

In the realm of mental force, Morden and An were both less capable than Agu, and even less informed than Saul, so for now they simply listened quietly.

Even Herman, driving outside, was working hard to prove his usefulness—just like the others.

“Then you all give it some thought—before entering the Elven Valley, what other spells should I prepare?”

Over the past six months, Saul had allotted plenty of time for spell learning and practice. And since he couldn’t work on the other two tasks now, he figured he might as well focus on that.

The three soul bodies inside the carriage immediately sat up straighter when they saw Saul pull out his spell notebook.

If he was going to study spells, they each had their areas of expertise.

This was their chance to be of real help!

So in the days that followed, Saul spent his time meditating and studying spells.

The carriage, occasionally circled by butterflies, raced through the forest.

Following the planned route, it sometimes emerged from the trees to travel along a deserted dirt path, and at other times bumped along cliff edges, sending pebbles tumbling down into the abyss below.

Eventually, it circled around the barren entrance to Hanging Hands Valley and arrived at the highland on the other side.

Though the cliffside still looked barren and devoid of plant life, just a few meters west, the vegetation suddenly became lush and vibrant.

Even the carriage’s protective shield couldn’t penetrate further.

Saul and the others disembarked.

From here on, they’d have to go on foot.

“Little Algae. Guard the carriage.”

A black tentacle extended from the back of Saul’s neck, split in two. A thin strand dropped beside the carriage, immediately transforming into black soil and sinking underground. The other tip flicked its tongue at a leaping nightmare butterfly before retracting again.

Having more people around really made things easier.

There was someone for every task.

Herman and Morden walked at the front, clearing a path for Saul.

Though they had once been powerful wizards and apprentices, as vessels, their capacity to store magic was limited. To conserve magic crystals, they were using brute strength to push through.

The vessels surrounding Saul weren’t exactly nimble either. Soon enough, their faces and bodies were covered in scratches from branches.

Not that pain bothered them, of course.

Just then, Herman—leading at the front—suddenly let out a low cry. “Who’s there?”

Everyone turned sharply toward the sound.

Beneath the dense canopy and heavy shadows, it looked like a figure was standing just barely visible among the trees.

(End of Chapter)

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