novelraw Chapter 172: Eyes
Chapter 172: Eyes
Unlike before in the Royal Capital, Gwen did not return in the morning, and Loren woke up later than usual. After all, fighting a battle of attrition was more exhausting.
Although Loren's stamina was at 39 points, they were not weak either, especially Mirrorheart.
"Good morning, Master."
Today, the first to greet Loren was Seraphina. She had already prepared the meal. Mirrorheart had not yet appeared;
she had also slept in. This seemed to be the first time Loren had seen her sleep in since meeting her.
By now, the incident of the corpses disappearing from the dungeon yesterday had been exposed. This wasn't a major issue, so no one came to disturb Loren, but Loren had already learned through Gwen that the Church was investigating the matter.
It was impossible for this to be traced back to Loren. Even if Gwen was discovered, at worst, they would just run away. Loren wouldn't face any risk.
Yesterday, he had already tested all the necromancy spells he had learned. Now, Loren was completely accustomed to casting magic through Gwen.
Casting magic this way consumed a bit more, but it was nothing for Loren.
Moreover, Gwen herself had some mana. Although it couldn't compare to Loren's, it was still considerably more than that of ordinary mages.
"Morning."It was only when the meal started that Mirrorheart emerged from her room. Her hair was a mess, and even her clothes weren't very tidy. She looked exactly like a slovenly, reclusive girl.
She directly pulled over a chair and squeezed herself between Loren and Seraphina. She was constantly asserting her sovereignty.
During this period, she had been constantly opposing Seraphina. If Seraphina was diligent, Mirrorheart was lazy;
if Seraphina was neat, Mirrorheart was messy;
if Seraphina wore a smile, Mirrorheart kept a cold face.
"Master, can you comb my hair for me?"
While eating, Mirrorheart accidentally stuffed some of her hair into her mouth along with the food, appearing clumsy. Loren almost thought she had been possessed by Scarlett.
Scarlett glanced up at Loren, pulling the hair from her mouth as she did. She felt Loren was cursing her in his heart.
"Alright."
Loren took the comb from Mirrorheart and began to tidy her hair.
Usually, Loren was the one who combed Anna's hair, so he was very skilled at it. Furthermore, Mirrorheart didn't have any particular hairstyle;
just a lock of hair covering one eye, with the rest simply cascading down her back.
Her hairstyle resembled a long-haired version of Rem, except with black hair like Loren's.
"This is..."
To comb Mirrorheart's hair, Loren lifted the lock covering her eye. Then, Loren saw something he found difficult to comprehend.
Mirrorheart's eye socket was empty. It was truly empty. Loren only saw a void, like a universe with nothing in it, causing even Loren to be stunned for a long while.
"Are Mirrorheart's eyes that beautiful?"
Anna noticed something was off with Loren, even stopping her eating. She moved closer to Loren.
"This eye she covers is the same as the other one, isn't it? I thought there was some secret..."
"You can't see it?"
Loren let go of Mirrorheart's hair, allowing her eye to be covered again, while also finishing combing her hair.
"Can't see what?"
"Nothing."
In the end, Loren said nothing. The scene he had just seen reminded him of the Outer Gods, but in Loren's memory, no Outer God was connected to this.
Loren wasn't too surprised that Anna couldn't see it. After all, he had the blessing of the True Sight Eye. Previously, only Loren could see through Luna's cognitive modification.
Mirrorheart's other eye looked at Seraphina with disdain. The meaning she wanted to convey was simple: Even if I'm a good-for-nothing, inferior to you in every way, the Master still likes me the most. You can never replace my position.
But Seraphina showed no reaction at all, still maintaining her smile, seemingly unconcerned with Mirrorheart's actions.
...
Lunchtime passed uneventfully. Loren also didn't dwell too much on what he had just seen. Mirrorheart indeed had many secrets, but she was also truly loyal to Loren.
Loren spent the entire afternoon holed up in his bedroom studying magic. Anna lay on Loren's lap like a kitten, letting him stroke her hair, wearing an expression of pure enjoyment.
Starnight also stood on Loren's shoulder. This was her favorite spot, and also the one that most surprised Loren. He spent all day with Starnight, yet he never got bird droppings on himself.
Looking at the complex symbols in Loren's notes, Starnight also grew a bit drowsy and leaned against Loren's neck.
Loren operated on two fronts: his main body handled theory, while the puppet handled practice. It's just that all the corpses stolen yesterday had been used up. Loren planned to find time to steal a few more.
Or simply send Gwen to the Canaan Kingdom. There were many corpses there, and a war was about to happen, so corpses and souls would be plentiful.
Recently, the town's supervision of corpses had become stricter. Also, as the Rainbow Plague was being treated, corpses were becoming fewer and fewer.
Loren's research continued until evening. Combined with the experiments on Gwen's side, Loren's research into necromancy had reached a level where he could finally create a very important item.
By this time, Anna was already breathing evenly in sleep. Loren gently picked her up, placed her on his bed, and then went to the laboratory door.
He placed his finger in front of Starnight. Starnight directly hopped onto his finger. As Loren raised his hand upward, Starnight flew out and began circling the room.
When she completed a circle and intended to return to Loren, Loren had already entered the laboratory.
Helplessly, Starnight could only return to her birdcage.
...
The laboratory was lightproof, but with the electric lights brought back from the God of Night and Thunder, it wasn't so eerie.
Otherwise, the altar on the ground covered in bloody runes would have looked very creepy under candlelight.
In the center of the altar was a crystal ball. This was a large piece of Abyssal Sea Crystal. Buying this had cost Loren a considerable amount of money.
Abyssal Sea Crystals not only possessed ancient properties but also had the characteristics of the deep sea.
Abyssal Sea Crystals only appear in the Abyssal Sea, places beyond human reach. That is a forbidden zone for life, a place where light cannot shine, even capable of imprisoning souls.
What Loren was using now was its property of being able to imprison souls. Numerous twisted runes were carved onto the crystal ball by Loren. Many of these symbols were even related to the God of Greed. The God of Greed only takes in and never gives out. Utilizing Its authority could enhance the properties of the Abyssal Sea Crystal.
[Drowning Soul Cage]. This was the name of the item Loren intended to create. Its effects were simple. One was to imprison souls, allowing enemies to feel the pain these souls experienced before death. The other effect was to serve as a container for storing souls, allowing for the instant release of certain necromancy spells that required souls as a medium.