novelraw Chapter 569: Secret of the Soul
Chapter 569: Secret of the Soul
"Fafnir, Fafnir!"
"Woo! Woo! Woo!"
Shifting our gaze temporarily away from the distant and cold Northern Border, we return across continents and oceans to the Southern Continent.
At this moment, inside the Red Dragon Court at the southern tip of the Southern Continent, the atmosphere was passionate. Within this kingdom that occupied a corner and wasn't considered vast, countless Dragon Court paper machés, thoroughly dyed by a natural red dye, fluttered midair in the gentle breeze.
This was a certain sacrificial tradition inherited after the establishment of the Red Dragon Court. This continuing tradition helped unify them, making the Red Dragon Court more united.
Looking out from the window in Fisher's room, the surfaces of the dragon heads floating in the sky were entangled by several transparent silk threads. The other ends were tied to the hands of many loudly cheering Dragon Court residents on the streets below.
This was Fisher's first time seeing such a spectacle. However, it wasn't his first time participating in an activity with the same nature as this kind of sacrifice, just that activities concerning other gods were a first.
When he lived in the church as a child, Sister Teresa often took him to participate in various worship services and festivals. Just like how many demi-humans in the Southern Continent naturally believed in Fafnir and the Northern Border believed in the Frost Phoenix, the faith in the West Continent was also relatively monolithic. Because of different faiths, their followers would also exhibit entirely different personality traits.
For instance, Alajina, who solely believed in the Frost Phoenix, was very lenient in accepting demi-humans and valued emotional bonds such as family, love, and friendship. On the other hand, the ocean-dwelling demi-humans who believed in Ramastia possessed a simple innocence and kindness. At the same time, perhaps because the Whale-kin inherited this God of a Hundred Faces' most authentic personality, their temperaments also became very detached, intrinsically loving to slack off and lie flat in life (with the exception of Xuan Shen).
In the Southern Continent, although the process of believing in Fafnir was interrupted midway due to historical reasons, his personality had a long-standing history along with the Dragon Court and the bloodline he left among the Dragon-kin.Fafnir's faith actually gave Fisher a very complicated feeling. It felt more like "in me the tiger sniffs the rose," a little inconsistent inside and out. This nature was especially pronounced in Raphael.
The specific manifestation was that, on the surface, she appeared barbaric and boisterous, but her inner heart was actually very delicate and gentle.
Thinking about these random things, the Mana Circuits on Fisher's body, who was sitting in the room, dimmed bit by bit. It was as if, looking at the extremely lively scene outside, his thoughts also slowly calmed down.
At this moment, Fisher was shirtless, sitting in front of his study desk. The windowsill faced him closely, revealing the bright morning sky outside.
Placing the study desk in front of the windowsill was a habit Fisher had since his time in Saint-Nazareth. It helped him think and refreshed his mind, especially now, his mind was exceptionally clear, like a sage whose name would go down in history.
On the bed beside him, the messy bedding wrapped up the somewhat exhausted Raphael's delicate body. Hidden in the shadow turning its back on the morning sun were her slightly dimmed pair of dragon horns and her sweet sleeping face—every time she rested, the two horns on her head, acting as a part of her soul, would undergo corresponding changes. This was the conclusion Fisher had reached after day and night of observation.
It was interesting to note that these past few days, she had been running around busying herself with the Dragon Court's war matters. It was the same yesterday; she didn't return to lie down beside Fisher until early morning.
According to Fisher's habitual thinking, if you returned to rest completely exhausted, you should just go straight to sleep. However, this didn't seem to be the case for Dragon-kin.
The first thing Raphael did every day when she returned to Fisher's side was to demand him, and she could demand several times, as if this was a part of her stress relief or rest.
Only after eating and drinking her fill would she fall into a deep sleep in contentment. Then, simply by resting for a very short period of time, she would be revived with full health, brimming with energy.
This was the living habit of the Dragon-kin, making Fisher, a human, somewhat confused. Fortunately, he had already reached the Mythic Rank, and his Breeding Rank was ridiculously high. Therefore, Raphael's needs were just a drop in the bucket to him, completely negligible.
It was the same today; she fell into a deep sleep right after making her demands, leaving Fisher alone to enjoy the tranquil morning.
Eimhart was resting outside. A few days ago, in order to prevent this guy, who was exceptionally annoying at night, from ruining her good deeds, Raphael specifically arranged a room for him, letting Eimhart, a book, occupy an entire room...
This idea probably popped up a few nights ago when Raphael enthusiastically returned to Fisher's room from outside, preparing to wash away her fatigue, only to see Eimhart sleeping on Fisher in the room.
But this was good too; this way, he could properly study the Completion Handbook.
At this moment, Fisher's brain was extraordinarily clear. After confirming that the Life Completion Manual couldn't be read, he temporarily set his sights on another Soul Completion Handbook he possessed.
He had already read this handbook before, but he hadn't completely finished it. There were still a few loose ends left behind because his soul quality, or rather, his rank, wasn't sufficient to support him reading the ensuing contents at the time, so he temporarily gave up.
He still remembered that the last time he read up to Caleb Uz having the thought of heading to the Red Dragon Court to enter the Spirit World. It seemed that this place, the Spirit World, was the destination for all the members of the Creator's Society. They firmly believed that the exit to return home was located somewhere in the Spirit World.
There wasn't much left. Before reading, Fisher at this moment also started to ponder a question concerning his old profession—magic.
Previously, he found Jasmine privately to inquire about the damage to the Fluid Sword, but she told him that repairing the Fluid Sword required the power of Lamastia, or else he would have to wait for the power contained within the Fluid Sword to slowly recover...
But looking at its impotent state, Fisher estimated that it wouldn't grow back anytime soon.
Without the Fluid Sword, his combat methods appeared very monotonous.
It was true that he was at the Mythic Rank, but compared to other innate Mythical Species, it seemed that he currently only had a simple set of brute strength to use. Moreover, according to the viewpoint of the Life Completion Manual, his current "human" form couldn't fully exert the power of the Mythic Rank.
Other Mythical Species, or entities that entered the Mythic Rank later on, possessed an extremely deep understanding of this world's rules. Since Fisher relied on Chaos to enter the Mythic Rank, did it mean that his Mythic Rank power had to rely on Chaos to take effect?
The power of Life Chaos could perhaps be used. By changing his own appearance, he could adjust into a structure suitable for exerting power. However, since he hadn't obtained the Treasure, he couldn't change into a structure that surpassed the Mythic Rank.
Thus, he had to consider another path related to Chaos: magic.
In reality, both souls and magic belonged to the power of Chaos. But compared to the power of the Completion Handbooks, Fisher still subconsciously wanted to consider magic, a method he was very familiar with and confirmed to be safe.
The highest power of magic was only the Fourteenth-Tier, which meant it was a power incapable of surpassing the Mythic Rank. However, this didn't mean that magic couldn't produce power comparable to the Mythic Rank.
Currently, Fisher only knew of one method to increase the power of magic, and that was to improve the quality of magic through multiple Circle Heads.
The problem presented itself: Currently, the only known Multi-Ring Prime Magic in the entire human magical world was the "Killing Dragonspear" created by Teacher Helson.
Fisher didn't know the exact process by which Helson developed the Dual Circle Head Magic. It could be a flash of inspiration brought about by talent, or it could be theoretical experiments accumulated over time. Helson had never revealed this process to the outside world, and the only reason Fisher knew about this magic's existence was because he was his student; he had never announced this magic to academia...
But when he was in the Ideal State, Fisher had personally witnessed Karasawa Asuka casually creating multi-ring magic using the Chaos in her brain, and it wasn't any form that he had ever taught her.
Karasawa Asuka was the current Magic Lord and highly likely the true origin of magic in the world. Fisher wasn't surprised that she possessed such cheating-like talent. As a student, there's no need to necessarily fall short of the teacher. The problem now was how he, the teacher, should learn from the student to grasp the method of creating Multi-Ring Prime Magic...
He narrowed his eyes, casting his gaze upon the Soul Completion Handbook before him.
Suddenly, he had an inspiration.
What if the power of magic originated from the soul, and Circle Heads and magic discovery were actually deconstructions of the operating rules within Reality?
The essence of such a theory dictated two requirements for creating magic. First, an adequately powerful mana capacity (soul quality), which would provide Fisher with a source for inscribing magic and sufficient trial-and-error costs. Second, some sort of method and power capable of clearly deconstructing the operating rules, which would allow Fisher to observe previously unobtainable magical laws from an absolutely unprecedented perspective.
And perhaps Karasawa Asuka could satisfy both of these points simultaneously, which was why she possessed such exaggerated magical talent.
Coincidentally, Fisher currently had an item on hand that could satisfy both of these needs simultaneously.
The Soul Completion Handbook.
He gently pinched the cover of the Soul Completion Handbook, opening it bit by bit. Just like before, the Mana Circuits on his body suddenly lit up. But the difference was, the moment his skin flipped the completion handbook open, an extremely bizarre feeling surged into Fisher's heart.
He felt everything around him suddenly turn deep and profound, as if all scenes in the surroundings were slowly disappearing, leaving only the boundless darkness, the chair he sat on, the completion handbook before him, and the wooden desk beneath it still existing.
Fisher didn't feel uncomfortable; he merely furrowed his brows, wanting to continue looking at the contents on the Soul Completion Handbook. But right at this moment, opposite him, a pale male hand with sparse black body hair gently tapped on the page of the completion handbook, interrupting his reading.
"..."
Fisher looked up in silence, only to see a middle-aged man with thinning hair on his head, possessing only a very shallow layer of hair on the back of his head, looking at him expressionlessly from across the desk.
His face showed signs of weather, he had dark purple bags under his eyes, and his eyes were full of blood vessels, entirely lacking in spirit. The simple pale red plain clothes on his body had an extremely intense Southern Continent Dragon Court style, but the thin clothing accentuated his emaciated figure.
Meeting Fisher's gaze, he slowly withdrew the hand tapping on the Soul Completion Handbook. Following that, he slowly and weakly clapped his hands, and said to Fisher,
"Congratulations. After me, among those who have possessed this completion handbook, it has been a long time since anyone has reached the Mythic Rank. You are the first, and I fear you will also be the last."
"...Caleb Uz?"
Fisher had seen this man's figure before, when he experienced hallucinations in his mind back in the Northern Border.
The man before him nodded and replied listlessly,
"Yes, it is me. You don't need to be confused as to why you suddenly entered here now. This is all something I set up beforehand. Right now, you have already read the vast majority of the notes I recorded. The only thing remaining is an extremely brief section, my final words before attempting to enter the Spirit World. Finishing reading that section means that you have inherited all the knowledge within my brain. That section isn't large in quantity, but it's extremely dangerous, so I need to make sure the possessor's soul is adequately strong, or perhaps twisted—at least Mythic Rank.
"Before you begin reading that section, I need to share some things with you... some things not recorded in the completion handbook. Consider it a bit of a warning, or perhaps experience sharing. After listening, you can decide for yourself whether you want to continue reading that section."
Fisher didn't continue looking at the pages of the completion handbook on the desk but entirely focused on this incredibly weather-beaten and exhausted man before him. He was another Transferred Person from outside the world.
He could tell that this "Caleb Uz" before him wasn't a living soul, but rather the contents recorded in the completion handbook bearing the information Caleb Uz wanted to convey. However, Fisher wasn't clear on the method. Given the intelligence level of the shadow before him, it was hard to say whether this was some sort of application of Chaotic Knowledge of the soul.
He hesitated for a moment and asked,
"...What do you want to share with me?"
"A secret. The Secret of the Soul."
"Soul?"
"Hmm, although I haven't come into contact with many other possessors of completion handbooks—only one, which was the Lord of Fate, or rather the President she disguised herself as—during my long research process, I began to realize that the knowledge contained within my brain is perhaps the most special one among all the completion handbooks. It's not because of anything else, but because this knowledge is all closely related to one concept..."
Caleb Uz's pale face lowered bit by bit. Following that, he rubbed his hands together, then spoke with a hint of trembling and nervousness,
"Did you know? Outside the world, the place where I originally lived, Earth... or whatever messy other galaxies, universes... Anyway, in that place, souls [do not exist]. Or rather, it's not that they don't exist, but no one, no entity whatsoever knows they exist."
Fisher furrowed his brows. After all, from his worldview, it was common sense known by almost everyone that souls tangibly existed. Even those who had never gone to school or learned magic knew of their existence. This momentarily prevented him from understanding Caleb Uz's words.
"What does this mean? Does it mean the soul is something unique to our world?"
But the moment those words left his mouth, he immediately felt something was wrong. Because if that were the case, it would be absolutely impossible for Karasawa Asuka to possess Mana Circuits, something he was very familiar with.
As expected, Caleb Uz quickly shook his head and said,
"On the contrary, the soul is the only rule that works universally between this world and the outside. It's just that very few people realize this logic. It was only because of the special nature of the Chaotic Knowledge I obtained that I was fortunate enough to learn this secret... As you know, there are faults when it comes to things like information. As the saying goes, the higher you stand, the further you see. This logic is very obvious; the more powerful and intelligent an entity is, the more they know compared to other entities...
"Let's magnify this macroscopically to a race-level. Within our world, we know very little about the world outside the firmament, and the same goes for the rules running the world; and there definitely are other, more powerful, and smarter races that know more and can do more than us; then, there definitely are even more powerful and smarter races than that group... Deduced in this manner, constantly pointing upward, all the way to those powerful deities existing similar to this world, Ramastia, Dagon, Annebatos, Hela, Ouyun..."
Speaking up to this point, Caleb Uz's expressionless face slowly lifted to look at Fisher before him. Shortly after, he said,
"Then, following the previous logic forward, if these deities also haven't reached the power and wisdom of being omniscient and omnipotent, then above Them, there must also be something that even They cannot understand the principles, nature, and source of... It's just that for Them—heh—compared to humanity, the very first example we used, the things They don't know are very few, and as They become increasingly powerful, the things They don't know also become lesser and lesser..."
"Are you saying..."
"Yes, this thing is the soul, and it is also the thing most related to the knowledge I obtained..."
Caleb Uz smiled mournfully, then continued,
"Within our world, the soul is completely uncatchable; it's like a fantastical concept. It wasn't until I arrived in this world that it was confirmed that I actually also possess a soul just like yours, and it truly exists... But within your world, souls [have a shape]. This is completely contradictory to the knowledge I obtained. The Sea of Souls here isn't normal, or rather, it's very special, very... [precious].
"The closeness of its cohesion can even reach the point of restoring individual consciousnesses possessing [Quasi-Soul Authority]. Those powerful existences that peacefully gaze upon this world day and night, those stars, are the proof. Not only that, the gap in power between it and the souls outside the world is also very large, which is why Ramastia could create those few extremely powerful Demigods...
"No one knows where those manifested souls originate from. The gods treated them as nature's gifts, but I can confirm that those souls have owners. Their owner is that very existence presiding over the soul, the one whose rules and source even the gods cannot comprehend. And in the subsequent content of the completion handbook, I recorded a corner of His power revealed in the knowledge, which is why I said my completion handbook is the most special among all handbooks...
"If you decide to continue reading, you will witness the magnificence of the soul. You will feel the power hidden deep within your body and witness all the spectacular views seen by the soul that has traversed countless mountains and rivers, innumerable bodies, and infinite distances. But you will also fall into unprecedented danger. Your soul will first degenerate into Chaos unaccepted by this world, turning into a thirsty predator...
"The soul is the source of consciousness, and it is also the most direct Authority originating from a certain unknown powerful existence. The price for powerful strength will be madness unmatched by any other completion handbook. Therefore, you need a clear goal sufficient to support you against this thirst in order to maintain your sanity through this struggle. Do you have such a goal?"
Hearing this, Fisher was slightly startled. He had just received simply too much from Caleb Uz's mouth and hadn't completely digested it when he heard his final question.
Recalling the things he had recorded in the completion handbook in the past, Fisher couldn't help but ask,
"Did you use this power in order to go home, to go home and see your wife and daughter?"
Caleb Uz's tired face paused slightly upon hearing this, and then a very faint smile curled up at the corners of his mouth.
"Yes, I miss them very much. They are the pillar for me to keep going. Therefore, I didn't hesitate to borrow the power of knowledge."
Fisher didn't know the entire sequence of events. He only knew that in the end, Caleb Uz failed; otherwise, this completion handbook wouldn't have ultimately fallen into his hands.
But perhaps, just like the current Fisher, he also had his own unspeakable difficulties that forced him to do so.
"I understand. Thank you for sharing, Mr. Caleb Uz..."
Caleb Uz gave a faint smile but didn't say anything else. Subsequently, the darkness surrounding them suddenly disappeared, and the handwriting on the completion handbook on the desk also became extremely clear.
Outside the window, the paper maché dragon head of Fafnir didn't know where it floated off to, leaving only the extremely quiet morning sky.
Looking at that sky, pondering the information he just obtained from Caleb Uz's mouth, an inspiration, an inspiration about magic suddenly appeared in Fisher's mind.
"Mm..."
He was a bit overjoyed inside, wanting to try putting this thought closely related to the Soul Completion Handbook into practice. But at the exact same time, from the bed beside him, a somewhat unpeaceful whimper suddenly interrupted all his thoughts.
He paused slightly and turned his head, only to see Raphael, who was currently lying in the bedding resting, with her eyes closed but her face not looking too good, as if she was having a terrifying nightmare.
Fisher hurriedly stood up and quietly came to her side. Upon getting closer, he discovered that her forehead was already covered with a thin layer of cold sweat, making her strands of hair stick to it...
"Black Mud... stay away..."
Leaning closer, he heard her softly murmuring some sleep talk, describing the scenes in her nightmare.