Saul didn’t care about Heidi’s whereabouts. He narrowed his eyes but kept smiling. “So, Senior, when I was being chased by the noodle arms, you were just standing there watching?”
He wasn’t blaming Haywood for not helping, but if Haywood had only watched coldly, then he could do the sa in return.
Force is mutual—so are relationships between people.
To his surprise, Haywood admitted it quite readily.
“Yes. After all, with both bronze doors open, even I didn’t dare to move.”
Saul: …Fair enough.
At this point, Saul already knew what Haywood was here for.
Haywood didn’t beat around the bush. “I want to ask you to enter the interlayer again and bring Heidi back.”
Saul raised an eyebrow. “Save soone who tried to kill ?”
He wasn’t that free.
“Before you solve the incompatibility issue with your soul-body link, I can help you with the problem of your soul leaving your body frequently in the short term.”
So here ca the offer—a sustainable temporary locator?
“Not a bad deal, but not necessary.”
Saul was well aware of how terrifying the interlayer was. Especially the space between the storage room and the basent filled with eyes—he had almost been roasted alive in there.
Those eyes and the wax in the pipes weren’t even on the sa level of weirdness.
The diary could testify to that.
Haywood didn’t seem surprised by Saul’s refusal and then offered a far more tempting condition.
“In addition… what if I told you I had intel about your silver eye?”
Silver eye?
It took Saul a mont to realize—Haywood was referring to the Nightmare Butterfly’s cocoon!
That silver cocoon he had gouged out of his own eye socket, carefully sealed away, and still hadn’t dared to study.
“How much do you know?” Saul imdiately beca serious.
He wasn’t about to risk his neck just to get a bunch of fake information.
“Night. Mare. Butterfly.” Haywood enunciated each word clearly.
Bullseye!
No matter how he looked at it, the Nightmare Butterfly was dangerous, powerful, and shrouded in mystery.
Haywood was gambling—gambling on whether a wizard apprentice like Saul had the right level of curiosity.
“That’s a solid offer,” Saul admitted. Having already experienced the Nightmare Butterfly’s power, he couldn’t resist the allure of such knowledge. “But Senior, couldn’t you rescue Heidi yourself? She is your blood sister.”
Haywood’s expression tightened slightly, and the temperature around him dropped by two degrees.
“I’m not skilled in soul-related magic, and my constitution doesn’t allow out-of-body experiences.”
Saul was a little surprised. Wasn’t the Tower Master specialized in soul research? Yet Haywood, his student, hadn’t studied it?
Haywood said, “My ntor initially wanted to create a suitable body vessel to carry out his experints. But in the end, he discovered that having just a body was aningless. Almost all the issues in the experint were related to the soul.”
Saul blinked. “Are you talking about the experint to revive Lady Yura?”
Haywood opened his mouth, hesitated, but eventually said, “Sothing like that. But since the Tower Master hasn’t told you the details yet, I can’t speak out of turn.”
Saul rubbed his chin and thought, “‘Sothing like that’ probably ans it’s not exactly resurrection. Could it be the Tower Master is using Lady Yura’s death as a cover to study sothing else entirely?”
At this point, he still didn’t have enough information to figure out the Tower Master’s true intentions, but it definitely seed to involve resurrection.
Haywood saw the topic drifting off and brought it back. “As long as you agree to help, I’ll give you 100 additional credits as compensation. Plus, I’ll make sure Heidi doesn’t co after you again and will face severe punishnt for what she did.”
“Haywood actually cares this much about his sister?” Saul didn’t buy it. “That curse on him… don’t tell it’s actually a locator?”
“Of course, if you really mind, I can always ask soone else… offering whatever price I can afford.”
So, he’d offer the Nightmare Butterfly intel to soone else?
This was probably his final offer.
“I can give it a try. That place is too dangerous anyway, and I might not even find Heidi.”
Saul agreed.
Refusing would an giving up the Nightmare Butterfly info and the 100 credits, not to ntion offending the Tower Master’s apprentice.
Wizards, after all, prioritize benefits. Nothing shaful about that.
Haywood nodded slightly, a faint smile on his face as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a black bottle.
The bottle had a wide mouth—almost as wide as the body itself—sealed with a piece of black cloth.
It looked crude and old.
“This is where Heidi used to live as a child. She’s very familiar with the scent. Later, when you’re out of your body, I’ll open it. Just reach out and touch it to absorb the sll. As long as she still has so awareness and can move, she’ll definitely co to you.”
“Alright, I’ll try. But if Heidi attacks again, I will stop imdiately.”
Haywood smiled. “Just say her na. She’ll know I sent you.”
Saul told him to wait a mont. He returned to the second storage room and sat at the experint table. He didn’t imdiately attempt to put his soul out of body.
Tonight’s experience revealed another potential talent of his. Before entering the interlayer again, he had to confirm it.
“Lord Morden, what does it an if soone’s soul can devour other spirits?”
The diary appeared and opened.
[I don’t know the exact principle, but I once t soone like that. He ca from the Wasteland and was one of my trickiest enemies. But also the craziest—walking the line between normal and aberration. He really could grow stronger by devouring other souls. But the biggest problem was the evil thoughts from those souls—how to keep them from corrupting him. Once he got lost in those thoughts, he beca a monster. Irredeemably so.]
Reading Morden’s response, Saul instinctively touched his stomach.
When his soul had been pulled into the pipes, there had been a period of delirium and madness. Once he regained his reason and emotions, his mind had blurred those mories.
He rembered devouring many things that attacked him, but not exactly how.
Maybe rembering would send him into madness again.
“Strange. This ti, I clearly devoured sothing like evil thoughts, but after recovering, I didn’t feel any trace of their influence. My soul strengthened instead, and even gained so regenerative ability—without any cost. So where did those evil thoughts go?”
[That’s impossible.]
This ti, Morden spoke up again on his own.
[Unless what attacked you was pure energy, it’s impossible for no remnants of will to remain. Maybe it’s hiding in your subconscious. That’s actually more dangerous—because you wouldn’t even… even know if you’re still you! Am I still myself? Am I?]
He rambled on, his thoughts clearly starting to spiral. The experience of becoming a wraith had left deep scars on Morden’s soul.
It was a scary thought.
But…
Saul closed his eyes and recalled everything about his past life.
Nothing seed off.
“Are those evil thoughts really just buried deep in my subconscious?”
As he was pondering, the diary flipped to another page.
It was the black half-page he’d found at the Ralph estate.
Saul froze.
The half-page had changed!
Now it covered about two-thirds of a full page.
But its surface was rougher—like sandpaper.
Normal black pages had uneven edges too, but their texture was more like parchnt—not this coarse.
“Wait a second… did the diary absorb all those evil thoughts and use them to restore the black pages?”
Saul’s jaw dropped. “Lord Morden, are there any tools or spells that can absorb evil thoughts from soone’s ntal body?”
[Impossible! That’s impossible! I don’t believe it!]
Morden sounded angry now.
His over-the-top reaction made Saul all the more excited.
“Can the diary really absorb those fragnts? Makes sense—it can absorb full consciousness, so why not leftovers? If that’s the case, I could keep absorbing spirit bodies to boost my ntal strength without worrying about side effects!”
“Those vengeful spirits from the girls last ti didn’t get absorbed—maybe because they weren’t up to standard? Maybe it only works on apprentice-level entities and above?”
Either way, this was an even bigger discovery than the Nightmare Butterfly intel.
As everyone knew, improving one’s ntal aptitude was extrely difficult. That’s why most people focused on enhancing their magic power—leading to the “Magic Value Supremacy” trend.
The belief that as long as your magic was strong enough, you could cast powerful spells, do complex experints, and kill more enemies.
But if Saul could keep boosting his ntal strength like this, he’d be walking a path few dared to tread—
ntal Body Augntation!
The best part? He didn’t even have to worry about his magic lagging behind his ntal growth.
Because he had the diary to help with safe wizard body enhancent.
All in all, this round—
He absolutely won.
Saul: “I’ve never been modest with myself.”
(End of Chapter)
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