"Old Bernadino, how are you feeling?"
A slightly unfamiliar, yet more mature voice arose in front of Annan, "Feeling any better?"
"We are short on ti. If you have recovered a bit, we need to proceed to the next experint."
His voice was urgent. Judging by his tone, he must have been the initiator of the "Spiritual Body Resonance Vessel" experint.
It was not the voice that had mocked Bernadino before, hence it sounded slightly unfamiliar.
His attitude towards Bernadino was clearly better.
But Annan could also discern that this was not because he felt pity for Bernadino’s plight; it was rely because Bernadino’s voluntary participation allowed his experint to continue.
Soul Reaping Wizards could see everyone’s deepest and most unbearable past... If one were easily saddened by others’ sufferings, they would likely spend their entire life overwheld by sorrow, let alone modify or deceive others’ mories.
Those who could beco Soul Reaping Wizards must possess a restraint to not overstep bounds lightly, not easily wield Transcendent powers... yet simultaneously be rational and cold towards others, capable of personally dismantling an enemy’s psyche, erasing others’ consciousness, wiping away their most cherished mories without a hint of hesitation.
The slightest softness in their actions could leave lingering issues. Erased mories might be recalled, and altered or obliterated personalities might resurface.
A Soul Reaping Wizard who mourned for others’ fates was like a surgeon who held a scalpel but couldn’t bear to see others bleed.
"I feel... alright."
Annan spoke softly, "Let’s continue."
He realized his voice sounded weak and hoarse, much like soone who had just woken up.
"Alright, then we’ll continue."
The experint’s host didn’t confirm a second ti.
He then strapped a device onto Annan, "Open your mouth... bite down."
—The texture felt a bit like a rubber bone. At least it prevented him from biting his tongue.
Annan assessed inwardly.
What was this for?
A gag?
After all, at the end of the day, Bernadino was just an "experintal subject capable of sharing what he knew and felt."
"Return to your places!"
The host’s stern voice rose, and the wizard apprentices who had been muttering around Bernadino closed their mouths and returned to their positions.
"Raise the athyst mirror. Light the white liquid fire following D6 regulations, then raise the black curtains.
"At the sa ti, open the Spiritual Body Resonance Vessel. Begin to activate the sea beast’s blood—"
As the rapid-fire instructions ended,
the sound of a chanical lever being pressed echoed, and Annan faintly heard the slight gurgling of liquid being transferred.
"The mirror has been raised, completed."
"The candles are lit, completed."
"The curtains have been closed, the ceremonial site has been restored."
"Sea beast’s blood activation completed."
"—Begin injecting sea beast’s blood, slow drip at double the dose. Turn on the electric rod, start charging."
A slight stinging pain spread through Annan’s forearms and legs, seemingly as if so icy liquid was gradually seeping in. It was like the sensation during an IV drip, where occasionally the liquid felt extraordinarily cold, even soaking through half the body.
It was a coldness from the inside out.
But at this mont, Annan sensed a slightly ominous hint of danger.
Electric rod... what’s that?
He heard a deep, strange noise by his ear.
It was like the sound of a defibrillator "charging" in a TV show.
Annan suddenly realized why the experint host had asked him earlier, "Feeling any better?" while others were still muttering, "It’s like he just woke up."
...Damn, what are you going to do?
Don’t co over here—
Seemingly based on so indicator, the experint host received a sign.
He suddenly spoke up and commanded, "Insert the electrode, start pressuring. Apply 120% spiritual body pressure."
Thankfully, it was not as Annan had imagined—at least it wasn’t the school city-level operation with electrodes in the temples. But he imdiately felt the "sea beast blood" being injected into his body heat up.
His veins suddenly beca hot, numb, and painful. It was like a high fever, making him want to squirm.
It was then that Annan realized why he was fixed in the chair with a restraint suit and a mouth strap—it was to prevent him from moving now.
"Increase pressure to 150%."
A new instruction ca.
The sense of dizziness in Annan’s mind beca clearer. If he were walking on the street now, he would collapse within two steps. The intense nausea made his stomach churn, like the experience of severe motion sickness, while his eyeballs felt abnormally hot.
This was the intense discomfort Annan felt, even though he possessed Curse Binding to eliminate pain sensation.
—For soone who was not a Transcendent, this was nothing less than a torture of boiling blood. If this were the real Bernadino, if he didn’t have a mouth strap, he might have bitten off his own tongue by this ti.
"Increase pressure to 180%... open the curtains..."
The strong dizziness and the garbled, distorted instructions he heard made it impossible for Annan to speak.
He gasped violently, sensing an oceanic scent.
Despite being blindfolded with a black eye mask, he felt an intense light engulfing him. Even with his eyes closed, his ntal space was painted pure white.
The burning and numbing feeling in his blood vessels gradually dissipated as the light gradually made him lose consciousness.
"...Bern, Bern?"
Suddenly, a stern middle-aged voice ca from beside him.
Annan abruptly turned around but then realized that he could see.
Not only that... he seed to have shrunk.
Or rather, Annan had returned to the height he was familiar with.
—He was just sitting in a small seaside cabin, staring blankly at the sea.
"Daydreaming?"
His head was tapped lightly but firmly.
Annan turned around and saw a middle-aged man clad in a crimson violet robe, with gray hair and eyebrows, carrying a stern and imposing deanor, seated next to him.
"I’ll ask you one more ti, Bernadino... Are you sure you want to study natural philosophy and not stay here to learn my sculpting skills?"
Father Ludwig frowned and spoke gravely, "Learning is hard, and research is even harder. You might not achieve any research results until death and spend your life in poverty... Even so, are you willing to give up an affluent life that’s easily within reach?
"By following and becoming a sculptor, you might even have a chance to beco the bishop of Yawen. Yawen doesn’t care about the social status of his followers; instead, he believes that a life of poverty and closeness to nature might inspire you more.
"I may have been in seclusion for many years, but I’ve kept in touch with my old friends. I can directly work with you on a set of sculptures, then exhibit them under your na... You’d gain support and sponsorship from great nobles. Earning money to sponsor research in natural philosophy would be much easier than conducting the research yourself.
"I’ll be blunt. You’re not cut out for it—your brain doesn’t function that way... You perceive the world through imagination and inspiration, not through logic and rational knowledge."
Father Ludwig spoke so harsh words.
Yet Annan could easily hear the sincerity and rationality in them.
He only had one thought now—
—The Father had made it so clear already, why on earth did Bernadino choose to study natural philosophy?
His head was truly hard... harder than a hard-headed kid.
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