Angor left the ground and floated onto the bench with ease.
“Ohh, you just became a soul and you know how to float around already? Clever,” Ness commented.
This was not the case. Angor could move freely all thanks to his experience in the Nightmare Realm. However, Sunders already told him not to reveal anything about the place, so Angor could only give Ness a timid smile.
Angor hunkered down on top of the experiment bench while Ness walked to some strange-looking equipment.
“Check out my treasure! I worked hard for a century to save up enough money!” Ness bloated.
The old man spun a reeling wheel and something opened up on the ground, revealing a series of tube-shaped devices.
There was a rotatable light bulb to the left of the devices, which was accompanied by different smaller light tubes to the right.
“All-Inclusive Illuminator!” Ness pointed to the device proudly. “I got it from an auction at Floating Mech City ten years ago. It can simulate visible light of all frequencies!”
“All-Inclusive Illuminator… a new invention of modern machine alchemy. A very valuable piece,” Sunders nodded. “Why, you’re actually willing to spend the money on it?”
“I don’t have a choice. This is the only thing that creates an effective light wave that illuminates a soul. Soul Wizards really need this thing to help test out different souls.”
Angor listened to their conversation and realized what the device was used for. It seemed like something that released visible light within a certain spectrum.
Visible light meant a certain range of light spectrum which could be sensed by human eyes. When Jon gave Angor a lesson on optical waves, he mentioned something similar to Ness’ device called a Spectrometer. The latter worked by separating spectral components from environmental light and thus, it worked differently from Ness’ device.
This meant that the alchemy machine industry in the wizarding world had already reached a high level in terms of science.
Still, this was the first time for Angor to know that someone’s soul could be seen through with the help of visible light. Either Ness’ All-Inclusive Illuminator contained something other than science, or the old man meant something else by saying “visible light”. The eyes of wizards could always do something that mortals could not.
By using specific spells, maybe wizards could see a wider range of spectral frequencies such as ultraviolet light and microwave. Angor believed that science technologies from Earth were essentially different from wizardry after all.
Ness had already placed the All-Inclusive Illuminator beside the working bench, covering Angor up.
“I’ll use different lights and see which one can light up your soul. Some of them might feel uncomfortable, but I’m only using moderate light waves which cannot damage your soul,” Ness said.
“Understood.” Angor was a bit stressed. He felt like a guinea pig waiting to be tampered with.
Ness started up the machine, which began to shine a series of different colors toward Angor.
A pale light penetrated Angor. Ness kept adjusting the machine.
“The correct light must illuminate everything inside your soul to help us see them,” Sunders explained.
“Sunders said the gray fog in your soul is semi-uncontrollable and can drain your soul if too much of it is released. I assume that something has polluted your soul. I’m trying to see which light can help us find the gray fog,” Ness added.
As a soul master, Ness could actually show his great expertise in front of Sunders, which was a rare chance. Ness really enjoyed it.
“A soul is basically the aggregation of pure energy. The gray fog is probably something bad for your soul. From what I heard, it already shares a close connection with your soul, which is the reason why losing too much fog will weaken yourself.
“There are many more mysteries hiding in human souls…”
Ness’ “lesson” helped Angor learned a lot. For example, the chaotic area Angor saw when existing as a soul was called “Soul Space”. Soul Space was both inside and outside one’s body. As commonly believed by soul masters, Soul Space existed in a different dimension. It was the embodiment of one’s spirit.
There was no proof of it yet. However, before such proof was found, people chose to accept this deduction. “Dimension” was a commonly used tool when people could not understand something. For instance, when unable to comprehend what “Nightmare Realm” was, people considered it as another dimension. At the same time, they considered the special rule of time in Nightmare Realm as another property of the dimension.
Everything that could not be explained was put aside in this way, just like how ancestors regarded all natural phenomena as the works of gods.
As Angor gladly enjoyed Ness’ lesson, he suddenly sensed a strange emotion ripple.
“So beautiful… Baron Milk, no, Angor! You know, your soul is beyond beautiful! Oh… how I want to kill you. No! I must wait! Just a bit longer! When you’re ripe, your soul shall be mine! As my third star!”
It was a frenzied and willful emotion.
The owner of the emotion was so obvious. Saka was still acting all silent in the illusion. However, his shifting expression and the strong trains of thought were clearly sensed by Angor.
“Yeah… He knows who I am.” Angor sighed in his mind. “And I was right. He’s planning to kill me and claim my soul.”
“What’s the matter?” Sunders noticed Angor’s unusual look.
“Is the light affecting you? Just hold on for a moment,” Ness looked up at Sunders’ words and also saw Angor’s strange expression.
Angor only shook his head.
Sunders followed Angor’s gaze and looked at the illusion he created.
“You sensed his emotion?”
Angor was surprised a little. He only glanced at Saka briefly, and Sunders already caught his idea!
“Yes, professor,” Angor decided to tell the truth.
“And not a friendly one, I assume?” Sunders raised an eyebrow.
“Perhaps…” Angor gave a neutral answer this time.
“So… Sunders was right when he told me that your soul can sense the emotions of people?” Ness spoke.
Angor was unsure about this. He did not sense anything from Sunders and Ness. He probably would not have sensed Saka either, if the pervert did not just display a very strong idea.
“Tell me what’s on his mind,” Ness pointed to the illusion. “He’s always doing weird things and doesn’t tell me anything about them. As his teacher, I’m getting a bit worried.”
“You sure you want to know, sir?” Angor asked.
“Is it something dirty? But the kid always knows how to behave. He never laid a finger on a single woman in the valley. Is he pretending it?”
“It’s not… dirty.”
“What then?”
“He’s waiting to find a chance to kill me when you’re not around. Oh, and he wishes to do it in a ritual and elegant way, maybe killing me while I’m smiling.”
Both Sunders and Ness remained silent.
Ness laughed it off in embarrassment. “Looks like Saka respects you! You know, he wants to give you a good death.”
Respect my ass! Angor cursed in his mind.
“Did he say why he wants you dead though?” Ness asked again.
Angor shrugged. “I’m not sure. Something about making my soul into his third star.”
“I see! He has a pretty good taste then. I’m looking forward to it.”
Angor thought Ness could at least prevent it from happening since Sunders was right here.
On the contrary, the old man did not mind Saka’s vicious plan at all, if not supporting it.
“Grow stronger and try not to get killed too easily. Don’t worry, if you’re dead, I’ll take your soul away. Nightmare Forms are very valuable in this world,” Sunders spoke along.
Angor was speechless now. So they only wanted his Nightmare Form…
Angor was sure that Sunders did wish him to get strong as an apprentice. At the same time, if Angor would die for some reason, Sunders would not mind taking his soul as a test subject.
Angor felt that his relationship with his teacher was both close and contradictory. More importantly, such a strange relationship was very realistic in this world.
He shook his head and decided not to get troubled by the idea.
“Now, try to sense my emotion,” Ness suddenly spoke to Angor.
“I can’t. I can feel nothing from Mister Ness and Professor.”
“Remove your spirit barrier and lower your energy flow to the same level of an apprentice,” Sunders suggested.
Ness complied and asked Angor to try again.