Angor tried and did feel something from Ness’ emotion. However…
Sunders watched as Angor’s eyebrows knitted into a frown. “You still can’t feel him?”
Angor shook head. “I can. But—Mister Ness is thinking about—”
“About?”
Angor tried to explain in a calm tone. “Mister Ness hoped that it would be best if a woman could come and… orally… ahem.”
Several blood veins pulsed on Sunders’ forehead when the gentleman heard what his student tried to say, while Ness did not look embarrassed in the least.
“Correct! So you really can sense emotions! But only the emotions of weaker souls or those without spirit defenses. Still, that’s a really good talent ability.”
Sunders glared at Ness. The old man intentionally transmitted that kind of idea to his student’s mind.
This old fart… no wonder people tend to call this place the “Valley of Pervert”.
“It’s not really a talent ability. His soul is simply more sensitive and can comprehend stronger emotions. A talent ability must work when someone is under normal conditions. Angor can only do it as a soul. It’s only a trait possessed by his Nightmare Form.”
“I see. If he gets to learn Soul Coupling spell and how to eject his soul freely, the ability will become a lot handier,” Ness said.
Ness resumed working on the lights, while Angor floated on the working bench and started to feel bored.
The light sometimes gave him an uncomfortable feeling, but it was not anything unbearable. When the light caused his bladebone on his back to start itching again, Angor pondered whether he should tell it.
“It’s happening again?” Sunders used a message transmission spell in private.
Angor nodded.
“You remember how I told you that the wound is a ‘seed’? To get rid of it, you must go to the place it meant to lead you to. Although this wound seemed… powerful. It woke you up in the gourmet illusion, and then caused Parasite Queen to vanish… Also, there was that unknown being that came for us in the Nightmare Realm. I guess whoever left the wound on you must be someone really strong, and the seed will probably take you to the inner area of Nightmare Realm instead of the outer places.”
Sunders ended his message here. It was not much, but Angor still learned a lot from it.
The inner area of Nightmare Realm…
Sunders spent centuries exploring the outer areas of the Nightmare Realm, and he still ran into several dangerous situations. There was also somewhere in Nether City that Sunders did not wish to approach; places that threatened the lives of the most powerful legendary wizards.
What kind of great danger lied in wait in the core of Nightmare Realm?
He needed to go there in order to address the possible problems carried by the strange wound. Angor believed that he at least needed to become a legendary wizard himself before attempting something like that. However, that would take forever.
There was something else that concerned him. The lord of Glutton Flowers in the Glutton Flower Tunnel told him that he carried “the smell of queen”. Maybe the monster that gave him the wound—the strange woman with a sutured face—was the “queen”?
“Don’t worry about your wound, and don’t tell Ness about it for now. At least it gave you more help than danger till now. I guess the monster that wounded you didn’t want to kill you. It’s very possible that it’s waiting for your growth, for the right time that it can collect its final fruit. There are many grand demons that love such tricks. History told them many times that an overgrown prey might devour them in the end, yet they never learned the lesson,” Sunders’ messaging spell came again.
Angor glanced at Saka upon hearing those words.
Isn’t that what Saka is planning to do? A grand demon? Hah.
Still, Angor got the feeling that the monster was planning something else. He needed to confront the monster to finally learn what it was. This was unlikely to happen any time soon.
Sunders said that the wound posed no real threat for now, and that was enough.
…
About half an hour later, when a yellowish-white light beam shined upon Angor’s soul, he briefly took on a faint aura.
Next, the light pierced into the depth of his soul.
Unlike the other lights which either went through his soul completely or dissipated in the air, this yellow one was absorbed by a gray lump of fog.
“Got it. Spectrum 3722,” Ness fixed the light beam at Angor and left his machine to join Sunders. “There it is, gray fog,” said Ness as he took out some papers and began noting down something about the fog.
Different spells shined in Ness’ eyes, and the old man swiftly found out the density, viscosity, diffusion rate and other properties. Next, Ness listed out a series of substances that shared similar properties. They could be what they were looking for.
“Soul Mephitis? No… the gas pollutes someone’s entire soul instantly instead of staying in one spot. Spirit Miasma maybe? Nah… Angor would have gone crazy in that case. Maybe it’s White Frost?…”
As Ness focused on his theories, Sunders observed the now visible gray fog and revealed a puzzled look.
“The ways it flows… it’s like—” Sunders caught a faint trace of a similar object in his memory and fell into deep thought.
Ness put down his papers and approached Angor’s soul to check the fog as well.
“Yes, I also saw it somewhere before,” said Ness. He took out a magnifying glass and spoke to Angor, “Try to control it.”
Under Angor’s effort, the lump of fog moved just a bit before returning to its stagnant state.
When the fog moved, a strange ripple caused Angor’s soul to change a little, as if the fog tried to join with Angor himself.
Angor did not notice it.
Ness, however, widened his eyes in shock. “It’s absolutely not pollution, but a… Have you been studying soul spells these days?” Ness suddenly asked.
“Soul spells?” Angor had not expected such a question. He did think about them before, but he only decided earlier today about learning how to counter soul spells so he could get rid of Hookdick. He never planned to study them.
“No. I only know some basic cantrips and illusion spells.” Angor shook his head in denial. He still needed a lot of effort to learn advanced illusions. He had no time for anything else.
“Strange. The gray fog isn’t a solid substance. It’s a… product, some kind of crystallized result of intelligence, like a spell model. It’s made when you successfully make your innovation and knowledge into reality.” Ness paused. “It looks like… the model of a soul spell.”
The old man suddenly summoned a woman’s soul.
Next, he created a barrier around the three of them, while leaving the soul outside.
As Angor tried to comprehend what he just heard, Ness made his All-Inclusive Illuminator shine with another type of light and directed the light at the woman’s soul. Angor could now see the energy flowing in her.
“Use Howling of Souls, Susan,” Ness ordered.
Upon hearing the order, the energy in the woman’s soul began to gather and created a strange ripple. Her face twisted, and a terrible screaming was heard. However, they did not feel anything other than her voice when inside the barrier.
“See that? The ripple on your soul when you moved the fog around looks very similar to her when she used Howling of Souls… That’s why I suspect that you learned a soul spell.” Ness frowned. “If that’s the case, oh my… your magic potential is amazing. The spell is already existing as a condensed fog when you didn’t even trigger it at all. If you actually released the spell… it will be something beyond a mere cantrip that could be learned by an apprentice.
“It explains why you felt your soul drained dry. It isn’t something you can use with your current level of strength. A toddler with a sharp sword will only hurt himself.”
Angor grew more and more puzzled now. “Is it really a soul spell? But I never learned any.”
“It’s only an assumption. We may learn something else if you can release it, but your soul is too weak to do so. Forcing it means exhausting your energy. Now that I think about it, how did you survive when you actually did it in front of Parasite Queen last time?” Ness asked.
Angor shook his head. “I don’t know.”
He felt that Parasite Queen was pulled into the wound on his back, then his soul was energized again. But it had something to do with Nightmare Realm, so Angor could not tell it to Ness.
“Welp. I have nothing else to work on, then.” Ness shrugged.
“Hold on,” said Sunders after he had finished his thoughts. “His soul is too weak to release the fog, so he can do it if you lend him some soul energy.”