Chapter 122: 58. The Mystery of the Soul
“Alright, let’s discuss the specifics after class. We’ll stop for today, don’t keep Princess Isabel waiting.”
Fisher nodded, concluding their conversation.
As Fisher finished speaking, after a second or two, he noticed she was still looking at him without moving. Only then did she react, standing up with a blush and bowing to say goodbye to Fisher.
Why does it feel like she always reacts a beat too late?
Fisher thought curiously, glancing at the time. He still had a long period of free time ahead. He didn’t feel like returning to his lab to practice, as Eil had been quite harsh with him. He thought it would be better to think a bit more before practicing; otherwise, it would be futile effort.
However, he felt that both his body and magic power were in excellent condition, so it would be just right to take out the Soul Supplement Handbook he had previously obtained to study.
He opened the door, hung up a “Do Not Disturb” sign, locked the office door, then turned around to close the window and pull down the curtains.
Although ordinary people couldn’t see the Soul Supplement Handbook, it was better to be cautious. What if someone saw Professor Fisher deep in thought staring at an empty desk? Would they think he was going insane?
Moreover, reading the Soul Supplement Handbook required drawing on magic power, causing the magic circuit in his hand to glow.
Fisher sat back down at his desk and took out the Soul Supplement Handbook, leaning it against the inner side. He placed it on the desk.
The handbook wasn’t actually very thick. When Fisher first obtained the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, it appeared thick from the outside, but when he opened it, there were only two pages. However, after recording Renee, the number of pages began to grow on its own, as if it were never-ending.
Fisher flipped to the page he had previously read and began to read the next content.
As his gaze swept over, the seemingly garbled tadpole-like characters quickly transformed into the recognizable Nali script, but during this process, his arms also began to radiate the light of the magic circuits, as reading this content was consuming his magic power.
Below the main text Fisher had read, a line of small characters in another color appeared. This seemed to be Jahl’s annotation. Unlike the formal academic text above, the comments below were filled with his personal thoughts and reflections, vibrant with life.
“I have been considering the uses and principles of the soul. After thinking it over, it seems like magic is the only application. So I am preparing to visit that group of ‘dangerous individuals’ who use magic.”
“I really don’t understand why the magic practiced by these dragon people is so dangerous. Even their own bodies often get harmed. Can’t anything be done to improve this magic? I visited the dragon mage Kalihal. By the way, I discovered that all dragon people have names that end with ‘er’. The High Priestess told me that the pronunciation ‘er’ represents ‘continuing individual’, proof of their descent from the ancient dragon god Fei Marbah.”
Fisher had previously noticed that all names in the Dragon Race ended with the sound ‘er’, such as Raphael, Mill, Ral, Keshil, and Fashir.
However, when he asked Raphael why, they could not give a reason, only knowing that it had always been this way in their generations. He didn’t expect to find the answer in the Supplement Handbook.
“I inquired Kalihal about why they don’t change their magic, and surprisingly, they happily invited me to help improve their magic! They think I am a magic master? I struggled to explain that I can’t use magic! After asking, I learned that all the magic used by dragon people, including other subhumans, was taught to them by their ancestors from humans of another continent! They thought I was a human from that continent, and they have been considering how to get my help to improve their magic. Damn, now I understand why they have been feeding me so many delicious things every day!”
Upon reading this, Fisher’s eyes slightly narrowed, and a strong curiosity compelled him to read on.
“It turns out there are human settlements in other places! I thought that after leaving my hometown and arriving in this world, humanity was still in its primitive age! If there are humans on another continent, what is their civilization level like? I tried to inquire about the dragon people, but they knew nothing about it. They only learned from texts that there is another continent.”
“What a pity. But I also have questions. If the two continents are far apart and the dragon people have no means to explore, how did they learn magic from humans? Did humans sail over, just like Captain Columbus?”
“This is a huge secret, but I almost forgot the original purpose of coming here.”
Next, Jahl described the process of discovering the second property of the soul through the magic principles he learned from the dragon mages. The power of magic actually mobilizes the power of the soul to pry open the world, prompting a response from the world, thereby achieving various magical effects.
In this sense, it must be about using force to pry open the world, which also indicates that the soul itself is an energy source and a self-repairing regenerative resource. However, the rate of recovery for this energy is very slow.
Jahl speculated about the total energy contained in the soul, setting up a concept called “species baseline magic power,” describing a baseline amount of magic power that a species would have even without soul training.
Fisher quickly realized that this might be the source of the technique Feilon obtained from this handbook, thus explaining the theoretical basis for the strange ideas he had.
Fisher speculated that originally Feilon might have intended to allow the soul to release energy, then wait until they exhausted their magic power before self-repairing, and then wait to use it again. However, that would be similar to engraved magic, which takes a very long time and is highly inefficient. Otherwise, those magical items wouldn’t be selling for such high prices.
With this approach being unfeasible, Feilon was inspired by Soul-Loss Syndrome and turned to another extreme.
Thus, the second property of the soul, “regenerative energy,” was fully explained. But before discussing the third property, Jahl encouraged readers to ponder a very interesting question.
Fisher’s magic power was depleting quickly, but he seemed to be completely unaware, wholly absorbed in the knowledge within the book.
The Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans began to heat slightly, but the temperature was not too high, and Fisher had no inkling.
“My friend, let’s first ponder an interesting question. Is the soul of a person born with a natural handicap, losing an arm, complete? If a person is born with a complete soul and loses an arm due to a later accident, is their soul complete?”
“The answer is that indeed their souls are complete. However, when they lose that part of their physical body, that portion of the soul will also disappear. After all, we know that the soul manifests itself physically as magic circuits. Severing part of the body also means that portion of the magic circuit has detached from the main body. However, due to its ‘self-repairing nature,’ the soul will slowly grow back into its original form.”
“But the question is, will the severed part of the body’s soul become a complete soul because of its self-repairing nature?”
“Yes, it will.”
“The soul on the severed part of the body still tends towards self-repair to a complete state, but this tendency is very slow and depends on whether the vitality of that part of the body can support its regrowth into a complete soul. I conducted an experiment where I took the arm of a dying dragon person and did my utmost to maintain the vitality of that arm.”
“Interestingly, the magic circuit in that arm showed signs of growth compared to when it was severed, and the dragon person could vaguely sense that arm.”
“This is the last property of the soul, ‘splintered independence.’ Theoretically, the separated portion of the body will still carry that part of the soul. However, since that portion will quickly lose its vitality, the soul residing within it will quickly dissipate.”
Fisher’s thoughts drifted far away. He contemplated that if that separated part could be kept alive indefinitely, then the part of the soul within it would continue to live on, just like the artificial sorceress from the Sorceress Research Society!
Bart implanted a part of Carlo’s flesh, so when Carlo was nearby, his body would react. Similarly, Carlo could occasionally sense the gaze of the Undying Sorceress from a strand of hair.
However, according to this theory, if the main body died and that part of the body remained alive, then what would that part of the body become?
A new main body!
This is the meaning of the soul’s splintered independence property.
Just as Fisher wanted to read more, a sharp pain erupted in his chest. He gasped and looked down at his chest, only to see it smoking. In a panic, he took out the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, which was as hot as an iron, and looked at his chest. There, a square red mark was burned brightly.
But suddenly, he felt extremely weak all over, as if he had been emptied.
He gritted his teeth and covered his chest, only to realize that his magic power had been completely exhausted without him noticing. Continuing to read would likely turn him into a dry corpse just like those who illegally engrave magic!
Thinking about this made him concerned, and he looked at the Soul Supplement Handbook sprawling on his desk. At that moment, he had indeed been immersed in the knowledge recorded within, and numerous associations and contemplations had flooded into his mind, making him long to obtain more.
Was it the fault of this handbook?
Fisher frowned and examined the Soul Supplement Handbook on the desk, but he didn’t believe it was its fault. Because at that moment, he clearly realized that it was that knowledge guiding him to continue reading, not the handbook itself.
It merely fulfilled its duty of documentation, without any activity.
Fisher looked at the words above, where another passage had been translated by his magic power, but he hadn’t read it yet.
This wasn’t the main text, but Jahl Uzz’s handwritten notes, similar to the reflections and diary-like text he had previously written.
“On July 27th, the year 332 of the Dragon Court calendar, Jahl Uzz from London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, decided to leave the Dragon Court and embark on a journey.”
“In the past few years, I initially felt relieved to have left that chaotic world. I distanced myself from a bankrupt company, an unfaithful wife, and a family on the brink of collapse, and came to a magnificent world filled with epic stories. I was living well, and these subhumans were quite friendly. I spent a very good time here.”
“But as time passed, the more lonely I felt. I often dream of my wife Karina, dreaming of the times we exercised and played together in college. I still remember the moment our daughter was born, her fragile form lying on the hospital bed, looking at me with tears.”
“I thought of my daughter, that rebellious girl who only asks me for money. If time in the UK has passed similarly to these years, she must be going to college now. Has she applied to the University of Manchester she wanted? Has she fallen in love? Does she think of me, her father who left without a word and has not taken any responsibility?”
“I always think of them, and even through countless self-comforts, I can’t make them leave my mind. I think I have long forgiven Karina. I also want to accompany my daughter to do the things she wants to do, even though I used to hate those things.”
“I miss home, so I decided to leave the Dragon Court and seek a way back to my original world.”
Fisher frowned. He had a habit of taking notes after reading, and he had gained many insights from the reading just now, but it was only at the last sentence that he began to sort through the information he had gathered from this reading.
First, Jahl actually stated that all magic of other subhumans was learned from humans? Fisher thought that Cardu’s title of “Origin of Magic” was self-appointed.
Moreover, if the magic of subhumans was learned from humans, that would mean that humans on the Western Continent had contact with subhumans on the Southern Continent long ago? Why did it take until recent decades for humans on the Western Continent to discover the Southern Continent for the first time aboard pioneering ships?
The second thing Fisher learned was some information about Jahl Uzz and where he came from in the world. Although it wasn’t comprehensive, at least it provided some basic understanding.
Fisher silently recorded “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” and “London” using the same script he originally wrote.
The last and most important aspect was about the soul’s characteristics of “regenerative energy” and “splintered independence.” Fisher suddenly recalled that this time, the energy consumed by magic was beyond previous levels, almost draining Fisher completely.
And based on what he knew about Feilon’s fighting skills, he had basically never practiced magic. Did he know the contents Fisher read today?
The previous unease about the Southern Continent once again surged in Fisher’s mind, but he chose not to think further.
He weakly rubbed his brow, a sense of emptiness overwhelming him and making him feel drowsy.
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(End of the chapter)
