Chapter 113: Unease

Before leading the war, Ace faced a more pressing issue: the diminishing efficacy of his meditation method. As a foundational spell, its effectiveness was now barely enough to restore mental power and Mana; the mental power increase was negligible.

In Ace’s current state, based on his observation of the Hero-tier mental strength—a specific wavelength they emit—Ace’s mental power degree was very close to this wavelength.

But close is only close; it is not promotion. Although 9.9 Mental Power Units is numerically close to the Hero-tier mental power degree, there is a world of difference—a qualitative leap from quantitative accumulation.

The Advanced Wizard Apprentice Meditation spell was insufficient to bridge this gap. The blessing ritual and blessing rune array had already been tried. The host body Ace clearly recognized this point after failing to construct the three-dimensional Spell Model in the underground magic laboratory once again.

He lay quietly on the floor of the meditation room, his eyes glazed over.

The three-dimensional Spell Model could not be stabilized in his Soul Sanctuary because the space was completely chaotic. Constructing the model was like building a sandcastle on shifting sand.

He barely managed to construct a flawed three-dimensional Spell Model, which immediately collapsed. The immense shockwave almost shattered his Soul Sanctuary.

After spending a long time meditating, Ace barely managed to stabilize his Soul Sanctuary.

“Now I must recuperate in the underground magic laboratory for a while. I cannot be idle, though. I should use this time to finish reading the copied books from the former civilization.”

The extremely weak host body Ace lay on the floor for a long time. He struggled to climb up, preparing to read.

“Host, according to the Spirit of the Book’s scan and self-test, my mental power, perception, strength, agility, and constitution have all reached over 1 Mental Power Unit. My mental power has even reached around 2 Mental Power Units. I can attempt to open the Soul Sanctuary.”

The mirror image Ace, dressed in a proper swallowtail coat, walked toward the host body Ace, who was struggling to get up.

The two did not synchronize. Synchronization was particularly unsuitable when the host body was in such a weakened state.

“I only managed to achieve promotion to Advanced Apprentice by relying on the sense of inspiration I gained from painting an oil painting. However, this is definitely not the most convenient path, nor is it the most orthodox one. A path suitable for popularization should be quantifiable, highly repeatable, and highly operational.”

The host body Ace dragged his exhausted body, barely standing up. He found a spot to lean against and spoke to the mirror image.

“Yes, your promotion at that time was merely a way to replicate the inspiration from the bonfire festival through painting. The state at that moment must have been the most natural one.” The mirror image Ace replied.

“Now, let’s look back and analyze the external conditions from an objective and neutral perspective:

First, the Mana fluctuations during the bonfire festival were extremely active. We can attempt to simulate this Mana-active environment.

Second, the crowd during the bonfire festival was in a state of devout worship. This atmosphere may have created a pseudo-spiritual field environment.

Third, an existing Soul Rune structure was required externally for guidance. I don’t necessarily need the rune from the mural at that time. I believe we can try using the rune structure of the meditation spell.”

“And then, let us recall the internal conditions at that time:

First, my overall mental state was very relaxed, fully immersed in the environment.

Second, there was a sense of soul departure, which could be real or an illusion.

Third, assuming the departure was real, the spirit body and the external natural environment created a positive feedback loop, leading to immense enhancement.

Fourth, the soul returned to the body, and the Soul Rune was replicated into the Soul Sanctuary via external means.”

After this long analysis, the host body Ace’s already weakened mental state grew even more listless. He leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

The mirror image Ace, full of emotion, considerately used the Lesser Spell Magical Trickery to conjure a chair for the host body to rest.

The host body Ace sat for a while. Feeling his spirit was still weak, he began to meditate. After a long while, he finally felt slightly refreshed and continued to speak.

“Therefore, we need to simulate the external and internal conditions at that time and reproduce the phenomenon. If the reproduction is feasible, it proves the method is correct. If the reproduction fails, we need to eliminate and add conditions one by one.”

“My current mental state is too poor for assistance. You should go out first, go to Solon’s and probe Joanna. I still feel she is very unusual. The atmosphere in the fortress is also strange. I hope I am wrong.”

Ace grew a little listless after speaking at length.

Joanna possesses an extremely pure soul, yet it is oddly tinged with blood-red. Ace found this increasingly strange.

The mirror image Ace listened and agreed with the reasoning. He bowed and took the mechanical magic lift up to the surface.

The mirror image transformed into an average-looking resident physician and quietly left the hospital. He then transformed into the likeness of Sharp and arrived at Joanna’s house.

He stealthily approached, maintaining vigilance. As a collective life, the host body is the core. As an auxiliary, he must resolutely execute the host body’s commands.

However, things often go awry. Just as Ace finally decided to probe Joanna, she was gone.

Losing Joanna, the mirror image Ace, transformed into Sharp, easily charmed and controlled Solon. But this was useless. Joanna had been missing for half a month.

She had gone out to buy wine for Solon and never returned.

The mirror image Ace left the somewhat dejected Solon, set up a few rune arrays that could emit warning magical signals, and then left the area.

Was Joanna’s disappearance an ordinary case of kidnapping or going missing, or was it premeditated?

The mirror image Ace was somewhat uncertain and uneasy.

He recalled his past. This Joanna, whose soul was too pure, had suddenly become emotionally agitated during a conversation long ago.

The mirror image Ace still remembered. He had been commenting on the dark worshipers:

“Blindly driven by hatred, harming innocent people. Truly worthy of a Demon worshiper.”

Joanna had responded emotionally, “If you say that, are ordinary people, when harmed by Nobles, simply supposed to endure silently and wait for despair?”

At that moment, Joanna’s state was completely abnormal! Even her soul was suddenly no longer pure. Could she have some connection to the dark worshipers?

He had learned that the entire Northern March, excluding the fortress, was constantly raided by numerous dark worshipers and Demons, like fangs in the shadows.

The reason the legion was no longer putting great effort into annihilating Daina’s group of Wizard Apprentices was primarily because their energy was diverted by the dark worshipers. The vast majority of their combat strength was being used to pursue the dark worshipers.

Although the Wizards were enemies of the legion, Ace sensed that being led by the enemy like this would eventually lead to disaster. Connecting this to Joanna’s disappearance, his sense of unease intensified.