Translator: SumTLMan
As the sun gradually sloped westward, a golden dusk blanketed the entire Borel Town. The residents, lively with song and dance after their meals, seemed to be revitalized by the new dusk melody, their steps sprightly as if reborn; poets in the square, plucking their harps, sang elegies of the evening skies in graceful tones; painters by the riverbank hastened to capture this splendid moment.
In many places, dusk is regarded as the key that unlocks darkness, but in Borel Town, it has become a treasured celebration.
Yet, even the most radiant treasure has places it cannot illuminate, and such was the orphanage deep in Tyson Alley.
In a dimly lit small house, Little Seim opened his eyes.
Rubbing his eyes, he stepped down from the bed and pushed open the window to look at the sky outside, gloomy, with only a few glimpses of brightness in the distant shadows of buildings, barely revealing a slit of the dusk.
The orphanage was always shrouded in an eerie gloom, as if cut off from the outside world at dawn and dusk.
Ordinary people would probably be terrified to be here. Even the brave-hearted would not fancy such a place.
Yet, Little Seim, feeling the chilling and even slight death aura around him, found an inexplicable sense of tranquility in his heart.
Compared to the tedious labor at the farm in previous years, this was the first time he felt a relaxation of his spirit here. Perhaps it was this state of mind that made him neither despise nor fear the orphanage.
Sitting in front of the window, lost in thought about various things, the past, the present, and the future, he was brought back to reality by a knock on the door.
“Are you Brother Seim?”
At the door stood an incredibly cute little boy. However, Little Seim had already heard from Mr. Tyson that the orphanage housed only spirits; this little boy must be one of them.
“Alda?”
Alda’s eyes lit up, and he raised his hand high: “Yes, I am Alda!”
Little Seim, looking into Alda’s sparkling eyes, instinctively ruffled his hair. After doing so, he paused, wondering if he had overstepped boundaries.
Moreover, he was supposed to be afraid of spirits, but why didn’t he feel any fear towards Alda?
While Little Seim hesitated, Alda was quite happy. He inexplicably liked this older brother and felt no aversion to his closeness.
“Do you need something from me?” Little Seim coughed twice, trying to figure out what to do with his hands.
“Lord Pat sent me. He said that when Brother Seim wakes up, you should go see him,” Alda explained.
Upon hearing that it was Lord Pat who summoned him, Little Seim didn’t hesitate: “Alright, lead the way.”
Perhaps because Alda was so endearing and easy to talk to, Little Seim spent the journey asking about the orphanage and Lord Pat.
Alda was mostly reticent about Lord Pat, but he openly shared about the orphanage. Little Seim learned that even in daylight, the orphanage was grim due to an illusion; the illusion was for the trial of the talented; and another spirit named Sunny, who had been emotionally unstable lately, hadn’t appeared.
Little Seim wanted to ask more about why Sunny was unstable and the details about Mr. Tyson, but they had already arrived at Lord Pat’s room.
“I will wait outside for Brother Seim, and later I will take you out for dinner,” said Alda, waving at Little Seim before melting into the darkness.
Little Seim took a deep breath and knocked on the solemn wooden door.
After a while, sitting in front of a dim oil lamp, Little Seim heard Angel’s question: “Alda must have told you why I asked you to come here, right?”
Little Seim nodded: “To test the mental power value.”
Angel said indifferently: “That’s right, after you have eaten and slept well, your mental power has begun to recover to its peak. This is the most accurate time to test it.”
After finishing speaking, Angel stretched out his hand and pointed, creating a small game illusion in front of Little Seim.
This was an enlightening mini-game from the holographic tablet.
Through the mini-game, Little Seim’s thoughts gradually became active, and his mental power also became excited. At this time, Angel handed over the scale for measuring mental power to Little Seim.
Just as Little Seim was about to look down at the scale, Angel stopped him: “Don’t look at other parts of the scale, that would impact your mental power. The correct way to use the scale is to start from the 0 mark at the bottom and slowly look up along the pale golden line inside. The higher you can see, the greater your mental power value.”
After the explanation, Angel indicated that Little Seim could begin the test.
Little Seim solemnly picked up the scale, focusing his gaze on the 0 mark. As his attention concentrated, the golden line in the scale, like a snake, began to move, slowly ascending…
Originally, when Angel used the scale to test his mental power value, he only felt a bit of eye strain when reaching the 7th mark. After 10, a golden line split into two, forming a double helix rushing upwards, and only then did Angel feel a brain sting.
However, Little Seim started sweating on his forehead at the 4th mark. When the gold line struggled to reach 5, veins began to bulge.
Just as Little Seim felt the blood vessels on his forehead were about to burst, the gold line climbed a bit more. However, this climb exceeded Little Seim’s endurance limit, and he felt darkness before his eyes and fainted.
Angel took the scale from Little Seim’s hand.
The gold line stopped at the mark——7.
“A bowl of Witch Soup can just bring his mental power value to 10, crossing the lower limit of the talented.” A complex light flashed in Angel’s eyes: “Exactly 10, was it calculated? Indeed worthy of being left by Feng…”
Back in the Abyss, Angel also felt that Feng seemed to have calculated everything, whether it was him, Lord Night, Fafnir, or Odeklaes, as if they were all in the trap set by Feng.
Therefore, when he saw the scale precisely at 7, Angel was not surprised.
As Angel was muttering to himself, he didn’t know that in a distant Shell World, a painter known as Sister Feng sneezed and rubbed her nose, saying, “Who is thinking of me? It must be Lorraine… Lorraine says she doesn’t care, but she actually does, right? After all, it concerns her race. Alas, I don’t know if the Witch Soup that adds 3 points to the mental power limit can cultivate a talented person. If not, there’s nothing I can do, I’m just a poor painter with only that little savings.”
Angel did not know that this time, it was really just a coincidence.
He put the scale aside, his eyes flickering with a ghostly light.
The Magic Painter Wizard even calculated Little Seim’s mental power value, so he must have also calculated his trip to the Tidal Realm, right?
Even if it was really calculated, Angel, in search of a suitable elemental creature, still had to go to the Tidal Realm.
“Truly worthy of being a legendary wizard, so powerful.”
As Angel sighed in his heart, Little Seim on the other side began to slowly wake up.
……
After knowing that his mental power value tested at 7, Little Seim breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was at the bottom, at least he became a talented person and had the opportunity to step into the extraordinary world.
“Once you return, heat the witch soup on the stove until it is completely melted, then you can drink it,” Angel said. “After drinking it, have a good sleep, and come back tomorrow. I will test your talent.”
Although he already knew that Little Seim possessed the talent of a Near Spirit Body, further measurement was still needed to determine his future direction.
Little Seim nodded and then left the room.
After Little Seim left, Angel began his self-reflection. No matter where he was, he would not relax his self-reflection until he had thoroughly assimilated the knowledge.
Time flew by swiftly.
A night passed, and Little Seim returned, looking spirited.
“Mr. Pat, I have taken the witch soup last night,” Little Seim hesitated before asking, “Is my mental power value now at 10 points?”
Angel had already felt the fluctuation of his mental power when Little Seim entered. This was a situation that only occurs when the mental power value exceeds 10 points.
“Congratulations, you are now a talent. However, this is just giving you the opportunity to pursue Ttruth. Whether or not you can embark on an extraordinary path is still uncertain,” Angel said simply. He didn’t say too much to encourage or discourage him, leaving these for the mentor who would guide Little Seim in the future.
“Although you are now a talent, I still need to further confirm your talent.”
Angel snapped his fingers gently, and visible changes immediately occurred in the room.
The door opened with a gust of wind, the extinguished oil lamp reignited, the empty cup suddenly filled with water, and a pot filled with soil appeared on the table…
After these facilities were arranged, Angel took out the Talent Sphere and a small hourglass.
“The hourglass times for one minute. During this minute, pay attention to any changes that occur around you.”
With that, Angel placed the Talent Sphere in front of Little Seim.
Little Seim nodded solemnly and placed his hand on the Talent Sphere.
The Talent Sphere immediately shone with bright light, and within this halo, Little Seim saw a face suddenly press against the window…
The hourglass was turned, and the one-minute countdown ended.
Angel glanced at Little Seim, noticing his pupils constricted and still immersed in some emotion. He did not disturb him but withdrew the Talent Sphere, waiting for him to regain his senses.
“What did you see?” Angel asked as Little Seim’s eyes regained their brightness.
Little Seim’s face was slightly pale, and he swallowed hard: “I saw… a face pressing against the window.”
“I think I recognize her; she is my mother’s sister, Lady Sheila. She died when I was very young, and only her portrait is in Star Lake Castle. Her appearance before the window was exactly like that in the painting, which is how I recognized her.”
Angel thought to himself upon hearing this: Seeing a spirit, it seems Little Seim has a soul-related talent.
“But Lady Sheila looked different from the painting. It seemed only her head was Lady Sheila’s. I vaguely saw outside the window that her body was… like a spider.”
A special soul? Angel was somewhat surprised. It seems Little Seim is suitable for cultivating a special soul? This indeed aligns with Nisi’s expectations of him.
“Anything else?” Angel inquired.
Little Seim hesitated: “I think I also heard her voice. She was calling me to find her, in that direction.”
Little Seim turned around, pointing southward.
Angel’s gaze seemed to pierce through the walls, looking towards the south. Across the grasslands and forests, his eyes beheld a range of undulating mountains.
“Is that the direction we came from?”
Little Seim nodded: “Yes, my mother once told me that Lady Sheila passed away in Star Lake Castle. I wonder if her spirit still lingers near Star Lake Castle? Perhaps she is telling me to go and find her.”
Angel pondered for a moment, then gently shook his head: “Don’t overthink it, this is just a talent test, merely to ascertain your specific talents.”
“Besides, I have seen Star Lake Castle, there are no spider-bodied souls there. Neither the dead nor ghosts.”
Hearing this, although Little Seim hesitated, he still believed Angel’s words.
“Your talent is indeed related to the soul. The specifics will be explained by your mentor in the future,” Angel patted Little Seim’s shoulder. “You can go back now, Alda is waiting for you outside.”
Little Seim nodded in thanks to Angel and then left the room.
After Little Seim left, Angel looked out of the window, lost in thought.
After pondering, he closed his eyes and went to the Wilderness of Dreams.
When he found Nisi, he was sitting on an airship, heading to the new city location.
“Wizard Nisi, are you planning to go to the new city to help?”
Nisi nodded and sighed deeply: “It’s Liana who asked me to help. Honestly, I really didn’t want to…”
Pausing, Nisi looked at Angel: “You came to find me, have you finished testing Little Seim’s talents?”
Angel: “Yes, his mental power value just hit 7 points, and after taking the Witch Soup, he is now a talented individual.”
After briefly explaining Little Seim’s situation, Angel discussed the contents of what Little Seim heard and saw during the talent test.
“Was the call he heard real?”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of such a situation,” muttered Nisi. “However, the Talent Sphere pulls the tester into a world of spiritual perception, where what they hear, see, think, and feel in that world is all real.”
“Maybe Lady Sheila is really calling him.”
“The spider-bodied spirit, as one of the common special souls in the —Soul Records—… But such a form of soul is usually a ghost.”
Angel: “You mean, Lady Sheila is real, the call is real, but her call to Little Seim might be malicious.”
Nisi nodded: “Yes, such special ghosts are said to have been betrayed by their blood relatives, suffering great torment, and formed in such resentment. They are extremely murderous, especially towards their kin.”
“Unfortunately, although it’s a special soul, it’s a ghost, so it’s of no use to me.”
“However, it’s possible that she has noticed Little Seim. As her blood relative, even if Little Seim doesn’t seek her out, she might come looking for him.”