Chapter 2716 The First Trial <TOC> Chapter 2718 Mirror Prison
Translator: SumTLMan
“I, I don’t have another personality.” After hearing the Sovereign of Wisdom’s analysis, Kael shook his head vigorously.
Daus chimed in from the side: “If he had a secondary personality, I would have noticed long ago.”
Vai said: “That’s what you say, but you can’t watch him day and night. Maybe he turns into a werewolf at night?”
Daus replied irritably: “Don’t take —The Flower of Griffey— seriously.”
—The Flower of Griffey— is a play about a noble who transforms into a werewolf at night and a knight-errantess who hunts heretics; theirs is a tragic romance. It is widely circulated on the Vast Continent and is fairly well known. Because at every opening day of Torch Institute many apprentices perform famous plays from the Vast Continent, —The Flower of Griffey— is selected very often, which has led many transcendents to learn its story.
Vai: “I was just giving an example.”
Listening to the dispute between Vai and Daus, Kael looked a little bewildered; he had never expected to become the focus of the conversation all of a sudden.
While Kael was at a loss, Angel’s voice sounded at just the right time: “Dual personalities can indeed arise, where the primary persona is unaware of the second. But in the kind of primary-secondary personalities the Sovereign of Wisdom spoke of, the two coexist and must be aware of each other.”
“Therefore, since the very person involved has clearly said he has no other persona, the primary-secondary theory can be ruled out.”
Whether Kael was lying, everyone could still tell. Since he was not, analysis indeed made the existence of another persona impossible.
“In that case, does he carry fragments of someone else’s soul? Or from the root, is he perhaps not the native soul of this body at all, but one that entered later, while the body’s original soul became the residue?” Vai speculated again.
Daus said sourly: “You accept Angel’s explanation pretty fast. How come you didn’t refute it?”
Vai: “Because you gave only the conclusion and no process.”
After speaking, Vai ignored Daus and again cast his inquisitive gaze toward Angel.
Angel: “What you said is also possible. But I can’t give a definitive judgment right now.”
Whether Kael possesses an original soul or one that later parasitized this shell cannot be judged through deduction alone, because there are too many possibilities. For example, if an outside soul entered Kael’s body during infancy, then, constrained by the brain’s structure, its memories and consciousness would fade away and it would start from a blank slate, no different from a newborn.
The Sovereign of Wisdom nodded as well: “The simplest way to determine whether it is an original soul is to have a divination wizard run a test, preferably one of the Bell of Inquiry school; simply ask yes or no and the answer will appear.”
After a pause, the Sovereign of Wisdom added: “Besides, is whether the soul is original all that important?”
Although phrased as a question, his meaning was clear: whether the soul is original is unimportant, or at least, for Kael, it is unimportant.
Angel followed up: “Of course, even if it is not an original soul, it makes no difference to you. The reason you have no outside-soul memories is either that you are the original soul or that an outside soul entered the shell during infancy; but an infant’s mind is undeveloped and can hardly be called a complete sentient being.”
“From infant to child to the present you, you are you. Your family, your teachers, your friends are connected to you, not to some unknown soul residue. Therefore, you simply need not care about the originality issue.”
Daus quipped along: “If you truly weren’t the original soul, do you intend to self-destruct and let that mindless soul residue take over this body? Think carefully, fretting over this is pure idle nonsense.”
After hearing everyone talk like this, even if Kael were shy he should have figured it out, and Kael was not that shy to begin with.
Seeing Kael’s expression settle, Daus began speculating without restraint.
“Soul residue won’t affect the essence of the main soul, but it might influence your personality imperceptibly,” Daus said: “Speaking of which, from what I know of you, your personality really is a bit odd.”
Kael: “Huh?”
“You’re clearly obsessed with research; logically you should be like him, a guy who can’t be dragged out of the house no matter how you call,” Daus said, pointing at the homebody Vai.
“Sure, you don’t like going out much, but once historical ruins are mentioned you flip completely; no one can stop you. Your passion for ruins is a little too intense, doesn’t quite fit your scholarly persona.”
Here Daus stopped, but everyone was smart enough to hear the unspoken implication.
He clearly meant that the soul residue inside Kael influenced his character, making him forever obsessed with exploring historical ruins.
Still, Daus had merely spoken; the others just listened casually, for there was no evidence at all. Calling it a guess was already polite, this was pure conjecture.
Having a hobby is perfectly normal, besides, exploring ruins is a form of training and research, which does not contradict a scholarly persona.
Even Kael himself didn’t believe it.
Instead, the perpetually sparring Vai solemnly asked: “Your inspiration?”
If it was inspiration, Vai would actually believe it.
Daus: “It hasn’t recovered yet.”
On hearing that it hadn’t recovered, Vai rolled his eyes and ignored Daus altogether.
After this harmless little interlude, the Sovereign of Wisdom finally got to the main topic: the trial.
“Before we talk about the trial, let me remind you that I still cannot help you this time. Moreover, I previously promised ‘her’ that this trial must follow the rules she laid down.”
Daus frowned: “We’re the ones taking the trial, how did the Sovereign of Wisdom agree to her on our behalf? Isn’t it up to us to decide whether to accept her rules?”
The Sovereign of Wisdom said calmly: “The reason is simple: I blocked her advance on your behalf.”
“Besides, the rules set for this trial are not necessarily bad for you, of course, they may not be good either.”
Daus muttered under his breath: “That’s practically saying nothing.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom didn’t mind and turned his gaze to Angel.
Angel didn’t know why the Sovereign of Wisdom was looking at him, but given the mood he still picked up the thread: “Then what is this trial?”
The Sovereign of Wisdom obligingly said: “As for the trial, I hinted at it earlier. The ones who came to the Hanging Prison Stairs this time are not just your group.”
As soon as the Sovereign of Wisdom finished speaking, everyone reacted at once.
Daus: “Traveling Merchants Organization?”
The Sovereign of Wisdom nodded: “Strictly speaking, it’s a group led by the Gray Merchant. The White Merchant and the Black Merchant have already left.”
The one who was actually most surprised by the Sovereign of Wisdom’s words was Angel.
He could sense that Cecia had never logged off from start to finish and was still in the Wilderness of Dreams; in other words, she was still sound asleep in reality.
Yet the people from the Traveling Merchants Organization had clearly entered the space where Cecia was located.
Without Cecia’s permission, they actually forced their way in?
Seeing Angel’s doubt, the Sovereign of Wisdom explained: “Don’t you think the Hanging Prison Stairs is very similar to the alternate dimension space where Cecia is?”
He answered his own question: “Because they’re a primary-secondary pair connected by a hidden passage in the void. Think of the two spaces as… Twin Guamor.”
The so-called Twin Guamor is the shell of a magic vine fruit shaped like a gourd, an alchemical material of extremely high hardness that can even be sawn in half and used as a heart-guard.
By comparing the two spaces to Twin Guamor, the Sovereign of Wisdom was drawing on that resemblance.
“Since they’re a primary-secondary pair, if you avoid the dangers you can pass through the hidden passage and teleport to the Hanging Prison Stairs.” The Sovereign of Wisdom went on: “Her talent with magic formations is unparalleled. I once opened the formation of the Hanging Prison Stairs for her to repair; she laid quite a few contingencies inside, including that hidden passage.”
“Because she has already contacted the Gray Merchant and asked them to deal with you, she’ll certainly find a way to bring them here quickly, that passage is the shortcut.”
With that, the Sovereign of Wisdom’s gaze again pierced the Opulent Nightmare Domain and turned toward the Hanging Prison Stairs.
“They’re already inside now, but they’re still on the third level. You have plenty of time to understand the trial rules she set.”
At the long table everyone fell silent, all eyes on the Sovereign of Wisdom, waiting for his explanation.
“The Gray Merchant’s party numbers twelve in all, but half of them, one formal wizard among them, were held up in the Wizard Eye Ghost’s area. In the end you’ll face six, including two formal wizards and the Gray Merchant himself.”
“She set three rules. The first two, strictly speaking, aren’t bad for you.”
“Rule One: one-on-one combat. As long as you neither die nor admit defeat, you can keep fighting indefinitely. You can even take a break, let someone else fight, and return once you’re rested.”
Put plainly, it was a cheating version of a relay match. No one objected; if the other side could cheat, so could they. It would come down to whose heavy hitters were stronger.
No one resisted the first rule, but their brows furrowed at the second.
“Rule Two: formal wizards may only fight formal wizards, and apprentices may only fight apprentices. Two arenas: whichever side wins its arena earns the right to advance, while the losers forfeit that right.”
In other words, if Angel’s side won the formal-wizard duel, their formal wizards could advance; if the Gray Merchant’s apprentices won, their apprentices could advance.
The losers would have no way forward.
“I recall the Sovereign of Wisdom saying the first two rules weren’t bad for us? We’ve only two apprentices and they have four, how is that not disadvantageous?” Daus protested.
Sovereign of Wisdom: “I said they weren’t bad; I didn’t say they were good… And these rules were set after negotiation. Would you rather follow the rules she originally devised?”
Angel asked: “What were her original rules?”
“Still one-on-one, but no distinction between apprentices and wizards, and every match-up was designated by the Gray Merchant.”
After hearing that, Daus fell silent.
Those ‘rules’ weren’t rules at all, they were outright slaughter.
If the Gray Merchant chose who fought whom, he could have his wizards eliminate all of our apprentices first.
Even if we eventually won the formal-wizard duel, Vai and Kael would have died for nothing.
“It seems you don’t want the original rules,” the Sovereign of Wisdom concluded: “The new rules separate the arenas, and a contestant may step down the moment they concede. For you it’s at least not bad: you have three combatants at formal-wizard level, while they have only two.”
After a brief silence, the Black Count said: “We accept the first two rules. What’s the third?”
“Rule Three is a fight she herself designated.” The Sovereign of Wisdom’s expression turned subtle: “She requires that one person on your side must enter the arena.”
Must enter the arena?
From earlier clues they already knew the woman in the mirror was wary and hostile toward descendants of Noah, so they guessed who would be forced to fight.
Either Vai or the Black Count.
Vai was already so nervous he hardly dared breathe; the Black Count remained indifferent.
Yet while everyone looked at Vai and the Black Count, the Sovereign of Wisdom fixed his gaze on Angel: “Angel, you must enter the arena.”
Everyone: “???”
Vai, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, frowned again: “Why? Why my lord?”
It wasn’t only Vai’s question; everyone had the same doubt, Angel included.
“I don’t know,” the Sovereign of Wisdom said: “But if she arranged it, she must have her reasons. You’ll see from your opponent’s attitude.”
If the wizard fighting Angel went all out as though his life depended on it, she simply wanted Angel dead and kept from reaching the ruin site.
If not, then it was probably part of her plan.
“All right, that’s all for the rules.” The Sovereign of Wisdom paused: “They’re on the second level of the Hanging Prison Stairs now. You still have time to make an in-depth ‘analysis’ of the three rules.”
He emphasized “analysis,” clearly reminding them: rules are unavoidable, but if contracts have loopholes, why shouldn’t rules?
Of course they did, each of the three had loopholes to exploit.
Precisely because of those loopholes, the Sovereign of Wisdom told them in advance so they could prepare.
Chapter 2716 The First Trial <TOC> Chapter 2718 Mirror Prison