You may have experienced a moment of contemplating whether to wake up pleasantly from sleep.
During that time, you might have also encountered the sweet sensation felt when trying to sleep just a little longer.
Luke also enjoyed that sensation.
The obsessive sense of duty, which always constrained him as the most exceptional mage, to carve a new path, disappeared when he awoke in this era.
There were no longer things he needed to protect, and he was already happy just by gradually learning about this world.
However, today, he had to shake off that feeling and rise.
Because there were things he needed to do.
“I need to check something about my soul and my body.”
Whether he truly was ‘immortal’, whether the quality of his soul was indeed different, and the exact condition of his own body.
“Py, how long did I sleep?”
– How long? What’s that?
“……sigh, I always explained it to you like that.”
Luke placed his hand on his forehead at Py’s innocent expression.
Just how hard had he worked to help the spirit understand the concept of ‘time’?
He had tried to teach and explain words representing the past, including yesterday, the day before yesterday, and the day before that, as well as words representing the future, like tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, three days from now, and four days from now.
It was necessary to fully understand the word ‘when’.
—–
Luke felt quite frustrated that the spirit language had no tense.
Naturally, it made sense; spirits don’t have a concrete body and are not beings that exist entirely in the material plane, which means there was no method for expressing time in spirit language.
Thus, if he wanted to talk about time, he had to take a somewhat cumbersome detour each time to ensure understanding.
For example, by saying ‘the moment the sun begins to set’ or ‘the moment the clock’s hand points to seven’.
Yes. There were no words in spirit language that could completely specify the future or the past.
Time is an inseparable concept when using magic, but spirits seemed to have little interest in the flow of time and didn’t quite understand why they should even think about it.
It was as if they could exist anywhere, merging the concept of space into one.
So, Luke decided to teach Py the human language instead of spirit language, and from then on, Py began learning human letters and language simultaneously.
Language acts to package speech but, conversely, it also expands thought.
When the modes of expression become varied, the range of thoughts also broadens.
From that day, Luke began teaching Py the human language.
“Now, this is Py. These are the things you’ve been wanting to eat. This is the word ‘ice cream.’ Now, repeat after me: A. I. C. E. C. R. E. A. M.”
– A… ice cream?
Py hesitated to imitate Luke’s voice, tilting his head to see if he had pronounced it correctly.
“Well done. Yes, this is how to write ‘ice cream’ in human language. Remember it.”
– Ice cream… ice cream!
Luke chuckled as he watched the delighted Py.
Although it seemed like he was teaching a parrot to talk since Py completely mimicked Luke’s voice and intonation, it was a great way to capture interest.
– Hey, hey, what does it feel like to eat this?
“Flavor…? Hmm, first of all, it’s sweet and cold.”
– What is sweet? What does it feel like?
“Well… I can’t seem to think of a way to express the taste.”
Luke rubbed his forehead.
Describing taste was a far more challenging problem than explaining time.
“Well, if we were to compare sweetness to music, it’s like the vocals in an opera. They are the most prominent and splendid, but they can’t be the entirety of the performance. Understand?”
– Um… I get it?
Seeing Py’s clueless expression, Luke shook his head.
“No, you don’t understand. Sigh.”
Reluctantly, Luke picked up the cello.
It was definitely inadequate to communicate with just the spirit language and voice.
“Alright, Py. This is sweetness.”
He wrote the word ‘sweetness’ large and clearly in his notebook and played the cello while singing.
This was the only way to convey the emotions of having eaten sweet food; there was no other way.
The performance Luke created truly felt sweet to Py.
——–
After that performance, Py persistently asked Luke to describe the tastes and feelings of the foods he had eaten, which was quite exhausting.
After briefly recalling the memories, Luke sighed and asked Py, “So, what time is it now?”
– 8:12?
“Good, you said it well. Excellent.”
– Hehe…
When Luke lightly released some of his mana to soothe Py, he smiled happily.
‘Py has finally reached the point of being able to tell time.’
Luke felt a bit moved that all his efforts to instill concepts had finally paid off.
Indeed, language should be demonstrated through usage.
He taught Py what future tense forms to use to ask questions like “When?”—how to combine it with future tense and all.
“Will you come tomorrow? Will you come the day after? Will you come in three days? Will you come in four days?” and so on.
If Py understands this concept, then when he someday needs to leave for somewhere, he will be able to ask in such a way.
Until now, Py had always shown the most interest in Luke, so he would return immediately, but Py was a spirit.
And spirits are impulsive.
It was uncertain when Py might find something more interesting than himself and leave.
If at such a time, they could set a specific time to meet again, it would ease some of his concerns.
Luke somewhat identified with Py.
Both were outcasts in this world and irregulars.
“Alright. Then I’ll go do my work now.”
Luke brushed himself off and got up.
He wanted to confirm the information he realized at the zoo today right away.
“The fact that the unicorn showed no hostility towards me means that my soul is in a pure state with not a speck of male energy.”
In that case, the first thing he needed to verify was the soul.
However, unlike the unicorn, Luke did not have a soul sight.
Soul sight is typically related to ‘divine power,’ and Luke was a mage detached from divine power.
Since there is already mana sight, there can’t be another soul sight.
That would be a contradiction.
The simultaneous existence of mana affinity and spirit affinity… well, that could be possible. High elves possess such traits.
But this was an entirely different matter.
Though it could be belittled as merely a magic that uses the deities as a filter, it was certainly not typical magic.
Mages invoke their authority through belief in mana and themselves.
In contrast, priests invoke a part of divine power through belief in mana and deities.
You can’t believe in yourself while believing in a deity at the same time.
Thus, magic and divine magic must differ and work against each other.
That is the reason why mana sight and soul sight cannot coexist.
Then, is there really no way to see the soul?
If you ask that, then the answer is no.
Luke’s vast knowledge contained tricks even for such situations.
Now, let’s think simplistically. In this world, there are souls that can be seen even without soul sight.
Yes, it’s the souls of the dead.
To exist in the material plane requires a very strong will.
Souls without a physical body cannot exist in the material plane.
However, if there’s a strong will to delay the time of their disappearance, it is possible.
A strong will becomes the flow of mana, and mana becomes the temporary body that overlays the soul.
That is the existence of a spirit.
A soul that has gained a body of mana.
Ghosts.
And Luke could ‘see’ that mana, couldn’t he?
“Alright, that should work.”
Finishing his thought experiment, Luke immediately rummaged through his drawer and took out a knife to check its sharpness.
So sharp that it seemed it would cut with just a light touch.
It’s amazing that such a sharp blade can be bought at a nearby mart; it’s truly a remarkable era.
Luke promptly entered the bathroom and placed his hand on the bathtub.
Blood has been an excellent magical material since ancient times.
For example, blood from a ‘sinner’ executed at dawn or dusk is considered an expensive magical material.
Well, it’s unlikely to find such a thing in this era.
In the first place, there wouldn’t even be proper religious trials, and there wouldn’t be any priests who had been baptized by the deities.
In that respect, his own blood was a perfect material in many ways.
Pure, perfect, overflowing with mana, and most importantly, ‘my own.’
Having already carried that soul, it is only fitting that it is qualified.
“I’m just playing around with necromancy a bit… but this much should be fine.”
He wouldn’t quite call himself a dark mage.
——–
“…….”
Yerna stood trembling with a pale expression, her gaze fixed on Luke’s wrist.
‘Well… I didn’t want to show her this.’
He had thought he could quickly finish this while Yerna was absent, but she returned sooner than expected.
‘Daiton, really… Was there nothing more to discuss with Yerna when it was just the two of you?’
Luke avoided Yerna’s gaze as if realizing he had done something wrong.
It was simply Yerna’s shocked expression that weighed on him, but at least that’s how it appeared to her.
“Yerna, it’s really nothing.”
“Nothing? Look at all this blood on your wrist…! C-call an ambulance….”
“No need to call anyone.”
“What?”
“I’m already healed.”
As Luke subtly lifted his wrist, a state contrary to Yerna’s expectations was revealed.
While blood was smeared all over, there were no wounds on his wrist.
Luke smiled nonchalantly, showing his palm as a gesture of reassurance.
“See? There’s no scar left. It’s really nothing for you to worry about.”
Luke’s current physical state was different from when he was unaware of his immortality and had no consciousness of his own body.
Just as a beast that thinks it’s a cat becomes a cat, a chimera that thinks it’s human could only become human.
However, the current Luke was an immortal chimera.
So, a mere cut on his wrist would truly have no impact.
In fact, even when his body had completely ended biologically, he had once managed to sustain his life solely through the will of the circle.
That means he could operate at full capacity, the equivalent of circle 10, manipulating all the cells of his body to ‘pretend to be alive.’
So then, how much easier is it to imbue the will of life into a ‘living flesh’?
Even so, Yerna couldn’t loosen her expression upon seeing his perfectly healed wrist.
The fact that it had ‘healed perfectly’ meant…
‘There’s no scar whatsoever, so it’s impossible to know how often he must have cut himself…’
“Why did you do this?”
“I told you, it was just an experiment.”
An experiment, an experiment…
Yes, it would be an experiment. It must be the influence of the experiment.
Yerna immediately pulled Luke into a hug.
“Y-Yerna?”
“I’m sorry, I won’t leave you alone again. I won’t go anywhere. So, please… don’t do this….”
“Yerna… Are you… crying?”
Why?
Luke couldn’t understand at all.
His wrist was already healed, and he hadn’t harmed himself; he had cut it himself.
Moreover, he had never shown a sad expression, right?
He had mentioned it was an experiment. Since it was related to necromancy and merely a hypothesis, Yerna wouldn’t understand an explanation even if he went into detail.
There was nothing in the explanation he just gave that justified Yerna crying.
On the contrary, it would be right to scold him for doing a dangerous experiment, wouldn’t it?
No matter how he thought about it, there was nothing sad about it.
However, Yerna held Luke tighter and said with a watery voice, “Can we not do this anymore? I’ll do it better.”
“……Hmm.”
‘This is maddening. I can’t figure out why she’s crying this time.’
“Yerna, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why you’re crying. Please don’t cry.”
“Please, just don’t do it again. I’m begging you.”
Luke could only nod his head.
