A mental space?
No! Felix was certain this was not a mental space. Mental spaces don’t have this intense sense of reality. No matter how vast one's mental strength, the spaces formed by mental will are illusory, lacking that intensely real sensation. Even deities can't achieve this!
A small plane within the shattered divinity?
Felix found this thought a bit absurd, no, extremely absurd!
Barrier!
At the very edge of this space was a barrier made of deep gray energy. Felix had not opened a portal; he couldn't tell if this was the legendary Planar Crystal Wall, but he was sure of the barrier's immense strength. Despite using all his power, he couldn't make it budge an inch.
Unbelievable!
Where was this place?
Felix sat cross-legged in the sky, looking up at the grayish sky, the dark red moon, lost in deep thought. He found that in this space, he didn’t need to use magic to stay afloat. Merely a thought, and he felt an inexplicable force lifting his body.
Felix had only experienced this in the deep mental spaces, but those were imaginary worlds, where everything was just a thought, a real illusion! This place was different, everything felt so real, so real it scared Felix!
Felix pondered for a long time but couldn’t find an answer. This was an unknown realm, without even a hint of information for speculation.
Where was he before?
On the observatory of Felendia, right?
Then? Suddenly he was here? The divine shard shattered into dust? And then he arrived here?
Felix suddenly thought of a severe problem: how could he leave this mysterious space? With this thought, he felt a whirlwind sensation. When his consciousness returned, he saw the moon, stars, and the lights of the imperial city.
Looking around, everything on the observatory of Felendia remained unchanged, as if what happened was just a dream.
What was going on?
Felix's brow furrowed, he closed his eyes, focusing intensely, trying to re-enter that mysterious space. Unfortunately, he failed. No matter how he summoned his power, he couldn't re-enter that wondrous state. He was still in reality, in the world of the main material plane.
“What has happened to me?” Felix couldn’t make sense of it, but he was certain something special had happened. He trusted his judgment; that peculiar space truly existed, it wasn't an illusion, and it was still there…
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
A faint sound of footsteps echoed; Vivian had returned to the observatory.
“It’s late, Master. You should rest,” the succubus said softly as she approached.
What time is it now?
Felix pulled out the magic watch from the Blue Crystal and looked at the time.
Magic hour, one in the morning.
Wasn’t it wrong?
Before entering that peculiar space, wasn't it around nine in the evening? According to his memory, he should have stayed in that space for a long time, because when he woke from his deep thoughts, the dark red moon had moved from the east to the west.
With a hint of confusion, Felix returned to his room. His thoughts were a bit chaotic. He felt like he had grasped something very important, but no matter how hard he tried to think, he couldn't clear the fog.
That night, Felix couldn't sleep.
The half-undead ogre's mutation was successful; now, it should be called a demon.
Under the stimulation of the higher demon's dirty blood, its height shot up to five meters. Its newfound strength even broke the golden net shackles binding its limbs. If not for Vivian's intervention, it would have caused quite a stir in Felendia. Even so, one of the golden puppets was severely deformed under its attack. Without reforging, it could no longer fight.
The fully keratinized skin possessed a defense nearly akin to that of a Glaurung, such that even the sharpest of weapons could only scratch its surface layer.
The successfully mutated ogre had lost its original appearance. A solitary horn sprouted from its forehead, a feature unique to high-ranking ogres with the blood of their god. The extensive keratinous skin rendered it a fearsome sight, as spikes of real bone protruded from its arms, shoulders, and back - new weapons catalyzed by the high demon's dirty blood.
Claws, fangs, the mutated ogre now resembled a ferocious beast choosing its prey!
Its new dwelling had been moved to the seventh layer of Felendia, a site for large-scale magical experiments conducted by the mysterious Gamma mages. The cage that held it was now a set of magic iron manacles, interwoven with mithril and inscribed with sealing barriers.
In his hands, Felix was concocting an enhanced version of an anesthetic potion. The dark green liquid flowed within an enamel crystal bottle, gradually emitting a faint luminescence as magical energy was infused. Felendia, a vast entity, required not only a strong defense in its construction but also a sufficient ecological cycle for balance.
Apart from the main body of the magic tower, Felendia was divided into three sections for growing herbs, food, and some flowers whose purpose Felix could never fathom. Yes, flowers, lots and lots of them, of which Felix could only recognize the mandrake, a common ingredient in black magic experiments.
The regenerative capacity of Felendia was quite limited. It could support the once-in-a-few-years magical experiments of the Gamma mages, but the frequent experiments conducted by Felix were beginning to exceed expectations.
He had no choice but to purchase necessary herbal concoctions at a high price from the Mage's Guild to support his ongoing experiments.
When the potion’s color turned from dark green to black, Felix finally stopped infusing magical power.
After feeding the thick alchemical concoction to the ogre, Felix quietly waited for it to take effect. To bind the demonic version of the ogre with a servant's enslavement contract, he first had to shatter its will, which meant plunging its mind into chaos.
Ten minutes passed.
The effects of the alchemical concoction began to manifest, and the ogre’s expression turned increasingly vacant, its gray-white pupils losing their luster.
Felix closed his eyes, placing his right hand on the ogre's forehead. A vast mental force, sharp as a sword, pierced into its mental world.
Painful howls!
As the mental force eroded its mind, the ogre let out a deafening howl. Its facial expression twisted into something as grotesque as a demon from hell.
When its consciousness was completely destroyed, Felix drew his dagger, slicing open his palm, and began chanting the enslavement contract's sacrificial incantation in a deep voice.