Rody searched around for a while but couldn't find any living animals nearby, so he temporarily set aside the idea.
On the way back to the capital of the Felic Duchy in a hired carriage, driven by curiosity, Rody took out the ink crystal magic mirror to look at the coachman, and was startled by what he saw: a human male with weakened vitality, active energy at 7, high alcohol content in the body, severe liver damage significantly reducing his life force... The comprehensive assessment: an aging ordinary human, soul potential half a star.
If Rody hadn't seen the seemingly robust coachman easily handling the horses, he would have worried the man might drop dead at any moment.
Only then did Rody realize the high standards of the ink crystal magic mirror.
Markus, with the strength of a five-star great swordsman, was labeled as a 'weak undead', and Emma, with the strength of a four-star swordsman and practicing both magic and martial arts, was considered a 'fragile undead'. Without comparing them to the coachman, Rody wouldn't have realized that his slaves of darkness were not as 'weak' as the mirror had indicated.
In a deserted area, Rody tried to examine his bone pet rabbit, mantises, man-eating vines, the head of Cato, and his newly acquired dark slave, the old goblin wizard.
The results once again surprised Rody.
The old goblin wizard was a six-pointed star magic master with an energy level of 450, but with limited potential, only half a star. The head of the Cato beast had an energy level of 280, two-star potential, and surprisingly, a hidden 'soul-burning' ability. What shocked Rody the most was that the two mantises, with energy levels of 51 and 55, had a potential of two and a half stars each, the highest among all his dark slaves.
Rody speculated that the mantises might have gained some invisible soul potential by merging with the vampire bats. The bone pet rabbit also had one and a half stars of potential, which made Rody see some promise in it.
As for the man-eating vine with only half a star potential, Rody didn't plan to abandon it but to try merging it with more to see if more merging would increase the potential. Delighted with the ink crystal magic mirror that could assess strength and potential, Rody thought it should be used cautiously to avoid envy and theft from others.
For several days, Rody stayed in the carriage, studying the unreadable ancient magic book.
The book, including its cover, had only eighteen pages, densely filled with strange text, magical circles, and symbols. On the first day, Rody couldn't make sense of anything. When he relaxed and was about to rest, he suddenly felt a bizarre sensation as if an invisible black hole was trying to suck in his soul.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Rody guessed it was a connection to some magic, but he was afraid of being drawn in for a long time.
If his soul were absorbed by this ancient magic book, he would become a senseless living corpse.
Yet, it might be the key to unlocking the book's secrets. After much deliberation, Rody decided to try. Before attempting, he wrote a farewell letter to his mother, asking for her forgiveness.
Through the ink crystal magic mirror, the book was labeled as an 'indiscernible object'.
Handling the book carefully, Rody instructed the coachman to go straight to the magic academy. He thought that if his soul were attracted, Headmaster Buck and the beautiful tutor named Mary might have a way to help, or at least send his body back to Whitestone Town. Time and again, he tried to communicate with the book, hoping for the sensation to reappear.
Despite his unease, the desire to become stronger made Rody determined to explore further.
As he calmed his mind, Rody entered a peculiar state where he felt unable to move but comfortably so. His mind was peaceful, his body felt as if sitting in a formless chaos, his thoughts merged with the universe, and his soul emerged from within, feeling free and light.
The strange invisible black hole appeared again, pulling Rody's soul along an invisible pathway.
After an indeterminate length of time and feeling accelerated, Rody suddenly rushed into a cluster of strange light. When his consciousness slightly cleared, he found his soul in a strange hall, somewhat resembling the library of the Felic Magic Academy but larger and taller.
The hall, possibly nearly a hundred meters high, was so vast Rody could barely see around. The walls were adorned with glowing text and slowly moving images, many of which depicted magicians casting spells, captivating Rody.
Rody wanted to move but found himself unable to take a step.
He realized that in this hall, he could only observe with his eyes and sense with his heart, unable to freely move.
After patiently observing for awhile, Rody understood that the magical images were categorized according to each magic school: wind, fire, water, earth, light, darkness, and even the soul and psychic magic he yearned for. Each category had at least a dozen images, especially elemental magic, with numerous images from the bottom to the top of the walls.
"This magic..." Rody recognized several familiar necromancy spells, although the casting was slightly different. He identified a few as those he had learned.
Torn between psychic and dark magic, Rody decided to start with psychic magic.
This would improve his combat ability when unable to summon his dark slaves, and the servant had mentioned his exceptional potential in spirit and soul. His primary goal was to develop his psychic power and enhance his strength. Rody, excited, tried to sense one of the five lowest psychic magic images.
In the image, a magician clad in a black cloak and a terrifying mask, revealing only his green eyes, looked at an axe-wielding orc, causing it to frenziedly slash and kill.
As Rody's thoughts connected with the image, he felt a heavy blow to his mind, an uncontrollable rage bursting from within, making him almost want to leap up and wildly attack his surroundings. With great effort, Rody calmed down, carefully feeling the process of the strange psychic power's rage and fury in his body, while enduring the endless assault on his will.
Once he felt he had grasped a bit of it, Rody's thoughts withdrew, leaving him unprecedentedly exhausted.
Almost without further consciousness, he fell into a dormant state.
Upon waking, Rody found his soul still in the hall, everything unchanged. Although worried about being unable to leave, he seized the opportunity to connect his thoughts with the image again.
After learning 'Frenzy', Rody learned 'Hatred', a psychic spell that made surrounding creatures intensely despise a target.
The third psychic spell Rody learned was 'Psychic Defense', which caused him immense pain and almost felt like his body would explode. However, once mastered, Rody noticed a significant enhancement in his psychic power, as if undergoing a metamorphosis.
When he gathered his psychic whip, Rody found it had a color, a very faint, translucent purple.