Lokiseth’s pseudo-realm.

Two and a half years have passed since Merlin was trapped in there. His torturous training in compounding and identification of poisons and antidotes, has finally reached its end. That day was the promised day, Merlin was wondering what the promised prize would be, but Lokiseth seemed to be oblivious of the date and had already started preparing the next stage of Merlin’s training. Merlin couldn’t endure it anymore and asked Lokiseth.

Merlin: “Master!”

Lokiseth: “Yes, what is it, Merlin?”

Merlin: “Master, do you remember what day is today?”

Lokiseth: “I remember, indeed. Today is the day that marks exactly 18 months since your arrival in this pseudo-realm.”

Merlin: “Master! Today I finished my training in compounding and identification of poisons and antidotes!”

Lokiseth: “I know, I was there when it happened. Congratulations!”

Merlin: “Aren’t you forgetting something, master?”

Lokiseth: “Not that I am aware of…”

Merlin: “Master, didn’t you promise you would give me a prize when I finished my training in compounding and identification of poisons and antidotes? Or was it just a lie to make me work harder?” 

Lokiseth: “It would seem that you have misunderstood something…”

Merlin: “I was right, then, there is no prize whatsoever!”

Lokiseth: “That’s not what I meant. The exact word I used at the time was ‘reward’, not ‘prize’. And your reward is currently waiting for you inside the cave.”

Merlin: “Thank you master!”

At that moment, Merlin took off without waiting for Lokiseth, and run toward the cave. Lokiseth smiled wryly and stopped what he was doing, he left the things on the ground, and then went to stop Merlin before he reached the cave. When he caught up to Merlin, he immobilized him against the ground and sit on his back.

Lokiseth: “You seem to have forgotten your manners, Merlin! Since when do you think that you have the right to run off whenever you please, without even letting me finish what I was saying?”

Merlin: “Sorry, master. I just… I was so happy that I have finally earned that reward that I completely forgot myself back there! It won’t happen ever again!”

Lokiseth: “It better not! If there is ever a next time, I’ll make you drink a mix of all the poisons I know, and I’ll force you to be on the brink of death for a whole month before giving you any antidote!”

Merlin: “I promise, master!”

Lokiseth: “Very well. Follow me!”

As Merlin followed Lokiseth into the cave, he felt that there was something strange in it. He didn’t have any evidence to support that feeling, but his instinct told him he was right. Merlin heard giggles upon entering the cave, which was quite the strange thing, given that Lokiseth and him were supposed to be the only two using that cave. 

However, he didn’t need much time to guess who was giggling, because soon after he heard the giggles, a 3-year-old little girl run at him and hugged him. He didn’t know who the little girl was, so he looked at Lokiseth for an answer.

Lokiseth: “What?”

Merlin: “Who is she? Weren’t you and I the only ones supposed to be in this pseudo-realm? How did she get here? And more importantly, who is she?”

Lokiseth: “You had met her before, after all, you’ve known her for years!”

Merlin: “What are you talking about?”

Lokiseth: “Have you really forgotten about her?”

Merlin: “Can you please stop playing mind games with me? I can’t recall who she is. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I have ever met this little girl before!”

Lokiseth: “Ok, playtime is over! I’ll tell you who she is…”

Merlin: “Who?”

Lokiseth: “Jasmine, your maid.”

Merlin: “Impossible! Jasmine died in front of me when those assassins tried to kill me! Besides, she was 19, how could she possibly be here and be a 3-year-old?”

Lokiseth: “This is going to take some time to explain…”

Merlin: “It would take 5 times that in the outside world…”

Lokiseth: “I didn’t realize you knew how to joke. Do you remember what happened the day those assassins tried to kill you and got her instead?”

Merlin: “She got killed, I got mad and used your power, which led us to our current situation. But I still don’t manage to understand what that has to do with this little girl! How could she possibly be Jasmine?”

Lokiseth: “As I said, this is going to take a while…”

With those words, Lokiseth started to explain to Merlin what really went on that night, and the reason for Jasmine becoming a 3-year-old little girl. The night he fought the assassins and Jasmine was killed, Merlin had a soul stone on himself. When Jasmine’s soul escaped her body, it somehow ended up trapped inside the soul stone. 

Merlin: “If she really died and her soul was trapped inside the soul stone, then how did she enter your pseudo-realm? And why has she become a little girl?”

Lokiseth: “As I said, her soul was trapped inside the soul stone. Those stones weren’t made to hold souls safely and then extract them, they were made as power sources for magic tools that work on soul energy.”

Merlin: “I still don’t get what that has to do with Jasmine…”

Lokiseth: “You need to learn the virtue of patience, it is bad manners interrupting your elders when they are explaining something to you!”

Merlin: “Sorry, master.”

Lokiseth: “As I was saying, the soul stones weren’t made so that the souls trapped in there could be easily extracted, which leads us to our current predicament. When I extracted Jasmine’s soul from the soul stone, her soul received some damage, and she will need several years to recover. For that reason, instead of giving her a body her age, I gave her a body which suits her, given her current predicament. She will grow up along with that young body, and her soul will recover.”

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Merlin: “But why does she act like a real 3-year-old girl? Shouldn’t she be an adult girl in the body of a child?”

Lokiseth was starting to get fed up with Merlin’s ranting, so he finished his explanation in one go, without giving Merlin any chance to retort. He explained to Merlin that as a result of her soul being damaged, Jasmine’s personality had reverted to that of a child, and while she had retained most of her memories, her cognitive abilities were those of a 3-year-old, hence the body Lokiseth had given her.

He also explained to Merlin, that giving her a body inside his pseudo-realm wasn’t the same as resuscitating her, it was an spiritual body of sorts, meaning, the body was real inside the pseudo-realm, but it would be destroyed the very moment it went to the outside world. 

Merlin didn’t really understand that point, everything in this realm was real, even his body in the outside world was being nourished by the food he was consuming inside the pseudo-realm! But after giving it some thought, he finally understood that Lokiseth’s words were true, because there was a very big difference between the two of them, Merlin entered Lokiseth’s pseudo-realm while he was alive, while Jasmine’s soul had entered it after her death…

Jasmine’s body inside the pseudo-realm was just the physical manifestation of her soul, if it were to the outside world, she would become a ghost or a vengeful spirit, but she had no way to be a human girl anymore. The only reason she had yet to enter the reincarnation cycle, was that her soul had been accidentally trapped inside the soul stone, and released inside Lokiseth’s pseudo-realm.

Merlin: “Master, is there really no way to resuscitate her in the outside world?”

Lokiseth: “After her real body died, her body couldn’t host her soul anymore, unless you want her to become an undead?”

Merlin: “I don’t want that! Sorry master, I know that I’m being unreasonable here, but I feel guilty about her death, and I really would like to give her a second chance at live…”

Lokiseth: “It is not like it is impossible…”

Merlin: “Please, tell me how!”

Lokiseth: “…but she has first to recover from the damage in her soul. Once her soul has healed, she’ll have to possess a new body.”

Merlin: “Master, if Jasmine possessed a body, she would end up being exorcised, and having her soul destroyed!”

Lokiseth: “That would be the case if she possessed the body of a normal person, but if she possessed the body of a woman whose soul had been destroyed, Jasmine’s soul could fuse with that body and reclaim it as hers.”

Merlin: “And where do we find such a body?”

Lokiseth: “Some dungeons and labyrinths have soul-destroying traps, that would be your best bet. Anyhow, it will take years for her soul to recover, so you have more than enough time to find her a suitable body. Besides, if you don’t find her one, you could always make her one yourself!”

Merlin: “What do you mean, master?”

Lokiseth: “You don’t need to know about that now, you don’t currently have the resources nor the capabilities to do it anyway!”

Merlin: “…”

Lokiseth: “Ok, ok, I’ll tell you! Stop looking at me with those puppy eyes! Have you ever heard about homunculi?”

Merlin: “Yes.”

Lokiseth: “The creation of those artificial humans was first researched as a solution to situations like Jasmine’s, but was later abandoned and banned when unscrupulous people tried to attain immortality by making use of them. If you were to find the necessary equipment in some ruins, you might be able to create an artificial body for her.”

Merlin: “Thank you very much for the information, master.”

Lokiseth had hesitated when telling Merlin about the homunculi, because any ruins susceptible of having the necessary equipment for creating one, were sure to be ranked at least as S Rank in danger. If Merlin were to go to one of those places before being ready, he was sure to die before being able to even make half a step inside. 

Of course, after having passed so much time inside Merlin, Lokiseth had already figured out his personality, and knew that telling him the information about the homunculi was a gamble. Either he pushed himself to the limits in order to get strong enough to go exploring ruins, looking the necessary equipment, or he got too full of himself and went exploring some ruins before he was prepared, dying in the process.

However, Lokiseth made the gamble because he knew that when a man is doing his best effort to correct a mistake he committed in the past, is then that he is the most reliable. He was using Merlin’s guilt over Jasmine’s death to fuel his motivation to get stronger as fast as possible, and when it came to Merlin’s survival, Lokiseth thought the end justified the means.

Merlin took the little girl who had fallen asleep in his embrace, and laid her on some pelts on the floor of the cave. *She really does look like a very young version of Jasmine’s*  thought Merlin as he looked at her sleeping face. Then he turned around and went toward Lokiseth to ask him for a new training regime, he had unknowingly fallen for Lokiseth’s mind tricks, and had ended asking for a training regime 3 times harsher than the one Lokiseth had originally planned on giving him. 

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Commercial town of Katra. Baronet Linus’ residence.

B. Linus: “Is that information reliable?”

Guard: “Rumor has it that ever since they finished the construction of the city of Ragnarök, the security on the route to the capital has increased tenfold! Of the 3 bandit groups under at our service, 1 was wiped out last week by a group of city guards from Ragnarök that had been dispatched to protect the caravan.”

B. Linus: “That explains why our income has plummeted the last few months. This can’t continue! Find a way to cut Ragnarök’s protection to the caravan route, I don’t care how you do it, but we need more income in the town!”

Guard: “Yes, sir!”

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