Merlin vanishes in a flash before my fist can connect. He's just... gone. No incantation, no hand movement, him, his noble soul, his manna, and his overwhelming vis aura are all just gone, as if he was never even there. I fly forwards about 400 meters, digging my boots in the sand, still traveling from the momentum of my punch.
"Are you... are you fucking kidding me!? He was right here! The cause of all of this! And he just ran away!?" My warp grows so out of control with my anger that the grinning mask begins to shake on my face. I notice it, but I cannot calm down. The crimson cultists are still charging, not knowing what happened.
When they reach me, they find me standing in the sand, clutching my face. I calm myself, steel my resolve, and turn to face them.
"He ran."
"What?" Leviticus asks. "Where?"
"Do you think I'd be standing around if I knew!? The scrying mirror won't be able to track him either, now. He's likely raised magical scrying barriers, similar to the way the warding stones around the tower do." I take a deep breath. "But no matter. We will find him eventually. He can't run forever."
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After we return to the tower, my praetors escort me to my lab and I dive into my study in order to put aside my anger.
I spend days, likely weeks reviewing and writing notes. My shelves gain several new leather-bound tomes and volumes of research into science and thaumaturgy. My praetors are under orders to not let anyone inside except for Leviticus. He drops in on occasion to check on me, but other than that, I work unimpeded. Merlin is obviously very powerful, not only spiritually and magically, but he has that manna hidden on his person somewhere. Although I would simply reform in the emptiness if he were to kill me, I don't know what extent of power manna gives him or if he has some ability that can permanently kill me. What I need is some sort of drone weapon that can kill him without the need for me to be involved. Perhaps...
I grab a bound tome of research notes from the shelf and read through them. The Magnum Opus of alchemy in Primis Mundus was said to be the Rebis, although alchemy of course wasn't real. It is for me, however. What an interesting experiment. Would imbuing two, or even more souls into a living entity increase its spiritual power or ability to manipulate vis?
I decide this is the subject I will pursue. With a clear head and goal, I allow the praetors to allow visitors into the room once more. Leviticus stops by once more.
"I have a report for you, sir. The crimson cultists grow restless. You have been holed up in your study for over two weeks. We can provide them with good food thanks to not only your transmutation devices, but the constant influx of potential nutrient sources falling into the emptiness from the flux rifts, but we have no cure for boredom. They play cards and have parties, but repeating the same things can only keep someone occupied for so long. I personally can handle it, but they can't."
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Good timing. There is no need to wait any longer. I have decided on our next move."
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"I have gathered you here to present to you our next step." I clap my hands, and Winter rolls in a board with a large blueprint on it, covered in runes and mathematical symbols.
"I recognize that!" Shouts an older man from the crowd of crimson cultists. "That's a Rebis!"
"I did not think anyone here, besides possibly Leviticus, would be familiar with it. Would you happen to be an occultist?"
"Yes. Studying the history of ancient magic was my passion. Of course, I knew none of it was real."
"Anyways, although I'm sure only a few of you can even comprehend a fragment of these blueprints, this design portrays a human with two souls in one body. According to my calculations, combining an unhinged soul and a malleable soul will allow me to create a sort of biological golem with an immense amount of raw magical power."
"Why not a noble soul instead?" Asks Leland. "Aren't they capable of controlling vis naturally?"
"Good observation. Firstly, making it a noble soul would allow it intelligence, which means it could betray me. Secondly, unhinged souls are the souls of naturally magical creatures. This is the reason humans cannot harness vis without either tools or a specially constructed field of vis to cast spells from. Making the soul an unhinged soul will significantly decrease the magical potential of the soul, but it will allow us to place it completely under our control... barring something doesn't go horribly wrong, like these things usually seem to in movies." Hope I didn't jinx it.
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I begin the construction of the Rebis immediately. While I focus on the thaumaturgical aspects of the design, the crimson cultists help me with more mundane aspects of it, such as the gathering of raw materials. The most challenging part of it is the creation of a malleable soul; although I have long known of their theoretical existence and believed them to be possible to create, putting it into practice were another thing entirely. Spiritus (Spirit) is what makes the raw, physical form of a person's soul. Since souls are completely indestructible to all but God's hand, I am forced to use a centrifuge and Permutatio (Change) Essentia in order to create my own Spiritus. The process isn't exactly like previous transmutations where I can simply use Permutatio to conjure essentially anything I want: Spiritus is very unstable when a soul does not inhabit it. What I need to do is create a shape of Spiritus of sufficient size and hold it for a period of time whilst I circulate vis through it periodically, tricking the Spiritus to perform an odd kind of self-spiritual repair and attempt to heal a soul that was never present to begin with, causing the creation of an entirely new soul. The process will likely take months to perform successfully, and I can make adjustments to the soul as I see fit using essentia injections before it fully forms. In theory, I could make it intelligent like a wise soul, but that defeats the purpose of this. The malleable soul will be specially engineered to bond with the unhinged soul. I only have one doubt about the entire process.
Is this heresy?