56 Chapter 56 - Two Worst-Case Scenarios

"You're afflicted with two of the worst-case scenarios; soul overload and magic restriction."

"..."

The earthling was unsure what it heard so he leaned forward and asked, "I'm sorry, what?"

The sage confirmed that he didn't misspeak.

"Have you consumed the cores of any exceptionally strong beasts?"

"Does that include the beast cores of a Giant Arid Scorpion, Lightning Antelope, Hellfire Tiger, Iron Tusker and Hypnotic Rattlesnake?" The response had a tinge of guilt.

"Unfortunately, yes." The old man almost facepalmed.

Without delay, the sage was disclosed to the incidents that happened in the dungeon and he bobbed in understanding.

"Normally, the ethereal body of a person is as light as a feather but robust and rigid. After demise, a large portion of the soul immediately dissipates, leaving behind a tiny fraction of the entirety. This fragment is what we address as a ghost or apparition.

When it comes to the beasts, the tiny wisp that is left behind instantly seek refuge inside the core. Therefore, no malicious intangible entities lurk in the forests. Plus, the higher the grade of the beast is, the more powerful will be the spiritual remnant.

To summarise, you have successfully consumed so many beast cores within a month that your previously soulless body is now brimming with fragments of countless consciousness."

Don't know how, but Adam felt a baleful premonition from the sage's words.

"That means?" His words had a tinge of apprehension.

"These individual spirits retain a sliver of their entire behaviour. Ferocity, stubbornness, arrogance, territorial dominance, predatory instincts... you name it, they have it.

When left to survive on their own without disturbance, these wisps are as delicate as a spider's web. But when you consumed a myriad of crystals, your body became a battlefield. The spiritual density inside you already exceeds what a mortal body can contain.

Thus, whenever you consume a new crystal, the pressure from constant conflict disintegrates the soul and the mana in the consumed beast core. The overloaded population of consciousnesses is invisible and indiscernible chaos."

"Is there no way to remove these wisps?" The young man's voice exclaimed his desire to get rid of the burden.

Even the sage had to admit that he's helpless in this context.

"Unless a soul possesses a vessel forcefully, it can dwell in the body without any repercussion. Since the act of consuming the beast cores was voluntary, there is no way to remove them. They have already assimilated to your being."

The words faded away and the atmosphere fell silent. Both the old and young sat there silent. Little Bu, who was listening to the entire conversation, couldn't help but raise its head and stare at the earthling.

"Actually, the soul overload isn't much of a problem. The wisps will remain in a stalemate unless you intentionally disrupt the equilibrium with beast cores. Plus, your body is their home. No matter how violent the conflict becomes, your body will be unaffected by the battle.

But what you need to be mindful of is the magic restriction."

The sage consoled Adam and instructed him not to intake any beast cores recklessly. He also advised visiting the Alchemist Guilds in the empires and enlightened how they extract mana from beast cores and mana stones to produce potions.

Returning to the main topic, the sage began to explain. "Magic is an extraordinarily obscure existence. It is so mystifying that no more than five people are aware that it has a consciousness."

Detecting the flabbergasted look on Adam's face after being exposed to an apex mystery, the old man continued. "The ego of magic doesn't discriminate. It allows anyone in this world to make use of mana. Even a transmigrated person such as you should be able to execute spells and glyphs without a hitch, but an unidentified reason is restraining your efforts."

Rubbing his chin, the sage asked, "Can you prick your skin and see whether the Auto-Healing still functions?"

Hearing the request, Adam retracted the armour and created an incision on his skin.

Sigh~

The old man heaved a sigh after noticing the wound healing up automatically. The sight seems to affirm the hypothesis in his head.

"For some unidentified reasons, your ability to cast magic is slowly declining while the mana inside your body is functioning flawlessly. I have only read about this phenomenon in the records left by my predecessors.

When the third sage Aria Dominus attempted to create golems that can independently cast spells, she discovered that soul is a crucial component in casting a spell. Thus, she ended up designing golems with pre-inscribed magical formations on them. They were powered by mana stones.

But in the process, she discovered that the necessity of a soul is only mandatory for casting spells. Her golems executed physical augmentation under her guidance.

Your circumstances resemble her experimentation. But I wonder why the inability is only taking effect after a while."

After declaring that Adam is not in any kind of trouble, Trevor Adam Jonathan expressed that this is probably a temporary setback. Additionally, he addressed this problem as a boon to his identity as a berserker.

It would be awkward if a pure brute fighter could effortlessly cast magic without incantations.

"So... all you have to do is to refrain from using magic. Abandon any attempts to learn or exercise spells or glyphs. It is unknown what might happen if you ignore the warnings of the ego of magic."

The earthling felt a weight vanishing from his heart after comprehending that the two issues he found unsurpassable, were actually minor glitches that had a hideous exterior.

"Thank you." Adam felt a storm of gratitude brewing inside him. Somehow, the few hours he spent talking with the sage seems greatly important.

Watching the young man's gratefulness, Trevor waved his hand nonchalantly. "It's okay. I never expected anything in return in the first place. Besides, I feel refreshed after churning my brain after a long time." The sage spoke with a gentle smile.

After a second, he asked as if he remembered something.

"Didn't you say that the potion stock has depleted?"

"No, that..." The earthling panicked and waved his hand indicating that it's nothing worrisome.

The time he spent with the sage alleviating his doubts and concerns actually are more than enough to compensate for his mission that was yet to start. After getting a gist of the sage's behaviour, he could tell that the old man has a large arsenal of artefacts and consumables ready to give away.

But it's just that the sage had an unusually picky side.

Before the earthling could finish his words, the sage had already snapped his fingers. At once, the surface of the table glowed for a second before reverting.

[This old man is filthy rich!]

Endevil's exclamation shook Adam from his trance as he got captivated by the sight of a heap of consumables lying on the table.

'All these are potions?'

[Yup. And most of them are almost Pure-tier.]

The earthling felt the entire world twisting and turning around him.

'Pure-tier?'

While travelling through the barren lands of the Stygian Realm with Aaron and Thalia, he has continuously conversed with Endevil and leant a lot from his memories.

According to the Deity Of Doom, the consumables like potions and food only have a negligible chance to reach the Pure-tier stage. Due to the delicate characteristics of the consumables, most alchemists and chefs emphasize success than quality.

"This small bundle of potions have been collecting dust in my storage for over several decades. They are old, but I assure you of the quality."

The old man had a rather misfitting expression on his face.

What the heck? You just threw a mound of potions casually and you still have the guts to exhibit dissatisfaction about the quantity??

Adam's face clouded up after witnessing the sage's unacceptable demeanour. But he effortlessly shook off his thoughts and concealed his demeanour.

"To be honest, I cannot take these."

With a stern face, the earthling conveyed his decision. Hearing the rejection, the old man's face dulled.

"Ah, don't take it the wrong way. These potions are too valuable for me to take. If they were anything of Low-tier or Medium-tier, I would have accepted them without a word."

Adam explained his part earnestly.

The sage raised his brows in understanding before skimming across the mound of potions. Most of them were High-tier and a few among them were pseudo-Pure-tier.

Dammit! I shouldn't have thrown away those lesser tier potions and artefacts.

Finding that his gifts don't satisfy the requirements Adam sought, the old man reluctantly stored the heap of potions away. Then he pulled out a stone and tossed it to the young man.

"That stone is a communication token. After imbuing mana into it, you can activate the stone at any time to communicate with me. Thus you wouldn't have to travel all the way here to converse.

This is the least I could do to assist you in your voyage."