Chapter 53: Peering into the Soul
Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Peering into the Soul
"Your soul has been injured?"
Andre’s eyes widened as he stared at Selena in astonishment.
"Yes. When I was a child, I was traveling to other worlds with my family’s elders when one of our enemies took the opportunity to curse me. Although I received treatment promptly, I was too young. Even with the treatment, a wound remained."
Selena recounted her past, but her face betrayed no sadness.
"What a vicious method!" Andre gasped.
’To curse a newborn, turning a potential genius into a fool... The hatred between their families must run incredibly deep.’
’This wasn’t just an attempt to kill someone; it was an attempt to uproot an entire family’s foundation.’
"Is the feud between your family and this person really that deep?"
Andre’s brow furrowed. Selena’s ancestor was Vice Dean Krell, and behind him stood the behemoth that was the White Sea Wizard Academy.
For someone to dare to attack Selena, it meant they likely had an equally massive power, just like the White Sea Wizard Academy, backing them.
If a fierce battle were to break out between two such behemoths, an entire World Group could be shattered.
"His methods are very bizarre. My ancestor tried to capture him once, but he always managed to slip away."
"As for the feud, it started when he desecrated one of our ancestral tombs. Later, he even planned to extract the Bloodline of our entire clan to further his own power."
"But for all his scheming, he never expected that our family still had two living Morning Star Great Wizards. They interrupted his Witchcraft, counterattacked, and severely wounded him."
"He survived, but he’ll never be able to advance another step in his entire life."
As Selena spoke of her family’s past, her beautiful face flushed with anger.
’A common thief who not only stole her ancestor’s remains and plundered the burial goods, but also planned to use a deplorably sinister form of Witchcraft to extract her entire clan’s Bloodline for his own growth. Thankfully, the two eldest ancestors in her family were still alive. They joined forces to counterattack, inflicting an incurable wound upon him.’
’But as long as that man lives, he remains a threat to the family’s younger generation.’
"Don’t move. Let me take a look!" Andre said, looking at the furious Selena as he activated his Eye of Truth.
"What are you doing?" Selena suddenly felt a searing gaze fall upon her.
"My Talent Witchcraft is the Eye of Truth. I want to see if I can see your Soul!"
Andre held up a hand, motioning for Selena not to be nervous, and pointed to his own eyes.
Selena froze when she heard this. Then, she took a ring off her finger.
"You’re only allowed to look at my Soul. Nowhere else."
As she spoke, two faint blushes appeared on her cheeks.
"I’m the Vice Dean’s disciple. In terms of seniority, you should be calling me your senior!"
Andre threw his hands up, speechless.
’If I didn’t want to test the limits of the Eye of Truth and see if it could really perceive a Soul, I wouldn’t be doing something so easily misunderstood.’
"You!" Selena opened her mouth to retort, but ultimately closed it again.
Because what Andre said was correct. Vice Dean Krell was her ancestor, and Andre was now the Vice Dean’s disciple.
Even though they were about the same age, Andre was indeed her senior in terms of seniority.
"Hold still. I think I see something."
Just as Selena was puffing out her cheeks in a huff, Andre spotted a wisp of gray.
"You can see it? You can really see it?"
At his words, Selena’s anger instantly vanished, replaced by a look of delighted surprise.
"I see a shadowy mass. Above it, corresponding to a spot inside your cranium, there’s a white scar. If I’m not mistaken, that shadow is your Soul, and the white scar is the injury!"
Andre closed his eyes, took a vial of Potion from his Storage Ring, then opened them again. He applied a few drops to his eyes, and as the Potion took effect, the burning sensation in them was replaced by a cool relief.
"You really saw it!" Selena stared at Andre as if he were some kind of monster.
For all these years, no one besides a few of her family elders had ever been able to see the injury to her Soul.
But now, Andre—someone her own age—could actually see the wound on her Soul. This caused an idea she had long since buried to resurface in her mind.
"Yes, a little. If the trace of the healing attempt didn’t stand out so much from your Soul, it would have been very difficult to see."
Andre nodded and applied two more drops of the Potion to his eyes. He had pushed himself too hard just now, going past his limits, which was why his eyes were aching.
"If you can see it... does that mean you can help me heal it?"
Selena asked tentatively. Her question left Andre momentarily speechless. It was a long moment before he finally spoke again.
"I can only see it because of the unique nature of my Talent Witchcraft. That doesn’t mean I can heal it."
"Even if I could concoct a Potion to heal the Soul, it wouldn’t work on you. You’ve already tried that."
After Andre spoke, a flicker of disappointment crossed Selena’s eyes.
’That’s right,’ she thought. ’She’d already tried all the ordinary treatments. With her family backed by the great tree that was the White Sea Wizard Academy, they had even enlisted the help of the academy’s Soul Element Wizards.’
’But no matter the treatment, the conclusion was always the same: they could only heal part of the injury. The rest would have to heal on its own over time, or she would have to find more powerful Magic Plants or a more capable Wizard.’
"Have you considered a Bloodline transplant? I recall there are several types of Magical Beasts whose Talents are related to the Soul."
Andre asked, seeing the dejected look on Selena’s face.
"You mean Magical Beasts like the Dream-eating Mopan or the Nightmare Beast? They’re incredibly rare. My family has had a standing offer to buy one for a long time, but we haven’t heard a single thing."
Selena looked at Andre and shook her head. ’If even he could think of that solution, how could her family’s elders not have considered it?’
’According to the Soul Study Wizards who examined her, healing the injury on her Soul required a top-tier Soul-type Magical Beast.’
’Among all Magical Beasts, Soul-type ones are second in rarity only to those of the Destiny Element. They are exceedingly scarce, and their prices are astronomical.’
’Even with her family offering a fortune, there has been no news. The reason was simple: they were just too rare.’
’Anyone who managed to capture a Soul-type Magical Beast would be loath to sell it. They would typically bind it with a Master-Servant Contract, taking it as a familiar to protect their own Soul.’
’Under these circumstances, buying a Soul-type Magical Beast was virtually impossible. The only other option was to capture one personally, but given their unique nature, the difficulty of doing so was immense.’