Chapter 145 - Part of a Whole

Nova’s ears perked up the moment he heard the old archmage mention his research. If his older self were right, it could help explain many of the things he had been wondering ever since his second life began.

Why could he reincarnate? Why was he special among all the souls in existence?

"...I'm all ears, archmage. Since you mentioned yourself being only a fragment of a soul, I figured you had made sure of that somehow." Nova's voice carried barely contained excitement.

"Exactly so." The old man leaned forward in his chair, his eyes lighting up with the fervor of a researcher sharing his life's work. "There are only a few differences between regular souls, as far as I've discovered in this realm. They all appear perfectly round, like polished spheres, while some parts within reveal distinct characteristics and individual personalities."

"And yours is not round, I take it?" Nova found himself mirroring the archmage's posture, leaning in with anticipation.

"Not at all. A small piece of a whole, as far as I can tell." The old man gestured with his hands, forming a curved shape to illustrate his point. "But there's also a different characteristic that separates me from others. A golden hue near the core, containing a perfectly white energy of sorts."

“...And you think that’s the part that lets us reincarnate?”

“It’s only a theory, of course. But it’s something I have only seen in my own soul so far. So, I'm very interested in seeing yours—and yours as well, Annelie. Since you can also reincarnate, it would give us another clue to confirm or disprove my hypothesis."

Anny nodded, seeming almost as eager to learn about her soul as the two Novas were. “I’ll help.”

"Me too!" Millie chimed in with infectious enthusiasm, bouncing slightly on the couch. "I don't reincate, but I am golden!"

Nova chuckled warmly at her mispronunciation and patted her head again with gentle affection. "Sure, we can use you as a baseline. Oh!" 

His expression suddenly grew more serious as he remembered their pressing circumstances. "By the way, the reason we're down this deep in the dungeon is that Millie was recognized by the system and sent directly to this floor. Do you have any idea what could have caused that?"

“Recognized?” The old archmage's eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Well, the system should be quite flawless, and the guy running this place would correct any mistake of that level.”

He studied Millie with new intensity, as if seeing her for the first time. "So, is there any chance she could have been here before?"

“I’ve been by her side since I was born, so unless she was here as a newborn baby, no.”

"That is strange…" The old man stroked his beard thoughtfully as the furrows in his brow deepened with concern. "Then, you don't have a plan for getting out of here?"

"Only ideas so far. But, with your help…" Nova let the sentence hang hopefully between them.

“I will do everything in my power. But only a single party can challenge the dungeon king at a time.”

"Is there any chance you would count as a member of our party since we're the same person? And part of the same soul?" Nova leaned forward eagerly, grasping at this potential loophole.

“...Perhaps? Is that why I could never challenge him?” The older Nova looked deep in thought, talking more to himself than to his guests. “Well, let’s deal with that later. You’re not in any particular hurry, are you?”

“Not so much that we can’t spare a week or two, I think. But the sooner we get out, the better.”

“...I’d like to ask what kind of business has forced you to grow this strong at four years of age, but it might be better to leave that for now. So!”

Archmage Nova clapped his hands together with a sharp sound that echoed through the room. Suddenly, the world shifted around them in a blur of motion and light, and they were all standing in a completely different space. 

“Ooh, teletorting!” Millie yelled, not bothered at all by the sudden change in environment.

The new room was windowless and much larger, filled with all kinds of magical formations that pulsed with contained energy. Tables lined the walls, covered with notes written in cramped handwriting and magical ingredients stored in carefully labeled containers.

“This place will be easier to use for this, since I’ve equipped it with powerful defensive formations.”

Nova's eyes swept across the room, cataloging the various protections in place. “Yeah, an absolute momentum limit, an energy diffuser, a limitless barrier, and three different multibarriers for all other kinds of accidental energy leakage… This soul business is dangerous?”

“Oh, no, those are for spatial experiments to leave this place. This system is quite stubborn.”

Nova's expression fell slightly as he processed this information. "That tells me we're one option shorter on our list of plans to get out of here…"

"Oh, I'll figure it out eventually." The archmage waved his hand dismissively. The confidence seemed forced despite his casual gesture. "Young Nova, we'll do you first. Stand over there, please." He pointed to a clear section of the floor marked with intricate runic circles.

Nova walked over to a formation on the ground, recognizing only half of the functions within the intricate patterns. "The stasis formation isn't because this hurts a lot, is it?"

"No, just a precaution to prevent the subject from moving too much. It's a delicate procedure." The archmage's voice held the calm of someone who had performed this examination many times. "Are you ready?"

“Sure, hit me.”

The formations swirled to life under his feet like awakening serpents of light, slowly rising from the floor to surround him completely from every side. Bands of magical energy wrapped around his body in gentle spirals. Nova could feel his heartbeat slowing as the stasis took effect, locking his body in place with incredible force that would have been impossible to resist even at his current strength.

‘These are needed for the powerhouses living around here, I suppose. Now, what will this reveal?’

"Oh!" The archmage yelled in surprise as Nova felt a strange tug at his very core, like invisible fingers probing the deepest part of his being. "Your soul… It's much larger than mine, but it's not even half the size I expected. I can see the same golden light near your core, far bigger than mine. And I see… four smaller pieces that have merged together with yours?"

“Those would be his fragments,” Anny added from the side, watching the examination unfold with interest. "He has absorbed four of them so far."

“Hmm… Well, there’s not much else of note. Only…” Old Nova’s brows furrowed as his eyes closed in concentration. “There’s a small piece of a different soul there. Any idea what that could be?”

Nova was unable to answer due to the stasis formation, but he had no theories anyway. He had absorbed several hundred souls so far in this life, so it would be strange for only one of them to have left a mark behind.

"He doesn't know," Anny replied for him, somehow sensing his answer through their connection. "And neither do I."

"Hmm, maybe something I still don't understand, then. At least it doesn't seem harmful." The formation powered down with a gentle hum as the old archmage opened his eyes again.

Nova stepped out of the formation circle and brushed off his clothes, still feeling sluggish after the stasis formation. “She’s right, I have no theories. But what could it mean that my soul is still only a fragment lesser than a half?”

"Well… Since we are fragments, maybe there's another version of ourselves out there somewhere? We still don't know our true origins." The old man stroked his beard thoughtfully as he considered the implications. "But, if you were to absorb four more pieces like those lesser ones, you would be very close to one half."

Nova's expression grew troubled as he worked through the mathematics. "...That would mean absorbing you as well, though."

"That can only be a good thing. I am only a lesser part of the whole, after all." The archmage's tone was matter-of-fact, as if discussing something as mundane as the weather.

"You would die." Nova's voice carried a weight of finality that made the room feel heavier.

"You of all people should know how used I am to dying by now. Besides, my memories might remain and help you in whatever mission you're on now."

"That could be…" Nova paused, clearly uncomfortable with the casual discussion of his older self's demise. "But either way, it will be a good while before I can get your soul fragment. It's one for every new digit in my Soul Power. I would need to reach a hundred million first."

"Oh, that's comforting. How long has it been since you first awakened your soul?" The archmage leaned forward with narrowed eyes.

"...About three months?" Nova's answer came out almost sheepishly. He had grown outrageously fast in this life compared to his previous ones.

The old man laughed heartily, the sound echoing through the windowless laboratory. "So at this rate, I will have another month left in me! Good to know!"

Nova shook his head. “Growing from here on will be harder than before. We’re only in this dungeon because we needed power.”

"In this world? Growing in power is as easy as, well, harvesting a few bad apples." The old man glanced over at Millie before changing the last part of the sentence, clearly censoring himself for the child's benefit.

“Well, going forward, kings and country leaders will have to step in if we want to fight anyone on our level. We can’t just hunt bad apples when the consequences are that great.”

"I trust you to know when to trim the trees and when not to. Regardless, I won't be able to help much after you leave this place." The archmage's confidence in his younger self was evident despite the grim topic.

"I'm glad you're so confident." Nova's tone carried a hint of skepticism.

"Well, the dungeon king is a reasonable guy, for the most part. Since he was forced to take Millie down here, he knows it's an unfair situation."

“...I’ll believe it when I see it.”

The system hadn’t exactly been kind to Nova so far, and even if it had, the things it allowed to happen were so against everything he stood for that he would never trust it to make things easy for him.

"Annelie, would you go next? I'm curious to see what we might reveal." The archmage turned his attention to Anny with scholarly excitement returning to his features.

Ch.144 --I-- Index --I-- Ch.146