It had been almost a month since Angor last saw Sunders. When he saw him again, Sunders was sitting on a chair near the window with his legs crossed, enjoying the sunlight.
Sunders' attire was neat and tidy. He wore a black suit, black trousers, black leather boots, white lace gloves, a short cane, and a short hat.
Angor frowned as he got closer to Sunders.
Sunders' hat was pulled down so low that only his straight nose and thin lips could be seen from afar. However, when he closed the door and walked to Sunders' side, he realized that something was wrong.
A black line passed through his eyes under the shadow of his hat and hung by his ear.
Angor had seen such a thing before, but it was usually a monocle, which was a standard item worn by many noble wizards. However, this black string was clearly made of cloth, which was different from the metallic monocle.
"Professor, I'm here," Angor spoke in a small voice.
Sunders didn't look up. He kept his hat down and allowed the sunlight to cast mottled spots on his body. "Sit down. I'm going to test your alchemy illusion. Since you're here, you can tell me what you learned during the process.
"Of course, I'm not talking about your alchemy skills. I'm talking about your state during the crafting process. I'm trying to find out how the final manifestation of the Mystery item is related to your state," said Sunders.
Angor hummed in response.
Sunders didn't start the experiment right away. He leaned against the back of his chair lazily. "You didn't come here just for an alchemy illusion, did you?"
Angor nodded. He wanted to ask about Sunders' condition, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He could only change the topic and say in a low voice, "Teacher, I've already mastered Narda's Eye in the past few days. I've also identified the diamond-shaped crystal that Spotty gave me."
Sunders paused and finally looked up at Angor with a puzzled expression.
Angor was about to tell Sunders the result, but when Sunders looked up and saw Angor's eyes under the shadow, Angor froze.
There was a hideous scar running down Sunders' forehead, through his right eye, and finally stopped at his cheekbone.
Sunders' entire right eye was covered by a black eyepatch. The black string Angor saw was the line of the eyepatch.
"Professor, your eye —"
Sunders took off his hat and put it on a table nearby. Angor could see the scar more clearly under the direct sunlight. Not only did it look hideous, but it was also filled with violent, chaotic energy.
Sunders touched the edge of the scar. "A small injury when I went to the Nightmare Realm."
Sunders' words were simple and calm, but Angor could already see a bloody storm behind the man's back.
As he spoke, a drop of blood slowly dripped down from the wound on his right eye.
"There's still some residual energy, so it's not healing time," Sunders explained.
Now Angor understood why Sunders did not show any signs of recovery even after a month in the real world. No wonder Sunders had been avoiding him for so long.
"Instructor, what exactly is the location of the mysterious pavilion? What did you find there? "Angor asked.
Sunders remained silent for a while before he spoke again, "Nothing."
"Nothing? Then, how did you get injured? "
"It's precisely because we didn't encounter anything that it was even more terrifying." Sunders chuckled bitterly. "It's not the outer area, but I don't know if it's close to the core area."
Before Angor could ask for more details, Sunders waved a hand. "We'll talk about it later. I already have the coordinates. Next time I see Irisa, I'll give her the wooden lock. Don't worry about the Crimson Crown. "
Angor knew he wouldn't get an answer even if Sunders didn't want to talk about it, so he nodded and stopped asking.
"Then, how are your injuries and eyes? How are they now?"
"It's healing, but it's slow. As for the eye … I've asked Flora to find out for me. I'm going to transplant an eye. " Sunders lowered his head and chuckled. He didn't plan to transplant the eye because the eye color was a symbol of his family. But now, he had no choice but to do the transplant.
"Enough about me. Let's talk about you. Narda's Vision isn't easy to learn. I didn't think you'd progress so fast. I heard a rumor that 'Mediocre' Muse, the strongest alchemist in Floating Mech City, took a month to learn Narda's Vision. Looks like you're not that far behind him. " Sunders put his hat back on and looked at Angor. "So, what did you find out about the crystal?"
However, Angor knew that he was still far from being a genius alchemist like Muse. In fact, he might not even be as good as Mithra. Without the help of the Axes of the Universe and the hologram tablet, he wouldn't have mastered Narda's Vision in such a short time.
Of course, he couldn't tell Sunders the details. He took out the crystal from his bracelet and answered, "There are many questions about this crystal, and I couldn't find them. However, based on the results obtained and my own speculation, I feel that Mentor's initial guess might be correct. "
Sunders narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I think it's a soul spell that can be inherited." Angor noticed Sunders' serious expression.
In an instant, something else happened. He could no longer hear the chirping of birds and insects outside, or the wind in the forest.
Sunders dragged him into the gravity garden.
"Anything you say in the outside world will be recorded by the strings of the world, the wheel of time, and other major forces. Be careful with what you say," said Sunders in a serious tone.
"Are you sure it's a soul spell that can be inherited?" Sunders took the crystal and carefully inspected it. He couldn't see anything inside, but he sensed some faint energy waves.
"Yes, I'm sure. Because this is the common denominator among all the results I found. " Angor considered before he continued, "But I came up with the conclusion based on what I saw in Sleepless City. Also, one of my results mentioned that it's a soul spell. "
Sunders knew that Angor killed Hookdick and that the puppy absorbed Hookdick's soul. Sunders believed Angor's theory.
"I'm pretty sure it's a soul spell. But don't touch it until you know what kind of spell it is." Sunders returned the crystal to Angor.
Sunders wasn't sure if the puppy was the one who absorbed Hookdick's soul, but the fact that it could be inherited already proved how powerful the puppy was.
Sunders rarely regretted his actions. But now, he regretted not taking the puppy away from Hookdick in Sleepless City.
Sunders considered. "Whether it's a soul spell or not, and what it is … I'll ask Ness."
Sunders was a man of action. He led Angor out of the gravity garden. "Come, let's go to Soul Valley to meet my old friend."
As he spoke, Sunders' face began to distort. His hideous wounds were quickly covered up by Nightmare Aura, and his face returned to its normal state.
On his way to the Valley of Souls, Angor took back the five falcons that represented the Mystery objects from Sunders.
He wanted to see what would happen if he used Narda's Vision to appraise an alchemy illusion that contained the manifestation of Mystery.
A moment later, he returned the ornament to Sunders with a thoughtful look on his face.
"What did you find?" Sunders leaned against the seat of the Gondola and looked at Angor.
Angor hesitated. "When I used Narda's Vision, I only saw one variable."
"So this variable is the manifestation of Mystery?" Sunders asked.
Angor nodded with a puzzled look. "That should be it. But the strange thing was that even though there was only one variable, the result of my appraisal was a failure. When I appraised the diamond-shaped crystal, there were many variables. In the end, there were several sets of results … It's too strange. "
"A single variable caused the whole test to go wrong?" Sunders considered. "A failed test doesn't mean it's more valuable than the crystal. A variable is an unknown. Perhaps the range of the unknown is larger than you think."
Angor understood what Sunders meant.
Suppose the variable was an unknown. There were many unknowns in the crystal, but each of them had a limited range. For example, "X" had a range of 0 to 5. But "Y", the manifestation of the Mystery manifestation, had a range of negative infinity to positive infinity.
Both variables were unknown. But the difference in the range would affect the success rate of the test.
According to this inference, it made sense. The manifestation of the Mystery was indeed an unknown variable.
"I wonder what other alchemists would find if they tried to identify an alchemy illusion with a Mystery manifestation?" Angor wondered if they would also fail.
Angor didn't think too much about it. They had arrived at Soul Valley.
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