"Sorry to hear that. Can you tell me more about the mental defense?"
"Sure thing, kid. Listen, all Mental Magic users experience magic differently from others. While fire or any other affinities involve changing the world around them, the mental affinity introduces something else. We call it the Lockheart."
"Essentially, it's a person's Mana Domain inside their head. You know how a Mana Domain works, right? It's like that, except it's not manifested, merely hidden in each person's subconscious. And when a Mental Magic user tries to access a person's mind…"
"It attacks." Dignitas finished the sentence.
"Correct. You're smarter than you look, kid. A Lockheart is the term used to a the subconscious psyche defense every person has, and is what every Mentalist has to shatter before they can initiate any form of spell on them."
While it sounded painful and might cause harm to the person, it really wasn't. Dignitas could recall clearly when he first "talked" with Curie, back at the restaurant. She offered her hand as a way to initiate her Mind Link, when in fact she was doing her best to break through Dignitas' Lockheart.
A person, even when fully awake, would not feel anything inside them change when their Lockheart was broken. A Mentalist merely aims to leave their mark on them, allowing free liberty to use spells for or against them.
"Coincidentally, or maybe not, this kid here," Bigsby pointed to the sleeping Makarov. "Has multiple traces of Devil Ashra reinforcing his Lockheart. Even when I tried to focus my power on one spot, it reacted accordingly, pouring its defenses exactly where I wanted to pierce through."
"You won't find a better Mentalist inside the Academy District than me, kid. You'll have to find a way to remove the demon's hold on his Lockheart without killing him in the process."
"So what you're saying is… there's some sort of mechanism implanted in his Lockheart that will kill him if we try to tamper with it." Dignitas summarized it.
"Correct. Know of a way to do that?"
"I might just. Look at you, asking a D rank for help. Is this what the elders have come to these days? Relying on the youngsters, heh." Dignitas couldn't resist an opportunity to take a jab at Bigsby.
"Shut it, kid! If I was just a little younger, I would be able to break through his Lockheart without breaking a sweat!"
"I know, I know. Anyway, I think I have an idea as to how we can remove the demon's influence, while also identifying which demon it is. I'll text you the details when I've gotten it."
Leaving Bigsby to himself in the hopes an unforeseen breakthrough would happen, Dignitas exited the shop, planning on looking for a certain protagonist.
After texting John and receiving an affirmative answer, he made his way to his dorm room.
Pushing the door open, he made his way inside.
'Thinking about it now, this is the first time I've seen his room.'
Aside from the brief passages of explanation he wrote about his room, Dignitas didn't have much to go off other than his own imagination.
"I feel like I'll get split in half just from the sight of it."
John had a prominent trait that sprouted often. He had an excessive love for swords and all kinds of blades. Over the many years he had been fighting, he had clashed with practically every single kind of weapon, but the sword still remained as his preferred weapon.
It clearly showed in his dorm room, too. Like Dignitas, he was an honor student, so that naturally netted him a larger personal quarters than the main school body.
John's room was basically a cross between a dojo and an armoury. Everywhere, in every room, there were swords of all manner displayed, from simple broadswords to even the most complex ones, like chain-swords and thread-swords.
Still, the room itself maintained a neat atmosphere, with the overall ambiance managing to stay relatively soothing.
John had included in his reply that he was currently training in his Personal Training Hall, so Dignitas didn't keep him waiting.
Clang! The sound of weapons clashing echoed even outside. Pushing the door open, the figure of the protagonist soon came into view. He was currently engaged in a deadly duel with a holographic copy of Sylvester Leaflet, a well-known Wood Elf second year. Wood Elves were typically called Terralites, as opposed to the Moon Elves' Lunalites.
Instead of interrupting John, he sat down on the warm floor and watched. The chosen environment was probably some sort of forest in Fantasia, the elven home planet.
Ftwoop! An arrow from Sylvester's bow flew past John as he redirected it with the tip of his sword. Using his Blinking ability, he flickered forward twice, closing the distance instantly.
Sylvester was a C+ rank. Even when compared to the rest of his peers, he was above them in terms of spatial awareness and dexterity. This showed in his battle style; every single time his bow was drawn, three arrows were shot.
He had the reflexes to match his perception, as well. With a mere flip, he barely dodged out of the way of John's swing, retaliating with a quick draw of the dagger he stored to his side.
But Dignitas didn't call John broken for nothing. Almost as if he had anticipated the attack seconds before Sylvester threw it out, he lunged sideways, before ending the battle with a clean stab through the elf's chest.
The hologram soon disappeared into an infinite number of crystals, and John smiled as he wiped off the sweat.
Clap, clap, clap. Dignitas applauded as he approached John. The latter seemed to have only taken notice of him now.
"Good work. You look like you can take another one."
"No, I barely won! If he drew his dagger a moment earlier, I wouldn't have been able to dodge fast enough."
"Spare me the humility. I'm sure you could've won that with your eyes closed."
"You think of me too highly, haha." John scratched the back of his head. "I saw Lorelai today, by the way. Congratulations on the successful operation."
"No, that was all her. I'm glad her body accepted me– that sounds wrong."
"Oh, but you had a part in it too, didn't you? Without your eye, Lorelai would never have two again."
Dignitas didn't attribute the success of the surgery to his eye, nor the implant. He believed it was all thanks to Lorelai's hard work.
"Anyway, what did you want to talk about, Dignitas?"
"It has to do with one of your sword styles. I'm fairly certain you know of this, so I'd like to ask you to perform it for someone."
"Sorry?"
"It's the Severance Style."
***
Throughout John's two lives, he established a multitude of connections with famous warriors, mages, and assassins alike.
From Barion II, the first ruler who unified Midania hundreds of thousands of years ago, to the greatest mage known as Merlin, to even Amor, the Phantom Thief, John prospered under the tutelage of each one of them.
It just so happened that one of his teachers was Sonata Rurikawa, a famous swordsman from a country in the east, who also happened to be an exorcist. His field of exorcism, called Extermination, specialized in the total removal of demons and their traces.
One of the sword styles he taught him was the Severance Style, a phantasmic type of swordsmanship that commanded forces from the divines to purge all that was evil.
A key detail about every single exorcist was that they were always accompanied by a Spirit Handler, who really were just Mental Magic Users who would use their powers to peer into Lockhearts.
Once they did that, they would bring them out into reality and have the exorcists destroy them.
In short, a Mentalist would enter an affected person's Lockheart, create a hole, grant it physical form by bringing it into reality, and then let the exorcists purge anything that had to do with demons.
Currently, Dignitas and John were sitting across from each other. The latter had a confused expression on his face, equal parts perplexion and amazement.
"How do you know of the Severance Style?"
John wasn't sure if Sonata took in any other disciples, and he knew Dignitas never had the time to travel to the east, so he was curious as to how he knew of such a style.
"I have my ways."
"Does it have to do with the book you used a few days ago?"
This time, it was Dignitas' turn to be surprised. The thought of keeping the Log hidden hadn't crossed his mind during that time.
His head was only filled with his need to ascertain Lorelai's safety, and thanks to that he failed to conceal the existence of his most powerful weapon.
"Well, you got me." Dignitas raised his hands in defeat. He could still find a way to keep its true ability a secret.
That being, it recorded the story's progress in "somewhat" real-time, and how it could rewrite certain aspects of the plot.
"I've abstained from asking any questions because I was considerate of Lorelai's situation, but now that that's taken care of, I couldn't stop myself."
"What does the book do, anyway? Aside from being able to disenchant seals almost instantly."