"O heart concealed, yet fierce and bold,
I summon thee, by secrets old.
By shadowed light and breath of star,
Attend thy name from realms afar.
Where rivers run in secret veins,
Unlock thy streams, unbind thy chains.
Awake, thou flame within the deep,
And stir from long-forgotten sleep.
By mortal coil and spirit's grace,
Bind flesh to magic's pure embrace.
Unveil the knowledge, by ancient creed,
That in thy breast, the power doth feed.
Ye winds of eld, ye whispers pale,
Upon this heart let mana sail.
By pulse of earth, by blood of sky,
Draw forth the power, nigh and nigh.
With boundless force and nature's will,
Fill this vessel, quiet and still.
Rise, mystic flow, on hidden tide,
Within this heart, forever bide.
Thus do I speak, thus I ordain,
This sacred bond, by heart and vein." I chanted in Latin, keeping my left hand on my main heart.
The candles in front of me shook for a while before starting to float in the air; the fire from the candles shot at the centre of the circle as they started spinning around, creating a circle of fire. The intense heat that it created was already tough for me to be around with the weak body of a five-year-old.
The tiger eye, amber stone, lapis lazuli, moonstone, and amazonite started to float as well until it met the circle of fire and melted in its heat, turning the circle of fire pure white.
At last, the drop of blood rises from the ground, going through the white circle of fire and turning into pure white.
"Wally, don't let me lose consciousness," I ordered before the drop of blood flew towards my heart phasing through my hand and entering my body.
"Understood," Wally answered, walking up to me with two of his legs emitting electric currents on them.
This was a unique chant made in Shakespeare's language that could grant the user the ability to silently cast his or her spell. However, it was forbidden by the wizards and witches of this era because of its low success rate. If you fall unconscious during the process, your heart will be unfit for mana usage for the rest of your life, and you will lose all chances to become a mage.
Although this was a quick decision, if I want to do something, I better do it right. It doesn't matter if I can't become a mage; what matters is that I become a good one. I know that I am not talented enough to silently cast spells like the other geniuses of the Magic Tower or the Tempest family. To compete with their level of talent, I have to resort to this kind of method.
The moment that the drop of blood entered my heart, a heart-wrenching pain took over my vessel; at first, it only affected my heart, but gradually, it spread across my whole vessel, targeting every vital organ and blood vessel.
'The pain will make you lose the ability to use any part of your body, including your sensory organs.' is the description I began with for this method.
The good thing was nobody could hear me scream as I wouldn't make any sound even if I tried to.
Some would argue about how that is a good thing as no one will be there to help me. To answer that, I don't need anyone's help except Wally's. As long as he keeps me conscious by shocking me repeatedly on my spine, I will fare well through this.
At first, I lost the sense of touch. Although I could see and hear everything around me, I couldn't experience how they felt any more.
The next was the sense of sight, which made me feel lost, there was nothing I could see or feel. However, it wasn't even the worst part, as I could hear things around me; it made me cling to the hope of achieving what I had yearned for.
But that hope didn't last for long as I lost my sense of hearing as well, I never thought that not being able to hear my own words would make me feel so... lost.
It was as if I was left stranded in a vast ocean with nothing around me, no life forms, no air, absolutely... nothing.
Should I just give up? I thought it was getting harder for me to breathe, and gradually I lost my sense of smell as well as any connection to my brain.
I wanted to scream, not realising that I had lost my voice as well, and gradually, I lost my sense of taste.
Bzzt
All of a sudden every sense I lost came back in an instant.
Huff... Huff...
I had regained my senses, I didn't think about it before but now I know how valuable a sense of a human can be to them. However, the process wasn't over yet.
Wizards and witches can decide to enhance a part of their body by using this incantation, and for someone like me who has learnt about the Science of Deduction, it would be best to enhance my brain.
Enhancing my mind can also help me instantly open my mental plane and... maybe I will find the remnant soul of the original Ray there.
I thought about moving the mana in my heart up to my brain and guiding it through the blood vessels as safely as I could with the help of Wally's electric shocks that were directed at my blood vessels, which showed me a clear pathway from the heart to the brain.
Bzzt
As soon as the mana entered my brain, Wally stopped sending his electric currents into my body.
The process was finally over, and I was released from the pain in my body completely.
"I am never doing that again," I exclaimed, panting heavily; my whole body was drenched in sweat; it was as if my whole vessel had just been put in an oven for thirty seconds. "Those thirty seconds felt like thirty years... My emotions took over me for a second there, phew..."
"Was it worse than dying?" Ryuk asked, examining my vessel with his left eye.
"My death was near instant, so yes, it was much worse than my death. No wonder even talented people don't use this method, I almost gave up halfway," I sighed, looking at my hands that emitted a strange white glow.
"It is a normal reaction that you would expect from any ordinary person, I wouldn't have blamed you if you did give up. You were an ordinary child five years ago, it's already surprising that you can go through so much growth in five years. Failure is also one of the factors of humans, you will have to learn about it someday," Ryuk stated, hopping off of my shoulder. "However, it's good that you didn't fail this time, sometimes failures have some extreme consequences. That aside, your mana colour is unique."
"Yes, white mana is a new one, white usually represents the purity that hasn't taken any path or specific attributes yet," I said, remembering the things I wrote about this world. "But there is a chance that it represents the unexplored realm."
"You mean... It has something to do with wisdom? That is an interesting concept; you should try to research that," Ryuk stated, thinking about the topic.
"I will do that after I settle a score with someone, time to find out why he did that," I spoke, clenching my fists.
It was clear that my emotions were taking over me, I needed to control it somehow by entering my mental plane and suppressing my second heart with the energy I received from Ryuk.
"However, I will give him a chance to explain, from my knowledge of humans, he didn't feel like he was trying to hurt me, was he trying to show me something? I need to know," I exclaimed, calming myself down before my emotions got the better of me.
"..."
I fixed my posture and sat in a lotus position once again before closing my eyes. Gradually my mind calmed down as I detached my consciousness from all the distractions in my mind.
I gathered the mana once again in my heart and guided it towards my brain, only this time to enter my mental plane.
***
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Ray Allen's Mental Plane
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Every inner world was based on the perspectives of the said wizard or witch. For some, it could be a boundless ocean, a serene forest, or an endless sky.
In my case, it was a library with no visible end. The walls and floors were made of polished marble and the air was filled with a faint, white glow that made the space warm, illuminating the entire place.
I had landed in the middle of the grand library which means the original Ray Allen would have also entered this place.
"Seeking wisdom for fourteen years, without any proper guidance while the rest grow under the wings of their elders. You who should have grown under proper care with love and affection, lived your life without it. I could only wonder how lonely it is," a voice rang in my ears as I looked up at one of the bookshelves, finding someone who looked like an exact copy of me, sitting on one of the bookshelves. "Hello Ray, it's a pleasure to meet you once again."
"Why did you try to take over my body?" I asked coldly, it seemed as if I could perfectly control my emotions in this place.
"I know you are impatient and probably want an explanation but can you stop looking at me with those scary abyss-like eyes, it makes me uncomfortable, looking directly at them," Ray asked politely, there wasn't even a hint of disturbance in his expression, it was clear that he was trying to annoy me. However, I didn't have any reason not to comply with his request.
"Better?" I asked, softening my expression towards him.
"Thank you. You can't imagine how good it is to engage in a conversation with you; all those humans other than my family members used to get on my nerves every time I talked with them. Anyways, the reason I tried to act as if I was going to take over your vessel was to teach you about the cruelty of humans," Ray explained, jumping down from the bookshelf and walking towards me, he took off his hat and held it against his chest.
"The cruelty of humans?" I asked curiously, patiently awaiting his explanation.
"It took me five years to understand the cruelty of humans after I had died, do you know why humans always survive, no matter what kind of challenges come at them? It isn't because humans are the strongest or the smartest; it's because we can be one of the cruellest creatures in existence if we want to be. Our desire for power causes us to cast aside our empathy and detaches us from the lawful morals that were supposed to bind us down. To go through this, we often create our own self-justification to tell ourselves that our actions are justified as long as we don't see any wrong in them. I tried to take over your body to let you experience the feeling of betrayal even after what you had done for me because I knew how to use the essence of betrayal to my advantage," Ray explained, closing his eyes. "Such fascinating creatures we humans are, don't you agree Ray? You may think of it as a crude method, but I had to make you understand what betrayal felt like, and that was the best moment to do it."
"... So this is what you wished to show me?" I asked, looking at him. His words didn't feel like a lie, I could feel that he was telling the truth. "I am thankful; although your methods were crude, they did give me a lot of insight into humans. However, that still doesn't mean that I need to let you share my vessel."
"It doesn't, but you do need me if you truly want to have emotions. You and I, both know that although you were born as a human in your previous life, you weren't a proper human. You lacked the main factor that makes us who we are; emotions. However, when I was in your vessel, you were able to experience everything that a human could," Ray explained, spreading his arms.
"Emotions are also an weakness, humans who are too emotional are easily bound by rules, while this statement isn't true for everyone, I wouldn't expect an Allen to not follow the rules of human," I replied, closing my eyes. "Although it was a good experience, I am better off not having something whose cons outweigh its pros."
"If that is your only concern then I don't think you have anything to worry, although I may appear kind on the outside, I don't need an unnecessary emotion like that. I can teach you about it but I will also make sure that it won't weigh you down. After my death, I have realised that there is no reason to be kind in general, I would never show kindness to anyone unless the situation calls for it," Ray smirked, extending his right hand towards me for a shake. "So, what do you think? Will you accept my offer?"
"75:25, you will have control over twenty-five percent of my judgements and I will have the other seventy-five; that's how much I am willing to offer," I answered, receiving his hand. "We will make a every decision in our mental plane no matter how vital it is before acting."
"I am honoured to be by your side," Ray replied in a pleased tone.
"The honour is mine, believe me, it would be a crime to refuse the offer like this, that is coming from someone who is equally as intelligent as me," I stated.