Supreme Magus

Chapter 4413: Mental Projection (Part 1)

Bazek, the Choke rune, stirred the fear of lacking something vital for your survival and the feeling of death slowly creeping in as you failed to get it.

In Solus’ case, it was the desperate need for mana and life force necessary to repair her broken body. After Menadion’s death, she had spent centuries feeling her life slipping away from her as the tower slowly cannibalized itself to prolong her existence.

She had spent her days praying for her mother to return or one of her friends to look for her, but no one ever arrived. Those memories were distant in time and blurred by her amnesia, but after meeting Lith, her life had been far from peaceful.

Solus had experienced the same agony again when Nalear had taken her away from Lith and then when the World Tree had kidnapped and tortured her. Distant and recent past fused into an unrelenting nightmare that held her by the throat.

Even though Solus’ stone ring stuck to Lith’s skin, she couldn’t feel their connection anymore. Panic blinded her to all feelings but despair.

Until Lith had reinforced their telepathic connection, Bazek had thrown Solus’ mind back in her wooden prison, constantly reminding her that every second spent in there might be her last.

Switching her focus to the scattered element of Corruption, Malkor, only made Solus feel worse. It evoked the primordial fear of your body and mind failing you when you needed them the most.

Like when, during a high fever, you know you need to eat and drink to keep your illness from getting worse, but you can’t muster the strength to stand up. Solus knew that feeling best, and had a lifetime of memories about her body falling apart once she had been cut off from a source of nourishment.

Every time she had been seriously injured or had kept her human form for longer than her condition allowed her, cracks had covered her skin and her life force had abandoned her in the form of golden light.

It had happened against the Black Dragon Syrook and under the effects of the parasitic seeds that Maergron, the rightful heir of the Ears of Menadion, had infected her with.

Malkor forced her to relive those moments. To feel the body that she had worked so hard to restore crumble into dust and wonder in terror if she would ever regain it.

Trying to apply Void Magic to the Cursed Elements was akin to standing between spiked walls that slowly closed in on her. No matter where Solus looked, all she saw was her impending death.

’Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’ Lith wrapped her in a telepathic embrace, using his mind to shield her from the effects of Dread Magic.

’I thought I could do it until I couldn’t.’ She replied as she felt the pain tormenting her fade away. ’At that point, I couldn’t think anymore. I forgot where I was and that you were right by my side.’

Solus’ mind shivered like a puppy during a thunderstorm until Lith dispelled the Bazek rune and reality reasserted itself. The visions and nightmares disappeared like mist under the sun, allowing her to breathe again.

’Good gods, Epphy. What happened?’ He also let Menadion inside their Mindspace to reassure Solus.

’I...’ She didn’t know what to say, and threw herself in her mother’s arms, looking for comfort.

A quick mind link brought Menadion up to speed.

’I’m so sorry, Epphy. If it weren’t for my foolishness, you wouldn’t have gone through so much. This is all my fault.’ She said, hugging her daughter tight. ’You practicing Dread Magic, however, is on you.

’How could you do it despite knowing how dangerous it is?’

’I didn’t practice Dread Magic, Mom. I just followed Lith’s experiments through his senses.’ Solus replied. ’Until this moment, Dread Magic unsettled me, but that was it. I watched Lith practice for days, but I never experienced anything aside from the occasional goosebumps.’

’We’re lucky you experienced Dread Magic’s full effect from a safe distance.’ Menadion said. ’If you panicked while handling a Cursed Element, you’d have suffered much worse. This is still too much for you. Let’s get you out of here.’

’Thanks, Mom, but no.’ Solus shook her head. ’This is something I want to try. If I leave, I can’t help Lith with Void Magic, and I’m the only person on Mogar who knows it as well as he does.’

’You won’t be of any help to him if you have another panic attack, sweetie.’ Menadion said. ’You must challenge Dread Magic one rune at a time, like Yaga did. Void Magic requires two runes. You’re asking too much of yourself.’

’Your mother has a point, Solus.’ Lith said. ’I can use your help, but not if it means leaving you traumatized.’

’You too, Lith?’ Solus knew that she was right, but the rejection still hurt.

’Yes, I too care about you. Sue me.’ He replied, making her chuckle. ’If you are so determined to do this, however, there is one thing we can try. It might solve your problem or be just as scary, so think carefully before-’

’I want to do it.’ Solus nodded. ’What do you have in mind?’

’Don’t look at the Dread runes through my mind, but through my memories.’ Lith said. ’It should remove their aura of terror, or at least so I hope. Also, the delay between doing and memorizing is brief.

’If you have any idea, you can share it with me, and I can just start over.’

’Sounds like a plan.’ Solus replied. ’Mom, do me a favor. Don’t access Lith’s memories and focus on me. If I freeze again, I want you to take my stone ring and drag me away.’

’It will be my pleasure.’ Menadion said.

Solus peeked at Lith’s first memory of the Jerak rune and was happy to discover she could study Dread Magic without suffering any side effects.

After confirming that the other Cursed Elements were also safe when observed through a mental projection, Solus used a partial mind fusion to witness Lith’s experiments from the beginning and look for any detail he might have missed.

Much to his and her dismay, she found nothing and came to Lith’s same conclusions.

’You are right, this method is going nowhere.’ She said after triple-checking his memories and letting Lith finish his latest attempt at Void Magic. ’This is an apparently impossible conundrum.

’One element needs a spark of the other to start the process, but the reaction is so violent that there is no time to do anything, even with Domination.’

’Why, "apparently"?’ Menadion asked.

’Because of Lith’s vision in the Fringe, Mom.’ Solus replied. ’You’ve been in her Mindscape multiple times. Has Mogar ever lied to you?’

’No. Never.’ Menadion said. ’Lochra and I didn’t figure out all of her riddles, but there was always an answer.’

’This time is no different, Mom.’ Solus pondered the issue as she reviewed Lith’s memories of the encounter with his shadow-self over and over. ’Mogar showed Lith the ultimate form of Void Magic.

’The problem is that we don’t know how to assemble the various pieces of the puzzle to form the final picture.’