Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Discord
What is magic?
From the capitals of great families to remote places like Hisaril Hill where Turan had lived—anywhere in the world, the answer would likely be the same.
Magic is power originating from the bloodlines of the great Freya gods.
Yet this book directly contradicted that fact.
It claimed that what descended from the gods’ bloodlines was merely false magic, and that humans originally possessed a separate, true magic.
The expression “those so-called gods” was so profoundly blasphemous coming from people of this land who worshipped the Freya gods.
The content was so shocking that Turan momentarily forgot to breathe as he stared at the book.
Solif, who had been resting nearby, asked curiously:
“What’s wrong? Did you find something?”
“Just a moment.”
Taking a deep breath to replenish his lacking oxygen, Turan continued reading.
[Originally, magical power belonged to strange entities, and humans were not meant to wield it.
The true magical power that humans once wielded came from manipulating the soul.]
‘…The soul?’
Surely soul magic was the specialty of elves.
Was the author of this book suggesting that “humans” were actually elves?
Turan calmed his agitated mind and turned another page.
[For those who have not yet awakened, let me explain that soul-manipulating magic is completely different from the white elves’ spirit magic.
Spirit magic, like dark elves manipulating death spirits, extracts and controls living souls at will, but soul magic is the technique of awakening one’s true self, achieving spiritual awareness, and exerting influence on the spiritual world.]
Fortunately, the “humans” the author referred to were indeed the same as what Turan understood humans to be.
Realizing this, his heart began to race anew.
A technique for humans to manipulate souls—a domain that remained largely mysterious!
Just imagining the possibilities filled his mind with endless potential.
Most prominently, capturing a god’s soul when its vessel died, or perhaps using it alongside Ravitas’s Holy Relic to discover the secret of immortality…
‘No, that can’t be right.’
This book wasn’t hidden in some remote place but found in the Baraha family head’s study.
If it contained the secret to immortality, they would surely have used it long ago.
After all, they had more than enough time to practice such techniques.
[True magic holds limitless potential, but sadly, due to the wide gap between the spiritual world and reality, it cannot create many changes in the physical realm.
What use is conversing with the dead or foreseeing the future when facing those powerful magical beasts and other races?
Perhaps the most useful application was fighting while possessing animal bodies, making it natural for humans—who had been enslaved even before the emergence of the Freya gods—to gradually lose true magic…]
A technique to fight while possessing animal bodies.
Reading this, Turan felt as if lightning had struck his head.
‘Could it be?’
Until now, Turan and his companions had assumed that the Freya gods captured white elves and used their spirit magic to switch bodies.
This assumption stemmed from common knowledge and information obtained from Rida that only white elves’ spirit magic could interfere with souls.
But what if, instead, they were using this “true magic” to enter human bodies just as they would animal bodies?
Mastering this technique might bring him dozens of steps closer to understanding the gods’ secrets.
As he continued reading, Turan cleared his throat and called over the librarian, who had been idly passing time.
“Elder.”
“What is it?”
“Could you help me interpret this?”
While he could understand the introductory background, the text subsequently filled with unfamiliar terms like “true self” and “spiritual awareness” that made it difficult to comprehend.
The words were readable, but their meaning didn’t register properly.
Though Turan’s reading volume was considerable among young people his age, it paled in comparison to genuine scholars.
“This is why you should have studied more regularly.”
As the librarian grumbled while reading, Solif, curious about what was happening, approached.
“What is it? What did you find?”
“Something called true magic. Have you heard anything about this in your family?”
“True magic? Not at all.”
“Then let’s read it together. We might learn something.”
Turan had thought this might be knowledge widely spread throughout Baraha, but Solif’s ignorance suggested otherwise.
After all, Solif’s reading wasn’t particularly limited either.
At that moment, the librarian gestured to get Turan’s attention.
“Come here, I’ll explain from the beginning.”
“I’ll listen attentively.”
“First, the concept of the true self was proposed by Esol, a scholar from the Garva family about 1900 years ago. It began with the question of whether the self is defined by the physical body or by accumulated memories…”
What followed was essentially a philosophy lecture.
Topics in metaphysics, dealing with concepts like self and personality—subjects Turan typically avoided in his reading.
But now he needed to absorb even these topics passionately and commit them to memory.
Beside him, Solif also seemed to find it difficult, shaking his head with a pained expression.
For about thirty minutes, the two listened to the librarian’s interpretations while studying the self-proclaimed “Introduction to True Magic.”
After reading the final page, Solif let out a quiet sigh.
“We’ve obtained something truly unbelievable…”
As the author had described, this “soul magic” could barely influence the physical world.
This was because the spiritual world where souls primarily operate and the physical world are strictly separated, connected only through the medium of the body.
However, conversely, it could accomplish a great deal within the confines of not affecting reality.
Beyond the briefly mentioned abilities to converse with the dead or predict the future, it even included techniques for reincarnation while maintaining one’s memories.
This helped them understand how the fallen gods preserved and transferred their souls.
More advanced than possessing animal bodies, the text mentioned techniques for consuming others’ soul bodies and possessing them… It even helpfully explained that the higher the compatibility between the practitioner and the vessel’s background, personality, and mental conditions, the easier it became to control the body.
The book also contained secrets about the lifespan of souls, revealing that Ravitas, though crudely, had actually approached some truth in their knowledge.
Perhaps they had obtained fragments of a broken lineage of soul magic.
While the gods continued to achieve immortality through this magic, they had surely eliminated all practitioners among ordinary humans and destroyed all records.
Had they not been so thoroughly eradicated, at least the librarian would have possessed some related knowledge.
“The most important part is this.”
“Soul imprinting?”
“Exactly.”
Soul imprinting.
This involved semi-spiritualizing oneself, becoming almost like a spirit, and then binding oneself to a specific location.
Much like how the librarian had been bound to the library in the past, and now to the jewel box.
In this state, one could freely operate when inhabiting another’s body, but upon exiting through death or other means, one would immediately return to the bound location.
For the Baraha nobles, this imprinting location likely existed beneath the Temple of the Sun.
By destroying the medium there, then killing the vessel and capturing the soul, one could deliver perfect death.
“If we just learn this, we could hunt them down one by one…!”
“Yes, the problem is how to learn it.”
“Ah.”
Solif, who had become extremely excited at Turan’s words, suddenly froze.
Indeed, the introduction to soul magic required rather complex rituals.
One needed to enter a hallucinatory state by consuming elaborately prepared drugs, or experience near-death through meditation…
The process emphasized innate talent and warned ominously that without guidance from someone who had already awakened, one’s soul could be severely damaged.
As they reached this point in their discussion, Turan closed the book, placed it in his pocket, and stood up.
“Let’s leave this topic for now and get moving since we’ve recovered our magical power. This isn’t something we can resolve by worrying about it right now.”
“Alright, let’s reunite with the others.”
* * *
“They’re checking identities here too.”
“It’s quite intense.”
The Land of Five Lakes had a relatively high population density compared to other great family territories.
Perhaps only Arabion’s Dakein Plains could compare.
This meant that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t completely avoid being seen by people.
Moving along the main road amidst crowds, Turan and Solif observed knights and nobles who would normally be difficult to spot casually walking about.
Having given the mask to Solif, Turan couldn’t see their faces, but they likely belonged to vassal families rather than the Baraha main house.
More than a hundred police officers followed their commands, blocking roads and controlling people.
“They must have used light signals, right?”
“Of course. How else could news travel so far in just a few hours?”
The Baraha family had established a signal system called the Light Towers throughout their territory.
Mages were stationed at regular intervals to transmit signals through the blinking and colors of light.
The key to this technology was the presence of Baraha nobles stationed at these regular intervals.
Since they also possessed the Illusion bloodline that manipulated light, they could project and perceive light over greater distances than others.
Naturally, no matter how swiftly Turan and Solif fled, they couldn’t outpace light.
“Detain any group with silver-haired and brown-haired young men in their twenties or thirties, as well as any lone man regardless of appearance!”
The noble’s targets were obviously Solif and Turan.
The instruction to detain lone men regardless of appearance clearly anticipated disguise masks.
The fact that they weren’t looking for gray hair suggested either Turan’s identity remained undiscovered, or those who had figured it out hadn’t made it public.
“W-what is this about? I’ve done nothing wrong…”
“Please let me go! If I don’t deliver this cargo to Seto today, I’ll be ruined!”
Since brown hair was common in most regions and silver hair was fairly common in Baraha territory, quite a few men had been detained by the roadside.
All wore terrified expressions as the noble frowned and ordered:
“Check them.”
“Yes!”
The summoned police officers took out short knives and slashed at various parts of the detained men’s bodies.
The young men screamed as if they were dying but didn’t dare resist.
How could they, with nobles and knights like gods standing before them with fierce glares?
Fortunately, those whose cuts were confirmed to bleed were allowed to pass.
The released men hastily wrapped their bleeding wounds with clean cloth and fled quickly.
‘I wondered how they would distinguish us… quite clever.’
It was common knowledge that even low-ranking nobles were impervious to ordinary weapons like standard knives.
Without deliberately depleting their magical power, passing this test would be extremely difficult.
And if one used such a method, they would obviously appear exhausted.
Since they lacked Turan’s ability to sense magical power, this was their most reliable verification method.
Of course, if they actually found the real targets, everyone present would likely perish.
Inwardly impressed, Turan lined up for inspection and bowed his head before the police officer.
“You’re working hard, officer.”
“What’s your name, old man?”
“This unworthy one is called Rabus. This is my grandson, Rob.”
“Ah, hello.”
Hearing Turan’s words, the officer glanced briefly at him and Solif, who was stammering behind him, then clicked his tongue.
A shabby-looking old man and a boy who appeared to be in his late teens.
Neither resembled the wanted individuals.
“What business do you have passing through?”
“I run a small stall in Senzra City to the north. We’re returning from praying at the Temple of the Sun. It was this old man’s lifelong wish.”
The Temple of the Sun held great significance for those who worshipped the Silver Sun.
It wasn’t unusual for even poor commoners to visit once for “pilgrimage.”
They had used similar excuses when visiting Helio City previously.
As expected, the officer hesitated briefly before kicking Turan’s shin.
“Ugh!”
“Grandfather!”
“Get out of here quickly. People are waiting behind you!”
“Thank you, officer!”… Turan and Solif acted as an old man stumbling from a kicked shin and a worried grandson, successfully deceiving the officers and passing through the cordon.
They encountered several more such checkpoints as they continued northward, but no one discovered their true identities.
The closest call came during baggage inspections.
Being nobles, they had omitted certain essential items like flint or blankets that ordinary travelers would carry, which aroused police suspicion.
Fortunately, Solif managed to excuse this by claiming he had lost items from his bag, allowing them to pass.
After traveling northward for three days.
Turan and Solif finally reunited with Meisa’s group, who had been hiding in a mountain cave.
“Turan!”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Of course not… what about you?”
“I’m perfectly fine, naturally.”
After briefly embracing Meisa to confirm her safety, Turan picked up Bije, who was impatiently stamping his feet nearby, and vigorously rubbed his head.
“Have you been well?”
[I was scared! But I waited patiently!]
“Yes, thank you so much for bringing everyone here safely.”
At Turan’s gratitude, Bije made a sniffing sound like clearing his throat and pointed toward Solif, who had moved ahead.
He was embracing his parents after conversing with them inside the cave.
[Dad and Mom were very worried about the stupid one! Like me!]
“I’m sure they were, since he’s their son.”
If Turan’s mother had been alive, she would surely have worried about him too.
At that moment, Bije pecked Turan’s head with his beak.
[I am Turan’s mother! So I worry about my son!]
“I’m your son?”
[Turan’s mother is Bije, and I am Bije!]
The transcendent logic that since they shared the same name, he was Turan’s mother left Turan speechless, but then he burst into laughter and sat down in a corner of the cave.
Several dozen minutes later, Solif returned to his seat after sharing accumulated emotions and stories with his parents.
His parents followed, bowing deeply to Turan.
“We sincerely thank you, Turan.”
“Without you, we would have lost our son without even knowing why. I truly… don’t know how to express our gratitude.”
Her emotions running high, Solif’s mother Romi had tears glistening in her eyes.
Understandably so, after learning that her son had nearly been replaced by the family head’s personality without anyone knowing.
Until now, they had probably harbored some resentment toward their son for suddenly abandoning the family.
Revealing the full truth was necessary, if only to shed these lingering feelings.
“I appreciate your gratitude. However… I believe we need to discuss a more important matter now.”
“What important matter?”
“I apologize for saying this, but it would be very difficult for the two of you to continue traveling with us.”
At Turan’s words, the middle-aged couple calmly nodded.
While Godis and Romi might have been capable enough to lead an ordinary family, they were now essentially burdens.
Any of the upper-rank nobles that Turan and Solif had faced in groups of a dozen or more could easily kill these two.
Yet they couldn’t simply be used as ordinary forces either—if they died or were captured, it would severely damage Solif’s mental state, just as it had this time.
Baraha would likely persistently target these two as relatively easier prey than the three difficult-to-capture individuals.
Therefore, what this couple needed was a hideout beyond anyone’s interference.
Ideally, far from Baraha, outside any great family’s territory, and somewhere that even the Zahar family head with tracking mediums would struggle to locate.
Everyone shared the same doubt about Turan’s suggestion.
“Is there… such a place?”
“It seems impossible through conventional means.”
Even Turan, several levels weaker than the Zahar family head, could detect Godis in the east from Ravitas territory in the southwest.
In such circumstances, how could any land escape detection by the Zahar family head in the central Enril Desert?
Without burrowing deep underground or soaring high into the sky, it seemed physically impossible.
“There is one place. Just a bit west from my hometown.”
“You don’t mean…?”
Turan’s hometown was Hisaril Hill, located at the western edge of the world.
To its west stood the Sky Mountains, the world’s boundary—towering so high that no one had ever crossed them.
The unexplored land beyond those mountains was the hideout Turan had in mind.