Aftereffects

Aftereffects.

Generally speaking, those that can be given this name are diseases that are so difficult to treat that they may accompany one throughout their life.

That's exactly what Professor Rice is trying to say.

He said, "Your body is already somewhat out of control."

out of control----

Hope recalled the warning Professor Armitage had given him after the last exchange of "different attributes":

To die, or to become a pile of rotting flesh due to the collapse of both soul and body.

He shuddered with lingering fear, raised his hand, and his arm looked no different from before he lost consciousness—gray and rough, except for the lack of obvious wrinkles, it looked exactly like an old man's.

For a young person, this is obviously abnormal, but there's nothing particularly strange about it either.

"No, no." Professor Rice shook his head. "Your loss of control isn't outwardly apparent. It's a milder form of internal loss of control, not particularly serious, but still troublesome—ah, did you switch your ' Self-Being ' and ' Spirit Body '?"

Hope nodded.

"That matches my guess," Professor Rice said.

He got up, took a cup from the table, and placed it in front of Hope.

"Observe this cup, then close your eyes, concentrate, and try to 'feel' it with your Inspiration."

Hope didn't know what he was supposed to do, but he did as Professor Rice said, and after a dozen seconds, the image of the cup formed in his mind.

In terms of details, it was clearer Hope could see with her eyes, but because of this, Hope could hardly think of anything else and had to concentrate completely.

Because Professor Rice never said to stop, Hope did not stop applying the concept of "Inspiration".

Until several tens of seconds later.

Hope began to feel suffocated; instinctive fear made it impossible for Hope to maintain her Inspiration.

Professor Rice finally patted Hope on the shoulder.

"Inhale," Professor Rice commanded.

Hope suddenly inhaled a large gulp of air into her lungs.

"Exhale," Professor Rice continued.

Hope exhaled the air again, and the suffocation finally subsided somewhat.

"Don't stop," Professor Rice said. "Keep going. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale—good, it seems you've regained the feeling of breathing."

"What's going on?" Hope asked.

"What do you think?" Professor Rice countered.

It feels like I've forgotten how to breathe on my own—my breathing has gone from automatic to something I have to actively control.

"That's about it." Professor Rice nodded. "Dr. Morgan and I have made many preparations because of your breathing problem."

As he spoke, he took out two medicine bottles from the side. One was empty, and the other looked like a perfume bottle, with its opening open, emitting a scent similar to floral water.

"A bottle of Water-Lung Potion." Professor Rice held up the empty bottle first and explained, "This stuff was originally developed for underwater work. While it doesn't allow for underwater breathing, it significantly improves oxygen utilization—of course, since the invention of diving suits, it's only been used as an aid. Luckily, we've managed to gather enough materials to make it."

Professor Rice put down the empty bottle and picked up the perfume bottle. "A bottle of decent quality Spirit-Infused Water, hastily cobbled together by Dr. Morgan using some miscellaneous ingredients. In this respect, my knowledge of herbs is indeed inferior to his."

"The Spirit-Infused Water evaporates quickly into the air, enhancing the spirituality of the surrounding area. It has many uses, but we're using it here to help your Spirit Body 'suppress your ' Self-Being '."

Professor Rice put both bottles down. "Thanks to these two things, you didn't suffocate in your sleep because you forgot to breathe."

Forget to breathe ---- the Spirit Body "suppresses Self-Being" ----

Hope seemed to have some speculation about his current situation, but he still wanted to hear an explanation from a professional.

"Does your heart need to be actively controlled to beat?" Professor Rice asked.

Hope shook her head.

Neither heart nor breathing requires conscious control; this is because of the autonomic nervous system—

Hope stopped her thoughts, temporarily putting aside her biological knowledge; now it was time for mysticism.

"It's difficult to find a unified explanation for the four attributes— Self-Being, Spirit Body, Self-Sense, and Inspiration —from various texts," Professor Rice said. "But generally speaking, Self-Being and Spirit Body are inward-facing, referring to your own body. Self-Sense and Inspiration are outward-facing. We won't discuss these two, since I don't understand them very well myself."

"I had the privilege of reading an incomplete version of the Book of Eibon, and I believe its definition of Self-Being and Spirit Body is the best. It says that Self-Being is the soul's control over the body, while Spirit Body is the degree to which the body approaches its origin."

"Close to the origin?" Hope asked.

He recalled the Source-ification ".

"Perfect," Professor Rice said. "The Book of Eibon defines the Origin as the Oldest One, most perfect body, an ultimate state that even God cannot reach. My personal understanding is that a perfect body should be one that can act autonomously based on instinct, even without a soul or a brain."

Professor Rice paused for a moment, then continued, "In your current situation, you control your limbs through your Self-Being, while your heartbeat, which doesn't require your conscious control, relies on your Spirit Body."

Hope felt her own breathing.

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale----

The situation remains stable.

But the suffocation I just experienced was real.

"So," Hope asked tentatively, "My current Spirit Body —is to some extent overwhelmed by Self-Being?"

"That's right." Professor Rice nodded. "Normally, this phenomenon only occurs when Self-Being's Spirit Body level is too high or too low. Your current Spirit Body isn't actually that low."

"So this is because of—exchange."

"You forcibly exchanged your Self-Being body for Spirit Body without any prior preparation. Although it was an exchange with someone else, these two attributes still became somewhat confused," Professor Rice said. "For a long time afterward, you will face this dilemma: when you concentrate too much, you may forget to breathe. The good news is that as long as you have Water-Lung Potion and Spirit-Infused Water, you won't suffocate in your sleep. These two potions are not expensive, and I can provide them to you for free as a token of my gratitude."

Professor Rice patted Hope on the shoulder again. "Of all the consequences you've faced, this is one of the best-case scenarios. So far, only your breathing has been affected."

"But you must avoid doing similar things, after all, it could be the heart or—anything that shuts down on its own without your control."

His voice cracked, and he couldn't help but chuckle at his own vulgar joke, before quickly becoming serious again. "Anyway, just know that this is actually quite dangerous."