Just then, a sudden flurry of knocks interrupted Lude's thoughts.
Lude sprang up from the anvil, closed the book, and stuffed it back into his waist pouch. He instinctively raised a hand to the Dragon Tooth Sword at his waist. But at that moment, Sally's voice came from outside the door. "Hello? Mr. Hastings, are you in there?"
Lude's guard didn't drop. Instead, he drew the Dragon Tooth Sword, because the person outside was Sally.
People infected by Void Attribute Psionic Energy were generally said to have Psionic Sickness. Since they gradually lost themselves over time, they were also called the Lost.
The Lost gradually faded from existence, vanishing from people's memories until, eventually, even the historical records that mentioned them dissolved into the sea of minds.
By the middle stage of Psionic Sickness, however, they had already become Vessels.
The fact that Sally had come to Lude's door and knocked meant she hadn't yet exploded into a Void Gate, but that didn't guarantee she hadn't been possessed by a Void Entity or become one of the Lost.
After all, to a Void Entity, the Lost—with their flawed existence—made perfect Vessels.
The early stage of Psionic Sickness was reversible, but from the middle stage onward, it was difficult to turn back. The only thing left to do was grant the afflicted release.
Early symptoms of Psionic Sickness included forgetfulness and confused thoughts. In the middle stage, dissociative wandering, blurred features, and abnormal behavior began to appear. In the late stage, facial features disappeared, colors became abnormal, and the afflicted might even flicker unnaturally. At the final stage, they collapsed completely into a nameless black mass.
The process could take years, but it could also happen in a single night.
Most importantly, an Arcanist's Soul Fire could resist low concentrations of