Imprinting the Soul-Devouring Rune

"Using mental power as the brush, brand the Soul-Devouring Rune onto the 'Origin Sub-entity'..."

Wei En studied Basic Theory on Spells and Detailed Explanations of Zero-Ring Spells carefully, making sure nothing could go wrong.

Mental power as the brush...

He extended a finger and gathered his mental power, drawing the pattern of the Soul-Devouring Rune in midair.

His max-level knowledge of the Soul-Devouring Rune let him complete the rune's drawing with ease, taking less than a minute.

He looked at the Soul-Devouring Rune suspended in the air, flickering with a faint black glow.

"That's it?"

Pretty simple...

Next, Wei En carefully checked the rune pattern, then compared it with Basic Theory on Spells and Detailed Explanations of Zero-Ring Spells.

The result pleased him. The entire Soul-Devouring Rune had been drawn with great success.

In fact, he had handled some of the details with even more finesse than the pattern on the parchment.

It seemed the wizard who had written this parchment had not researched the Soul-Devouring Rune very deeply.

Still, while the drawing process was simple, it consumed quite a lot of mental power—nearly thirty percent of it.

No wonder the Arcane Wizard system required a mental level of at least 30. Without enough mental power, it would probably end in failure.

Wei En rested for a while, letting himself return to peak condition before looking up at the Little Ashis who were meditating. "Are you ready to 'merge' with me as one?"

The two heads looked at him in confusion, as if they did not understand what he was saying.

"Chadunke, Wushasike."

Wei En repeated it again in the Gonzalez Language, revealing a "cruel" smile. "I've raised you for so long. It's time to take back what's mine."

"Ruixi."

"Baba."

The two Little Ashis glanced at each other, then hurriedly "fled" in opposite directions, spinning and fluttering, darting left and right...

But no matter how they ran, they could hardly get more than a meter away, as though an invisible barrier had trapped them inside.

"Kekekekeke."

Wei En laughed strangely as he grabbed one Little Ashi with his mental power. "Kustan." (Got you.)

"Apu!!"

Little Ashi shrieked, wanting to break free from his palm, but without hands or feet, all his struggling amounted to nothing more than changing expressions.

"Luosisi, Fuliye." (Don't move. I'm about to begin.)

Of course, Wei En was only joking. An Origin Sub-entity had been split off from his own origin, so how could it merge back together again?

But seeing Little Ashi struggle so hard, Wei En could not help wanting to experience what it felt like to be the villain for once.

Not going to lie, it was pretty exciting.

"Runo..." (Despair...)

Wei En did not care whether Little Ashi was truly despairing or only pretending to despair.

After pressing him onto the table, he extended a finger, condensed his mental power, and began branding the rune onto the back of his head.

The entire branding process could be called perfect. Every node and every circuit was drawn with extreme aesthetic grace.

The other head floated in midair, watching his movements. "Baba?"

Was he going to eliminate that eyesore?

That was amazing, Baba.

Wei En ignored their voices and focused on branding the Soul-Devouring Rune.

His mental power drained away rapidly, like flowing water.

Only after nearly forty percent of his mental power had been consumed did he finish branding the first rune.

Immediately afterward, he repeated the previous operation, holding down Little Ashi and branding the second Soul-Devouring Rune.

"Huff..."

Only after the second rune had been branded as well did Wei En stop.

By now, he had actually consumed ninety percent of his mental power. He had almost been unable to complete the rune branding.

"Good thing it's done."

Wei En leaned back in his chair, looking at his handiwork, both exhausted and gratified.

He had finally completed the first step of the arcane system—branding the runes... Next, he could begin practicing spells and using the true power of a wizard.

At that moment, the two runes lit up with black light at the same time, flickering in response to each other.

The Little Ashis branded with the runes closed their eyes with calm expressions, as though they had fallen into a deep sleep.

Immediately afterward, a murmuring whisper rang out from the void. "Apu, Runo, Ruixi, Aus..."

Hm?

Wei En looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of the voice.

Boom!

Before he could react, a thunderous roar exploded beside his ear.

It was as if a tide had surged in from some distant, unknown place. As it rumbled, waves of sharp pain swept through his head.

"Ah—"

Caught completely off guard, Wei En clutched his head with both hands and screamed.

"Apu, Runo..."

The murmured whispers gradually grew louder, and that agony became even harder to endure.

It was as if someone had taken a sickle to his soul, punishing him for his act of blasphemy.

Wei En curled up on the ground in pain, gritting his teeth and holding on. The violent agony twisted his face into something savage and hideous, and all he could do was let out one miserable howl after another.

At that moment, the two Little Ashis opened their eyes. Their mouths moved as they chanted that familiar Gonzalez Language phrase: "Apu, Runo, Ruixi, Aus..."

No one knew how long it took before the voices slowly faded and the pain gradually disappeared.

"I... I survived..."

He felt as if he had almost died...

Wei En collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath in great gulps. Sweat poured off him like rain, soaking the entire floor beneath him.

Was this the backlash from branding the Soul-Devouring Rune?

Or was it a trial he had to endure?

After lying there for a long while, he finally struggled to his feet, wiped the sweat from his face, and looked at the two Little Ashis.

The Soul-Devouring Runes that had originally been branded on the backs of their heads had actually shifted to their foreheads, forming a black pattern.

Those dense, intricate lines looked like an extra eye. Paired with their calm expressions, it made them seem even more mysterious and inviolable.

"What the hell?"

Wei En only felt that he had established some kind of connection with the two heads. With a thought, he pointed at the head on the left. "Fly up."

The head shot into the air at once, rising until it passed through the roof and was exposed beneath the Red Moon.

Strangely, the scene outside the house also appeared before Wei En's eyes, and he saw the enormous Red Moon hanging high in the night sky.

"Come back, quick!"

Then the head returned once more, looking at him in confusion, as if asking, Like this?

Wei En came to a realization. This should be what the parchment had meant by their origins being connected.

So that was how it worked—

Through the effect of the Soul-Devouring Rune, the connection between an "Origin Sub-entity" and himself was strengthened, allowing him to treat them as extensions of his own body.

Or it could be understood as the Origin Sub-entity being a part of his soul.

That way, he could fully control the "Origin Sub-entity" and make it do anything he wanted.

Combined with the Specter School's unique origin strengthening system, the strengthened sub-entities would be able to do even more in the future.

Wei En had thoroughly figured out the principles behind the Specter School's origin wizard system.

"Hahaha..."

In an excellent mood, he was seized by a playful impulse and gestured wildly as he controlled the two heads, making them stay still one moment and fly up and down the next...

He discovered that aside from being unable to control their expressions, he could make them complete any movement.

They really were like his own arms, flexible and easy to control.

After playing for a while, Wei En stopped. Looking at the resentful, gloomy expressions on the two heads, he grinned and said, "I'll be in your care from now on."

The two heads: "Ada." (Get lost.)

Wei En: "..."

It seemed that after the runes had been branded, these two had gotten a little smarter?

There'll be another chapter at eleven fifty. Please keep reading, keep reading.