Chapter 5 | Mind Factory

Theo woke up with the nauseating smell of bile assaulting his nostrils. There was the touch of something wet on his face. He tried opening his eyes, but a stabbing pain made him close them immediately. Pushing himself off the ground, he wiped his face with the sleeves of his shirt and looked around. He was still dizzy, his vision swimming. But he managed to make out the pool of puke he had just been lying in.

He frowned as the blur in his vision cleared. Leila was nowhere to be seen. She had left without harming him, which was always welcome.

On the other hand, she could have lent a hand, at least not let him lie in his own bile for God knows how long. Surely it wasn’t that hard to place him on a bed?

With shaky steps, Theo got up and stepped away from the smell that threatened to make him puke again. He stumbled and settled in a corner of the room. No matter where Leila had gone, his mind was still stuck on how his spell had failed.

The efficiency was too low. His mana didn’t properly translate into what he wanted. The inscriptions in the walls around him could conjure whole pieces of furniture with little to no mana cost, but he could barely conjure a candle fire, utilizing all his pool.

[You have successfully set out on a magic pathway!]

[You have gained a new talent!]

[New talent gained: Mind Factory (Legendary)]

[You have learned a new skill!]

[New skill gained: Logical Spell-Casting (Epic) (Level 1)]

That was a whole lot of nothing without the explanations. Though their rarities seemed to be high, which Theo liked to see. Without further ado, he brought up their explanations.

[Mind Factory (Legendary)]

[Base Effect: This main character’s mental palace functions closer to reality than a normal mage’s does. Mental resistance increased.]

[Main Stat: Mana]

[Supplementary Stat: Perception]

That’s it? What does that even mean? Theo couldn’t help but think. The fact that he didn’t have anyone to compare notes with made him frown. It was tiring to try and deduce every little thing by himself. These were probably rare skills, at least based off of their namings.

Wait. Are skills even a thing in this world?

Shaking his head, Theo continued.

[Logical Spell-Casting (Epic) (Level 1)]

[This main character has a spell-casting method rooted in semantics and internal logic.]

Again, the explanations of his skills sounded really simple, which made them kind of cryptic and hard to understand.

He dismissed the notifications and decided to dive into his mindscape, but before he could do so, he noticed a difference.

It was there, his mind palace. But unlike before, he could feel it on the go without focusing. It was as if his consciousness had duplicated, and one half had attached itself to his mind palace. Although it was a bit awkward, like a constant buzz in his mind, it solved one of his biggest worries.

With the method of casting he had, Theo was worrying about how he would use spells on the go. He couldn’t dive into his mind palace every time to trace an inscription. Fortunately, whichever of his two skills did it, he had gained the ability to control his mindscape with minimal focus spent.

“Hmm?”

Theo felt a shift, a small disturbance close by. It was outside the room, but not far away, like a silent breathing. Theo’s senses had become pretty strong after Leila had injected him with that thing.

The one outside wasn’t Leila. Although the mana signature was eerily similar, it was nowhere near as dense. It was weak, hard to feel. Like a drop in an ocean. Theo approached the exit and pressed his hand on the wall.

He had memorized the most important inscriptions, so it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the exact one.

He wouldn’t go out; Leila had warned him after all. But it wouldn’t be a problem if he just peeked his head out, right?

Well…

Bang!

Theo felt a searing pain on his nose, causing his eyes to water. His feet tangled as he fell on his back. Barely managing to sit straight, Theo scrambled and dragged his ass across the room, to the exact opposite side.

What the hell did I just see?

Once his eyes slowly started clearing, he found Leila to be approaching him.

No. That’s not her, he quickly corrected himself. He squinted his eyes. The silhouette was Leila’s; that was for sure, but there was something weird about her. She seemed lifeless, with her shoulders slouched and her head hanging low. Her purple locks curtained her face as she lazily stepped toward Theo.

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That was definitely not her, and whoever she was, she didn’t seem friendly. Theo grabbed his nose in pain once his head had cleared enough. He released a small sigh of relief. My nose’s still here. Then what the hell was that pain?

Theo tried pushing himself back toward the wall, sort of trying to fuse with it, if that made sense. His breath hitched as he thought about what he could do. His gaze wandered about, trying to latch onto something that might help him.

Unfortunately, there was nothing. He had kept whatever was unnecessary unsummoned.

He got to his feet once the person arrived in the middle of the room. He huddled closer to the corner, ready to dash out at a moment’s notice. That’s when the woman straightened up, letting him see it in its full glory.

She has no face? There was flesh covering the entirety of where her mouth and eyes were supposed to be.