Chapter 79 The Key
Bone Lord fell silent for even longer. I could almost "feel" him thinking.
"...Charles," he said slowly, in an almost confiding tone—which freaked me out even more, since when does he call me that?—"the Soul Lake... is a conceptual existence. In theory, all the dead wizards who still have strong obsessions or haven't found 'peace,' their remaining consciousness fragments float and drift within it, forming what you call 'dream' fragments. You can think of it as... a buffer zone near the edge of the 'Underworld,' or... a massive web of souls that collects countless private memories and obsessions."
A web of souls? This concept was even more... terrifying the more you thought about it than just a simple "lake" or "collection of dreams."
"What about the Underworld itself?" I pressed on.
"The true 'Underworld' is far deeper, purer, and closer to the foundation of the world's operating laws than the Soul Lake. When living beings die, their spiritual essence disperses, and the soul's core sinks there. It's a kind of ' irreversible 'descent, part of the end and cycle of all things. It's a realm that the living absolutely cannot understand and absolutely should not try to touch." Bone Lord's voice carried a warning tone. "And this Philip... what he wanted to do wasn't go to the Underworld, but 'escape' from it. He tried to use the entire ritual to forcibly keep himself in a state of 'not being completely received by the Underworld,' to gain some kind of... 'perspective' and 'possibility' outside the rules. He succeeded... partially."
"Succeeded? Partially?" I caught the key point. "You mean he's in that 'gap' now? That White Tower... is actually the 'gap' he created?"
"You could understand it that way." Bone Lord paused. "And if I'm not wrong... the 'dream' you stumbled into this time wasn't random. It was carefully selected, guided, and might even have been actively 'broadcast' out. Philip's remaining consciousness, in the Soul Lake, still retains extremely strong... how should I put it, 'curiosity' or 'obsession'? He's still conducting his experiments, looking for people who can understand, or even 'continue' his path."
A cold sweat instantly broke out on my back. Damn it, it really wasn't an accident! I knew it was too "coincidental" that I got thrown right into a key historical scene! Turns out I'm not an audience member, I'm a "test subject" or "successor candidate" who walked right into the trap!
"So what do I do?" I instinctively asked. "Before he left... oh no, before the dream collapsed, he gave me a task and a... password."
I repeated Philip's final request. "He said if Anna is still alive, tell her that escaping the Underworld won't work. If Anna is dead, tell the next headmaster."
The key part was the password: "Evelyn Miller. The soldier in the boot. 66."
I recited this string of nonsensical words exactly as he said them.
"Evelyn Miller... the soldier in the boot... 66..." Bone Lord repeated, his voice full of confusion. "This sounds like some kind of extremely personal code. Maybe a fairy tale character, or maybe a plot point and keywords from a book with page numbers... Without enough information, it can't be decoded. These are credentials he left for 'his future self' or 'himself in other dreams.' Just remember it."
"He also told me to set up a password for myself," I added. "To use after death... in dreams, to confirm my identity to future people, if I still need to pass on any messages."
This was getting pretty wild. Leave a password in a dream? For who? For my future self? Or for some other guy who can enter my dreams?
"This is quite a rare and advanced technique." Bone Lord mused. "It means you've already touched on soul communication, even the level of soul 'imprinting.' Usually, only wizards with exceptionally strong mental power, or those with strong obsessions before death, would subconsciously leave such marks in the Soul Lake. That he would actively teach you this... it seems your 'performance' this time made him quite satisfied, or rather... quite 'surprised.'"
"Surprised by what?"
"He clearly said, 'Your behavior pattern wasn't in my predictions.' You're not a chess piece he calculated, you're a complete variable. Maybe that's exactly what let him see... new possibilities." Bone Lord's voice carried a hint of amusement. "As for the password, this is your exclusive mark. It must be closely related to you personally, but can't be obvious or easy to guess. Think about what you could never forget, something with the most personal symbolic meaning to you. A 'key' that only you and your specific memories are connected to. Seal it deep in your consciousness, the more secure the better."
Something I could never forget, with the most personal symbolic meaning...
Several images instantly flashed through my mind.
Those looks of contempt, mixed with the burnt smell of failed potions; Isabelle walking toward me after Magic Potion class with her books, sunlight highlighting the color of her hair; and the first time I controlled magic, that instant of wild joy...
Too many. But none felt quite "core" enough.
My deepest desire? To be recognized? To have power? Or... to stand beside her?
None of them seemed quite right.
Not just surviving, but breaking free from all constraints, living by my own will, living boldly and brilliantly. Whether the path ahead is as a wizard or an ordinary person, I want to control my own destiny.
"I get it." I silently noted this thought. Maybe I could use some more specific "image" that belongs only to me as the password carrier, but now wasn't the time to finalize it.
"So... what about Philip's 'task'?" I threw out another hot potato. "He told me to tell Anna that 'escaping the Underworld won't work.'"
I hesitated. Damn, this was the hardest part.
"How am I supposed to tell Anna? Just run to her headmaster's office, knock on the door, and say: 'Respected Headmaster, while I was wandering around the Soul Lake, I saw the former headmaster, and he said the path you want to take is a dead end, so don't mess with it'?"
Does that sound reasonable at all?!
First, how do I explain that I know Anna might be "trying to escape the Underworld"? Anna isn't some ordinary professor; she's the headmaster! The controller of the entire Maple Magic Academy! What right does a freshman like me have to know about what sounds like the ultimate forbidden dark magic secret?!
Should I say "I happened to see it in some forbidden book in the library"? Anna would probably tie me up and use the most precise mental detection magic to turn my memories inside out from top to bottom!