"Did this kid use the image of an Eldritch God as a means of mental defense?" Mimir asked as she glanced at the crystal bar.
"It's quite ingenious," Vincent commented. "Not only did he use the image, but he also filled it with his emotions of fear to make it more effective. His talent for Mind and Soul Magic might reach the highest echelon."
"Aren't you worried?" Mimir asked. "This could have catastrophic ramifications."
"Under normal circumstances, that's true," Vincent said calmly. "But don't you remember one of the primary reasons the official Planeswalker Program was created?"
"Oh, yeah! I forgot about that," Mirmir nodded. "But even so, he's still on his first shift."
"It's never a bad thing to start early," Vincent replied.
"Wait! Why am I the one worrying?" Vincent shrugged in response before continuing their observation.
Christian opened his eyes, and the intense pain from his injuries made him wince. The wound on his waist was a minor scratch, so he healed it with the Episkey Charm. The troubling issue was the sword embedded in his calf. After thinking briefly, Christian swallowed a vitaseed from his bag of holding and then vanished the sword.
He pointed his wand at his wound and chanted: "Vulnera Sanentur!" Snape once used this spell to save Draco Malfoy's life when Harry accidentally used the Sectumsempra Spell on him. For such a deep wound, Christian figured this spell was the best, especially with added support from the vitaseeds.
As expected, the wound stopped bleeding as it swiftly closed, followed by a drastic reduction of pain. Christian checked on his legs and frowned. According to his diagnosis, he can walk but would need at least six hours to return to his peak level. 'Now is not the time for this,' he thought before limping to the others.
He first checked on Menes, ensuring the ice was intact, and his life force was not dissipating. Once everything was normal, he checked on Lucretia and Xin'er. Physically, they appeared perfectly alright, so Christian had to check their spirit. Their eyes were closed, so Christian had to use the incantation spell for Legilimency.
Lucretia's mind was not organized in the slightest. There was no defense or a palace that organized her thoughts and memories neatly. Additionally, Christian discovered numerous memories blocked by a red hue. 'This should be the Metalus Family's method of protecting their inherited spells,' Christian thought.
With this organized mess, finding Lucretia's spirit was both easy and challenging. The lack of difficulty was due to the lack of protection, and the most challenging part was navigating through this mess. Without sufficient knowledge and understanding of the mind, this search will either prove fruitless or he'll mess something up in the process.
'The spirit is the physical manifestation of the mind, and if the mind is in an unconscious state, where would the spirit rest?' Christian used his magic theory to deduce, and he had four answers: the spirit will dissipate until consciousness returns, the spirit has an independent layer to rest during an unconscious state, the spirit will return to the soul, and lastly, the spirit will recuperate in a layer of the mind with positive emotions.
Based on these four theories, Christian started a process of elimination. He first navigated through Lucretia's mind to find the layer with the highest concentration of positive emotions. Then, he saw a memory of a young Lucretia, about 8 or 9 years old, being hugged by a middle-aged man who was caressing her head.
"I'm so proud of you, honey," the middle-aged man said. "Now that you've awakened your bloodline and proved you're not a failure, I don't have to worry anymore."
'This should be her father,' Christian thought. He did not know how to feel about that being her happiest memory. Regardless, he was not in a position to judge. Christian checked this layer of the mind for a spirit with no result. He frowned before searching for a few more happy memories with no results.
'In that case, let's check the soul.' Christian recalled the memory of when he erased Rodolphus' mind to find the first layer of his mind; he also drew on his experience of finding his soul. With these experiences as guidance, Christian slowly, meticulously, and carefully combed through countless layers of the mind before finding what he wanted.
Lucretia's soul was way smaller than his and even smaller than Rodolphus's. There were no black or golden spots around this floating ball, but a blood-red insignia consisting of two swords was crossing next to it.
'I've seen that sign before on Lucretia's bracelets. I think it's the crest of her family,' Christian thought. He realized he might have found the secret to the Blood Crest Ceremony that created those bloodline clans.
The red insignia suddenly trembled before releasing a light that pushed Christian out of this layer of the soul. 'Trying to protect their secret?' Christian shook his head. There was one other place to check — an unknown layer. Otherwise, he'll have to try another approach to wake them.
'The issue is I've never entered the layer where the spirit rests,' Christian thought. 'Where would it lie? Is it adjacent to the Soul Layer? How can I reach it?' He thought for a brief moment before coming up with a possible solution. He first exited this place before using the Shocking Charm on Lucretia.
The last time, he used it on her to wake her up from her drunken state, but this time, he wanted to shock her spirit. After the shock, Christian re-entered her mind and tried to sense any residual energy similar to a spirit.
'No! Unless I can cast two spells simultaneously, this won't work.'
Christian took Xin'er's metal wand and bewitched it with the Shock Spell. He activated it before putting it on top of Lucretia's body. Then, he used his wand to enter her mind.
'This might work,' Christian thought. The low-intensity shock sent shockwaves through the layers of her mind, but it also slowly awakened her spirit. Christian used his intense focus to detect the source of the spirit awakening before heading to that layer of the mind.
He found himself in this empty space with a bed at the center. Starlights shone beautifully on the sleeping Lucretia. Christian looked up and saw a reflection of the cosmos; the experience reminded him of star-gazing in Astronomy Class.
"How beautiful and dreamy…Wait, dreams," he muttered. "Being unconscious is not the only time the spirit needs rest. It does so when someone is asleep; this layer should also be where it goes. And that starry sky above: could it be the secret of why people dream? Could I develop Dream Magic from studying it?"
Christian was immediately excited by the notion of developing Dream Magic. However, he knew this was not the time. He approached Lucretia's spirit and observed intently.
"Sesha's spells worked by showing the person what they desire the most in the world and making them believe they've acquired it. While they are lost in that dream, she subtly influences their actions, Christian analyzed with shining eyes. Such an application of Legilimency was worth learning from.
'However, how did she control them even when passed out?' He observed closely before discovering an anomaly; Lucretia had a small mark on her forehead.
"Is that an Ancient Rune?" Christian stated. "That's right. Those are the runes for the word Domination.' Christian was once again excited. The beautiful cat, Mimir, told him Runic Magic was possible, but this was the first time he had seen it in action.
"How did she do it?" he asked himself. He desperately wanted to know the answer, but he knew this was his knowledge blind spot, meaning no matter how much he thought about it, he would not figure it out. So, he focused on how to wake Lucretia up.
"Hmm? It appeared the shock was working." Christian noticed her spirit was slowly awakening due to the Shock Charm. After realizing it was that simple, he simply slapped Lucretia's spirit, and to his surprise, the rune on her forehead disappeared as the spirit regained consciousness.
"Where am I? I thought I was getting married to Christos?"
Christian coughed in embarrassment: "You were dreaming."
Lucretia looked at him, and her face turned red as the memories of the battle settled in.
"I'm going to leave." Christian immediately left her mind. Lucretia did not open her eyes and, instead, pretended to still be passed out. Christian pretended he knew nothing as he focused on waking up Xin'er.