Diary of a Dead Wizard-Chapter 388: The Overlooked Genius

Gorsa’s mention of a backup plan instantly put Saul on high alert, but it seemed the other had no intention of explaining it in detail.

He toyed with the Blue Water Soul in his hand, making the little sphere bounce between his fingers like a plaything.

"Did you see the elves?" he suddenly changed the subject.

Saul’s voice was still stiff from the lingering chill, "I... don't know if what I saw counts as an elf."

Gorsa said, "If we go by the original classification of species, then no, it wouldn't count. But since there are no pure-blooded elves left in this world, calling them the new elves is fine too."

He lowered his head slightly, as if looking at his own hand, or perhaps seeing through the hand wrapped in pink bandages, gazing at something beyond.

"That question was asked for us a long time ago. As it turns out, the soul really cannot exist independently, completely separated from the body."

Saul stayed silent, though he felt a bit strange. "You know what happened to the elves?"

Hadn’t he said before that he didn’t know?

"The half-elf mentioned it briefly before he entered, and the rest I guessed," Gorsa said, winking at Saul. "My guess is: elves, naturally gifted with strong mental power, decided to abandon their physical bodies for some reason. They created a 'backyard' for themselves to do this. Unfortunately, their exploration angered some fundamental rules of existence, and they were imprisoned inside their own creation, what should have been a sanctuary became a deep abyss."

"I’m guessing… am I right?"

Gorsa was now asking Saul.

Saul, too, was interested in comparing notes, to see if his thoughts aligned.

"The elves... after seeing a giant sinkhole on the world's underside, decided to abandon their physical forms and escape into a world composed entirely of consciousness. That's my guess based on what I witnessed in the valley."

Unexpectedly, Gorsa’s brow began to furrow bit by bit.

Specifically, the bandages between his brows wrinkled.

"The world's underside... a sinkhole..." Gorsa sank into thought.

From his expression, it was as if this was his first time hearing about this "sinkhole."

Wasn’t the Tower Master supposedly from a powerful wizard family on another continent?

Why didn’t he know about the world’s sinkhole either?

"Could it be... because of that?" Gorsa muttered to himself.

When he noticed Saul’s puzzled look, he quickly pulled himself together and didn’t continue sharing his thoughts about the sinkhole.

"In that case, our bodies are actually natural locators. They're not as powerful as the ones we later craft for ourselves, but they're safe and stable... Pity that so many people only see them as burdens."

Gorsa leaned back, comfortably sinking into the soft cushions, with his elbow casually resting on Mark’s head.

"Saul, the fact that you were able to complete two body modifications without harming yourself is quite impressive."

Faced with the Tower Master's praise, Saul could only bow his head and accept it, feeling a little guilty.

Unlike Senior Byron, his modifications were mostly achieved with external help.

In Saul’s view, Senior Byron, who had transformed his body into a locator through sheer effort, was the real genius.

It was only because of the extensive modifications that Byron was approaching thirty before he finally advanced to Third Rank apprentice.

He must praise Byron properly when he got back.

While lost in these thoughts, Saul suddenly noticed the red-eyed puppet hanging from his belt. freewёbnoνel.com

Both of the puppet’s eyes were now hollow sockets.

Only then did Saul remember that when he was observing the elves’ world, the puppet’s eyes had seemingly shattered.

He quickly took the puppet off his waist and handed it to Gorsa.

"Master, the puppet’s eyes broke."

Would he have to compensate for it?

Saul cautiously added, "It seems the elves tried to influence my mind, and the puppet blocked part of the mental attack."

Actually, most of it was blocked by the diary.

But since Gorsa wouldn’t know exactly how powerful the mental attack had been, it was better to attribute most of the credit to the puppet.

Unexpectedly, when Gorsa saw the puppet, he revealed an expression that was both amused and helpless.

Don't ask Saul how he could tell.

"Aiya, it’s really thoroughly broken. Whoever left a mental mark on it is going to suffer."

"Mental mark?" Saul repeated.

Judging from Gorsa's tone, it was obvious that the person who left the mark wasn’t him.

"It was Yura’s," Gorsa immediately revealed. "She’s very good at detecting malicious mental attacks, and this puppet was made using her abilities."

After a brief pause, he added, "It’s fine. I sent her back to the Wizard Tower yesterday. Inside the Tower, she’ll be safe."

...

One hour earlier, in the Wizard Tower.

"You found the Blue Water Soul too, I heard from Kaz?"

In the dimly lit room, Mentor Rum sat in a corner, looking at Byron, who was stepping into his room for the first time.

Byron stood about five meters away from Rum’s head, keeping his gaze lowered, careful not to let the meat sludge at his feet touch his shoes.

"Mm."

Feeling that a one-word answer was too curt, Byron opened a mouth on his throat and said, "I named it Gray Matter."

"Heh," Rum couldn’t help but chuckle, "Kaz must’ve complained about how ugly that name is, right?"

Byron actually thought "Gray Matter" sounded much better than "Blue Water Soul," but he wasn’t stupid, only blunt.

"Mm."

Rum chuckled again.

Nowadays, even when he laughed, his fat no longer wobbled.

Like the deepest ocean, the currents beneath the surface didn’t disturb the calm above.

"Of course, discovering it isn’t the main point. What really impressed me was the potion formula you submitted. The thinking behind it is quite interesting, and judging by your current condition, it has already been tested, hasn’t it?"

Byron nodded but didn’t ask how the potion formula he had submitted to Mentor Kaz for exchange had ended up in Rum’s hands.

"Tell me your application ideas."

Byron didn’t answer immediately.

Rum wasn’t angry, simply smiling as he said, "It won’t be for free. As long as your ideas hold up, when the Tower Master returns, I’ll recommend you to join the Resurrection Experiment. Then, any materials you want will just be a word away."

Byron’s eyes lit up, "Is Saul part of this experiment too?"

Rum nodded, "Yes. If you want to join this project led by the Tower Master, then show me your knowledge properly."

Encouraged, Byron reached into his mouth and pulled out a thick notebook from under his skin.

This notebook was much thicker than the one he had once given Saul — it recorded his detailed experiments and hypotheses about Gray Matter.

What Saul had was just an edited highlight version.

As Byron was about to begin his presentation, a dense black shadow slipped in through the gap under Rum’s door.

Yura never knocked.

Rum tilted his head, his face half-buried in fat, revealing a smile.

"Hold on, we have a guest."

The black silhouette, like a paper cutout, slowly approached.

"I heard someone else found the Blue Water Soul?"

"Yes, it seems we overlooked a genius," Rum said, pointing at Byron.

Then he introduced, "This is the subject of our resurrection experiment and the Tower Master's wife. You may call her Lady Yura."

Byron, expressionless, bowed to Yura.

Yura tilted her head slightly, her face unreadable.

“Wonderful."

She casually hopped onto a lab bench, swinging her legs like a little girl.

"This experiment is very important to Gorsa. I expect official testing to begin within six months," Yura said as she dug around on Rum’s lab bench, finally fishing out a transparent marble filled with swirling mist.

"Let me audit your ideas. Any new insights?"

She tossed the Blue Water Soul up and down.

Looking at the sphere in Lady Yura’s hand, Byron thought for a moment, then pulled a small pouch from his pocket.

"This is the original state of the Blue Water Soul. I call it Gray Matter. This better matches the content of my report."

With that, he took out two pieces of Gray Matter from the pouch and handed one each to Lady Yura and Mentor Rum.

(End of Chapter)