Of course, even a quack doctor needed the patient’s consent before providing treatment.
Otherwise, they were criminals before they were quacks.
“The power of the Ancestor-Worshipping Tribe comes from the spirits of the ancestors. But think about it logically. Can a living human really command the spirits of the dead?”
It was, without a doubt, an impossible task.
When Jun said this, Maya asked,
“Why is that?”
“Because the dead are, by nature, bundles of desire.”
Everything in the world happened for a reason.
Naturally, if souls that should have passed on were still lingering in the world of the living, there had to be a reason.
“The dead crave what they didn’t have. And what would that be?”
“The….body?”
“Right. But it’s not just the body they want. They want to accomplish something with that body.”
More precisely, they wanted to achieve what they couldn’t during their lifetime.
Then what was it that the Ancestor-Worshipping Tribe couldn’t achieve while they were alive?
“Revenge.”
Flinch.
At that moment, Maya’s body trembled. Because that wasn’t just the goal of her ancestors; it had been her own goal as well.
Jun didn’t seem to mind and continued.
“All the tribes currently living in Blackout live in different ways, but they have one thing in common.”
“……”
“In the past, they all came into Blackout while fleeing from the army of the First Emperor.”
That was why the early tribes had hated the Empire….and feared it as well.
However—
Hatred inevitably faded with time.
Wasn’t it only natural to feel more sorrow for one’s own child starving to death before their eyes than for a tragedy that had happened long ago?
Over the span of hundreds of years, many tribes had come to accept reality and let go of their desire for revenge.
But the Ancestor-Worshipping Tribe had not.
Because among them remained the spirit of an ancestor who had lived those hundreds of years ago.
The hatred they carried ran unimaginably deep.
“A grudge that’s lasted hundreds of years. It’s impossible to bear something like that.”
Even a single spirit like that would’ve been difficult to deal with, but there were hundreds, even thousands of them, all carrying the same hatred.
To live under the weight of that was unbearable.
“But there is a way to fully embrace the power of the dead. Do you know what it is?”
“I do.”
At Jun’s words, Maya nodded her head.
If the Ancestor-Worshipping Tribe had been merely a group that worshipped their ancestors’ spirits, they would’ve ended up as nothing more than a cult.
Not only that, the minds of all their people would have been corrupted, and none of them would have survived until now.
That was why they had their own way of doing things.
“The chieftain said it. Only by undergoing the tribe’s ritual can one be truly recognized by the ancestors.”
Just as those words implied, the Ancestor-Worshipping Tribe had a ritual passed down from generation to generation.
Only by performing that ritual could they draw out the true power of the tribe.
However, now, Maya was the only surviving member of the Ancestor-Worshipping Tribe.
There was no one left to perform the ritual for her.
Because of that, she couldn’t place her trust in the spirits of her ancestors, and the ancestors, in turn, did not acknowledge her.
But still, it wasn’t as if there was no way at all.
In the game, Maya eventually experienced a special event a few years later and awakened.
It was then that Jun learned exactly what the ritual of the Ancestor-Worshipping Tribe was and how it worked.
“The ritual your tribe performs put simply, it’s about planting magical power into this place.”
“You mean the head?”
Jun nodded at her words.
If I were to borrow a term from martial arts novels, I’d say it’s like training the upper dantian.
Just as warriors accumulated magical power in their lower dantian, and mages in their middle dantian.
The Ancestor-Worshipping Tribe increased their ability to communicate with spirits by accumulating magical power in their heads, and eventually, they would come to understand how to protect themselves from the desires those spirits carried.
And I know how to do that.
Well then.
Was this fate?
Jun didn’t originally possess knowledge about how to accumulate magical power in the head. But his past-life self did.
In order to break free from the shackle known as [Mana Body], he had explored a vast array of knowledge.
Among that was a method for accumulating magical power in the head.
In the end, it didn’t mean much for my past life. Or… maybe it wasn’t entirely useless.
Now that he had inherited those memories, it had become invaluable knowledge.
The problem is, knowing something and actually doing it are two very different things.
He felt he could grasp it quickly after a few attempts. But even one of those attempts could lead to death.
Still, that was fine.
Because this was the sacred ground of the Ariklotus Church.
A place where death could not exist.
***
While the phrase “planting magical power in the head” had been used, the actual principle was a bit different.
Warriors “accumulated” magical power in the lower abdomen, which was said to be the center of the body.
Mages “created” a conduit for magical power in their hearts, connecting to the forces of nature.
Then how did the head use magical power?
The answer was through realization.
According to the memories of my past life.
The brain was the organ that governed all information.
But humans couldn’t perceive everything the brain did.
The same applied to magical power and the soul.
The brain held information about magical power and the soul, but humans were simply unable to perceive it.
What Jun was about to do was to bring that information that was processed in the unconscious realm of Maya’s brain up into her conscious awareness.
But it ended up failing.
As a result, he had to be impaled through the neck and his whole body torn apart by a rampaging Maya.
It hadn’t been a particularly pleasant experience.
If possible, it was a pain he never wanted to go through again.
Still.
“It worked, at least.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“No need to be. I didn’t do it properly either.”
Maya, having come to her senses, apologized. Her eyes held genuine remorse but also a fair amount of resentment.
“Did it hurt?”
“I thought I was going to die.”
It was only natural.
What Jun had done to Maya was to pull the information the brain had relegated to the unconscious realm up into the conscious.
Originally, the goal had been only to make her aware of the unconscious information related to magical power and the soul.
But Jun had no way of knowing such a fine distinction.
So he ended up pulling all of her unconscious processes into her consciousness.
In other words, breathing, moving muscles, blinking, making the heart beat, and circulating blood—
He had brought all of those processes up to a conscious level.
Humans weren’t capable of consciously managing any of those things.
So Maya had suffocated; her muscles had gone limp; she couldn’t close her eyes; and the moment her heart stopped, her blood ceased to flow.
But the problem hadn’t ended there.
Because within Maya’s unconscious, there also remained the powers left behind by her ancestors’ souls.
A portion of that power had erupted outward.
And so, in place of the unconscious Maya, one of the ancestral souls had gone on a rampage.
That had been the result Jun was forced to endure.
“But what can we do? Looks like this isn’t going to be over anytime soon.”
If there was any small relief, it was that the previous results had allowed him to filter out a good portion of it.
But still, more than half remained.
From within that, only the areas related to mana and the soul needed to be retained.
It wouldn’t be something that could be finished in just a day or two.
***
“You’re too much, senior…”
“Haha, sorry.”
That evening.
Aiden had returned, grumbling to Jun with a face that looked on the verge of tears.
It wasn’t something that happened often, but Jun quietly listened.
The experience of dying must’ve been that traumatic.
He had made Aiden suffer the pain of death without giving him any warning.
He had even asked Bern to keep that part hidden on purpose.
“Still, the results were good, right?”
“…To be honest, it was an experience I never want to go through again.”
But—
“I don’t think I’ve ever moved so desperately before.”
The look in Aiden’s eyes as he said that seemed somehow deeper.
Even though he said that, Aiden had always been desperate enough.
Every moment he’d spent with Jun had been a struggle that demanded they put their lives on the line.
But drawing the unconscious into the realm of consciousness is something else entirely. In a way, maybe Aiden is going through something similar to Maya.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much advice Jun could offer him.
When it came to the combat abilities of a warrior, there wasn’t much Jun could do to help.
He could hand over a few hidden pieces, sure, but the realm of realization was entirely Aiden’s own challenge.
“Do you feel like anything’s lacking?”
“I wanted to refine my swordsmanship a bit more… but Sir Bern says there’s no need.”
Just as those words said, Aiden didn’t need a specific sword technique.
His talent wasn’t something that could be measured by sword forms.
The best way for him to fully blossom was to walk a path he carved out himself.
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Your talent is, quite literally, something that develops through real combat. When you’re in danger, you always manage to find the most optimal way to deal with it on the spot.”
And that was true.
After nearly dying to bandits on the way to Blackout—
It was then he first realized the meaning of the sword and awakened to swordsmanship.
While evading an orc during a campout in the forest, he tapped into strength that surpassed human limits.
He had used magic.
Just like that, every step of Aiden’s growth had required a crisis.
And now,
It was time for him to sort through everything he’d learned so far.
But if there was one blind spot Aiden had—
It was that he’d never really been taught.
That’s why rather than learning something new, it’s more efficient to draw out the combat instincts buried in his unconscious.
That’s why he had asked Bern for help.
Still, Aiden looked somewhat dissatisfied.
“What’s bothering you?”
“Even if I get through this stage… I’m not sure I’ll be able to take part in the fight against the Butcher Monk.”
“Pfft.”
At that, Jun burst into hearty laughter.
Aiden’s face turned red. He was just embarrassed.
“I-I know. I’m only Level 3, and to think I’d take on someone at Level 7…”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Huh?”
“For others, maybe… but for you, that’s not arrogance, Aiden. That’s not why I laughed just now.”
“If that’s not the reason, then…”
Jun summoned mana to his fingertips.
“There are problems in this world that feel impossibly difficult, but sometimes, they get solved in the most absurdly simple way.”
“……?”
“Wait a few days, and I’ll give you the answer. For now, just focus on doing your best with what you’re working on. Only then will you be able to seize the opportunity when it comes. Opportunity belongs to those who are prepared.”
“Opportunity belongs to those who are prepared… Yes! Understood!”
With that, Aiden turned around.
There, he saw Bern and Maya.
It looked like the two of them were having a conversation of their own.
Aiden’s gaze caught on Bern’s hammer.
“Ugh…”
Still, he really didn’t want to go through the experience of having his head burst again…
With that melancholic thought, he turned his eyes back to Jun.
“I’m not exactly into having my neck or whole body slashed either…”
Jun had the exact same look on his face.
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