Chapter 117: Chapter 117

[First Mind Lock forcibly lifted. Caution advised.]

Sokram tamped down the smile tugging at his lips as he stared at the screen.

This achievement needed to appear as an accidental discovery rather than something intentional.

His hypothesis was correct: Sustaining an Ascendant-level spell for a prolonged period would force his mind to overwork to the point of breaking the Lock.

The pain was absurd, but worth it nonetheless.

The moment Sokram made that alteration to Hannah's spell wasn't on a whim.

He decided to do that after reading something inside the tower.

Of course, he felt Fate’s fingerprints all over his discovery, an unsuspecting book placed on the wrong shelf, left for him to find.

It was too much of a coincidence not to be Fate.

After closing the screen, he looked around and found Moira asleep on his left side, and Hilda and Miralyn on the right side of the bed.

He scanned the strange, yet familiar, room.

The luxurious, ornamented walls and their décor gave away the location: he was still in the City's Lord Palace.

The soft rustle of sheets broke the quiet.

A pair of deep blue eyes, sharp and tired, locked onto his as Hilda sat up with a start.

Her voice came a notch above a whisper, a mix of tiredness and restrained fury, “Every time…” Until her voice began to crack, “Every damn time I try to trust you.”

Her knuckles whitened as her fist closed tight over the sheets covering him. “You do something …” Her rising voice cut through his headache.

Until it stopped of a sudden.

“Mwah.” Sokram silenced her with a kiss.

Pulling back, he smiled at her, “Too loud.”

He winced, pressing his palms to his temples. “My head’s splitting. Water… please.”

“Shameless like your father was…” Miralyn giggled as she took a waterskin from her ring.

“Thank you, Mom,” Sokram whispered, trying not to worsen his headache.

Then he glanced at the stupefied Hilda and grinned, “Thanks for being patient, both of you. I just lifted a Mind Lock. Do you know what it is?”

Right at that moment, Moira’s eyes snapped open upon hearing that, “Mind Lock?!”

“Aunty! My head!” Sokram winced in pain.

“Sorry, but I must check your brain. Lady Belladona showed me something in my dream.”

Moira placed her hands over his head.

A white light pulsed from her left palm; a diagnostic spell scanning his mind.

From her right hand, a green glow seeped into his skull, soothing the excruciating stabs assaulting his brain.

“Wow, your mental activity is like... I have never seen anything . Amazing! This is a blessing in disguise!”

But Sokram froze as a chill seeped into his bones.

Belladona already knew, ‘Their eyes are truly locked on me, hm? Sigh… bunch of voyeuristic pervs.’

“Are you better now?” Moira, seeing the blood flow in his brain normalizing, flashed Hilda a reassuring smile.

“Yes, much better, thanks, Aunty. Can you explain?” Sokram looked at her expectantly.

“Yes, I must. This thing you did to yourself, the lifting of a Mind Lock, is something only meant to happen, naturally at least, once someone ascends. Still, some fortunate people can sometimes lift a seal or two ahead of time and not go insane.”

Seeing Hilda’s frown deepening, Moira rushed her explanation, “But the fact that you remain lucid shows it was a blessing for you. What Lady Belladona asked was: Why did you alter Hannah’s spell like that?”

Moira’s words tranquilized Hilda’s and Miralyn’s hearts.

“I was reading something the other day and had this idea to increase the potency and concentration of pills…”

Sokram's eyes snapped open, remembering the pills.

“The pills, what happened to the pills?”

“They are safe and stored with Lady Kasine.”

Moira reassured him, but then she joked, “You keep impressing the most influential figures in our City and Country, soon the king will marry you to one of his daughters.”

“Nah, why would I want one of the princesses if none are more beautiful than the women in this room?”

But there was not a single drop of mischievousness in his tone; he was being very honest about that, maybe even a little too much.

“How do you know the princesses are not more beautiful when you have never seen them?” Moira teased, and Sokram felt caught for a second but quickly recovered.

“Because no one is more beautiful than my mothers and my favorite Aunt!” This time, his mischievous and confident grin was there, like a mask he always wears.

Seeing that, Hilda stood up, leaned over to kiss his forehead, and, while leaving, she asked him, “Try not to scare me again for like a month this time. Do you think you can do this so I can focus on cultivating?”

“I’ll do my best, Mom!” Sokram shot back, winking shamelessly at her.

Hilda sighed and walked out of the room.

As soon as Hilda left, Miralyn stood up abruptly and pinched his ear, “You make my wife worry again, I’ll drop you in that iced river from Frozen River City, balls first! Got me?!”

“Yes, Mom.” Sokram replied wincing, but as soon as she let go of his ear, he teased, “But you still got to propose to call her wifey, don’t you?”

“Hmph!” Miralyn turned, not minding his teasing, and walked toward the door.

“Love you too, Mom!” Sokram teased, grinning, knowing she was trying to hide her blushing face.

After his two mothers left, Sokram looked at Moira and said, “Want a kiss too, Auntie?”

Moira stood up and turned to leave, but suddenly she spun and leaned over him, pecking at his lips.

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Then, gazing at the depths of his eyes, she flashed him a teasing smirk. “Grow up first, dragonling. Only then will we talk.”

She left quickly after that, with a slight flush over her cheeks and a silly grin on her lips.

Sokram only chuckled.

Alone in the room, Sokram sat up cross-legged and began circulating his energy to restore his condition.

After a couple of hours, he felt like a new man.

His mind felt so much clearer.

He felt as if he was living deep in a swamp and didn’t know, but now he was merely underwater.

It was still a far cry from his apex state in the Realm of the Kings, but this at least allowed him to do much more.

Sokram washed his sweat away with conjured water and vaporized it. Once he was done cleaning himself, he quickly got dressed and left the room.

But as he stepped out, he came face to face with the twins, who were carrying a tray with breakfast.

“Already?” Kiren looked at him, surprised. “I-I mean, I’m happy to see you’re fine.”

“At least eat first. Alright?” Kara looked at him, her eyes almost pleading.

Sokram opened the door and walked back into the room. He ate breakfast with the girls.

Only then did he remember to ask how long he had slept, discovering he was out for an entire day and a few hours.

The sun was already high in the sky.

Kara flung open the curtains, sunlight and fresh air flooding the room as Kiren buttered bread and offered it to him.

This was something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

The memories of his women nurturing him back to health flooded his mind, but he quickly pushed them back.

A lump formed in Sokram’s throat, and he bit the insides of his cheeks.

He clenched his jaw, fighting the surge of emotion back, determined not to break down in front of the twins.

Still, he indulged in the moment however he could.

After an hour of eating, talking, joking, teasing the twins, and making them blush and giggle to his heart's content, Sokram went to find Kamus and Kasine.

He found them in the underground training grounds, talking to Leona and Lymus. Read complete versıon only at Nove1Fire.net

Once they saw him, Sokram could see the relief etched on their faces, and a pang of guilt struck his heart.

Then came the barrage of questions, but after explaining to them what happened, they felt even more at ease, mainly because Sokram didn’t hide from them that he’d lifted a Mind Lock, which they had no idea what it was.

So, not to get lost in a long and unnecessary explanation, he retold them the same way Moira explained to him.

Then, turning to Kasine, he finally asked her, “What happened to the pills?”

Kasine showed him her spatial ring. “Is it safe to extract them?”

Sokram extended his two hands around her ring, creating a force field of mixing Freezing Mana and Force, “Extract them here. Just for safety.”

Kasine nodded and followed his instructions.

But once Sokram saw the two purple pills with white streaks, he couldn’t contain his smile, “They turned out better than I thought.”

Canceling the force field, he held the pills in his hand and offered them, “So, who’s first?”

“I’ll go first,” Kamus stepped forward with a brave face, but the truth was that after what happened, he got cold feet and didn’t want his wife to face any risks.

“As if I’d let you reach Semi-Perfection before me, I’m going first, period.” Without waiting, she picked a pill and swallowed it.

Sokram stored the other pill and sat down, “Sit with your back to me. I’ll help you digest it and absorb it, but after that, the last push is on you.”

Kasine nodded, knowing it would be somewhat like that, and sat down in front of Sokram.

Sokram could feel Kamus's nervousness and reassured him, “Don’t worry, Grandmaster. Last time… I wanted to test something. But today it’s not my life, so I’ll be extra careful.”

But his poor choice of words made him regret it, as Leona’s glare was as piercing as Hilda’s, but all she said was, “Focus now, we’ll talk later.”

Sokram nodded and closed his eyes.

As his mana entered Kasine’s body, he could feel the pill dissolving in her stomach.

The freezing energy of the White Lotus Petals battled the scorching energy of the chaos beast’s blood.

“Circulate your energy as you always do. I’ll guide the pill’s energy into energy veins little by little.”

Sokram’s mana and spirit essence began circling the pill in her stomach, controlling its dissolution speed.

And slowly, he fed raw and wild energy into Kasine’s energy vein, using her digestive system as a filter.

From there, it would enter her bloodstream, which Kasine had already fused with their energy veins, creating physical energy veins.

The beast’s blood caused her veins to dilate.

With her veins now dilated, the amount of energy she could absorb at every cycle of absorption increased exponentially.

“Start drawing as much energy as you can handle. I’ll help you isolate it and condense it into your heart.”

Sokram was amazed by how much his control over energy increased.

It was as if his mind could work closely to the level of parallel thoughts. His right hand on Kasine's back pointed to her stomach while his left hand was closer to her heart.

Sokram was working on two ends simultaneously without overextending himself mentally.

Kasine had to contain her shock as she felt the mastery of his control over that amount of energy, as she drew in more and more of it.

Soon, the energy began to condense and liquefy.

The pill was half digested, but its effect would last a whole day in her bloodstream and energy veins.

Kasine started to perspire; each bead of sweat that rolled down Kasine’s body left a trail of grime that reeked of every expelled impurity as the energy around them flowed into her like a vortex.

When the pill was at its last tenth, Sokram told her, “Now, begin absorbing the spirit essence into your Core. I’ll guide the gathered mana so it spreads through your heart’s walls. Just focus on gathering spirit essence.”

Kasine followed his guidance to the letter, but once the liquid spirit essence touched her Core and the liquid mana touched her heart walls, she felt as if her core and mana heart were devouring it all.

“Don’t lose focus, this is the pill’s true effect. Continue to draw in energy; the pill is fully digested, and the hard part is over. Now, focus on cultivating. The faster your cycles, the better.”

Sokram withdrew his mana but only partially and observed her for a while.

Once he saw her circulation speed was almost as fast as his, he carefully extracted the rest of his mana, so as not to disrupt her focus, and let her fly with her own wings.

“Now we wait.” Sokram relaxed, flashing the others a satisfied and confident smile.

But looking at Kamus, who was now looking at his wife with concealed envy, he offered, “Grandmaster, if you don’t want to wait, we can start now.”

“No, I want to see her smile once she succeeds.” Kamus smiled broadly, looking at Kasine, a love that lasted centuries, a flame that they wanted to burn forever.

One hour dragged on, and Kasine’s body continued to purge.

The trails of black grime she released increased tenfold.

A gut-twisting, acrid stench, a mix of burned herbs and spoiled meat so strong it made Leona and Lymus gag and recoil, forcing them to retreat to the far end of the arena.

But Sokram noticed something else as well.

Kamus and Kasine were both two thousand years old, and even if their lifespan was far from reaching its end, the Curse of Stagnation caused them to age.

Deeper lines on their faces, their hair had lost its color.

But now, before their very eyes, Kasine’s hair deepened, the silvery-white strands dissolving into a rich, raven black.

The lines once etched around her eyes and mouth faded away, her skin regaining a youthful vitality.

With every breath of Aura, Vitha surged through her, renewing the weary visage of a millenary warrior with the youthful radiance of one stepping forward in the Path of Evolution.

The pride shining in Kamus’s eyes mirrored that transformation.

His thoughts drifted back to the sleepless nights and quiet sobs. Kasine tried to hide it.

Yet, the frustration of decades trapped in stagnation, the unavoidable marks of time that seeped, unstoppable, into their bodies.

All of that was weighing on their shoulder despite their efforts.

Then his gaze shifted to Leona.

He could almost hear her smug tone in the messages she sent whenever she sought his advice, ‘My new disciple will surpass us all.’

And finally, his eyes turned to Sokram, sitting quietly beside him.

‘Sodram, old fool…’ Kamus’s heart tightened, ‘you should be alive to witness the Sky Reacher you always dreamed of.’

Suddenly, Sokram stood up and motioned for Kamus to take some distance.

Kamus looked at him with confusion, but in the next instant, the amount of energy she started to draw in was so massive that it caused the air around her to rush in, creating a typhoon around her.

“Let’s take some distance, shall we?” Sokram smiled reassuringly at Kamus, who couldn’t hide his anxiety, and this time Kamus nodded, and they went to sit with Leona and Lymus.

Still, Kamus couldn’t take his eyes from his wife, truly starstruck; he looked at her as if it was the first time he had seen her.

Sokram could understand that feeling; that was love.

The same love he felt for his wives in his past timeline, the same love that made him come back for them, a love that, like a phoenix, renews itself.

Then the air flow stopped, only for a second.

It was a warning sign, like the waveless sea before a tsunami.

The vortex of energy stopped.

The strong wind around the arena was quashed, until...

Her breakthrough into a new Level of Existence caused a shock wave so strong that Sokram and Lymus had to hold onto Leona’s arms so as not to be pushed away as their clothes fluttered, threatening to escape their bodies.

The very air dislocated, a sharp blast that threw a forgotten bokken across the training ground, sending it spinning through the air before it splintered against the far wall with a sharp crack.

The oppressive Aura surrounding Kasine became suffocating, but only for a second, until she suppressed it.

For a moment, like something only if you were lucky enough to glimpse, Sokram saw it.

It was the same sight his Grandmaster was waiting for, as brief as it was beautiful.

A bright smile appeared on her face, a mix of victory, relief, and joy.

It lasted only an instant before her face contorted into a grimace as she said, “Damn, I’m stinking like a mud-boar, for Nhiria’s sake!”

“Hahaha!” Kamus’s booming laughter echoed heartily as he rushed to hug her.

“You fool! Didn’t hear me? I’m stinking…” But her smell mattered nothing to him; he kissed her with passion.

Once their kiss broke apart, Kamus looked at her deeply, “You’re shining like a star, my little white moon.”

“And now your mouth stinks like me…” But even if her words were harsh, her flushed cheeks betrayed her.

She looked at Sokram with a big, grateful smile, “Know any good cleaning spell?”