How To Live As A Writer In A Fantasy World
Chapter 439: Possession (3)

The process of Clark possessing me wasn’t too complicated. It was more thanks to Ariel’s sprout than Leona’s magic.

Magic wasn’t about receiving divine power from a god and using it as a basis for abilities; instead, it manifested abilities through pure “belief.”

You’ve probably heard the saying that if you wish hard enough, the universe will listen. That’s how magic works.

Because of that, it was very unpredictable, with low risk and low return. Literally, low risk, low return.

However, if an offering – especially one that was closely related to divine energy – was involved, the success rate increased dramatically.

Even witches themselves didn’t fully understand the mechanism behind this. They just said, “It works when you pray,” and left it at that.

By the way, a special process was required to allow Clark’s soul to possess me.

First, Leona plucked the sprout growing from Ariel’s head. Just in case, she took several sprouts, not just one.

Ariel scratched the top of her head, probably because she had taken too many, but there were no serious problems.

The next and most important step was to extract Clark’s soul and then possess me with it.

I thought this would be the hardest part, but magic always has unexpected steps and results.

“Here. Put this in your mouth.”

(Alright. Hwooaaah…)

The moment I put the rancid Leona handed me into my mouth, Clark let out a sound – not of wind, but of his soul leaving his body.

Since he was lying on the bed, I didn’t feel any major changes, but the golden light inside his eye sockets darkened, indicating that he was losing consciousness.

As I hesitated, unsure of what was happening, Ariel, who had been watching from the side, pointed a finger.

“Ah! Grandpa’s floating!”

“Where, where?”

“Here!”

I turned in the direction Ariel was pointing, and what I saw left me speechless.

The sprout that had entered Clark’s mouth earlier was now floating in the air.

Just as I stared at it in shock, Leona spoke while looking at the sprout.

“For now, the sprout will serve as a medium that holds Clark in place. Once he’s back inside his body, everything will be back to normal. Oh, and even if he talks now, we won’t be able to hear him.”

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“I’m not a professional mage, so I feel a little uneasy, but the offering is high quality, so it should be fine.”

The item was indeed extraordinary. His words convinced me.

Meanwhile, the floating sprout drifted back into Clark’s original body. I could see it slipping into his open mouth.

Pop!

The Golden Glow returned to his eye sockets, which were dark as if the power had been turned off.

It seemed that his soul had safely returned to his bones without any problems.

“Are you okay?”

(I feel a little strange, but I’m fine.)

Clark said this, then pulled the sprout from his mouth and handed it to Leona, who in turn handed it to me.

I examined the sprout in my hand. Despite its function as a medium, it looked like a completely ordinary sprout.

Could this really allow Clark to possess my body? Since I knew nothing about magic, I was a bit skeptical.

“This is a medium that will allow Clark to descend whenever necessary, even after his burial. Even if he’s in Valhalla, you’ll be able to summon him at any time. But you absolutely mustn’t lose it. Understand?”

“Can’t we make spare parts?”

“No. If we do, his soul will split in two, and Clark won’t be able to maintain his sanity. This is usually a method used to seal uncontrollable evil spirits.

On the other hand, if you collect all the parts, the spirit will be released from its seal.”

“Ah, I get it now.”

This was a common trope in novels and comics – often referred to as “Exodus.”

In any case, this sprout mustn’t be lost. I stared at it intently, thinking about how to keep it safe.

I tend to be careless about a lot of things, so I need to find a good way to store it.

“But this is just a sprout. What if it dries up over time?”

“Normally, soul-filled offerings do not deteriorate over time – unless Clark himself waters the connection. Otherwise, it should remain intact.

We soul practitioners use this to monitor the target’s life status in real time.

If the target is seriously injured, the linked offering also breaks. If they die, it turns to dust. But if they recover, it regenerates.”

“Oh…!”

“Also, the sprout will gently float towards its owner. This allows us to roughly track the target’s location.”

It was a fantasy-like concept, yet similar to settings I’d seen in various media—an item that was connected to a person’s soul, changing according to their condition, and even guiding others towards them.

It could play an important role in The Chronicles of Zenon. What a shame.

Especially in Jean’s resurrection and death—this setting would be very useful.

If I’d known earlier, I would have gotten closer to Leona sooner. But hey, better late than never.

“Can you make one too?”

“Of course. But like I said, I can only make one per person.”

“Can’t I split it and share it?”

“If you tear it, the broken parts will regenerate, but the torn pieces will just become ordinary sprouts. It’s strictly recognized as one entity.”

That was a bit disappointing.

Ideally, I would like to make a lot of them and give them to people who are important to me.

I should probably gather everyone soon to discuss how to handle them.

Should we keep them in the mansion, or should a certain person be in charge of keeping them?

Leaving aside this interesting magic lesson, it was time to get back to the main task.

Now that we had confirmed the connection between Clark and the sprout, the next step was possession.

“It’s simple. Place the sprout connected to Clark in your mouth.”

… Put it in my mouth?

(Hwooaaah…)

Of course, before that, Clark’s soul had to separate from his body again.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Leona took the sprout from my hand, placed it back in Clark’s mouth, and gave it a pat on the head.

Once again, Clark let out a soul-splitting sound, and the sprout emerged from his eye socket.

Seeing it floating in the air confirmed that his soul had successfully left his body.

Ariel’s gaze shifted towards the sprout, further proving it.

Then, Leona pointed to the floating sprout and began to explain.

“You just need to grab the sprout and put it in your mouth. Don’t worry about swallowing it. Not only can it not be digested, but it will also go back up your throat.”

“… That doesn’t sound like a pleasant experience.”

“Isn’t it better than coming out as poop?”

Brrrr—

Did it just find it scary? The sprout floating in the air trembled. I felt the same way.

Meanwhile, Leona, who had casually said those words, grinned, revealing her fangs.

Finally, the floating sprout floated towards me. When it stopped right in front of me, I looked at it.

When I looked at Leona as if asking, do I really have to put this in my mouth?, she just nodded without saying a word.

Leona might not be a professional magician, but she was still royalty. She should have a solid grasp of the basics, so there was no reason to worry.

Besides, this was a sprout from the world tree, something that couldn’t be bought even with money. There was no reason not to trust it.

“Alright.”

I opened my mouth and placed the sprout inside. I could feel it floating in my mouth before settling on my tongue.

So far, nothing felt particularly different, but…

“Oh! I thought it worked? Huh? What’s that—?”

My mouth wouldn’t open of my own accord. My hands began to move on their own. Even my head was spinning involuntarily.

“This… this… wait, what—? I—”

It was as if my speech was buffering – words came out in fragments and then stopped. My body didn’t feel like it belonged to me.

Even though I forcefully clamped my lips shut in shock, my body continued to move on its own.

As I struggled with the strange sensation, Leona chuckled and spoke.

“It seems to be working without any major side effects. Maybe because the generation gap isn’t that wide, it feels very natural.”

“What do you mean you-you? Oh, crap.”

“Wow. Dad and Grandpa overlapped.”

As my words continued to stutter and repeat, Ariel’s eyes shone as she spoke.

To her, it must have looked like my and Clark’s souls were merging.

From Leona’s words and Ariel’s reaction, it was clear – Clark possessed my body.

“It’ll be hard to get used to at first. If you want to communicate, speak with your mind.”

(Like this?)

As soon as Leona finished speaking, Clark’s voice echoed inside my head.

It wasn’t a voice that was heard in my ears, but rather a telepathic resonance that vibrated directly into my brain. It felt eerie yet intriguing.

The shock of hearing his voice in my head only lasted for a moment. I took a deep breath, calmed myself, and answered.

‘Can you hear me?’

(Oh! I can hear you! Man, I’ve seen a lot of things in my life, but this is really something else.)

Clark scratched his temple with his index finger – a habit of his. It was Clark’s action, not mine.

My body moved on its own… no matter how much I wanted to get used to it, it felt impossible.

It was just… scary. Not in an overly emotional way, but in a deep, unsettling way.

It reminded me of those moments in manga where a character was being controlled by someone else and screaming in horror for them to stop.

I could relate to that feeling a hundred times over. If it wasn’t Clark, but someone else inside me, I would have screamed for them to get out.

'There was almost a time when something like that happened before…'

(Ah, you mean that incident?)

I just thought about it, but since Clark had me, he responded anyway. It caught me off guard.

I made a mental note: I need to be careful about my thoughts while Clark is inside me. It's like when Ariel was a newborn baby.

(Should I check the body first?)

'Go ahead.'

With my permission, Clark stood up from the chair.

Describing my movements as if they belonged to someone else felt very strange.

Then, he started checking my body. At one point, he checked my lower half and muttered in a pleased tone that I must be his bloodline.

That was… embarrassing. But it was also a source of pride, so I let it slide.

"Hmm… your overall body balance is quite good. Especially your legs – they're solid. I really like that."

Hearing those words come out of my own mouth was unsettling. I wished he would just speak his mind.

Clark, however, was too busy tapping my hard thighs with his fists, as if testing their strength.

Well, I had trained like a knight to maintain my basic stamina and strength – Survival depended on it.

I needed endurance to last through the night, after all. Without my divine powers, I wouldn’t be able to satisfy the ladies.

Of course, my body still looked lean. It was just that the underlying muscles weren’t immediately visible.

“Your muscle mass is a bit lacking, but thanks to your divine powers, you’re very flexible.”

It was Clark.

“Can you talk in your head? It’s strange, hearing myself say these things.”

It was me.

My mouth moving on its own made me dizzy.

(Oh. Is that so? Got it.)

Clark didn’t seem to mind and complied.

However, this first experience with possession was so strange that I let out a sigh.

Of course, as the saying goes – tragedy up close, comedy from afar – Leona barely held back a laugh.

I thought it was funny.

Someone talking to themselves, responding to themselves, and moving their body in unnatural ways – it seemed ridiculous.

I stared at Leona with a blank expression before finally asking:

“… How do I undo this possession?”

“Pfft… haha… you just need to remove the sprout from your mouth. Clark’s soul will leave once you do that.”

“…Thank you.”

Following her instructions, I pulled the sprout from my tongue. Immediately, I was back to normal.

As I regained control, I clenched and unclenched my fists, moving my feet to make sure everything was okay.

Although the possession only lasted for a short time, the feeling was terrifying.

Letting Clark possess my body in battle was one thing – he was a powerful warrior in his time – but getting used to this was essential.

“… I should tell Dad. I should train with him to get used to this.”

“Good idea. Shamans actually fight this way.”

“Alright.”

An argument with my father would help me adjust to the sensation.

I quickly sent him off. Normally, I would have gone alone, but that would leave Leona, Ariel, and Clark alone in the room.

That could make things awkward. Worse, if a stranger accidentally walked in, it could cause an incident. Unlikely, but not impossible.

While waiting for my father, I re-entered the possession state for further practice.

…and that’s when disaster struck.

“No! This is my body! My body! And you want to use my body to smoke?! Are you serious?! Leona is right there!”

“Come on! For once I’m in a living body! Let this old man taste a cigar filling his lungs!”

With that, I found myself in an unreasonable predicament of physically fighting myself.

My right hand reached for the cigar. My left hand grabbed my right wrist to stop it.

It felt like my own body was at war with itself.

Apparently, Clark went through nicotine withdrawal after only 30 minutes.

That’s when I truly realized – his addiction wasn’t physical, but mental.

“Pffft—! Hahaha! Oh my God, my stomach!”

“Dad and Grandpa… what’s wrong with them, Sis?”

“Ugh… hahaha… snrk…!”

There were only two spectators, at least.