Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World
Chapter 472: Soul Search 3

Chapter 472: Soul Search 3

Denson Plante continued to provide examples to Andy.

“A king, or the head of a powerful family, is exposed to information from all over the country on a daily basis. He might know some secrets within his own country, secrets that, if revealed, would cause national uproar. The impact of such information on the practitioner is enormous. Moreover, the person might appear amiable in public but be a butcher stained with blood in secrecy. This contrast in images also presents a huge shock. Their sea of consciousness is like a real ocean, sometimes with surging waves, and other times calm yet with undercurrents swirling beneath.”

“A scholar, with an active mind and rich imagination, dedicates his life to the pursuit and verification of truth. His explorations are incomprehensible to ordinary people. But once his explorations uncover some fundamental truths about the nature of the world, truths that overturn our everyday understanding of the world, the impact on the practitioner is terrifying and lethal. For instance, a practitioner who has always been told that the earth is flat, discovers through a soul search that the earth is actually round. This revelation is incomprehensible to him at the time, representing a paradigm shift. The sea of consciousness of such a person is like a raging ocean, filled with tumultuous waves at every moment.” (Author’s Note: Referencing the SAN value from the Cthulhu Mythos)

At this point, the young mage Andy asked, “But, Mr. Plante, why is the information considered indisputable? Wouldn’t the practitioner also unreservedly believe the unfounded speculations and conjectures in the subject’s mind?”

Denson shook his head: “What I mean by ‘indisputable’ is that the subject has a complete set of deductions and verifications in their mind, based on basic logic, moving from simple to complex. The soul’s origin of the subject believes in its truthfulness, just as a person knows whether they are lying or not. At the moment of retrieval, since the practitioner and subject are ‘highly integrated’ at the soul level, the practitioner’s soul’s origin also gains the ability to discern the truth of the matter—even if he does not know the complete proof at that moment. If it were just conjecture and speculation, there would be some degree of wavering in the subject’s belief, which the practitioner can sense.”

Andy still curiously asked, “But why would the impact on the practitioner be so great? If someone verbally tells me some knowledge vastly different from common understanding, I would indeed be shocked, but it wouldn’t endanger my mental state.”

Denson explained, “The material world provides us with a natural barrier. When our ears hear these things and transmit them to our brain, we have a mental barrier as a second line of defense. But when two souls come close to each other, the barrier of the material world disappears. When the souls merge, the mental barrier also vanishes. Without these two barriers, the information—vast and heavy—in the subject’s mind floods into the practitioner’s soul in an instant. Imagine standing next to a dam that could burst at any moment. Can you feel that sensation?”

Andy swallowed, his face showing fear, “I think I can imagine it.”

Denson glanced at the magical array and said, “Alright, Master Ordennel is about to start.”

Before him was an extraordinary sight.

The runes that made up the array began to change, emitting a strange light that was hard to define as red, yellow, or an interwoven orange.

The runes in the array lit up one by one, following the order from the outside to the inside. From a distance, it looked like two symmetrical rectangles, each with a ring of light converging towards the center.

Eventually, the two rings of light formed by the illuminated runes enveloped both the practitioner, Master Ordennel, and the subject, Lord Somolette.

The runes… the runes of the array actually moved.

Andy widened his eyes, seeing such a sight for the first time.

The movement of the array’s runes accelerated, rapidly revolving around the two individuals above it.

Somolette, who had been thrown into the array, had been lying stiffly there, but now, he began to show changes.

Somolette’s body started to tremble slightly, and he continuously shook his head.

“Uh…” he groaned, then clenched his teeth so tightly that his cheeks bulged out.

Bound at his back, Somolette’s hands continuously strained against the ropes, trying to break free from their constraints.

The ropes dug tightly into Somolette’s flesh, yet he did not cease his struggles.

However, it was in vain as the ropes were securely tied.

Somolette’s movements grew more intense, his entire body thrashing about, but strangely, no matter how much he struggled, he could not escape the ring of light enveloping him.

“Ah! Ah!” he began to howl in agony.

“He must be experiencing excruciating pain right now,” Denson said to Andy.

“Of course, the practitioner—my mentor—is also having a tough time.”

At Denson’s prompt, Andy shifted his gaze to Master Ordennel.

Unlike Somolette, who was twisting and writhing, Ordennel still maintained his seated, cross-legged position.

His hands, initially moving through various gestures, were now extended, with fingers interlocked and placed in front of his chest.

However, his facial expression, unlike the calmness before casting the spell, was now contorted in pain.

It was an expression of enduring agony.

His temples bulged, veins on his face stood out, and large beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.

Andy thought, based on Plante’s explanation, that at this moment, Master Ordennel’s soul was enduring the impact of Somolette’s sea of consciousness, a decidedly unpleasant experience.

Standing beside him, Denson Plante said, “If it were me, I would never dare to cast such a spell on Somolette. A killer nurtured by the Dias family for decades, carrying untold darkness and secrets, who knows what might happen. Only my mentor would dare to do this. His sea of consciousness is vast and profound, able to accommodate a torrent of information composed of numerous secrets.”

“Ugh! It’s over.”

The soul-level contest didn’t last long, just over a minute.

At this point, Somolette lay collapsed on the ground, his face turning purplish, gasping for breath. His wrists were bloodied and mangled from the intense struggle.

Denson commented mockingly, “Humph, it seems this Lord Somolette is no ordinary man. Indeed, a well-trained assassin. Ordinary people would either turn into idiots or fall into a coma for days after a soul search. But this lord here seems like he’s just had an intense workout.”

Sitting on the other side of the array, Master Ordennel took a few deep breaths and slowly opened his eyes.

“We know where the child is now.”