CHAPTER 56: RITUAL

Hadrian found himself in a dark expanse. There was a sinking feeling in his chest and his heart tightened.

If he had not been used to seeing such empty vastness in that dull white space, he imagined he would have been more terrified.

The Alia Hadrian and brute vessel were in here with him.

I can’t sense my other vessels.

Immediately he thought this, he channelled some essence and a small fire danced on Alia’s palm.

I’m not cut off from my abilities, but there’s nothing to attack.

Alia shot up the flame to the endless darkness but did not achieve anything.

Next, he peered into his vessel’s essence seas.

The Alia vessel had the rank two elemental cores, the main Hadrian vessel had the two rank one space path cores while the brute vessel had none becuase It had only been channeling essence.

Hadrian cursed.

If my connection to my other vessels has been cut, does this mean I’ve lost all my other cores?

Hadrian spun around once more so that his vessels were back to back.

Is this really the inside of that box? What kind of artifact is that? And who was that woman?

She was using terra sorcery, and I hadn’t peered into her essence sea, so she might truly not have been a mage at all.

Back then, I had forgotten the most important thing. At the end of the day, these are just vessels among many.

I could have given up the vessels faster than she could have trapped me. But, perhaps, I have grown attached to this main Hadrian and Alia vessels.

Hadrian and Alia turned to face each other. And for the first time, Hadrian realized just how much he was struggling to remember his old face.

It wasn’t like he spent a lot of time with mirrors.

That’s okay. Since the beginning, baby Hadrian was always meant to be my main vessel, and so far, this has helped me maintain my sense of self.

Looking down at his feet, they seemed to be floating. Hadrian moved his legs, truly confirming they stood on no surface.

Alia let out a shout. There was no echo.

Hm. There’s only one path of magic that I know so far, that has a similar ability.

Hadrian was calm. He’d learnt, when his emotions control him, he tends to make stupid decisions.

If I am truly alone, I might as well go for it.

All his vessels closed their eyes so that in case someone was watching, they wouldn’t see them roll back.

Hadrian found himself in that dull white space once more, and when he did, he sighed in relief.

As usual, he took the form of the main Hadrian vessel, formed out of the fog.

His relief wasn’t just because he could still enter this space, but because all the cores he’d "earned" were still here.

Before, Hadrian had been scared to lose a vessel with a core inside it because he truly thought it would mean the core would disappear.

That’s right, though they look like physical manifestations, I forgot that soul cores are mystical, tied to one’s soul.

Even if I were to lose a vessel, "I" am still here, and the vessels are all me, so all the soul cores are tied to my soul. Therefore, they won’t go anywhere.

Despite the situation his real vessels were in, Hadrian managed a smile realizing this.

But, he had truly lost connections to the other vessels. He looked at their phantom states among the others and sighed, shaking his head.

A connection that had been cut but not lost, was Baruch. Just as it was the first time he’d seen it, the core was tied with a fog string down into the vast fog beneath him.

He was currently in the first layer.

Tsk. He’s my only access to the outside world for now.

Thinking this, Hadrian’s consciousness descended into Baruch, though he kept Baruch from sensing him.

Immediately, he saw those familiar walls of that Episcopal palace, however, Baruch wasn’t in that dungeon anymore.

But he was in the middle of what Hadrian could only assume was the swearing of the oath.

I knew it wouldn’t be simple, but it’s more archaic than I thought.

Baruch knelt at the center of a cylindrical room, the ceiling high. Both his arms were spread out, cut and bleeding, while two figures walked around engravings on the floor, muttering.

Baruch’s eyes were restless, darting from one spot to the other. He seemed to want to follow the two figures with his sight, but was scared to. He kept his head in one position.

Hadrian reached out with his essence. To his disappointment, he could not control Baruch anymore.

"I" must be outside my control range.

When Hadrian left that dark space, he left part of himself still with the Hadrian and Alia vessel, and since the brute vessel was with them, him too.

Unless it was completely hopeless, he did not intend to lose those two vessels.

Baruch had always been a strange "vessel." Even when in control range, since he could not use Hadrian’s main authority ability of taking over vessels, he could never become the "main" vessel.

I don’t know how far I currently am, but can only hope my consciousness descent into Baruch doesn’t have a time or distance limit.

This was one of the reasons he didn’t hesitate to take over Baruch’s body when he could, even if it made him look like a lowly existence.

The two cloaked and muttering figures stopped. Baruch, Hadrian could tell, was in some kind of immense pain. But since he could not take over his body, he could not share in it.

The two figures walked up to him, and one took out a little tube with a tiny red substance.

They brought their hands to Baruch’s chin, guiding him to open his mouth, and when he did, they poured the tiny drop inside.

Immediately they did this, they backed up and watched as Baruch gripped his chest.

If Hadrian currently had a brow, it would have furrowed. Since he directly observed Baruch’s essence, he watched as it subtly changed.