Chapter 173: High-Quality Imitation Outshines the Original

He acted without hesitation.

Saul inflicted a fourth wound on himself and collected a bit of blood and muscle tissue.

Then, using the basic materials for making candles, along with the juice of the parasitic flower, his own flesh and blood, and a small piece cut from one of the existing candles, he crafted a new, complete candle.

This candle looked very similar to the ones on the candelabrum, but due to the added flesh and blood, its color had changed from white to red.

“I already diluted it as much as I could, and it’s still this red. Should I have extracted serum or used other colorless tissues instead?”

Although the first finished product had a color issue, Saul decided to test it anyway.

He fixed the candle onto the table and flicked a small flame at the wick.

However, the little flame drifted past the wick without igniting it.

“Is there something wrong with the material? Could it have affected flammability? Wait a second…”

Saul then took out an igniter, stepped back a bit, and aimed the nozzle at the wick.

Hiss!

This time, the red candle caught fire smoothly, the wick burning with a ghostly white flame.

“It’s exactly the same as the flames on the candelabrum!” Saul compared it carefully with the overhead candlelight and grinned in delight.

“Did I really get it right on the first try? Am I this much of a genius?”

After a brief moment of joy, Saul calmed himself down.

“Most of the components are substitutes, and the parasitic flower juice isn’t exactly right either, so the actual effect might differ significantly…”

Suddenly, a chill ran down Saul’s spine. Goosebumps burst out over his entire body, as if they had a will of their own.

He spun around in shock—only to see the aisles between the shelves packed with people!

All of them were the corpses from outside!

Somehow, they had silently moved behind him. Some squeezed into the narrow aisles, while others, unable to fit, stood behind the shelves, “watching” Saul through the gaps in the goods.

But Saul could feel—they weren’t looking at him. They were staring at the candle in his hand.

Just a brief lapse in attention, and the horde seemed to have crept even closer.

Without hesitation, Saul picked up the knife from the table and snuffed out the flame.

As a wisp of blue smoke rose from the scorched wick, that eerie sense of being watched slowly faded.

Saul looked back again and keenly noticed the corpses had inched closer.

Though their faces remained expressionless and their eyes tightly shut, Saul could sense a distinct emotion—disappointment.

He’d always known they retained a sliver of awareness, but this was the first time they’d ever moved on their own.

He hadn’t expected the red candle to provoke such a reaction.

Staring at the candle in his hand, Saul muttered to himself, “Did I just create something extraordinary?”

“What thing???”

A female voice suddenly echoed above his head.

Looking up, Saul saw a black shadow seeping from the ceiling, its viscous, droplet-like form gradually stretching and unfolding into the shape of a woman.

Finally, the shadow fully detached from the roof and landed softly on the floor—nearly overlapping with Saul’s own figure.

“Lady Yura?”

“Don’t call me Yura—call me Vini!” the shadow snapped, displeased. But she quickly brushed past the matter and, with a face that lacked clear features, sniffed left and right. “Where did that scent go?”

Scent?

Saul looked down at the red candle beside him. He hadn’t smelled anything at all.

The shadow immediately caught his line of sight and followed it to the candle.

“This is… something you made?”

Vini’s shadow leaned in closer, crouching down and folding her arms on the table to meet the candle at eye level.

“I feel like its scent brings peace,” the shadow seemed to tilt her head upward. “Can you light it again?”

“Peace?”

That was odd. Saul hadn’t added anything meant to calm or soothe souls.

Even the parasitic flower juice, which might normally stabilize the mental body, had been diluted several times.

By logic, it should be far less effective than the original white candles.

Yet Vini had shown no reaction to the other burning candles in the storeroom.

“Vini, if I light the candle, those guys might rush me.”

Saul pointed at the corpse horde still “wandering” by the shelves.

The shadow glanced back indifferently. “It’s fine. They’re only here because they feel good. As long as you don’t violate the taboo, they won’t hurt you. Come on, hurry up…”

With her reassurance, Saul picked up the igniter and lit the red candle again.

A faint white glow flared to life.

Silence fell over the storeroom.

Both the living and the dead stared blankly at the flame.

Saul didn’t smell anything or feel especially calm. Looking around, he noticed the corpses hadn’t moved closer—but each of them now faced the candle directly. Their faces were less ghastly and more… entranced.

“I mustn’t let them know the raw material was my blood,” Saul thought uneasily, pressing a hand against the wound hidden beneath his sleeve. “They don’t react to my wound, but they’re drawn to the red candle. This must be some kind of wizardly-induced transformation.”

“But why does my blood produce this effect? Could it be related to the way my left eye regenerates?”

In his memory, the only major change to his body happened after he defeated the wraith Morden, when his entire body melted while he was unconscious.

It was Senior Byron who later told him about that event—Saul had no recollection of it.

When Byron examined him afterward, he found no explanation for the fusion and regeneration. But with enemies possibly still in pursuit, they shelved the issue for later.

After returning to the Wizard Tower, Saul didn’t notice any abnormalities either. But in hindsight, that incident clearly left a deep impact. Whether it was good or bad—or if there were hidden drawbacks—remained to be seen.

While Saul fretted over his body’s changes, Vini was completely entranced by the red candle. She had even sat down on the floor, arms resting on the table, her head nestled into them.

She looked about ready to fall asleep.

“How come you can make a candle like this, but Gorsa can only produce those foul-smelling white ones? I always said he didn’t really understand souls.”

Hearing her complain about the tower master, Saul could only rub his nose and pretend he didn’t hear anything.

But Vini kept going, even launching into a biography of Gorsa.

“Back when Gorsa had just established the Wizard Tower, the western continent was in chaos. Refugees from the westland founded Baydon Academy along the coast. Backed by the sea, they ignored the Western Treaty and often bullied the Kema Empire, trying to expand their territory…”

To avoid losing land—or even the Empire—Kema’s emperor had sent people everywhere to investigate the backgrounds of newly arrived wizards, hoping to find a reliable ally.

As soon as word got out, the newly settled Wizard Tower master Gorsa proactively came forward to propose an alliance.

At the time, many powers were moving into the western continent. Gorsa arrived alone, yet managed to carve out a large swath of land.

Rumor had it his family was powerful on another continent, so none of the other factions dared to challenge him.

“The Kema Empire’s people were probably deceived by him,” Vini said, head tilted in annoyance. “Gorsa was most likely exiled by his family. All these years, no one from any other faction has come looking for him. Out of guilt, he sought an alliance with Kema.”

“So that’s why he married Lady Yura?”

“…Not exactly.”

The Kema Emperor—now merely a duke—lowered himself to form the alliance. In addition to providing yearly supplies to the Wizard Tower, they also proposed a traditional noble marriage.

But Gorsa refused the political marriage. Instead, he had the empire send someone to manage the territory for him, only asking for tribute every year.

Saul was surprised, but then realized it sounded just like something the tower master would do.

If Gorsa truly came alone to the western lands, he probably didn’t have the time or energy to manage internal affairs.

But Saul hadn’t expected him to not even appoint a steward, instead handing the land back to its former rulers to administer.

The Kema Empire must’ve been thrilled.

Even managing just part of that land would help them recover significantly.

“Then how did Lady Yura end up marrying the tower master?” Saul wasn’t trying to gossip—Yura’s death clearly tied into Gorsa’s true motives.

Was his research really aimed at resurrecting his lover, or was it to resist the contamination?

Only by understanding the nature and goal of the experiments could he properly plan the next steps.

“At the time, Yura was already a First Rank True Wizard, specializing in dark-element magic and obsessed with soul studies.” Vini remained entranced by the red candle. “Gorsa, on the other hand, specialized in light-element magic. The moment they met, they argued over one topic.”

Saul’s ears perked up. “What topic?”

“Whether the soul… can exist independently of the body.”

(End of Chapter)

If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.