Wolf dazedly stared at the sight before him. The shadow of his father, which had suddenly manifested, had the appearance and gave off the exact same feeling Wolf had of Archibald when the man was alive. The shade smiled once more with that infuriating martyr look.

It pointed towards the throne as it dissipated into a purplish-silvery smoke which was then sucked back into the tenth column. As the smoke vanished Wolf saw that his father’s column now had a large crack in it.

Tears welled up in Wolf’s eyes, but he still did as his father told him to. He went to inspect what the shade had pointed at.

“What is this! Mind Hall is a sacred place of retreat and meditation! Not a gathering site for a party!” Lonely Eagle’s Mental Aspect shouted indignantly.

Wolf watched as a tiny clawed hand covered in fine silver scales tightly held Lonely Eagle’s Mental Aspect. The man squirmed and tried to escape, but there was no getting away from that grip. The hold was as solid as if the world itself had grasped the elf.

As Wolf observed, one by one four more clawed limbs broke out of the shell. Those five claws took turns holding Lonely Eagle and tearing off chunks of his flesh before drawing them inside the shell. The loud gnawing and chewing sounds filled the world followed by pained howls.

Just as the cracks for the sixth limb had formed, Lonely Eagle’s body collapsed into raw Soul Force, much like Archibald’s shade. Silver took a deep, loud breath, sounding like a whale taking in water.

Most of the smoke left behind Lonely Eagle was sucked into the egg through the six cracks. Most of what was left was absorbed by Wolf’s Mental Aspect, while just a fraction of it dissipated into the surroundings.

Wolf felt the wounds of his Mental Aspect rapidly heal, but that wasn’t all. Random thoughts and experiences of Lonely Eagle’s flashed through his mind. This included the man’s thoughts from the last minute or so, during which he’d finally ceased to exist.

“Good riddance!” Wolf said as he tried to make sense of those trains of random thoughts.

By the time his Mental Aspect fully healed, Wolf understood what Lonely Eagle had meant when he said that the path of the Mage was flawed. Using magic used Soul Force, expanding the Mind Hall and Mind Palace also used Soul Force.

The same could be said of Internal Energy, however, unlike Sword-Sages, Mages didn’t have ways of replenishing Soul Force. Potions of Energy Restoring existed in various grades. While there was no such thing as potions for restoration of Soul Force. Potions of Clarity had the same effect, but came with diminishing returns with each use.

Now that he’d thought about it, Wolf really did find the whole matter odd. Every bit of Soul Force a Mage used to prepare a spell was lost to them, regardless of whether the spell was cast or not. Preparing the same spell, when the previous one wasn’t cast, used only about a third of Soul Force compared to preparing the spell on a blank slot. Mages instinctively did this to conserve Soul Force, but very few if any were consciously aware of the fact. All they knew was that things were easier that way.

As a Mage increased the number of spells they could cast, they would eventually run into a situation where they could no longer expand their Mind Hall and Mind Palace. The exact number of spells one could have before reaching this point varied from person to person, but all Mages who insisted on preparing spells on a regular basis would hit this wall eventually.

Because of the nature of the fog inside one’s Mind Hall, and because of how much focus meditation normally required, it was almost impossible to check the rate at which one’s consciousness and soul expanded.

The only way you could notice it was if you idled away while smoothing out the floors because you were bored and made it a habit.

On the other hand, forcing the use of Soul Force made sense. The more you used it the more you generated. Unfortunately, this increase was very slow and gradual. Unless you lived for hundreds of years it was barely noticeable.

The other reason why Lonely Eagle thought Mages were flawed was that the expansion of mind and soul only marginally increased one’s lifespan. Especially when compared to Body Refiners and Sword-Sages.

The first directly increased the durability of the body, slowing or effectively stopping aging, while the latter burned Internal Energy instead of vitality, greatly prolonging life. Human Sword-Sages lived for centuries, while spending only a sliver of their vitality, thus achieving a similar, albeit a bit inferior, result as Body Refiners.

Lonely Eagle’s errand thoughts, proved what Wolf had already known for a long time. For one to really become strong they had to walk all three paths that lead to the peak. Refining of one’s Soul provided excellent perception and information processing speed. Body Refining provided a near immortal body, as well as a great source of physical strength. Energy Refining provided first class fuel for the body and allowed extreme bursts of strength and speed the likes of which weren’t possible if one relied solely on their physique.

Thinking about it for a moment, Wolf agreed with Lonely Eagle that the path of a Mage was flawed. But so was any other.

Wolf had long since decided not to use magic frivolously. Even though he sometimes indulged himself a bit, he rarely wasted the slots for higher Order spells. He only kept the bare minimum he really had to have in store prepared. As for the rest of his Soul Force, it was used to expand his Mind Palace and to feed Silver.

Speaking of the little devil, Silver was now erratically running around Wolf’s Mind Hall while loudly hiccuping.

Wolf watched as the six legged egg ran around the Mind Hall before the creature slammed itself into a wall. Silver bounced back and fell to the ground, all six of her-his legs up in the air. One of the legs kept twitching comically, as if this wasn’t a creature that had just ripped apart the Mental Aspect of one of the strongest manlings in the world. Wolf approached the egg. Once he was close enough he heard light snoring sounds. Not knowing what to do, Wolf touched the shell and infused it with some Soul Force.

“Can’t eat. Full. Sleepy.” A crystal clear voice which sounded like it belonged to a little girl said lightly, before the creature inside the egg continued snoring in a very loud and unladylike manner. As far as first words went these were… practical.

“Um, rest well and thank you,” Wolf’s voice was filled with gratitude and a bit of confusion. He still had no idea what this creature was, but now Silver was able to speak clearly. This was a giant leap forward when compared to the time when all they could use to communicate with simple emotions.

Wolf pulled Silver back to the place where she-he usually slept. Wolf placed his sister-brother down on the second step carefully, but not before he’d carefully banged the egg on half a dozen steps while pulling it up the dais.

With Silver sleeping soundly on the broad dais step, Wolf turned around and looked at his Mind Hall. The first and tenth columns were rapidly healing, the scars that marred their surfaces gradually disappearing.

The door was still open, but Wolf didn’t care much about that. He dashed towards the tenth column, ignoring the creatures that did everything in their power to save him yet again. Wolf placed his hand on the crack, hearing those familiar words once more.

“…To save my son, I’m willing to burn my body and my soul. Even if…” Archibald’s voice rang out in the Mind Palace.

The column was still an inanimate piece of architecture, just like every time Wolf checked on it. And just like every other time, Wolf felt the lingering feelings and the familiar aura which had once belonged to his father.

As he ran his fingers on the damaged surface, Wolf felt waves of sorrow wash over him. He missed his father dearly. The man protected him even in death, after his soul had shattered.

Wolf had spent many days running his hand over the column’s surface and listening to that monologue of Archibald’s. Especially in the period before Silver had appeared. Back then Wolf spent all of his sleeping hours snuggling against the stone infused with warm emotions.

“I’ll come up with a way to get you out of there Dad,” Wolf’s Mental Aspect muttered as he sadly patted the column in thanks. Then he headed to check out the state of the first column he’d ever carved.

Despite the damage it had taken, the column was repairing itself at a visible rate. The remains of creatures which were damaged or destroyed were being eaten by the adjacent ones and then new ones popped out to take their place, thus slowly repairing the column in a very natural and eerily organic way.

Thankfully, Wolf had survived this whole incident. His Mind Hall, while slightly damaged, seemed to be repairing steadily.

Feeling relieved at passing this tribulation, Wolf once more walked out of the first Mind Hall.

In the hallway outside he saw that the fog had greatly dissipated. Compared to before, a huge change had happened, and another door was revealed in the hallway. Unlike the bony-white door which led into the Mind Hall of death, this one was light brown and had a pattern which resembled wood grain.

As Wolf looked at the door for a moment he had a completely different feeling than when looking at the first one. He felt as if this portal led into a vibrant forest. A world filled with endless vitality.

Most importantly, the door was sealed shut. No matter how hard Wolf pushed or pulled on the door ring he couldn’t even make the damn ring budge, let alone the gate itself.

Just like before the door didn’t seem to really exist and appeared to be fused with the stone wall.

Wolf had no idea what he was supposed to do, but as he pushed the door, he’d noticed something.

By having prolonged contact with the door’s surface Wolf could get a general idea of what was going on inside. Inside his second Mind Hall there were already three complete columns and the fog was dissipating radially away from the entrance, heading towards where the dias and the throne were in the first Mind Hall.

After an unknown time spent in frustration, Wolf returned back to the first Mind Hall and sat down on his throne. With a deep sigh he started thinking about what he should do next.

First of all, it seemed that he had gotten rid of the last remnants of Lonely Eagle. While Wolf ruffled through what little was left of Lonely Eagle’s memories, he got the general idea of what was going on ever since he was born.

Lonely Eagle’s soul was gathering its scattered shards bit by bit and over the years managed to restore a large portion of its original mind. Lonely Eagle’s first plan was to use the shards in the first Mind Hall to possess the host and find a way out. But, no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t find those pieces of himself. Naturally, that was because Wolf had already destroyed and refined them before Lonely Eagle’s Mental Aspect ever got close to the first Mind Hall.

Stranded, with no way out, Lonely Eagle’s Mental Aspect wandered the fog, as if trapped in a maze, until he finally heard loud banging, which he’d used to catch his bearings and find the Mind Hall he’d been looking for all these years.

Wolf finally came to realize that he was still alive only thanks to a bizarre series of coincidences. Lonely Eagle’s Mental Aspect was somehow lost in the fog. Despite that, he was able to freely wander the Mind Palace and gather the pieces of his broken persona.

Then, what finally emerged wasn’t a remnant will, like when Wolf had first encountered Lonely Eagle’s shade. This was a fully formed Mental Aspect that would’ve crushed Wolf if not for Silver’s intervention.

“Are World Powers really that ridiculously powerful?” the youth wondered. “The Emperor could fight for days against that man. How absurd is that? How much stronger has he become in the decade since I’ve been born?”

This was the first time Wolf came to understand just how powerful the man he decided to kill was.

And this time he had only fought a mere fraction of the full power Lonely Eagle once wielded. The elf was primarily a Sword-Sage, then a Soul Refiner and lastly a Body Refiner.

On the other hand Wolf was a Mage and his most powerful aspect was his soul, yet he was beaten into a pulp. If Lonely Eagle had gone all out from the start Wolf wouldn’t have been able to withstand a single blow, and there wouldn’t have been any time for Silver to intervene.

“How many years will it take before I’m able to fight the Emperor? The Duke of Northshield won’t be a problem. I’ll just ally myself with Wayde and then he can have his throne, while I have my vengeance for what had happened to my father.

“But, to defeat the Emperor, I’ll have to work much harder from now on. Otherwise exacting my revenge is nothing but a pipe dream.”

Wolf first felt demoralized, but then after a moment he turned that intimidating mountain which stood in front of him into a goal, rather than let it remain an obstacle.

With a newfound resolve, Wolf started working on his sixth column. Unexpectedly the seductive men and women couldn't phase him now. Not just that, carving became extremely easy after the encounter with Lonely Eagle.

After a while Wolf realized that his mental projection had become stronger than it was before. Several times stronger in fact. Wolf had originally thought he’d finish refining the sixth column at the age of eleven. But due to various circumstances, mainly the perverse nature of this odd column, Wolf expected a delay of at least two whole years.

However, with this new strengthening of his Mental Aspect, he believed he’d be able to wrap it up in two to three months. Then the other columns would also progress in the fraction of the originally expected time and all the columns of the first Mind Hall should all be finished by the time Wolf turned fourteen, maybe fifteen.

Once he ran those numbers Wolf smiled and carved with renewed zeal. If he worked hard enough, then one day he would be able to take down the barbarian Emperor of the Empire of Human.