Chapter 157 - 156: Elysius’s Whispering Mirror

Chapter 157: Chapter 156: Elysius’s Whispering Mirror

"A blackwood frame, a mirror surface like mist... It has to be it." Loris’s gaze was fixed on the Hand Mirror in Bruce’s mouth, his expression grim. "I’ve seen records of this mirror in the Church’s secret scrolls."

Hesia looked at him, puzzled. "Is this mirror special? What’s its story?"

"What I know is that this mirror can control people’s minds, but the scrolls didn’t record how it’s done."

"Control people’s minds?" Hesia raised an eyebrow. "Can’t some spells from the Enchantment School achieve a similar effect? It doesn’t sound... special enough to be specifically recorded by your Church."

"Oh, my dear friend, if that were all, why would it have caught my attention?" Loris shook his head, his tone more serious than ever. "The key isn’t the mirror itself, but its most famous former owner—Bedalin Quick."

’Bedalin Quick...’

Even someone as out of the loop as Hesia had heard that name.

If the Holy Knight Roland was the paragon of heroism parents used to teach their children to be "brave, kind, and honest," then Bedalin Quick was the terrifying legend who could make the most mischievous child dive under their covers, not daring to even peek out.

"Finish your peas, dear, or Bedalin will come tonight and turn all your toys into skeletons."

"If you don’t close your eyes, Bedalin’s Undead Servants will reach out from under the bed and tickle the soles of your feet until dawn!"

Even in marketplace squabbles, you could often hear curses like this: "You’d better watch it! Bedalin’s already got her eye on your family’s ancestral tomb—I hear she’s been looking for a few skeleton Attendants who can pour tea!"

There were enough anecdotes and strange tales about the legendary Necromancer to fill a tavern’s entire cellar.

Some said that in her youth, she was a brilliant Mage Apprentice. She once had an academic disagreement with a Druid instructor at her academy—he insisted that Necromancy "violated the laws of nature" and gave her a poor grade on her final evaluation.

In response, she turned the Magic Moss Carpet that the Druid had painstakingly cultivated for years into a talking scarf.

For a whole week, the scarf not only wrapped itself around the Druid’s neck day and night, but it also chattered endlessly in his ear:

"Death itself is a part of nature!"

"Decaying leaves nourishing new shoots is the true law of nature!"

What finally broke the Druid was that the scarf could even quote from the magical theses he had published in his youth to refute his own arguments.

Unlike purely evil Witch Demons or demon worshipers, Bedalin’s style was full of contradictions and whimsy, impossible to define as simply good or evil.

She once summoned an army of the Undead to protect a small town about to be swallowed by a Beast Tide, all for a perfectly baked piece of rye bread.

She also once dug up a duke’s entire family tomb because he mocked her fashion sense at a banquet. She had the lavishly dressed skeletal nobles throw a revelrous ball in the castle for three days and three nights, until the duke had a complete mental breakdown.

Hesia’s gaze returned to the mirror.

The legendary Necromancer’s Magic Item was currently covered in Bruce’s drool as the dog held it in its mouth.

’Judging by the diary’s contents, this mirror must be the one Jasmine’s teacher, Vio Bell, gave her.’

An idea struck Hesia, and he tried to cast a Fivik Identification Skill on the mirror.

However, the detailed information he expected didn’t appear. Only a short, fragmented line of text surfaced in his mind:

[Whispering Mirror of Elysius (4/7)]

All the information after that was blank, as if obscured by a powerful layer of Magic Power.

"Are there any other records of this mirror in your Church’s secret scrolls?" Hesia asked.

Loris shook his head. "No, it’s just briefly recorded as one of the Magic Items that Bedalin Quick frequently used in her early days."

"Don’t stare at that mirror for too long," came Jasmine’s ethereal, warning voice.

Hesia had only taken a quick glance with his Identification Skill and hadn’t looked closely, so he immediately averted his eyes upon hearing her words.

Jasmine added, a trace of lingering fear in her voice, "That mirror... it bewitches anyone who tries to interpret it. Even if you are its owner, it will constantly try to pull you under its control." Her Spirit Body flickered as she looked toward the Goblin Skeleton. "Vio Bell... he relied too much on the mirror’s Power, and in the end, it controlled him. That’s why he was killed by the Blood Axe Gang that night."

Although he couldn’t confirm all of the mirror’s functions with his Identification Skill, by combining the known information, Hesia could roughly deduce some of its effects.

First, the mirror possessed an Enchantment function similar to hypnosis, or subtly changing a person’s thoughts. Jasmine had been a victim of this when she was alive.

Second, it could contain the souls of the dead. And based on how Vio Bell’s soul was put into the Goblin Skeleton, it could also make a contained soul enter a designated target. This would explain the highly skilled Giant Axe Skeleton outside, as well as the Ghost Soul that looked like Jonathan earlier. They were most likely "stock" from inside the mirror.

’Plus, Jasmine just said Tammy’s soul is also inside the mirror, which means it can hold more than one soul. So, does the (4/7) from the identification mean it can hold a total of seven souls, and has already stored four?’

Hesia voiced his speculation.

Jasmine nodded. "Yes, there are indeed four souls living inside it now. As for its other functions, I’m not very clear on them either."

"Do these imprisoned souls still retain their own thoughts?" Loris couldn’t help but ask.

Jasmine’s Spirit Body swayed gently. "Thoughts... they don’t have them anymore. Or rather, they’ve been hollowed out, leaving only the shell of their memories."

Seeing everyone’s confusion, she used Tammy as an example. "Tammy... at first, she would still talk to me on her own, telling me how much she missed her father, begging me to let her possess a skeleton so she could bring him food. Back then, she had her own ’desires’."

"But later... she communicated with me less and less, and her voice grew more and more hollow. Until now..." Jasmine’s voice paused. "She no longer ’misses’ her father; she only ’remembers’ that she has a father. When I activate the mirror, she acts like a puppet, using those memories to follow my commands, but she herself will never generate any new thoughts again."

’So, what the mirror ultimately leaves behind isn’t a soul, but just the afterimage of one.’

’That’s probably all I can deduce for now,’ Hesia thought.

’To understand its complete functions, I’ll definitely have to find a way to successfully identify it. And of course, there’s the side effect to be wary of—the mirror tries to control its owner.’

’I just don’t know how it controls them, specifically.’

Something suddenly occurred to him, and he turned to Jasmine. "Did you tell my dog to fetch the mirror because you saw him break free from its control earlier?"

"Yes... I saw him struggle free on his own."

Everyone’s puzzled gazes instantly focused on Bruce.

The dog carefully placed the mirror on the ground and let out a "WOOF," his doggy face still shaken.

"When I was looking at that mirror just now, I felt my stomach getting hungrier and hungrier."

"Then I heard a voice in my head say that if I just breathed a puff of fire at my master, it would give me lots and lots of tasty food."

"I knew something was wrong right away, but I still asked it what kind of tasty food. Then I saw two giant roasted meat patties inside the mirror chasing me, shouting ’Come and eat me!’ while they ran. It scared me to death!"

Hesia: "..."

Zoya: "..."

Loris: "..."