When A Mage Revolts

"You guys stay here, don’t go anywhere. As for the King, I’ll explain everything to him."

Benjamin untied the two people bound to the chairs with a shake of his head, then left the room. These two kids did not know a lot about the foreign cult’s secrets, they had already revealed everything they knew so there was no point in continuing the interrogation.

Moreover, Benjamin really did not want to kill them off.

If there was a chance that he might one day visit the archipelago across the seas, then these two would serve him well in leading him there.

After leaving the room, Benjamin started walking back, all the while mulling over the extensive information he had received today. Psychic powers were a complex system that existed independently of magic, there were a lot of aspects of it that asked for serious pondering; Benjamin did not dare say that he had completely understood it.

As for ways to dispel of the Spiritual Energy fragment – although nobody had managed to do so yet, Benjamin was not ready to give up yet.

"I think it is best that you do not attempt to alter your Spiritual Energy further." The System continued, "Remember that time you were almost assimilated into the elemental plane? The space of consciousness and the elemental plane are growing closer to each other, I’m afraid that you would only bring severe harm to yourself if you were to try."

"But... where am I going to find a mage that possesses Spiritual Energy on par with me that would be willing to give up magic to start practicing psychic powers?"

The stakes were just too high, and Benjamin just could not think of anybody else that would be suitable.

"You don’t necessarily have to abide by their ways of doing things," the System replied, "all of their skills are formed from the mimicry of the elemental plane, and you are the only person on the face of this earth that can enter and leave the elemental plane at will."

"You mean..."

"Search for a solution in the elemental plane, and you just might find another solution."

Benjamin’s tone revealed his exasperation as he said, "That is not something that I can control. Every time I have entered the elemental plane before this had been due to the circumstances at the time allowing me to do so; it is not a process that I can replicate at will."

"No..." the System hesitated for a moment before continuing, "this time you can enter for sure because I think I’m about to split again."

"..."

Benjamin was at a loss for words.

Benjamin then entered the space of consciousness. In that black space, he saw clusters of yellowish-orange things float about under the light of the runic star chart. They jumped around rapidly, making it hard for Benjamin to focus on them.

After splitting three times, the System now had eight ridiculous avatars. At the rate it was going, after the next split, Benjamin’s space of consciousness would then have sixteen of these clowns.

Why was he subjected to this hell?

"Don’t blame me, it’s not like I wanted it to happen." Suddenly, all the avatars flew towards Benjamin, surrounding him. The System then sighed and continued, "Controlling so many bodies at once is quite a tiring job, you know."

Benjamin smiled in return, "Then let me cut these avatars up."

With a whoosh, the avatars disappeared without a trace. After that, a far-off robotic voice could be heard shouting in distress, "You bastard! You deserve to be stabbed a thousand times. After all the effort I’ve put in for you, does it not hurt your conscience?"

Benjamin could only shake his head helplessly.

No matter what, it was not possible for him to avoid the System’s continuous splitting, he could only learn to accept it. What an absolute burden.

After returning to reality, Benjamin first went to see the King. He briefly explained the situation that they were facing but kept some key details secret, symbolizing the need to wait. The King was evidently distressed, so Benjamin did his best to console him.

Shortly after that, Benjamin returned to his room.

The System would soon split again. As long as Benjamin kept meditating, the arrival of that day would be sped up. Honestly speaking, he did not look forward to it at all, but he had no choice as their current situation was forcing him to act.

While the water elements condensed, this time, Benjamin took control of more and more water elements and poured them into those jumpy avatars. In the process of doing so, he could even see the eyes of the avatars slowly expand, like a bunch of inflatable dolls that were being pumped full of air, causing them to be on the verge of popping.

They won’t explode, right?

Benjamin could not help but think so.

He toyed with these weird thoughts for a while but did not actually expect his ridiculous speculation to come true.

With a loud bang, all eight avatars exploded. Fissures split their smiling faces in half, which was followed by the appearance of two smaller faces re-appearing from the remains. They flew towards Benjamin like falling stars.

Benjamin felt his heart drop.

Sixteen avatars surrounded him, all jumping around. He felt like a mother quail that had just hatched its eggs.

Thankfully, he did not have to face this situation for long. After a short while, the runic star chart up above his head suddenly started going through some weird changes. A blue ray of light suddenly shone down on Benjamin. When Benjamin lifted his head to look at it, his vision started to blur before the entire world turned pure blue.

This time, however, there was no longer any colored fog. Instead, it had returned to how it had been in the beginning, where the runes were like celestial bodies – an endless ocean of blue.

Benjamin took a deep breath.

Unlike before, his entrance this time had a clear goal.

"Did you follow me through? Say something." He could no longer speak out loud, so he could only talk to the System through telepathy.

"I’m here."

The answer came from a voice seemingly in front of him.

"Then quickly tell me what to do." Benjamin heaved a sigh of relief before continuing, "How do I look for the way to remove the Spiritual Energy fragment in this place?"

"Hmm... let me look around..."

The System’s voice faded away and Benjamin could do nothing but wait, helpless and with no clue as to what to do.

The surrounding runes floated by in the air. Benjamin could already recognize a few of the runes; that was Affinity, and the other one was Damaging... the rest were all unfamiliar runes, but at least there was some improvement.

Benjamin felt a strong urge to do something towards the runes, but he knew from previous experience that doing anything would just result in his death. And so, he simply buried the urge.

As he was overcome with boredom after such a long wait, the System’s voice finally reappeared.

"Okay, I’ve found the King’s coordinates." He continued mumbling something that Benjamin could not understand and then said, "Now move according to my instructions, walk forward until I ask you to stop."

Although Benjamin was confused, he did as he was told.

In the Pure Blue World, Benjamin took a few careful steps forward. The System’s orders to him were weird and seemingly random, which led him to suspect that long ago, the System obtained a skill here that had granted it the power to see all and hear all, like a god.

Then, could it possibly be the same now?

A god’s perspective was amazing, so Benjamin could use this chance to properly find out the Church’s secrets, or to investigate that foreign cult. However, what had the Spiritual Energy fragment in the King’s brain got to do with anyway?

His doubts continued to build up as he continued walking. After a short while, the System barked at him to halt and Benjamin froze in place.

"It’s this spot," said the System, "right in front of you lies the King on his bed, sleeping away soundly next to a nude woman. There’s no point in you trying to see it, because, in your current state, you will not be able to see anything."