80 The Meaning of Equipment Part 1 (1/2)

Saleen felt as though he had entered a large empty space. He eyed his surroundings and indeed, it was a black space in the shape of a square. There was no light shining into the black space, and yet, Saleen could easily perceive all of the changes happening within the space.

Saleen felt as though he had returned to the day his magic chords had begun. It was just that he saw many more elements being arranged into an orderly manner inside the space, and they were all undergoing changes.

Since Saleen had previously observed the Figaro formula, he had already realized that the elements that were being arranged in this space were in fact a kind of formula too. However, this formula was much more complicated, and he was not able to comprehend it.

Once he had calmed his mind down, Saleen realized that his physical body was not in this space. Or rather, that he had taken on a virtual form inside the space. The elements in the space were able to pass through him. Furthermore, his virtual self was three-dimensional, and had been made out of countless elements.

On the left side in the black space was a door. Saleen thought about walking towards the door, and before he knew it, he had teleported in front of the door.

On the other side of the door was another black space, identical to the first one. The two black spaces seemed identical to one another, but Saleen could already see the arrangement of its elements and quickly realized that this second black space contained another complicated formula.

Saleen became deep in thought and looked in front of him. At the end of the second black space was another door.

But how would he get out of this?

Saleen had never done any research on these magic formulas, but he walked towards the second door. Past the second door was yet another black space, and the elements in there were arranged to show a third magic formula.

Saleen kept going forward. He went through twenty-three doors and finally came to a space that looked familiar to him.

Indeed, Saleen felt that this space was very familiar, thinking that he had seen that collective formula before. Wasn’t… wasn’t this the Figaro formula?

Except that the formula he was looking at right now seemed to be more complete and perfect than the one he had seen in Faerun’s place. The arrangement of the six great elements seemed to be clearer too.

Oh, so this was what happened.

Saleen had thought of a piece of information that he had once read in a book.

Soul projection!

Soul projection was a magic dating back to the First Dynasty. People at the time had only used their bare hands to engage in combat, and there was no need for props. They could tear through space and traverse through the vertical and horizontal planes of space. Soul projection was an ability that everyone had.

As Saleen was thinking about soul projection, he realized that his virtual body was slowly diminishing, as the elements began to separate. Saleen did not try to stop this process. He actually took it calmly and started observing the changes closely.

The elements within the black space began swirling. Saleen’s virtual form starting floating and was sucked into the vortex. As he was spun about furiously, Saleen felt that he was being thrown about repeatedly.

Ker, ker…

Saleen started coughing violently, and his head came out of the water. He realized that he had still been bathing in the wooden tub. There were no changes to the room, and the temperature of the water remained the same.

Ever since Saleen had obtained his magic chords, this had been the first time he had choked on water.

Ker…

Saleen coughed out the water that had gone into him, and could not help but start laughing. He did not understand how he had been able to execute soul projection. But Saleen did not need to understand. He just needed to know the effects of the necklace that he possessed.

The necklace contained twenty-four magic formulas. As long as a person had sufficient mental strength, they could use soul projection to enter the necklace to observe and learn. Right now, Saleen’s mental strength was inadequate. Therefore, he had been unable to continue projecting his soul into the necklace and had been expelled from it.

Twenty-four pieces of crystal made up the black necklace. Each of the twenty-four pieces contained a magic formula inside, and one of the pieces contained the Figaro formula.

To a mage, this necklace was priceless.

In this day and age, it was almost impossible for someone to be self-learned and succeed in magic. Without a teacher, a mage would find it difficult to understand the true laws of magic. And this necklace was one of the best teachers a mage could ever find.

”Nailisi,” Saleen called out. Nailisi stood at the door weakly and replied, but she did not enter.

”How long has it been?”

”Seventy-three thousand seven hundred and seventy-four frames, Master.”