Chapter 186 – Physical Changes and Spiritual Changes

Walking upstairs, Jace looked at the warlock bag, slammed the door behind him, covered the window, and said, “Saeuno, come out!”

The little ghost poked his head out of the warlock’s bag and said, “Master, I’m on the verge of losing my sense of time!”

“It’s for the best.” Jace said, “I have to ask you something, are you sure that spell is a life diversion?”

“Life diversion?” The Kid asked curiously.

“You forgot?”

Jace had just finished his question before realizing that he had also just picked two words from the common language that could correspond to Chinese and said them casually.

In a world where no one who knew the language had yet named the spell, it was only natural that the brat would know even less.

“Luhraven ……,” said Jace, “that spell, you remember, the spell from that broken scrap book, you said it was very evil.”

The spell had only been spoken at the beginning, and Jace felt as if those shadow energies in the air couldn’t wait.

“I remember, ha!” The Kid nodded and said, “Life Triage, you’ve given it a common language name already, that’s extraordinary. But we actually prefer to call him Vitality Sacrifice, so you sacrificed your own life vitality to transform into dark magic, master! Ah, that’s why I felt as if you were a bit different.”

“Not the same?”

Jace hadn’t actually felt anything, but now that the Kid had said that, it might not really be the same.

He vaguely regretted moving that spell in his mind, but really, what choice did he have to go back and do it all over again?

“After I moved the spell, it felt like all the Shadow powers rushed over to gnaw at my skin and body, but they also sparked some kind of …… power at the same time. I don’t feel like I’m getting any magic back, it’s more like the shadows are backfiring and turning me into a shadow creature.”

“This is the result of forcing that spell, master.” The little ghost explained, “The will of demons is far stronger than that of humans, when they sacrifice their vitality to be sacrificed as magic and shadow, although they will be shadowed, they can also manipulate these powers that they are attracted to, so that it can be used better for themselves. Your will, although stronger than the average mortal, is better than that of a demon well …… but you can’t be blamed for that! After all, you don’t come from a very good background!”

“Origin?” Jess asked, “You mean race?”

“Of course.” The Kid replied, “Races born in the Twisted Void are far more resistant to the Shadow than those raised under the protection of Azeroth!”

Jace asked again, “So I’ve Shadowed some?”

“Maybe!” The Kid said, “Since you said you used that forbidden spell!”

“Is there any way to reverse it?” Jace asked, “Or do I get Shadowed a little bit and I can never go back?”

“As I understand it, master, since you can be shadowed, you can naturally be flesh-and-blooded as well.” The little ghost shook his head and said, “But why flesh and blood again? If you intend to become a powerful warlock, wouldn’t it be better to transform yourself into a shadowy creature? Heh heh!”

“What are you laughing at?” Jess asked unhappily.

“Just thought the master was funny!” The little ghost said, “And wanting to get stronger, and always getting yourself some kind of obstacle. Is it only you who gets like that, or is it all humans?”

“There are all kinds of humans, how about I represent nothing.” Jace said, “I just don’t want to be a different person, I don’t know if you’re listening.”

“Can’t hear you.” Sëanor stopped his ADHD symptoms, stood still and said, “Even if you were Shadowed, wouldn’t you still be yourself? The Aeridans were transformed into Man’ari by the Great Lord of the Burning Legion, but there isn’t a creature in the Twisted Void who would argue that the Fraud isn’t the same Kilgardan as before.”

Man’ari is the Aeridan word for “twisted thing”, an almost cursed term that the Aeridans originally used to describe demons, but when they received the Dark Titan’s gift, they called themselves by it, as if in a vengeful sneer at their past selves.

“But.” Jace said, “Kilgardan no longer follows his original philosophy, he used to be one of the leaders of the Aeridans, pursuing wisdom and probing the secrets of the universe, but after accepting the power of the Burning Legion he became a different person all of a sudden.”

“It could not be because he has explored the wisdom and secrets of what he wants, master.” The Kid said, “Even without discussing the Eredar sorcerer, I know that even in the short life of a human, there are uncountable times of change, changes that are even greater than those before and after Kilgardan met his master! And the opportunity …… that induces these human changes is far less than the power given by his master! But can you say that they wouldn’t be the same person?”

“But that’s a spiritual change.” Jess said.

“So the reference to physical changes – if you get an arm cut off by an enemy, you’re no longer Jace Sesso?” The Kid added.

“We have different ideas about each other, and it’s not unusual for you to disagree all of a sudden.” Jace said, “Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear – it’s the change I hate. My goal is to get as strong as I can with as little change to my will of the moment as possible, and all you have to do is help me in that regard. Stop arguing with me, what’s the point if you win, you’re going to have to listen to me anyway, and I have a feeling we’re going to turn philosophical if we keep discussing it.”

“Understood!” The little ghost replied, “But master, there’s nothing I can do at the moment, if you want to change as little as possible, then you can only try not to use that spell as much as possible!”

“I sure do.” Jace said, “That’s enough for today, back to the pack, we should be leaving Dalaran tomorrow.”

The kid nodded vigorously, then jumped into the bag.

Jace helped tie the bag tightly with his mouth and hands, then carefully moved to the bed and lay down on his side, a pang of gloom never lifting from his mind. Had he really been Shadowed?

The little ghost shouldn’t be able to lie to itself; after all, it had never told any definite lies.

He was thinking of never using that spell again, but …… if it hadn’t been for that spell, and now he and Walesa and Kefal were all dead, then what was this?

Thinking about all this nonsense kept him awake until midnight, depressed to the core.

How do you cheer up?

Why don’t you just take a look at those gold coins.

Opening the bag, the big golden Terrenus II forehead was one brighter than the other, which made it even more difficult to sleep.