Chapter 93: Sensing the Myst

In the royal palace of the Denian Kingdom, Barbosa sat upon the throne and spoke. “You look dissatisfied, Maximus.”

Maximus scowled and replied, “How could I not? Why does that barbarian receive such special treatment?”

After the recent Dungeon incident, every mercenary who participated underwent investigation. Only Ketal was excluded, all because of Barbosa’s direct command, which Maximus found deeply unfair.

“I know that the barbarian has ties to the head of the Akasha family,” Maximus continued. “He also rightfully deserves compensation for escorting Princess Elene here. But this is still too much.”

Barbosa simply smiled, aware that Maximus hadn’t heard his earlier conversation with the Tower Master.

Instead of explaining, Barbosa asked, “What do you think would’ve happened if our mercenaries hadn’t returned this time?”

“I can’t say for sure, but it would have caused a huge crisis for the kingdom,” Maximus replied.

According to Cartman, the Dungeon boss intentionally chose not to kill the mercenaries. However, if the Dungeon had fully reclaimed its original form and the boss had absorbed the mercenaries’ life force, it could have turned into something far more dangerous, possibly shaking the entire kingdom to its core.

“I’m not sure if it was planned or just coincidence...” Barbosa murmured. After a brief pause, he propped his chin on one hand and murmured, “The Earth Goddess has delivered a revelation.”

“What?” Maximus asked him, eyes widening.

The Earth Goddess was one of two major deities ruling this world, alongside the Sun God. Although the Sun God’s church was more prominent, the Earth Goddess oversaw the land itself, which gave her enormous influence. A revelation from her was never trivial, so Maximus listened intently.

“She told me to prepare for evil. That’s all,” Barbosa said.

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

Maximus felt bewildered, since this revelation was extremely vague. Typically, revelations about evil were unmistakably direct, often specifying deadlines or time frames, so this seemed quite unusual.

“However it appears, evil will come here, and we must be ready,” Barbosa added.

“I understand,” Maximus said, though he grimaced after a moment of thought. “Still, I don’t see what that has to do with the barbarian...”

“Don’t be too hard on him. I’m the one who requested this,” came a sudden voice from behind him.

Maximus, startled, whirled around. He hadn’t sensed anyone’s presence, and he clumsily reached for his sword. However, he froze mid-draw. “You’re...?”

“We meet again. Actually, for you, it’s the first time seeing me, since I didn’t reveal myself before.”

A lich stood before Maximus.

Barbosa greeted him in an even tone, “Welcome, Tower Master.”

“Yes, I heard something intriguing was happening,” the Tower Master said.

“It may not be amusing, but I do have news that will interest you,” Barbosa replied.

“I already know about the Dungeon. I’m sure the barbarian has to do something with it.”

“There is something else,” Barbosa continued, ignoring Maximus’s confusion. “The Lutein Kingdom, which was devoured by the Anomaly, has started to take action.”

***

“Ketal,” Arkemis called out to Ketal, who had been absorbed in a book. When Ketal turned to look at her, she held her hand. A small orb rested in her palm.

“What’s that?” Ketal asked.

“It’s what you’ve been asking for.”

“Oh?” Ketal’s eyes gleamed, and he closed his book.

Arkemis spoke again. “This is a catalyst that helps you perceive Myst. I finished making it.”

“Wow, so, this is it?” Ketal studied the orb in Arkemis’s hand, his face lighting up.

It was tiny—barely the size of her pinky nail.

It’s like one of those miraculous pills you read about in martial arts novels,

Ketal thought.

Considering its purpose was to awaken one’s sense of Myst, it wasn’t so different from those legendary elixirs.

Arkemis handed him the bead. “Just the cost alone to make this could’ve built at least a building—maybe more.”

“That’s impressive. I owe both you and Milayna for this, and I’ll find a way to repay the favor.” Ketal grinned broadly as he turned the orb over in his fingers. “So, what do I do next?”

“You’ve tried focusing your senses to detect Myst before, right?”

“I have, yes.”

“It’s similar. Once you swallow that orb, expand your senses to sense Myst.”

A large amount of Myst was stored inside the orb. Once ingested, it would circulate within the body.

“When that happens, you concentrate and let as much of that energy as possible settle into you,” Arkemis continued.

“Is there anything I need to be careful about?”

“In rare cases, if your body can’t handle the sudden surge of Myst, it can break down.” Arkemis paused, then eyed Ketal’s physique. He had a perfectly sculpted body without an ounce of spare flesh. Rather than looking merely alive, he seemed more like a statue. “I doubt you’ll have any issues.”

“Then can I start right away?” Ketal asked her, his excitement obvious.

Arkemis nodded. Ketal stepped outside into a field and sat down. Arkemis tilted her head when she saw how he crossed his legs.

“That’s a strange pose. Isn’t it uncomfortable?” she asked him.

“This is actually how I’m most comfortable.”

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“It doesn’t look comfortable at all.”

Ketal ignored her skepticism and gazed at the orb in his hand. His heart pounded with excitement, like the protagonist in a martial arts novel who stumbled upon a life-changing opportunity. He suppressed a grin that threatened to escape.

“Swallow the orb and focus. Expand your awareness, and embrace the Myst as it flows through you,” Arkemis instructed.

“Understood.” Ketal placed the orb into his mouth. His throat bobbed as he swallowed it down.

With a short breath, he closed his eyes and extended his senses. Beyond his field of vision, the entire forest became part of his awareness. He perceived the worms tunneling through the dirt, the butterfly fluttering onto a flower, and even the baby birds chirping in a distant nest. All of it came within Ketal’s range of perception.

“What...?” Arkemis suddenly staggered back, alarmed by a strange sensation. She stared at Ketal with wide, shocked eyes.

At that very moment, Ketal began to feel the Myst.

So, this is it,

Ketal thought. He nearly let out a gasp. A bizarre, overwhelming sensation coursed through him.

It wasn’t touch or sight.

It wasn’t smell, taste, or hearing either.

It was none of the five senses.

It was a sixth sense, something he had never experienced or even fathomed before. It felt like a blind person suddenly gaining sight or someone who had never walked before getting up and running. An entire new world opened up to him.

He was genuinely moved, even more so than when he first escaped the White Snowfield or encountered elves. He wanted to stay immersed in this new awareness forever, but like a fire that eventually burns down to embers, it began to fade.

Regret washed over him as the sixth sense flickered out, leaving an empty hollowness inside. Arkemis, who had been watching, looked just as taken aback.

“Hold on, why did it disappear?” she asked him, confused. She had sensed Myst blossoming within Ketal. He should have been able to awaken. Yet, just as quickly, that energy vanished.

“Don’t look at me. I guess this is abnormal?”

“Of course it is! I’ve never seen anything like it.” Arkemis fell silent, lost in thought. She had known there was a chance of failure, given how unusual Ketal’s body was.

If he couldn’t open the path of Myst, it was possible his body would reject them entirely. Yet, he had clearly felt the Myst, even if only briefly, which meant there was indeed a path.

Arkemis frowned and finally spoke. “I need to examine the inside of your body.”

***

“But didn’t that approach fail before?” Ketal asked Arkemis.

Both Swordmaster Kain and Arkemis had tried observing the inside of Ketal’s body before, yet neither found anything.

“With the normal methods, yes,” Arkemis replied.

Ketal’s body was incredibly vast and deep. Simple observation alone couldn’t locate the path of Myst within him.

“But there’s a way to delve even deeper,” Arkemis added.

“Really? You can do that?” Ketal asked her.

“I can use a catalyst to synchronize your body with mine. It requires a bit of preparation, but I can do it right away. The problem is...” Arkemis looked at Ketal with a slightly hesitant expression. “This process synchronizes our bodies, so your entire physique will become part of my perception. Are you okay with that?”

“I don’t mind,” Ketal replied.

Ketal’s immediate, unwavering reply startled Arkemis. “Are you absolutely sure?”

“Of course, it doesn’t bother me.”

Experiencing Myst was far more important to him than any qualms about this technique. He couldn’t forget that sixth sense he had felt before, which alone justified everything he had gone through since arriving in the world. Synchronizing their bodies seemed like a trivial cost by comparison.

However, Arkemis looked oddly moved. “So you really do trust me that much.”

Ketal was unaware, but the method Arkemis described was quite risky. If someone harbored ill intentions, they could shatter the other’s body or leave them crippled.

This was only possible between individuals who had complete faith in each other. Anyone with a basic understanding of the world would know how dangerous it could be.

Naturally, Arkemis assumed Ketal was fully aware of the risks and had chosen to trust her regardless. She found it profoundly touching.

After all, she was an elf—essentially a different species from humans. No matter how well they got along or how many bonds they forged, there was always a gap in trust that couldn’t be easily closed. Even with Milayna, she only had a contractual relationship, not a truly close bond.

Arkemis might never have shown it openly, but she often felt lonely. Yet here was a barbarian who put his faith in her, even though she was an elf—someone his kind might naturally dislike. She couldn’t help feeling deeply grateful. Resolute, she clenched her fist.

“Okay, I will make sure you awaken your Myst,” she said. She set about her preparations immediately. Mixing various materials, she created a single catalyst. Then she applied it to Ketal’s back, tracing a pattern.

“What’s this for?” Ketal asked her.

“I’m creating a pathway so I can enter inside you, in a manner of speaking.”

When she finished, Arkemis took a deep breath. “You’re absolutely sure about this?”

“Absolutely, I trust you.” Ketal had seen plenty of scenes like this in stories and felt no particular resistance.

“All right, then.” Wearing a serious expression, Arkemis placed her hand on Ketal’s back. “Relax your muscles. It may feel unpleasant, but bear with it.”

He nodded, and Arkemis focused her senses, sending her mind through the path she had drawn.

“Is this the feeling?” Ketal asked with a small smile.

He could sense something entering his body. It was slightly off-putting, but also fascinating—yet another new sensation.

So this is it,

Arkemis thought. Now inside Ketal’s body, she marveled.

It really is... vast.

Deep and expansive, his interior explained why she hadn’t been able to find the path of Myst before. She probed further, searching for that elusive path. She traveled beyond areas that simple Myst probing could reach.

The deeper she went, the more stunned she became.

Is this even a human body?

Even in a synchronized state, there seemed to be no end. It felt less like a human body and more like an unimaginably colossal power compressed into human form.

It felt like someone had etched the concept of strength into this body tens of thousands of times, creating astonishing density.

Shocked, she grimaced.

Wait a minute.

While in sync with his body, she felt a mounting pressure the longer she remained. It was nearly unbearable.

My mind can’t handle his body?

She was a Transcendent, yet she was being overwhelmed by the raw force of a barbarian who knew nothing of Myst. Horrified, she gritted her teeth and pushed deeper.

The crushing pressure intensified, like a person descending into the ocean depths. Her consciousness was on the verge of collapse, but she held on. Finally, at the very limit, she saw something—a dried-up path of Myst.

The instant she recognized it, Arkemis abruptly withdrew her hand.

“Ugh!

” She gasped and released the breath she’d been holding. Cold sweat poured down her.

“Are you done?” Ketal asked her, turning around.

Arkemis stared at him in disbelief. “What... are you?”

***

Arkemis had nearly lost her mind when she synchronized with Ketal’s body. It meant her consciousness couldn’t withstand the pressure of his flesh. And to her knowledge, there was only one reason that could happen.

His very essence is above mine,

she thought.

In other words, if the other person’s body possessed a greater

rank,

it would overwhelm her mind.

But something... feels off.

When someone’s rank surpassed hers, she normally felt awe, a sensation that made her own existence seem humble. Yet, with Ketal, the feeling was different. She did feel belittled, but not because of reverence.

It’s twisted, indescribable. Almost like terror,

she thought.

It was more alien and warped than mere superiority. When she explained this to Ketal, he simply looked puzzled.

“I’m human, though,” he said.

“You certainly don’t seem human.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Ketal had only survived by completing Quests in the White Snowfield. Ketal looked genuinely clueless, prompting Arkemis to frown.

“Come to think of it, when we first met, I mistook you for a higher species. I still have no idea what you really are,” she said. She composed herself and spoke again. “Anyway, I managed to confirm the existence of the path of Myst inside you.”

“Oh? So I do have one?”

“Yes. But there’s a major problem. It’s dried up—completely withered. That’s probably why you sensed Myst for a moment, then lost them.”

The Myst Ketal had held within him wasn’t enough to fully revive that path. It was like pouring water into a bottomless jar. For a while, it could fill up, but eventually, it could all drain away.

“I’m not sure why it is so desiccated,” Arkemis said. It felt like something that had regressed over hundreds, or even thousands of generations.

Despite the oddity, now that she had confirmed the path’s existence, the next step was straightforward: revive it. But how to do that remained a difficult question.

Arkemis fell silent, deep in thought. “I still have leftover materials, so it shouldn’t be complicated—if I can figure out how to restore it.”

“What methods are available?” Ketal asked her.

“There are a few, but the simplest is to replace the path entirely.”

If the original channel was that severely withered, there was no point wasting resources trying to fix it. Finding a new path made more sense.

“The catch is, finding a catalyst that can serve as a conduit for Myst is extremely difficult,” Arkemis explained.

“That challenging?”

“High-quality materials alone won’t work.”

Because it had to become the path for absorbing Myst, the material itself couldn’t create resistance; it had to accept everything and blend seamlessly into the body.

“The stronger a catalyst is, the more personality it has—and the fiercer its resistance,” she continued.

“Hm.” Ketal considered her words carefully: there had to be no resistance, and it had to be able to hold everything. He realized he possessed something that met these conditions.

“Will this work?” From a leather pouch, Ketal grabbed an object that made Arkemis tilt her head.

“Iridescent particles?” Arkemis asked him.

“You said it needs to meet your criteria. I’m not sure if it can be used for alchemy, though.”

It was the Nano that had once replaced a human body. It neither resisted nor clashed; it simply substituted itself into a human body. Although it was inert now, Ketal doubted it had lost its underlying properties.

“I have no idea what this is, but I’ll check,” Arkemis said without much expectation. She accepted the orb and ran a few tests.

Afterward, as night fell, Ketal returned to the capital. By the following morning, Arkemis greeted him with dark rings under her eyes.

“What... is this?” Arkemis asked him, pointing at the iridescent particles.