Chapter 66: Aftermath of Death

In the meditation room.

Felix let out a muffled groan. His forehead was drenched in cold sweat, and crimson blood streamed down his nose. He clutched his stomach with one hand and pressed his nose with the other to stop the flow.

His abdomen felt filled with death. It wasn't pain, but an empty void. It was as if a rift had opened between his upper and lower body, leaving him disconnected from himself. Even as he held his stomach, it felt more like gripping a lifeless slab of meat than a part of his own body.

This was the aftereffect of dying in the Virtual World. The trauma wasn't just physical. It could wreak havoc on the soul and sever all sensory perception of reality.

A faint, almost imperceptible wail escaped as the ruby in Felix's necklace shattered violently. A One-Winged entity, formed of pure light, dispersed into the air. This was the artifact spirit, Dragon's Belly Scale. Its effect was to transfer all fatal damage suffered in the Virtual World to the abdomen. It was a closely guarded secret behind the Vlozrada Family's enduring strength.

When a sorcerer died in the Virtual World, the damage that killed them was reflected in their soul, causing them to lose a portion of their soul energy. Without enough soul energy, they couldn't pass through the Door of Truth. Until their soul energy was restored, re-entering the Virtual World was impossible.

Since the soul and body were intricately linked, even a small loss of soul energy could lead to temporary "soul disability." If the soul in the chest was damaged, the heart would beat weakly for a long time, rendering the sorcerer immobile. If the soul in the limbs was harmed, the sorcerer would lose control over their arms and legs. If the head suffered damage, the sorcerer would immediately lose consciousness. Only when the soul energy was restored could the body begin functioning normally again.

This was why a goal that seemed attainable, like navigating the Sea of Knowledge, often turned into an unreachable horizon for many sorcerers. Life demanded attention not only to the present but to the future as well. Not all sorcerers could dedicate themselves to full-time training, and every death in the Virtual World resulted in a significant loss.

Because death was inevitable, and soul trauma was a part of the cost, sorcerers had developed ways to minimize these losses. One such method was to fix fatal damage to less vital parts of the body.

The Dragon's Belly Scale was the Vlozrada Family's exclusive Miracle. Through complex rituals, they extracted its effect and sealed it into a gemstone, forming a temporary artifact spirit. When a member of their family died in the Virtual World, the artifact spirit would activate and transfer all fatal damage to the abdomen.

Apart from a few days of soft foods due to a weakened digestive system, the sorcerer faced almost no consequences for the death they suffered in the Virtual World.

In addition to the Dragon's Belly Scale, the Vlozrada Family also possessed another Miracle, the Dragon's Banquet, which allowed for the rapid restoration of soul energy in the abdomen through eating, shortening the cooldown time to re-enter the Virtual World.

With these two Miracles, the Vlozrada Family sorcerers were able to minimize the cost of death in the Virtual World, greatly improving their exploration efficiency and increasing their chances of advancing to Two-Winged Gold or even Three-Winged Sacred Realm sorcerers. This was the foundation of the family's centuries-long prosperity.

Other ducal families also had similar measures in place. A robust sorcerer cultivation system had become almost a standard for noble families. Losing a single talented sorcerer could spell disaster for a once-flourishing family.

In the face of the Virtual World, all sorcerers were equal. The only difference was that some managed to secure more advantages than others. Despite reducing the cost of death, however, some losses were unavoidable.

Felix focused on his spirit[1], and his vision immediately went black. He nearly passed out.

My Killing Intent spirit is gone!

When a sorcerer died in the Virtual World, there was a chance they could lose their spirit. Spirits resided within a sorcerer's soul. If part of the soul energy was lost upon death, that portion might include a spirit, which would disappear along with it.

The more spirits a sorcerer possessed, the higher the chance of losing them, and the greater the quantity lost.

Felix had mentally prepared for the possibility of losing some spirits, but he never expected his first death to cost him his most precious Killing Intent spirit! It was one of the legendary Twenty-One Secret Sword Spirits and had been a relic left to him by his mother. A spirit of such caliber was virtually impossible to acquire. Even if it were available for purchase, a neglected noble like Felix could never afford it. Moreover, he had not yet fully mastered the Killing Intent spirit, meaning he couldn't even summon it on his own.

The only small consolation for Felix was that his Silver Wing had already formed halfway, shortening his training time by more than a year.

No sorcerer would ever pass up such an opportunity, least of all Felix, who burned with a thirst for revenge and power. After plunging into the Whirlpool and crossing thousands of miles in an instant, what awaited him was a Rookie Fish-Slaying Dragon.

Knowledge Creatures were divided into several stages: Baby, Rookie, Champion, and Perfect. The outer seas of the Sea of Knowledge housed only Baby creatures, while Rookies roamed the middle seas. Champion creatures appeared on occasion in the core seas. As for Perfect ones, they never appeared in the Sea of Knowledge at all.

According to the Knowledge Creature Encyclopedia, Fish-Slaying Dragons ranked among the stronger species in the Virtual World. The fact that this one was a Rookie only made the situation worse. Felix immediately knew this was far from an ideal encounter.

Sensing his impending doom, he threw everything he had into a desperate, last-ditch attempt to kill the dragon. But with too few spirits and insufficient mastery, he managed only to wound it severely before meeting his end beneath its razor-sharp tail.

Felix let out a long sigh. "I may have lost the Killing Intent spirit, but at least half of my Silver Wing has formed..."

Despite his efforts to comfort himself, he could not tell whether he had gained more than he had lost.

Mana was indispensable to any sorcerer, but the Killing Intent spirit had been his lifeline. Without it, he might never have survived the repeated assassination attempts against him.

"But this also means I can inherit more of mom's legacy," Felix muttered, his expression darkening as his fist clenched. "Just wait, Bessel. One day, I'll make you kneel and apologize to my mother..."

His body was weak, and after an entire night without moving, a tight discomfort lingered in his chest, leaving his breathing uneven. Once he confirmed that the meditation room was empty, he loosened the bindings around it, and his breath gradually steadied. With the pressure gone, he leaned against the wall and rested for a while.

After half an hour, Felix dressed and stepped out of the Meditation Tower.

Having just experienced his first death in the Virtual World, his body had yet to recover. A sudden weakness spread through his legs, and he stumbled. He barely steadied himself with the scabbard at his side.

Just then, someone from behind placed a hand on his shoulder, helping him regain his balance. "

Heh

, Young Master Vlozrada, why the grumpy look so early in the morning?"

Felix glanced back calmly. "You seem in good spirits. Caught something worthwhile?"

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

It was Sonya. She looked bright and refreshed. She raised an eyebrow. "You could say that. You'll find out in Professor Trosan's office this afternoon."

Petty little triumph.

From Felix's perspective, Sonya's swordsmanship talent was truly one in ten thousand. His only criticisms were her vanity, insecurity, and cleverness without wisdom... Without her gift, she would be no different from the mediocre female sorcerers he had met before. At best, he could only consider her a talented village girl.

Nevertheless, Felix couldn't help feeling a pang of envy. Others might assume he was a sword prodigy too, but he knew full well that without the Affinity spirit his mother had left him, he could never have advanced his Wave stance quickly enough to summon the Wave spirit.

He had paid a steep price for it. Before gaining his mana, the only way he could trigger the spirit was by constantly changing girlfriends. That earned him a notorious reputation and nearly made him a disgrace to the Vlozrada Family.

But now, things were different. After passing through the Whirlpool, he felt that he had far outpaced her and no longer considered her a contender. He had now set his sights on the Orange Dancer, Leona, and the monsters lurking in Truth University.

While he was deep in thought, a familiar flow of energy caught his attention. "

Hm?"

He looked up and saw several students stealing glances at Sonya. News of her victory over Leona had spread across all sorcerer universities in Cailleach yesterday. She had undeniably become the most prominent student. From the way she walked away with a calm, composed demeanor, it was clear she was enjoying the attention.

However, Felix was able to sense something deeper. He noticed that Sonya could draw a certain energy from the attention she received, and it was an energy that he recognized all too well from his own experience.

He activated his Blind Sight spirit and closed his eyes. In the surrounding darkness, he spotted threads of crimson smoke drifting toward Sonya.

That's Killing Intent!

The passive effect of the Killing Intent spirit was that it absorbed any killing intent directed at its owner. Other spirits could do the same, but for some reason, Felix was certain that Sonya had just acquired a Killing Intent spirit.

Could that be the same Killing Intent spirit I lost in my fight against the Fish-Slaying Dragon?

He quickly dismissed the thought, convinced that such a coincidence was nearly impossible. Besides, the battle with the dragon had taken place near the Whirlpool. For Sonya to have obtained it, she would have had to pass through the Whirlpool as well. Before his death, Felix had seen the Whirlpool on the verge of collapse, nearly disappearing entirely.

In short, Sonya had simply been lucky and acquired a wild Killing Intent spirit.

Felix's envy manifested as hunger. This was a side effect of his soul injury. Every emotional shift now directly affected his abdominal organs. Joy made him feel full, while anger or jealousy left him ravenous. Overeating was out of the question, or he risked suffering from constipation.

Once he calmed himself, Felix considered whether he could seize the Killing Intent spirit from Sonya. But he quickly shook his head. He would have to answer to Professor Trosan if he tried to take it by force, and attempting to buy it would be impossible with so many competitors.

Yet the Killing Intent spirit was critical to him. If there was hope, he had to act.

Sonya had not gone far.

Clenching his teeth, Felix opened his eyes and shouted, "Sonya!"

1. A reminder that artifact spirit is not the same as spirit. ☜