Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 786: Spirit Parasite

Over a month had passed since Adam arrived at the City of Sails.

He had been anticipating Headmistress Godfreyʼs arrival. He wanted to see with his own eyes what she did when she entered the tunnel.

Until and unless he confirmed this, he would never act on his speculations, no matter how bizarre or reasonable they seemed.

Being as cautious as he was, the youth chose to camp out in the hills on the outskirts of the town. He wasnʼt going to risk being in the same place as the Headmistress.

She has been a Mana Vortex Magus for a long time now and was sure to have numerous spells up her sleeves.

Whereas, Adam had only just advanced to this rank. He would never risk being found out by the Headmistress.

On the off-chance that he came face-to-face with the old woman, he wouldnʼt know how to explain himself.

His being in Hannes City would raise alarms in the Headmistressʼ mind if she were truly a part of the Cult.

”Damn it,” he cursed under his breath. ”I was planning to visit Moon City and meet everyone there. But now…”

If the old headmistress was truly his enemy, then it was imperative that he remained in the shadows. Any wrong move, and the Cult Leader would be alerted.

He took shelter inside a cave as rain continued to fall outside relentlessly. The sound of the rainfall and the crackling of the firewood in front of him created a tranquil atmosphere.

For the last few weeks, he had been relaxing inside this cave. Practicing mindfulness here amidst nature was peaceful.

As for Valerian, Adam had thrown him into the jungles below, telling him to learn how to hunt and survive on his own. It was about time the little guy learned some survival skills.

He was a dragon, after all.

Not a cat.

Before him lay a small runic formation. At the center of the formation was a tiny caterpillar, restrained by magical means.

It was Adamʼs test subject.

Over the past weeks, he had diligently studied the Soul Puppetry based on his memories, written its teachings down on paper, decoded them, and had finally created a spell that mimicked this insidious technique.

The main reason why he was even able to replicate this advanced form of magic was because he had all of the Devil of Secretsʼ memories and experiences regarding it.

This allowed him to create a much milder version of the technique.

Soul Puppetry consisted of splitting a tiny part of the casterʼs soul, then converting the split soul into a parasite through a methodical process, and ultimately having the soul parasite infest the target.

But there was no way Adam was going to do that. Not now, anyways.

Despite having the white lotus that would allow him to completely heal his split soul—and perhaps even strengthen it in the process—he would have to go through a tremendous amount of pain that would leave him incapacitated for a long period of time.

Considering the current situation, this wasnʼt at all feasible to him. And thus, he created a technique that created the parasite with spiritual energy instead of his split soul!

Again, this was only possible because his mastery and control over his spiritual energy far exceeded that of his peers.

After countless trials and errors, he was finally able to create this new spell. After weaving a series of hand seals, a small magic circle lit up above his palm.

However, instead of fueling it with mana, like he usually did, he used spiritual energy.

Rank 2 Spell: Adamʼs Spirit Parasite!

The magic circle lit up with a dim light, and then a tiny maggot made out of the youthʼs spiritual energy was formed.

Adam gazed at the tiny white maggot on the palm of his hand and revealed a smile.

With a simple command, the maggot crawled out of his hand and towards the caterpillar in the center of the runic formation.

Within a few moments, the ethereal maggot seamlessly crawled inside the caterpillar. Seeing this, Adamʼs smile deepened.

Then, he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, his perspective had changed. Everything appeared bigger. He turned to the side and saw a giant figure draped in black robes sitting with his eyes closed and his back against the wall.

Success! He thought.

Or rather… the caterpillar thought.

He turned his body around, taking in everything from his new perspective.

Hmm, movement seems weird. Iʼm not used to this body… Understandable, he mused.

He turned around and crawled towards the mouth of the cave. Needless to say, it took him a long time to cover that small distance.

Whoa!

He exclaimed inwardly when he saw the breathtaking view outside. The stars in the night sky appeared bigger and much more beautiful than before.

It was easy to take things for granted when one experienced them every day. But a change in perspective went a long way. It reminded one of the many things to be grateful for.

Beautiful, Adam mused.

The caterpillar crawled forward, slowly descending the hill. Thanks to its physiology, it was able to crawl across the vertical surface without falling.

After what seemed like forever, it finally reached the dense underbrush. Even the blades of grass seemed like towering trees to him.

Adam willed the caterpillar to move around as he experimented with the spell. However, only a little more than an hour had passed before his connection with the spirit parasite started to wane.

Another fifteen minutes later, the spell had completely ceased to exist.

The spirit parasite inside the caterpillar dissipated into nothingness. As for the caterpillar… it too had ceased to exist.

Back in the cave, Adam opened his eyes and his brows gradually creased together. But a few moments later, his expression returned to normal.

”I see, so thatʼs what happened,” he murmured.

The caterpillar had perished not because of his spell. Well, not technically. It died because it was unable to withstand the pressure of Adamʼs spiritual energy, which was in the form of a maggot.

He surmised that if he infested his spirit parasite, say, into a bird or a slightly bigger animal, then this problem wouldnʼt occur.

Adam leaned back against the wall as he conjured a wine gourd from his earrings. He poured the wine into the flat cup and sipped from it, his eyes drawn to the fire burning before him.

The spirit parasite pales in comparison to the soul parasite, he thought.

For one, the spirit parasite comes with a time limit. Without a definitive power source, it will cease to exist.

Whereas the soul parasite does not have such a flaw. This parasite is made of a split soul that continuously generates power in the form of spirit energy.

Adam placed the cup down beside him. His eyes flashed with a peculiar glint as he thought about the other difference.

While the spirit parasite requires my active control to manipulate its host, the soul parasite… is different.

Once it infects a being, it acts independently because it is a fragment of me.

In other words, once the soul parasite fully takes hold…

The raven-haired youthʼs lips curled into a smirk.

The host becomes no different than my avatar!