Siderius turned his head back. There were very few things that could surprise him. After a very long time, he finally saw something that he could not explain.
In front of him, standing reservedly on the wooden floor of his castle was the witch he had killed, Nora Blackcrow.
She had the appearance when she was last in his Alchemy Palace. An alchemist robe and a clear white skin without any of the tattoos from her magic. She was pure, a version of her that had never been affected by Dark Aether.
She wore a white alchemist robe, different from the brown robe when she first entered Siderius’ mind.
Amongst the students of Siderius, brown robe meant that they were apprentices that still had many things to learn, while a white robe meant that they were already an expert in one of the fields of Alchemy.
In the decades Nora had been studying under Siderius, she had mastered the field of Psychoparology, the Study of Soul Separation, one of the major paths of an alchemist. As a result, she was rewarded with the white robe of an expert.
"How are you here?" Siderius said.
Nora didn’t seem to know the answer, Her eyes lingered on her fingers, stretching it over and over again to see if they were real.
"I don’t know, teacher. When you performed the Dead Rite to me, I thought I would cross over to the afterlife. We alchemists have long theorized what kind of a world it would be. But unfortunately, I didn’t come to the world of the dead.
Instead, I found myself back here. In your Mind Palace. Alone."
"How long has it gone by?"
"A few years maybe. I stopped counting after the third year."
Siderius approached Nora and patted her head. "You must have been very lonely."
Nora blushed gently, pushing her head into his palm. "I am, teacher. But don’t worry. I keep myself busy with studying and meditation. It is very peaceful actually. I am happy."
Siderius nodded. "I’m glad you are fine. When I get back to the real world, I will find a way to release you."
"No, teacher! I... I don’t want to go."
"We don’t know what will happen, Nora. The soul of the dead should not resign within another’s Mind Palace."
"But am I really a soul, teacher? I don’t even know that. Maybe I am only a figment of your imagination, created by the Mind Palace. Maybe I am only a reflection of your mind.
Whatever I am, I am deeply connected to this place."
Siderius looked at her big wide eyes that stared at him with distress and longing. It didn’t take a genius to see that Nora did not want to leave his Mind Palace.
"Alright. You can stay."
"Yay!" Nora jumped up in joy.
"But you have to watch after my Mind Palace. Keep it tidy and clean."
"Of course, teacher. I will make sure that your mind is always well taken care of!"
Siderius rolled his eyes. This felt like a very bad idea. But Nora was a rare specimen worthy of further study. He had never come across a case where the spirit of the dead got reincarnated in a witch hunter’s Mind Palace.
And Nora was right. Siderius didn’t know if she was actually a soul or simply an after image when the real Nora was here.
"There are more dangerous threats knocking on our door."
Siderius led Nora to the balcony and showed her the raven and the owl approaching the castle.
"Those are... mutations? But how are there two of them?" Nora mumbled.
"The owl is a mutation. I used Alchemy Palace to open the mind of a witch and read her memory. Her mind was able to detect me and wanted to eliminate the foreign intruder. I have retreated here to deal with her."
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Nora put on a round pair of glasses and scribbled something on her notebook. Nora was the note-it-down type of student, always tried to record everything and left them for further study later.
"Because you invaded her mind. She uses the same pathway to go to your mind. From her appearance, she had taken the role of the mutation. Does this mean that if you’re able to conquer her, you will also absorb her characteristics? No. That theory is too much of a stretch.
Teacher has not grafted any parts of her body yet so absorbing her essence won’t be possible."
"Very good observation, my student. Now. This is a very rare chance to show you how a witch hunter actually combats a mutation in their Mind Palace. Watch carefully, Nora."
Siderius raised his eyebrow. He almost forgot that he was a knight in his past life. Sir Siderius Satterblade was his full name and people used to call him Sir.
Siderius stood on the balcony and clasped his two hands together. In the mind palace, all mutations would have their power amplified multiple times. In turn, the effectiveness of Alchemy also amplified multiple times. Alchemy in the mind was comparable to real life magic.
Siderius separated his two hands slowly, inside them a string of lightning roared.
Witches were able to bend the rules of reality however they like. Alchemists could also affect reality, but they must respect the natural order.
The cloud above of the Mind Palace was filled with water particles. Siderius simply charged them with a bit of lightning and voilà, rain was created.
Siderius aimed his two palms to the sky, the lightning shot up into the cloud layer, electrified the white cloud and started the humidification.
Lightning was created thanks to the conversion of energy inside the body. In the real world, no alchemist would be able to summon lightning. There was simply not enough energy in a human body to carry the reaction. At best, they could only create a few charges of small electricity.
But in here, nothing was real. The energy inside Siderius’ body was as much as his mind could endure.
The clouds became dark and thunder roared. Rain started falling.
"Why have you changed the weather, teacher? Don’t ravens and owls both have night vision? Dark clouds limit sunlight but it won’t hinder their vision."
"Maybe. But it will hinder their agility in the air. Ravens have very good feathers that can block the rain outside. However, they will still be affected by the strong winds, causing them to expend more energy while flying. As for the owl, it is simply not equipped to fly in the rain. The owl will become utterly useless in the air."
"Oh!" Nora carefully scribbled down what Siderius was saying.
As Siderius expected, once the raven and the owl approached close enough, they spread their wings and took flight into the sky. The water didn’t stop the raven from flying but Nora could see that the wind did affect its navigation in the air.
As for the owl, its feathers were soaking wet and it couldn’t fly too high from the ground. Its balance was also very unstable and it looked like it could fall to the ground at any time.
"Now. Something a bit more grandiose."
Siderius jumped off the balcony. His robe spread out like a parachute, slowing him down to the ground. Lines of light appeared on the robe, showing tiny seals that were engraved on it.
Once his feet touched the courtyard of the castle, Siderius squatted down and spread his right hand onto the dirt.
Immediately, a giant seal that enveloped the entire ground of the castle lit up.