Death Wizard Diary.

Chapter 322 Preliminary Detection

Saul admitted that there were many things that could shock him.

The truth behind Lady Yura's death, the right to inherit the Wizard's Tower, the origin of that initial pool of cursed blood...

But none of them could make him spit directly!

"Ahem, Hayden, why would you choose to participate in the soul infusion experiment?"

Thor is still unable to calm down.

147, no, it's Hayden who raised his head and looked up at Thor. Because he couldn't control his facial expressions well, he looked somewhat innocent.

"Sir, you told me that apprentices under 30 years old who are at level three are very likely to be corrupted and mutated in a short period of time, but I am already 28 years old. Even if you can help me, with my qualifications, it is impossible for me to reach level three before I am 30."

"So you risked everything to sign up for the soul infusion experiment?"

"Yes, sir, this is the fastest way I can think of to reach level two, and with level two strength, I can also help you with more experiments."

Thor rubbed his forehead. He had always known that in soul infusion experiments, the gender of the soul had to be different from that of the body container. Therefore, when he saw the beautiful test subject, he had no extra thoughts, just like looking at a horde of corpses in a warehouse.

But when he learned that the soul inside came from an acquaintance, he was somewhat taken aback.

"So your leaving the tower early was just a pretext."

"Yes." Hayden then leaned down again, his forehead touching the ground. "Besides Instructor Rum, only you, sir, know about this. Please... don't tell anyone else."

Thor nodded, then teased, "You have the courage to participate in the experiment, but not the courage to reveal your identity?"

To everyone's surprise, Hayden honestly replied, "There were no adults. In fact, even the courage to participate in the experiment wasn't mine."

"Oh? Is there anyone else helping you?"

"Actually..." Hayden straightened up and looked up so that Thor could see his face clearly.

Suddenly, a stiff smile appeared on his already stiff face. "Actually, it's me, sir. I'm sorry it's only now that we're officially meeting."

Thor squinted at the person in front of him.

Although her appearance, voice, and expression remained unchanged, her eyes were different.

Compared to the hesitant and timid look in his eyes just now, this one was bolder and more resolute.

"Who are you?"

"Actually, I am also Hayden, only I appeared later. According to academics, I am Hayden's second personality."

Thor immediately narrowed his eyes and began meditating.

In his eyes, test subject number 147 was still the same as before, with nothing unusual about him.

It seems that Hayden's spirit is usually kept firmly locked in this container. We can observe whether there are any abnormalities in Hayden's spirit when we conduct the experiment later.

"How does dissociative identity disorder manifest in the soul? Is it as two souls in one body, or one soul with two consciousnesses?"

"This..." The person in front of her had clearly reverted to the cowardly Hayden. Her straight back slumped slightly. "I haven't studied my own soul. I'm afraid that uncontrollable changes might occur along the way."

"That's true." Without the diary as a safety net, Thor wouldn't dare to casually study his own soul.

Moreover, Thor's spirit body is indeed highly malleable and adaptable, which may be what Master Gorsa was referring to as its special nature.

This uniqueness likely stems from the changes brought about by his time-traveling experience.

Thor, however, still has no recollection of his time travel experience.

Even if I try hard to recall, all I can see is darkness.

"Did something happen that caused the other personality to appear relatively late?"

"Yes, when I was a child, an unusual surge of evil spirits occurred in the territory where my family lived, and I was the only one who survived. My second personality emerged around that time. It was he who helped me survive."

"Are you sure it's a second personality, not the spirit of a second person?" Thor gestured for Hayden to lie down on the experimental bed.

Hayden had clearly prepared himself mentally to cooperate with Thor's actions before he arrived, and climbed onto the experimental table without any hesitation.

Because the clothes used in these experiments are specially made, with an opening in the back just like the front, it is convenient to check the special magic array on their backs.

Thor walked over and unbuttoned Hayden's shirt from behind—once he entered experimental mode, he no longer paid attention to whether the person in front of him was male or female.

They're all experimental subjects anyway.

Behind Hayden was also a magic circle made of golden runes, a magic circle specifically used to imprison and bind the soul of a first-level apprentice.

The soul is now vaguely taking on Hayden's appearance, but without someone pointing it out, it would be difficult to recognize.

A faint gray light emanated from Thor's fingertip and touched the magic circle.

Hayden's body did not move, but the face pattern formed by the magic circle suddenly began to struggle.

Saul said indifferently, "Don't hold back, I want to see your normal reaction."

After saying that, he loosened the seal on Hayden's back again.

Once the seal was broken, the magic circle deformed even more severely! Finally, Hayden's skin began to bulge upwards, as if something was trying to burst through his flesh and blood.

Thor immediately squinted, staring at the constantly deforming skin.

He saw a distorted, gray, translucent face struggling to break free, its expression clearly showing pain and madness.

"They can talk to me calmly, so why does their soul seem to be in so much pain? Could it be that someone deliberately used a magic array to cut off the transmission of some painful emotions? Is that why their emotions are restrained and their micro-expressions are lost, like some female celebrities who have had botched plastic surgery?"

Thor did not stop, continuing to apply pressure to the magic circle, and with his actions, Hayden's spirit suffered even more.

But at that moment, a groan came from the head of the bed.

Thor paused his pressure on the soul and leaned down to carefully observe the expression on Hayden's face.

"The more pain the soul suffers, the more comfortable the vessel becomes. The two exhibit completely opposite behaviors. This indicates that the body's own rejection of the spirit remains unchanged; it is entirely due to this soul-binding magic circle that the spirit and body are connected."

"A rather crude method; no wonder there hasn't been any substantial progress over the years. Can't Professor Rum see this problem? Is he unwilling to improve, or is this already the method with the fewest side effects?"

Thor stopped torturing Hayden and placed one hand on the gray spirit that was about to burst through his skin.

The skin on his hands also became slightly transparent. Then, with a forceful pull of his wrist, he pressed the spirit that was about to escape back into his body.

This preliminary testing experiment has now concluded.

Saul told Hayden to rest for a bit and get up on his own, while he returned to the lab table to record his findings.

"It is indeed a second personality. The essence of the soul has not changed, but the consciousness has become diseased. However, I am not a psychiatrist. Unless I directly use soul fishing to seal Hayden's spirit in the pages of the book... it is not impossible."

As Thor wrote, he suddenly realized that Hayden's appearance was similar to the four consciousnesses in his diary.

He had already reviewed all the data on soul infusion and discovered that most of the experiments had a lifespan of less than three years. Moreover, the entities that underwent mutations and contamination were the spirits within them.

After the spirits are contaminated, Instructor Rum will ask Instructor Katz and others to help clean up the contamination, wash the containers again, and wait for the next first-level apprentice to volunteer to participate in the soul infusion experiment.

Apprentices with no hope of promotion choose to take shortcuts to become second-level apprentices, but they still cannot escape the fate of being contaminated.

Just like despair never leaves.

(End of this chapter)