Chapter 188: The Heart
Meanwhile, in Ace’s Insight Perception vision, Ancestar’s silver Heart Force and Arno’s golden Heart Force formed the Lesser Potent Meditation Spell Model directly in front of them.
The moment the Spell Model formed, the surrounding Mana began to pulse, attempting to surge into the Spell Model and then be converted into Mana Particles to enter their bodies and souls, but it failed at this very step.
The Mana gathered around the Spell Model but could not enter it at all, eventually dissipating slowly.
After careful observation, Ace discovered that Heart Force had completely shattered the original structure of Inherent Mana, losing the most important function of Inherent Mana: it not only failed to attract external Mana but actually obstructed the entry of natural external Mana due to its intense personal will.
The meditation Spell Model constructed by Heart Force also possessed the same property as Heart Force, blocking natural Mana from entering the Spell Model, making it impossible to enter a meditative state.
This property of blocking all foreign supernatural powers seemed to be the reason why Knights possessing Heart Force had such strong resistance to mental control spells. Ace pondered this while canceling the Insight Perception and Mana Sensitivity spells, then said to the two:
“Since you cannot meditate, how do you usually cultivate and recover Heart Force?”
A wry smile appeared on Ancestar’s handsome face as he said: “Heart Force recovers slowly over time, but we cannot find a way to increase the limit of our Heart Force. Our strength has stagnated.”
Ace looked at the two, his gaze like a gourmet looking at a delicious feast. He licked his dry lips and said:
“Your main sticking point is the problem with the meditation method. If you are willing, you can cooperate with my experiments. I will see if I can research a way for you to communicate with external Mana again.”
Ancestar felt for a moment that Lord Torch-Bearer sounded like a predator eyeing its prey. Perhaps it was an illusion. He pushed the feeling out of his mind, bowed with Arno, and said:
“We trouble you, Lord.”
Ace looked at the two and continued:
“I have two questions here: First, how is a creed born? Second, how is the creed fused with Inherent Mana? To research the nature of Heart Force and explore a meditation method suitable for you, I must know the specifics of these two steps.”
Ancestar scratched his head. He hesitated, then said:
“Lord Torch-Bearer, I can only speak of my personal understanding, because the circumstances of everyone’s creed birth are different, and only Arno and I have generated Heart Force.
I believe a creed is a conviction, a will. Once chosen, it must be carried out throughout a Knight’s entire life, adhered to consistently. Then, in a certain instant, one will discover that the creed has formed.
The fusion of the creed and Inherent Mana lies in thoroughly realizing one’s own creed. This determination is the power of belief. I don’t know how to describe it. When I felt my creed’s will was strong enough, I injected it into my Inherent Mana, and then fed it back to my heart, and the Compassion Heart Force was born.”
Ace listened to Ancestar’s mysterious and subjective description and scratched his head as well. Behind purely subjective belief and accidental birth, there must be an objective principle, only that this principle has not yet been discovered.
He looked at Arno. Although he didn’t hold much hope, with only these two samples, the necessary questioning was still required.
“Arno, what did you feel about the birth of your creed and Heart Force?”
Arno had been contemplating the great philosophical three questions—Who am I? Where am I? What am I going to do?—until now. Being dragged over by Ancestar, he was confused, but Ace’s question helped him find what he was supposed to do. He answered loudly:
“Because I am a person with true Heroic qualities! Like my father, I have infinite courage!
And courage is my power. I don’t quite understand what a creed is, but I know courage and protection are things I want to carry out all my life. Uncle said that is a creed, so I believe that is a creed!
Uncle wouldn’t lie to me. He said as long as I injected my creed into my Inherent Mana, I could generate Heart Force. So I imagined my courage and Inherent Mana merging, and Heart Force was born.”
Boom!
Accompanied by Arno’s words, his heart beat powerfully. Courage Heart Force erupted instantly, dyeing his entire being golden yellow.
Ace instantly activated Mana Sensitivity and Insight Perception. That heart was extremely powerful, radiating the power of courage. The golden Courage Heart Force obstructed Ace’s perception, and he couldn’t clearly see the situation near the heart.
He could vaguely observe rune structures, but they were blurry and indistinct. I really want to dissect these two and carefully study the changes in their hearts. Ace narrowed his eyes, staring at the two for a long time before abandoning the tempting thought.
Heart Force really is a strange power of subjective idealism. Wait, speaking of subjective idealism, Magical Trickery is also very similar. The unity of intention, gesture, and language—the most crucial part is intention, which is the power of imagination.
Although understanding the rune structure of imagination yields better results, one can still force its use without understanding. It seems somewhat similar. Ace’s eyes flashed, and suppressing his thoughts, he said to them:
“Ancestar, Arno, start your normal training and cultivation now. I need to carefully observe the changes in your Heart Force. Your hearts seem to have undergone miraculous changes, but the Heart Force obstructs my perception.
Try to exhaust your Heart Force completely. Let me see if I can perceive the specific changes occurring in your hearts.”
Ancestar did not immediately start training to consume Heart Force. He thought for a moment and said to Ace:
“Lord Torch-Bearer, when evacuating from the Northern March, I accepted a squire disciple. He is currently comprehending his own creed. Perhaps I can have him attend to you as well, to facilitate your observation of the creed formation process.”
Hearing this, Ace smiled happily and said: “Why not?”
Ancestar heard Ace’s answer, bowed, and went to find Xavier. Arno, under the amiable supervision of Ace and the mirror image, began to continuously use various Heart Force techniques and Quasi-Spells to consume his Heart Force.
As his Heart Force slowly decreased, Ace, in his black-and-white Insight vision, saw the golden Heart Force continuously weakening. The strange heart originally covered by Heart Force also slowly revealed itself.
It was a heart beating extremely powerfully, completely transformed by the golden Courage Heart Force, appearing entirely golden yellow.
On the visually perceptible level, the heart was only golden yellow. On the soul level, in the same location, a vague Soul Rune was forming.
That Soul Rune existed and yet did not exist. It was not a rune structure. Although Ace saw its complex appearance in the instant it existed, it was just a particularly complex rune, not a rune structure.
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