Chapter 21: Character Adaptation
“If that’s the case, I do have a suitable body that might fit you. His profession was likely a thief, but a thief who could escape the Rema Knights of the Light Church must be no ordinary person. He clearly possessed considerable magical skills—Arayan died on the spot from the Sauron wood’s toxicity, which also sealed his body completely. The toxicity shouldn’t affect you, right?” Komer carefully sought the other’s opinion.
“Oh? Sauron wood? The sacred wood regarded as a treasure by the Light Church? It seems the owner of this body must be one of our own. The toxicity doesn’t harm the body’s energy pathways; it only destroys the blood. That’s only beneficial for me—having a body infused with Sauron toxicity might even grant some protective effects.”
sensing the other’s positive mood, Komer hesitated and added, “But this is a male corpse. I wonder if you mind?”
“A male corpse?! Is that what you mean by asking whether gender matters?” An odd and angry reaction came through—clearly, they hadn’t expected such a question.
“Senior, you know as well as I do how difficult it is to find a corpse that meets your requirements. Otherwise, you wouldn’t still be trapped after hundreds of years. I suggest you give it a try. If you encounter a more suitable body after escaping, it won’t be too late to switch, right?” To be honest, Komer wasn’t keen on using one of his own life-saving treasures. That zombie, already at the early stage of a Golden Corpse, was also a precious artifact he relied on for protection. Losing it would increase the risk. Although this senior might become several times stronger in a Golden Corpse body, they wouldn’t be as controllable as his own. Wouldn’t it be better to find another substitute?
The other was clearly angry and reluctant, but their desire to escape had persisted for centuries. With such an opportunity now, how could they refuse? Komer was right—suitable corpses aren’t easy to find. Besides, once outside, they’d be free to go wherever they wanted. Surely they could find a suitable female corpse? Who knows—maybe even one that matched their past life’s body perfectly, allowing them to shed all bonds and constraints. Perhaps thinking of this, the other reluctantly agreed to Komer’s proposal.
“Since that’s the case, you can go to the third door on the right to open the secret door. There’s an earth magic restriction on it, which you can break using water magic. Inside, there are some crystals. The colorless and transparent one is the crystal that can hold a soul. Take it out so I can enter, then place it on a carrier. Use spirit summoning magic to bring a part of my soul into your body for storage. With a mental connection, I’ll be able to possess you.”
Seeing the other party eager to experience freedom, even ignoring gender differences, Komer found it amusing. But after thinking about being trapped for hundreds of years, it was understandable why they felt this way—there would eventually be a day when they could see the light again.
When Komer broke through the earth magic “Burial,” the secret door finally opened. Rows of compartments were neatly arranged before him. Under the holy light, the colorful magic crystals emitted a magnificent and dazzling glow. Even Komer, who had seen many things, was stunned and captivated by this scene—it was like a collection hall of magic crystals!
The fiery red ones were obviously fire magic crystals; with them, creating advanced fire magic scrolls would be effortless. Those with a dark, gloomy glow were clearly dark magic crystals. With a quick glance, Komer realized there were enough dark magic crystals in the compartments to last him a year or two. The deep blue crystals were ice magic crystals, while the nearly colorless and transparent ones were spirit magic crystals. There were also dark yellow earth magic crystals, light green wood magic crystals, and lightning magic crystals that seemed to sparkle. Overwhelmed, Komer was almost intoxicated. Any magician would find it hard to control their emotions in such a sight, and Komer was no exception. With such a large quantity and diverse range of crystals, aside from the treasures left by the Dark Empire, he couldn’t imagine who else could possess such wealth.
After swallowing several times, Komer finally noticed the other party’s reminder: “Hey, do you feel like a country bumpkin in the city? This is just a part of it. This fortress holds the crystallized achievements of past dynasties of the Dark Empire. I’ll introduce them to you one by one if I get the chance. For now, please finish what needs to be done right away, okay?”
He could tell there was mockery in the other party’s words, but Komer didn’t care. With such a rich collection, no one could remain unmoved—but it wasn’t enough to make him lose his senses.
Everything that followed seemed logical. Once the energy entity was summoned and sent in through Komer’s psychic magic, a series of complex procedures were finally completed. As the zombie, still tinged with a faint yellow hue, slowly stretched its body, it moved around in front of Komer as if waking from a deep dream, even examining every part of its body carefully, as if appreciating a uniquely designed work of art.
Komer watched this interesting scene with interest. This elder clearly wasn’t yet accustomed to this body that had just become hers; she kept experimenting with her movements—lifting legs, waving arms, bending and straightening her back. After performing various actions, she finally nodded in satisfaction. Although the soul-transference technique had many limitations, at least she now had a body that could be freely controlled by her consciousness, allowing her to leave this dark bunker forever. The thought of experiencing freedom for the first time in three hundred years gave her an urge to indulge herself.
“Elder, can you try speaking?” Komer finally asked her first question, no longer needing to rely on the complicated telepathy for communication.
“Uh, I think so.” A slightly hoarse and peculiar accent reached Komer’s ears, but she was delighted—success! Hearing and speaking were both no longer a problem; the soul-transference process was finally complete.
“Congratulations, Elder. I haven’t asked your name yet.” Komer breathed a sigh of relief. Communication would now be much easier. Though she knew the other party was merely an energy entity inhabiting this golden corpse, having a physical form made things much more presentable.
“Me? Ah, I haven’t used a name in ages. I almost forgot it. You can call me Uma.” The other party was still trying to adapt to this new body, constantly fiddling in front of Komer. The presence of male characteristics clearly made her uncomfortable—her chest was flat while her hips were prominent. For someone with a female mindset, such physical traits were extremely exaggerated and jarring.
“Miss Uma, how do you feel?” Komer couldn’t help but scratch her head. Even her voice sounded odd as she spoke. Referring to this golden corpse as “miss” sounded rather ridiculous.
“Well, not bad. Your mental magic is quite strong. It seems the Emperor has fully transferred his mental power to you. However, it seems you can’t use it fully yet—it takes time. I believe you can do it; maybe even better than the Emperor.” At this point, she couldn’t help but sigh softly. “The Emperor is too stubborn; otherwise, this wouldn’t have happened!”
Feminine speech coming from this male thief’s mouth always gave Komer a creepy feeling. Even the way he looked at her seemed strange. Komer felt as if the hairs on his back were standing on end. Being alone in one room with such an atmosphere was truly uncomfortable.
“Miss Uma, I was wondering if I might be able to use some of these crystals? I’m very interested in making magical items, and these would be very useful to me. Well, I could say I really need them.” Komer’s gaze fell on several lightning magic crystals that sparkled like embers. The advanced lightning magic spell, Thunder God’s Hammer, required a great deal of magic power but was extremely useful. Komer had always hoped to create two or three copies of Thunder God’s Hammer scrolls for self-protection. However, lightning magic crystals were almost unheard of on the Azure Continent; it was said they could only be found deep in the Mang Continent. Even in the magic materials market in Prague of the Bohemia Kingdom, Komer hadn’t found any for sale. So he could only sigh in frustration. But now, with enough lightning magic crystals in this secret room, he could make more than five copies of Thunder God’s Hammer scrolls—no wonder he was tempted.
“Well, you have good taste. There are no lightning magic crystals on the Azure Continent. These are treasures brought back by the Emperor from his expedition to the Mang Continent. There aren’t many left. If you need them, of course you can take them. Now that you’re the Emperor’s heir, my duty to protect you is over. Everything in this bunker belongs to you, including those dark warriors and me. Hehe. Of course, there are some things you might not be able to control yet, but I believe it won’t be long before you fully adapt to your role.”
Some ambiguous words coming from a man made Komer’s hair stand on end again, but this did not diminish his joy. Just the treasures in this crystal vault alone were enough to drive magicians across the entire continent crazy with envy. If Lebray, Mihajic, and Newman found out, they would probably take the risk anyway. But now, everything was under his control. Besides the crystals, there were also other rare treasures he yet did not know about. Hehe, he had no fear that these guys wouldn’t work hard for him.