Chapter Sixty-Four: The Fire of the Soul

“What’s wrong, Master?” Enoya asked curiously, seeing the helpless, bitter smile on Jen’s face. Unlike the others, Enoya herself was a hero unit recruited from the system, so she was well aware that Jen possessed the Dungeon System.

“Is the system giving you trouble again?”

“To call it trouble… it’s not exactly a problem,” Jen replied, shaking his head at Enoya’s inquiry. Truth be told, a task like ‘using a spell in five different ways’ was rather peculiar; he had never seen any quest judged by such a standard. But that was understandable—on Earth, games were still just games, and ambiguous boundaries like these were difficult for server algorithms to process. Yet after crossing over into this world, the system seemed to have evolved considerably. At the very least, if it could issue such a quest, there must surely be a solution.

Moreover, Jen was particularly intrigued by the reward offered for this mission. Equipment rewards were rare in quests. After all, in the Dungeon Game System, players played as the dungeon itself, not a specific character, so even physical rewards from the dungeon were most often buildings or decorations. Yet this Book of All Magic was clearly an equipment-type item, evidently a sign of the system’s evolution.

However…

Thinking of this, Jen stroked his chin and glanced again at the skill information for “Evil Eye,” his brow creasing slightly. Evil Eye required fifty mana points to activate—the highest mana cost among Jen’s current spells, but that was just its minimum.

Through his research, Jen had discovered that the dungeon’s magic system differed from the world’s native magic. Take Iris, for example: if she cast “Flame Burst,” the spell would cost ninety mana points, with power ranging between 150 and 200. Any extra damage came from her being a high-level mage, thanks to “Spell Penetration” and “Flame Specialization.” No matter what Iris did, the mana cost for “Flame Burst” could never be less or more than ninety. In this world, nearly every spell required a fixed amount of mana. If Iris wished to unleash a spell with power between 300 and 500, she would have to choose a high-tier spell like “Deep Shadow Flame,” which consumed much more mana.

The dungeon system, however, was different. Take Jen’s “Thunderclap,” for instance: its base cost was ten mana, with a power of one hundred. That ten mana was only the minimum—there was no upper limit. Jen could cast “Thunderclap” with ten mana for one hundred power, or he could pour all the dungeon’s mana into it, unleashing a spell that consumed a thousand mana points and delivered a hundred thousand damage.

Would you not fear the lightning of Pikachu’s “Thunderbolt”?

Of course, this was a unique feature of the dungeon system: it had pitifully few spell slots—never exceeding fifteen. What could you do with just fifteen spells? Even Iris, as a sorceress, could easily wield more than twenty spells at will. If the power didn’t scale, Jen as the dungeon master would be in a rather sorry state.

This feature worked well enough for offensive spells; Jen could test varying degrees of mana and compare the effects from bullets to rockets, missiles, and even nuclear bombs. But for support spells like “Evil Eye,” things were more mysterious—the skill description was vague, and only from its initial mana cost could Jen deduce that it was far more advanced than the two offensive spells he already possessed.

In short, he needed to see what this spell was for.

With that thought, Jen stopped hesitating and quickly activated “Evil Eye.”

Unlike the two offensive spells, upon activating “Evil Eye,” Jen heard a buzzing in his ears, and the world before him abruptly shifted in hue. In an instant, the solid, thick walls vanished; all that remained were faint outlines at the edges, while the rest was transparent—he could peer through the walls and see everything beyond with ease. More surprisingly, Jen discovered that his field of view could change at will, like a telescopic lens, not only piercing any obstacle but zooming in or out as he pleased, allowing him to see distant objects with crystal clarity.

This spell certainly had its charm.

Jen felt a secret delight—having such a spell was like gaining a magical eye that could surveil everything around him at any time, anywhere. Moreover…

He shifted his gaze to Enoya beside him. Instantly, the black dress she wore seemed to vanish like the emperor’s new clothes, revealing her snowy, flawless body beneath.

Tsk tsk… Truly worthy of the name “Evil Eye”—it lives up to its reputation…

Jen’s lips curved with a sly smile. This, he thought, must count as one use of “Evil Eye.” Focusing again, he looked at the young woman before him. Her graceful figure faded away, replaced by a skeleton. Seeing the once-beautiful Enoya transformed into a pile of bones, Jen shook his head inwardly—this was the real-life version of beauty turned to dust.

But as Jen focused further, magnifying his view, the world changed again.

Now, everything vanished into darkness—even Enoya herself. Where she stood, Jen saw only a blue-green, burning flame, floating as if conjured from nothing. Around this blue flame wrapped white ice crystals, as though the fireball had been frozen, creating a bizarre appearance.

This… this was the flame of the soul?

Seeing the fire, Jen was stunned.

Among all the races on the Continent of Kraine, none studied souls more deeply than the demons and the gods. Whether a soul fell to evil or yearned for light, after death it would go where it belonged, transforming into something new. For instance, a saint’s soul might ascend and become a holy spirit, while a cultist’s soul would drift with the river of the dead into the demon realm, starting anew as a low-level demon. Thus, when it came to souls, demons and gods spoke with the greatest authority.

Jen had read many books on souls in the demon realm’s library; the essence of the soul was said to be the flame of the soul. Whoever mastered the soul’s flame mastered a person completely—not only could one discern their character and true strength, but most importantly, etched into the soul’s flame was a being’s “true name.”

A true name differed from one’s everyday appellation; it was the essence of an individual’s existence within fate and the world. Whoever could seize another’s true name could summon and command them at will.

In other words, if Jen obtained a demon lord’s true name, he could call it forth, command it to do anything—even force it to die. Of course, a true name was a double-edged sword: the summoner needed enough strength to withstand the backlash, or else it would mean certain death.

Looking closely, Jen could faintly make out what appeared to be characters on Enoya’s soul flame. Yet when he tried to read them more clearly, a stabbing pain pierced his head, as though a hundred needles had sunk into his brain. He couldn’t help but groan, immediately canceling the spell. Darkness dissipated, and familiar surroundings returned. At that moment, Enoya’s voice sounded in his ear.

“Master? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine… Just a bit of a headache…”

Jen waved his hand as he spoke. The Evil Eye was indeed remarkable, and the soul flame did contain a true name. Yet with his current power, he could not hope to grasp such a thing. That was only natural—legend had it that true names were rules from creation itself. He was only the son of a demon lord, not even a lord himself, hardly qualified to touch such lofty secrets.

After resting for a while, the headache faded, and Jen finally breathed out and looked at Enoya.

“Tell me, Enoya—did I do anything strange just now?”

“Something strange?”

At Jen’s question, Enoya thought for a moment.

“No, Master. You seemed simply lost in thought—there was nothing unusual at all… Oh, when you looked at me, I noticed a golden light burning in your eyes…”

“I see.”

Jen nodded. It seemed the spell was well-concealed and very useful. Being able to see soul flames was an unexpected bonus. Though he could not yet discern true names, learning a person’s true strength from their soul flame was certainly convenient.

With that, Jen opened the system again and glanced at the prompt.

[Evil Eye usage discovered: 2/5]

Perspective, soul flame observation—those counted as two uses.

So, what were the remaining three?