Chương 121: 114. Third Chamber

"The food was really good. You should have told me politics was just eating on someone else's dime and throwing insults. I would have gotten involved much sooner." Q'Shar looked at me, his ears flat to the sides.

"I'm not going to grace that with an answer," he grumbled before turning to Ophelia.

"You did well."

"It was tense."

"You have a good sense for reading the room, then. But you need some work, you have to keep any nervous tics under control. Other than that, your answers were good. You didn't antagonize the other side, " he glanced at me," but also didn't tell them too much." Ophelia smiled lightly.

"And—" He turned to me, the wise expression gone, replaced by anger.

"You really didn't tell her about the Third Chamber?"

"Was kinda busy." The cat sighed before looking back at Ophelia.

"You remember how the Pope, during the war, opened a channel for the warlocks and wizards to sit on the council if they joined the Church's side?" Ophelia nodded.

"Well, initially, they had only small voting rights. But as the war progressed and other forces, as well as other species, became involved, those people grew into a sizable faction, finally making up a third of the council. But the law stated that they would get ten percent of the votes to split between them. Then, as the war finally reached a crescendo and Sam's grandfather—let's say—played his cards, the law was changed under his pressure and the votes would be based purely on contributions and power.

So the previously called 'dark faction' became the Third Chamber, representing a third of all the voices on the council." He looked at me before continuing," with the Alhazreds as their de facto leaders, although that role has been delegated since forever." Ophelia looked at me curiously, like I was about to sprout a second head, at which I shrugged.

"My grandfather pulled a little trick back in his day. A lot of people ended up dead, and someone had to fill the power vacuum."

"More or less. But now that the politics are back, I would appreciate it if you could cooperate. You know, with the grand plan of the Alhazred clan."

"I'll do you that honor. And what's the plan, remind me? World domination?" Q'Shar sighed.

"With the Vatican envoys going around, we are all playing with open cards. We received proposals for alliances from a few factions. We will be signing with the mermaids for social mages, and to train Liam while we're at it."

"Oh, right. Did you break the news to the boy?"

"No, we should inform him soon. Other than that, we are in talks with the Warlock Alliance. The rest either want too much or aren't worth the effort. The close alliances with vampires, mycanoids, and witches are still on. The Acqueinte family and dark elves also contacted us, but we're not sure what they really want."

"Sounds good." We spent the rest of the ride discussing the recent movements—who went for which vein, who wanted an alliance, and who tried to rob us. Overall, a pretty boring political discussion I sat through as a favor to the cat. That, and what I was about to ask in case he forgot, or pretended to…

"So," I started as the cat finished talking about the fights over veins that had recently broken out.

"About the demon contracts." I saw the animal's ears slowly go down.

"I'm gonna need to get some souls, and pretty soon."

"We can wait a bit. It's—" he started, but I cut him off.

"I want to use Halloween for the summoning, when the veil will be at its most flexible, so no, we can't wait."

"How do you think you'll get that many souls by then? The sabbath itself will be at least a week. Add preparations, your other research, and—" he started going over all the problems.

"I know. That's why I want you to get me lists of criminal organizations, violent gangs, and, oh, human traffickers. I developed a taste for those after Brazil, I think. Places where I can walk in and rip some souls in larger numbers. Helping the common people while at it," I said with all the heroics in me.

"Fine," sighed the cat.

"We'll prepare a list meeting your code. Just… don't get caught, please."

"No need to worry. And, pick a few of the worst offenders, especially the heinous ones. I have something special for them."

"Please don't smile like that. You're giving me the creeps."

"Like what?"

"Like that."

"That's just my face."

"Yeah, that's horrible." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. I rolled my eyes at the cat and met Ophelia's questioning gaze.

"You won't be going with me to kill people. You'll have other tasks to work on," I said. We drove back and I went straight to my storage. Once there, I immediately sat in my favorite leather chair by the library section and opened the strange book the Butcher had sealed. But instead of trying to get to the part describing the machine, I opened it to the beginning, this time around searching for instructions about the hook.

The artifact would be the center of my upcoming plans for some time now—most likely staying with me for the rest of my life, considering its power. I wanted to know as much as I could. And like that, I spent two days straight with my nose in the tome. The Butcher was quite the chaotic writer, so reading his research was a pain, but I got basic understanding of the artifact.

The people who set up the ambush outside the tomb guessed correctly: you needed to deal a killing blow to the back of the head to hook someone's soul. But it wasn't that easy. Even if you hooked a soul, it didn't mean you would hold on to it. The principle was similar to the rituals and depended on the soul's strength and will to fight. But getting the spirit of common criminals should be doable, more or less. Aside from that, the hook could do much more.

First, it could store souls, like a soul cage, though only a few. Around eight was the limit, so it was more like a staging ground between the hook and a proper container. Another ability was changing shape. While its original form was a hook, it could be changed. But to do that, one needed to reform the artificial soul inside, which wasn't easy. After getting the basic info down and swinging the weapon around some, I finally decided to teach my apprentice, since she had around one month to build her first circle.

So the next day, I used my morning lesson to start on the most important lesson for a sacred warlock, and that was looking into oneself. We were sitting in the middle of the cluttered room, with Ophelia looking slightly tense.

"So," I started.

"The insides of your mind are not a place I should go with you, especially since you aren't in full control of them. So I want you to close your eyes and listen to my voice." She did as instructed, and I began speaking in a calm, even voice.

"Good. Now extend yourself out of your body as you always do." I paused, giving her time to do just that.

"Now, I want you to turn your consciousness inward, hang close to your own body, and concentrate on the idea of going into it. As you do that, you will start to feel a slight pull, like gravity. Do you feel it?" After a few seconds, she nodded.

"Good, now fall alongside it. Don't overthink it—just fall." I got up from my chair and stood behind her. Then, as if on cue, she jumped up. Her mouth was wide open as she gulped air, almost falling backward, before I caught her just in time.

"You fell into the water around your mind palace. It represents emotions, and disturbing it like that can shock you. Don't worry. Try again. Just make sure you stop your descent once inside." She took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes once again.

"I think I got it."

"Good. Now you should be able to see your mind palace. It will be tangible—but also not, in a way. Remember that it's a manifestation of your mind. It's imaginary, and much like dreams, it doesn't have to make sense. Its dimensions and design cannot be entirely described—that's normal. At the same time, it's a part of you. You can navigate it by just thinking about where you want to go, and that pull will appear. Now, once inside, make sure you don't rush anywhere.

It might be part of you, but the subconscious is dangerous, and getting lost in one's own head is a nasty way to go. You got that?" I saw her frown lightly before taking a breath.

"Got it."

"Good. Each part of yourself has a reflection in it—for example, think about the part responsible for sight and follow the pull."

"Oh. It's like a screen, but it's all dark."

"I'll lift your eyelid, so don't panic," I said, and lightly lifted her eyelid.

"Oh!"

"It can show up as many things—screens, seeing-stones, lakes—but if you go to the part responsible for sight, you can see what your brain sees. Now you must find the place where the knowledge granted to you by your god lies. It will most likely be quite deep, in a chapel- or altar-like structure. But before you go there, you need to remember this," I said in a heavy voice, letting the silence hang in the air until Ophelia opened her eyes to look at me.

Once sure I had her attention, and she wasn't sightseeing in her own head, I continued.

"Never go to the part where memories lie. Your entire mind is an illusion, its dimensions shifting and bending but still staying three-dimensional. Memories are different. They are correlated with time, and because of that, the space that governs them is four-dimensional. It is a labyrinth with time as one of its axis. Once you enter, getting back out is not an easy task. Only ghosts and spiritual beings can enter relatively safely, but even they can't really navigate it."

"Is it impossible to see my memories?"

"There are ways around it. The most common is rousing someone's memory by using associations, like smell, and then reading the current stream of consciousness. Using trauma to reach a concrete place is another way, but it's dangerous. I need you to really watch out. Never enter the labyrinth of memories." Ophelia nodded. She looked serious, so I relaxed back into the chair.

"Good. Now go and look for the god's knowledge. Once you find it, you should try and learn a meditation that your god most likely bestowed upon you—that, and the arcane speech. Once done, we will finish up your circle."

"Will it take long?"

"It shouldn't. The first orbit is very easy to build. Even without meditation, you could just throw mana at it, and it would form over time. But we don't have that long, so you have three weeks. I'll still need you to learn to fight after building the orbit, so three weeks. You already absorbed a good amount of mana, so it shouldn't be a problem with your talent." Ophelia nodded and, without waiting for any more instructions, closed her eyes and went into her own mind. I looked over her for some time.

She awoke from the trance with a start a couple of times, but returned to it easily. I went back to studying my books and the Blink spell. After a few hours, it was time for us to go back. Ophelia was making good progress. Apparently, she had gained some wisdom regarding mana and its flow, comparing it to a nebula, which sounded like a meditation. It was a productive day. Just before going back to my apartment, I remembered the dream demon that once served my family.

I couldn't get to it last time, and I doubted I could this time, but out of curiosity, I did check the idol. And after a bit of concentration, to my surprise, I felt something. The creature had come into our world. But I hesitated about what to do with it. I was about to throw myself into a whirlwind of study, experimentation, magic learning, and apprentice training with hardly any time to sleep until the Sabbath.

Not to mention, I needed to try and locate Mother's Milk for my familiar, who was barking in my head from time to time. I didn't have much time. But then again, the past week was tense and tiring. I could use a small break, and nothing's more entertaining than pissing off a demon.