Reyn stood naked in the water, staring at the Soul Stone in his hand, his face frozen.
The stone was light, but now it felt incredibly heavy in his hand. His heart pounded wildly, his breathing became ragged.
"Legendary element!"
"Reyn, are you sure?"
Viola was shocked too. She rose sharply and peered closely at the Soul Stone.
She was not a professional soul appraiser, but she had rich experience in the field. Upon closer inspection, she saw a strange demonic soul inside the gray-violet stone.
This soul resembled some sentient being, gray in color, sometimes manifesting a distorted face with a full set of features.
This terrifying face had clear, lively eyes.
Meeting the gaze of those eyes, Viola felt an inexplicable, strange sensation, as if this demonic soul were alive, still possessed reason, and saw right through her, leaving no secrets.
She sensed something amiss and hastily closed her eyes, only then ridding herself of the illusion.
"What a strange demonic soul!" Viola exclaimed, then remembered she had not seen an element in it. "Reyn, where's its element?" she asked.
Reyn pinched the Soul Stone between his thumb and forefinger and held it to her face, quietly saying:
"Look closer."
Viola peered again. After a few seconds, the demonic soul in the form of a face manifested once more. This time, she finally saw it: in the depths of those strange eyes hid a tiny rune.
The rune was the manifestation form of a soul's element. This rune was almost imperceptible, like the tip of a needle. A person with poor eyesight would hardly notice it even knowing it was there.
Viola stared intently for several minutes, her eyes tiring and tearing up, but she still could not identify what element it was.
She could not even determine the origin of this demonic soul.
Viola looked at Reyn, her face full of bewilderment.
Reyn did not keep her in suspense and quietly explained:
"This is the demonic soul of a Tamed Heart Monkey. It has only one element—the legendary element 'Will of Truth.'"
"Will of Truth!"
Viola's breath hitched for a moment. She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes full of disbelief.
She came from a ducal family, had vast knowledge, and managed the "Violet House," but she had never seen a legendary element. Even superior elements she had encountered only two or three times.
Legendary element, legendary superhuman.
Both bear the name "legendary" and seem similar in rarity.
In fact, legendary elements are far rarer than legendary superhumans. There were several legendary figures in Longsande alone, but legendary elements had not been seen for many years.
As far as Viola knew, most legendary figures had never seen legendary elements themselves.
Only about a dozen legendary elements are known, and each is priceless. If such an element were auctioned, it would attract countless legendary figures.
Viola calmed down. This Soul Stone was a gift from the Long-haired Lady to Reyn; it could not be fake.
For a mortal, a legendary element was indeed extremely rare, but in a deity's eyes, it might not be so valuable.
She just was not sure if it really was the Will of Truth.
"Reyn, how did you identify it?"
Reyn smiled:
"Only about a dozen legendary elements are known. I recently read the final volume of the 'Book of a Thousand Souls,' which describes these legendary elements in detail, so the memory is fresh, and I recognized it right away."
He spoke very confidently, and it was true, but recognizing the element so quickly had mainly been thanks to the Eye of the Soul.
At that moment, his phone's interface also had that very "Book of a Thousand Souls" open to the chapter on the Will of Truth.
The Will of Truth is an element of the unusual abilities type.
This legendary element requires no activation; it is a passive, constantly active element. Once obtained, it operates continuously, like some permanent spell.
Its main function is immunity to all negative effects affecting a person's will, including but not limited to: spells of Fear, Illusory Sound, Charm, Mental Disorder, Hypnosis, Psychic Scream, Psychic Blast, Mind Control, Touch of Agony, Madness spells, Cloud of Slumber, and so on.
Additionally, it grants immunity to intimidating auras of powerful beings, such as Dragon Fear and Legendary Aura.
In short, all mental attacks become ineffective.
As the name implies, the Will of Truth makes the possessor's self-awareness the truth, the supreme sovereign in the soul's domain. As long as consciousness exists, this mental world will never be broken!
Such mental protection is stronger than a permanent ninth-circle "Mind Shield."
Moreover, the Will of Truth's functions are not limited to mental protection.
The Will of Truth acts both inward and outward. It is akin to the Eye of Truth, allowing one to see through any illusions, invisibility, and disguises. Whether material objects or magic, it distinguishes truth from falsehood and reveals much that is invisible to the ordinary eye.
Besides these two most powerful effects, the Will of Truth also aids in spellcasting.
This element provides fine control over mind and soul.
When casting spells, it allows precise control of soul power fluctuations, greatly increasing casting speed and ensuring near-absolute concentration. Even if the body is attacked, the spell is very hard to interrupt.
Not to mention that the Will of Truth amplifies all mental spells, acting like Psionic Affinity!
Finally, there is one "minor" property, similar to "Warning Technique" or "Telepathy": upon approaching danger or significant environmental changes, a vague premonition arises, heightening vigilance.
These are only the known applications; there may be others unknown.
When Reyn read the description of the Will of Truth, he was stunned.
This legendary element had no direct offensive abilities and was the weakest in attack among the dozen legendary elements, but its functions were too numerous!
Protection, support, amplification, premonition—these effects combined made it no worse than any other legendary element, and its potential was boundless.
The author of the "Book of a Thousand Souls," the legendary mage of Taimandora, ranked the known legendary elements.
The Will of Truth ranked sixth!
Besides a detailed description of this legendary element, Master Taimandora specially mentioned one figure—the Duke of Red Rock, Kelston Carter.
This greatest genius in human history, the Empire's youngest Holy Spiritual Mage, had embarked on the path to legend precisely thanks to the Will of Truth.
Relying on the Will of Truth, the Duke of Red Rock created a branch of mages—psionics.
Psionics, or psyker-mages, as well as all mages specializing in mental spells, regarded the Will of Truth as their ultimate goal.
At the same time, these mages felt both love and hate toward the Will of Truth.
If an enemy possessed the Will of Truth, they became a psionic's curse, as most mental spells lost power. If the mage themselves possessed it, their strength surged, and spell potency increased.
This legendary element unleashed its maximum potential precisely in a psionic's hands.
Listening to Reyn's explanations, Viola gradually recalled.
She had also read the complete "Book of a Thousand Souls," but due to its vast volume and complex information, much had been forgotten.
"Reyn, are you going to merge with this demonic soul?"
Viola looked at the Soul Stone and sighed regretfully:
"It's a pity you're a battle mage. You won't be able to fully unleash this legendary element's power."
"Of course I am. It's a legendary element!" Reyn laughed joyfully.
Although he was not a psionic and did not yet wield mental spells, the Will of Truth would still allow him a huge leap in power. He had no intention of refusing it.
Just the immunity to all mental negative effects already made Reyn extremely satisfied.
He had Steel Body, providing incredible physical protection. In the future, as its level rose, it might become a legendary element too, and then he would no longer fear physical attacks.
Magic Resistance and Dragon Power's potential were also high, so no worries there for now.
His main vulnerability had been mental spells. Enemies unable to breach Steel Body from outside could attack from within.
Perhaps one Psychic Blast could fell him.
Now, with the Will of Truth, that gap was closed. From now on, he feared no mental spells.
"Steel Body plus Will of Truth—perfect combination!"
"One protects the body, the other the mind. Now I'm truly invulnerable to sword and sorcery, good and evil!"
Reyn eagerly imagined what would happen when he merged with the Will of Truth and faced a psionic.
It would be interesting!
He suddenly recalled the Long-haired Lady's words. Had She noticed his Steel Body and thus specifically gifted him this legendary element?
For a deity, a legendary element might not be so valuable, but it was not easy to obtain one?
What surprised Reyn most was that it was a Tamed Heart Monkey's demonic soul.
The name "Tamed Heart Monkey" suggested a magical beast, but in fact, it was a type of mental aberration born in the Astral Plane. It had no physical body, only a spiritual one. It liked taking the form of a giant monkey and was very rare.
The Astral Plane is a strange dimension adjacent to the Material Plane, consisting of pure mental energy.
Tamed Heart Monkeys roamed the Astral Plane freely. They were innate psyker-mages of varying power. Sometimes they infiltrated Ellunes, attacked sentient beings, and fed on their psionic energy.
However, Tamed Heart Monkeys possessing the Will of Truth were rare.
Generally, the stronger the Tamed Heart Monkey, the higher the chance of it manifesting the Will of Truth element. And this one was merely an initial-level demonic soul, evidently recently born.
Besides the Will of Truth, it had no other elements.
Reyn already considered the encounter with the Gold-Devouring Ant, possessing a superior element, to be unbelievable. Now, a beginner-level demon soul contained a legendary element—this was simply inconceivable.
This was no longer a miracle, but divine intervention!
They examined the stone for a while longer. Viola nodded in satisfaction and sighed:
"Lady treats you very well to have given you even a legendary element. If you were also her follower, you might have become a Chosen One too."
"It's not that simple."
Reyn responded skeptically. In that prayer ritual, he had been merely a participant.
Obtaining a legendary element was a pleasant surprise.
Exchanging the phonograph invention for a legendary element could be seen as a sort of deal with the Long-Haired Lady, which had exhausted his contribution. Even if he converted to her faith, it was unlikely he'd get such a chance again.
Faith wasn't something that could be easily changed.
Reyn didn't share many of this deity's dogmas. Even as her follower, his piety wouldn't be high—ordinary believer at best.
Before a deity, one glance was enough to discern the truth of faith; it couldn't be hidden.
Moreover, he didn't want to delve too deeply into matters of faith and get entangled with deities and churches.
The Church of the Goddess of Magic Vedgestri was lenient, tolerant of its followers, and her teachings on striving for knowledge and truth appealed to Reyn. So being a superficial follower of the goddess was enough for him.
That was the choice most mages made.
Viola understood this perfectly and only mentioned it in passing. She looked through the dome and, noticing it was already deep night outside, said:
"It's time for us to leave."
"Alright," Reyn nodded. He wanted to put away the Soul Stone, but had nowhere to store it.
He stepped out of the altar-basin, dripping wet. Viola fetched a towel and began carefully drying his back.
Reyn spread his arms, enjoying the half-elf's services and unabashedly admiring her graceful figure.
Watching her and feeling the occasional touches, he involuntarily straightened up.
Viola noticed the change immediately. Her face, which had just pinked, turned red as a ripe apple, the blush flooding from her hairline to her ear tips. Her ears twitched slightly, and her movements slowed.
Reyn couldn't resist and reached out a hand.
Slap!
Viola lightly swatted his mischievous hand away, tossed him the towel, and stepped back.
"Dry yourself. I need to get dressed."
Reyn lunged toward her in a rush.
Without the pressure of the prayer ritual and divine scrutiny, they felt much freer. They deepened their communion for a long time, truly completing the ritual in the temple—in every sense of the word, and several times over.
Only deep into the night did they dress, and Viola used magic to open the temple doors.
Outside waited the priests of the Church of Beauty and Goodness.
As soon as they appeared, all eyes turned to Viola.
She looked the same as before entering the temple. Her face under the veil remained beautiful. She gently held Reyn's arm, showing their closeness. But as priests of the Long-Haired Lady, the people sensed the familiar aura emanating from her.
Chairman Hasilin asked joyfully:
"Viola, did Lady respond?"
"Yes," Viola nodded softly, solemnly bowed to the priests, and said sincerely: "Thank you all for your support and for praying to Lady with me. I received a divine art."
Most of these priests had received gifts from Viola and were on good terms with her. Hearing the ritual had succeeded, they sighed in relief.
If the ritual had failed, those gifts would have become somewhat burdensome.
Reyn glanced sideways at Viola and smiled.
Before leaving, they had agreed she wouldn't announce her Chosen One status. It was a powerful trump card to save for the most critical moment.
"Thank you all for your efforts. It's late—please return," Hasilin dismissed the priests. Once everyone dispersed, he turned and said: "Viola, Reyn, Viscount Sandimon just stopped by."