Pale Emblem

Chapter 172: A Glimpse of the Mystery
Judging from Kent's pronunciation, "Grand Knight" and "Grand Duke" were two new words. Victor felt that they were very familiar, but he couldn't remember the meaning of these two words for a while.

Of course, Victor often has a sense of déjà vu, which is almost a common symptom of amnesia patients. Everyone is used to it, and no one thinks there is anything special about Victor's question this time.

Gladiator Kent replied casually: "That's the title Peter gave himself. One seems to mean 'soldier from horseback', and the other seems to mean 'ruler of the arena'."

Victor immediately showed a suspicious expression, he always felt that something was wrong, but Kent did not forget the original intention of this conversation, which was to clarify the ins and outs of "Dream Shadow", so he brought the topic back to himself.

"Master, famous gladiators all have their own titles. I am called 'Bloody Fist Kent', but those who bet on me to lose the game will laugh at me and call me 'Bloody Fist Kent who peed his pants'."

"What? 'Bloody Kent who peed his pants', ha... oh, this is really bad." Harvey, who was standing next to him, couldn't help laughing, and finally laughed wildly, holding his stomach: "Ha, ha, ha... Sorry, man, this is really funny..."

Victor couldn't help but smile, and then he said seriously: "Because of the stain of the first gladiatorial contest, you have always been holding a grudge against the Orc Butcher?"

The gladiator slave was silent for a moment, then nodded vigorously and said, "When I was at the peak of my career as a gladiator, I had two wishes. One was to go back in time and have another fight with the butcher who scared me into peeing my pants. The second was to challenge the arena champion, Grand Duke Peter... I didn't expect that my first wish would be fulfilled in another way today."

Kent has thick short tan hair, a beard, a medium build, regular features and an ordinary appearance.

He wasn't what he is now.

Kent was bald, had a broken ear, and had scars all over his face and body. One of the scars split half of his face, which shows how badly he was injured. But this was not the worst injury. He had six scars from penetrating wounds in his chest and abdomen. God knows how he survived.

Being a gladiator was a very dangerous profession. According to Kent, he participated in 2-4 competitions a year on average, and gladiators died on the spot in almost every competition. If a life cycle of ten years is calculated, no one out of a hundred gladiators can survive, and only about two or three out of every thousand gladiators can survive.

Kent is one of them. He is always on the verge of life and death. He is physically and mentally injured, but the fact that he is alive is enough to explain everything. His body undergoes adaptive changes, and his mind also shifts and achieves a new balance.

Simply put, if gladiators have not died in battle or gone crazy for a long time, their body and mind will become different, but in the process of transformation they may need an obsession to anchor their mental state and prevent them from collapsing before regaining their balance.

Kent's obsession is the orc butcher he met in his first gladiatorial fight.

Victor pondered and asked, "So... Chief Rockbreaker's killing will stimulated you?"

"Yes, Master." Kent nodded and said sternly, "The killer's will to kill is like a poisonous snake sticking to your neck. You can't move. If you move, you will die. That feeling... I dream about it almost every day. There are thousands of ways to beat him up."

Victor smiled and said, "Very good, we have found the first key point, which is the so-called 'trigger condition'... So, how did you feel at that time?"

Kent thought about it carefully and murmured, "I felt as if something in my body was ignited... Then, my internal organs, bones, flesh, and skin all melted and disappeared. Time became very slow and almost stagnant. I became very light, like a weightless ghost, without any restrictions... I could even see the back of Chief Rockbreaker's head."

Victor thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay, let's call this 'mental transcendence' and 'mental perception' which is different from the five senses... I have some ideas about this. In addition, I have another question. Under the circumstances at that time, how do you think you would attack Chief Rockbreaker?"

Kent shook his head and said, "I thought that the most effective way to defeat Chief Rockbreaker was to hit him on the back of the head. Then I 'saw' the back of his head... At that time, I had a strong feeling that I could hit him on the back of the head as long as I made a move, but I didn't know how to do it. I had no idea at all... It was very strange."

Victor took a breath of cold air. He clearly remembered the confrontation between Kent and Quellngra. Kent was still a real half-elf and had not really turned into a ghost. Even if he saw the back of the orc butcher's head through "telepathy", he still had to do it himself to hit the opponent's back of the head.

And what Kent seemed to mean was that if he wanted to shock the Orc Slayer on the back of the head, his body would take corresponding actions and it would definitely happen.

How can this be?

Quellngra was not a dead object. He had a strong body, powerful talents, and superb fighting skills. He could dodge, parry, and counterattack. Victor found it hard to believe that the Orc Chieftain would allow Kent to hit him in the back of the head.

The gap in strength between the two sides is too big, and even Kent would be in trouble even in the "Dream Shadow" state.

Harvey, who was listening, didn't believe it either. He said to Kent bluntly, "I think you are daydreaming, and then sleepwalking to hit Quillenglar on the head!"

Dreaming? Sleepwalking!
Victor suddenly had an idea and muttered to himself, "Of course, sleepwalking is nothing special, but what if the prerequisite for sleepwalking is to completely master the 'Mirror Heart'?"

According to known statements, "Mirror Heart" is the premise of "Dream Shadow", and "Dream Shadow" is the premise of "Soul Body". These three spiritual realms are in the same line.

The so-called "mirror mind" means that the mind is like a mirror, reflecting not only the self but also the outside world without omission. For example, if someone is looking at the mirror in the utility room and retreating to the door, he can avoid the bottles and jars under his feet and retreat accurately, not one step more or less.

Victor once couldn't tell the difference between "Soul Fire" and "Mirror Heart". Now he can clearly understand that "Soul Fire" uses the soul as a torch, illuminating the self first and then the outside world. Therefore, "Soul Fire" is better at controlling itself. For example, when injured and bleeding, it can stop bleeding by contracting the muscles near the wound; or instantly simulate combat states such as violent, fierce, frenzied, and bloodthirsty.

The "Mirror Heart" can never control itself as finely as the "Soul Fire". But in terms of spiritual perception, the "Mirror Heart" has more advantages than the "Soul Fire".

Therefore, "Heart of the Mirror" has to rely on "Shadow of Dreams" to make up for its weak combat capability.

The greatest characteristic of dreams is the high degree of freedom of mental activities. It allows us to think about things we normally wouldn’t dare to think about, do things we normally wouldn’t dare to do, and turn the impossible into possible.

Combining the advantages of "Mirror Heart", Victor's "Dream Shadow" is the extraordinary state after breaking the limitations of the mind and removing the seal of the body. "Come here, let's do an experiment!" He jumped up and called Harvey, Kent, Herman and Mokley to come to him, and then ordered: "Harvey, it's you."

"Okay, what do you want me to do, Victor?" The shield guard asked excitedly, rubbing his hands.

Victor looked around and chose the thickest date tree nearby. He walked over, patted the trunk, nodded with satisfaction and said, "I want you to punch it with all your might... The others watch carefully."

The thickness of this jujube tree is so thick that one person can hug it. The texture of the tree is so tight and tough that ordinary lumberjacks may not be able to cut through the trunk even if they chop it with an axe for hundreds of times. Harvey stood in front of the tree, took a deep breath, and used the combat breathing method to mobilize the inner potential and integrate the external force. He stepped forward and twisted his waist, and his muscles from bottom to top exerted force layer by layer, throwing out an extremely fierce jab, exploding the air like thunder, and hitting the tree trunk heavily. Then there was a loud "crack", and the thick jujube tree broke in the middle and fell to the ground with broken wood chips and smoke.

Victor nodded repeatedly. Harvey's striking force weighed tons, far beyond the limit of what a mortal could achieve. Even a third-level dragoon would not be at such a high level.

Harvey's modified body is not inferior to that of a third-level dragoon or a third-level brutal warrior. This is of course a basic condition. The key is that he has ignited the fire of his soul and is proficient in combat breathing to exert extraordinary strength, destroying a tough jujube tree that can be hugged by two people with one punch.

If it were an outsider, they would definitely be shocked by Harvey's "superpower". But in this team, no one would find it strange.

Kent, Herman, and Moakley can also do this, but Victor can't. He hasn't ignited the fire of his soul, so it's difficult for him to break a thick date tree with one blow.

"Well done." Victor praised, and turned around to lead everyone out of the grove and into the wilderness. There were many rocks in the wilderness, so he found a giant rock that was nearly two people tall, turned to Harvey and said, "Use the same method and force as before to punch this rock."

"Okay!" Harvey agreed without hesitation, then adjusted his own state slightly, and then did the same to the giant granite. He threw a jab with a loud bang, and then slammed his fist heavily on the stone with a dull "bang". The boulder weighing more than ten tons shook, leaving a fist-sized crack and pit on the surface.

Harvey's broken hand bones and torn flesh healed rapidly under the action of the living sticky threads, and were restored to full health in the blink of an eye.

"Compared to his first punch, do you think the power of this punch has changed?" Victor turned to ask the others.

The giant Mowgli was the first to answer: "The power of Harvey's second punch was at least 20% less than the first punch."

Harvey nodded immediately, frowned and said, "Yes, after I hit him, I also felt that the force was obviously reduced... Strange, why would this happen with the same force method?"

Victor smiled and said confidently: "The so-called unity of body and mind is the close combination of physical strength and spiritual strength. But if we look at it from another perspective, the unity of body and mind also means that the body is a shackle to the soul, and the soul is also a shackle to the body." He patted Harvey on the shoulder and continued: "When you hit the stone, your fist must hurt... This is normal. Flesh and blood will bleed, get injured, and die. All these are restrictions on the body by the laws of life. And pain is a warning from the body to the soul, telling you that your fist is injured and don't use so much force to hit the stone. This is the shackle of the body on the soul..."

"Although you have undergone a thorough transformation and your physical strength has been greatly improved, not inferior to that of a dragon vein half-elf, and you have also been strengthened by the arcane snake touch, so you don't have to worry about getting hurt... You clearly know all this, but you still subconsciously restrain your striking power. This is the shackles of the mind on the body..."

"Kent!" Victor suddenly shouted.

The gladiator slave shuddered, returned to reality from his thoughts, and said hurriedly: "Master, what do you want?"

"You try it too, and let us see how far you can go?" Victor said, pointing to another boulder, his eyes shining.

Kent walked up to the boulder with a serious expression. His sharp eyes quickly became empty and blank. Without any movement or posture, he suddenly punched out like lightning.

With a "pop", the surface of the boulder remained intact, but then a crisp "click" was heard, and spider-web-like cracks quickly spread across the surface of the rock. Although the giant rock has not yet completely collapsed, it is only a matter of time.

Harvey was stunned, and Kent himself was also shocked.

Victor examined the spreading fist marks and saw the destructive power, so he nodded and said, "If igniting the fire of the soul can exert 100% of the power, then mastering the 'Dream Shadow' can unlock 200%, 300%, or even ten times the potential... Moreover, it is not just the potential of the body, but also the potential of the mind, making people faster, stronger, incredible, and beyond imagination!"

"I...I don't seem to have mastered it?" Kent said uncertainly, looking at his hands.

Victor shook his head and explained, "You just haven't fully mastered it, but you have indeed reached the realm of 'Dream Shadow'. I believe that 'Dream Shadow' not only greatly improves strength, speed and combat skills, it must have more characteristics and abilities waiting to be discovered."

"After all, behind the 'Dream Shadow' there is the 'Soul Body'."

Victor couldn't help but be fascinated by this. After a moment of silence, he asked, "The one who created 'Mirror Heart', 'Dream Shadow', and 'Soul Body' is truly an amazing genius... Have any of you heard of him?"

The two alchemists shook their heads together. They only had fragmented and incomplete memories and could not provide any specific information.

Harvey thought for a moment and said, "We can try to find out, like looking for my former instructor in the legion, if he's still alive..."

At this time, Kent suddenly interrupted Harvey and pointed to the southwest and said to Victor: "Master, I feel there is danger coming towards us over there."

Victor looked in the direction Kent pointed out and found several small black dots in the sky flying towards him quickly.

"Dust Falcon!"

"It's a team of half-elves. We've been discovered!"