Oqili kept an eye on the time, making sure to end the conversation before the Old Witch returned.

He even sped up his experimental progress, so she wouldn’t find out he’d been slacking off.

But when the Old Witch came back with an unpleasant expression, she didn’t even ask about the experiments Oqili was in charge of.

She flicked her sparse ponytail, letting the finger tied to its end tap rhythmically against the back of her head.

“You went to the cave entrance?” The Old Witch walked up behind Saul, as if she’d strike him with the wooden board in her hand if his answer displeased her.

“I didn’t go to the cave. I just went looking for my coachman,” Saul said with his chest out. “You locked him up.”

The Old Witch’s gaze turned complicated.

“What do you want with him?”

“I was the one who brought him into the Borderland. Once I finish this experiment, I intend to take him back out.”

The Old Witch stood behind Saul, unsure whether to scold him for being naive or feel relieved that she’d picked up such a sincere fool.

“…Think about your coachman again once you’ve completed my experiment.”

In the end, the Old Witch didn’t punish Saul.

In fact, she’d left the door unlocked on purpose, just to test if the two would try to escape.

Wandering around the place a bit was already something she silently allowed.

In the days that followed, the experiments continued in an orderly fashion.

Saul also made progress in his own private research hidden among the experimental data.

But these studies on flesh-soul fusion magic couldn’t be written down, for fear of being discovered by the Old Witch and Oqili.

So Saul had no choice but to assign his consciousness fragments the role of notebooks, forcing them to memorize several distinct experimental results.

And just like that, another month passed.

The Old Witch once again went out to gather materials.

Though she was already displeased with how quickly the resources were being consumed, the progress of the experiment was enough to bring joy.

For the sake of finally seeing a glimmer of hope after so many years of research, she could only suppress her temper—for now.

After she left, Saul continued his work with the same seriousness as when she was present.

“The flesh part of the fusion is ready. But the soul part is tricky. The Old Witch’s modifications lean heavily toward the physical body, so her experiments don’t require much in terms of souls. That makes it inconvenient for me to use many soul bodies for testing,” Saul said as he set down a petri dish, tossing it casually into the “failed samples” pile, while thinking about how to request more soul bodies without arousing suspicion.

“What’s your decision?” At that moment, Oqili arrived behind Saul with some new samples.

After a month, he had completely transformed from researcher to Saul’s assistant.

Which only made him more anxious.

Saul paused his hand for a moment, but handled the specimen steadily.

“I haven’t made up my mind. It’s aimed at the Locator, but it’s also very dangerous.”

“A wizard who fears danger will ultimately die to the unknown! Do I really need to teach you something that simple?” Oqili was nearly fuming.

Seeing that he was driving Oqili to the edge, Saul finally softened a little.

“Besides, I haven’t yet found a method to enhance the Locator…”

“I have one!” Oqili immediately cut him off.

Saul finally stopped what he was doing and raised an eyebrow at Oqili.

It was obvious Oqili was trying hard to keep his emotions in check, but his cheeks still turned slightly red.

“If you agree to initiate the Parallel Plan, I’ll hand over the method to you.”

“But if you don’t show me the method first, how can I agree to begin?” Saul replied confidently.

After all, he wasn’t in a hurry.

Oqili’s face reddened further, but he raised a hand to pat his cheeks and calm himself down.

“The Locator helps us stabilize our mental bodies and resist pollution both inside and outside our physical forms. Some even describe it as an anchor—something that keeps us from getting lost in the sea of knowledge. But no matter the interpretation, one thing remains unchanged.”

“The Locator provides a layer of protection during a cognitive crisis. And this protection doesn’t weaken with frequent use. In fact, it’s like our brain—the more you use it, the sharper it gets. So my method is: targeted training of the Locator.”

Saul gave him a cold look.

He had known all along that any method of enhancing the Locator wouldn’t be simple.

But Oqili’s method wasn’t just about danger anymore.

It was dancing on the edge of death!

Are all the wizards in the Borderland this reckless?

Well, for Oqili, maybe he really had no other choice.

“This method… is too dangerous.”

“But it’s the only way for us to survive. Even if we suffer some irreversible trauma in the process, there’s still a chance of recovery in the future. But if we die, then it’s all over.”

Saul still didn’t give Oqili a definite answer.

But to ease his anxiety, Saul gave him a deadline.

Three days.

However, it didn’t take three days. Something happened that changed Saul’s mind.

The Old Witch returned half a day later than expected.

When she appeared at the lab door, she was covered in dust.

The grime had seeped into every wrinkle on her body, as if she’d been buried in dirt for hours.

Saul paused for a moment at the sight, but ultimately decided not to ask about her ordeal.

Those disgraceful experiences might not be ones she wished to recall.

“Did you find a complete soul body?”

Oqili couldn’t help but glance over, once again amazed at how utterly tactless this boy was.

“No,” the Old Witch replied grimly. “But that’s alright.”

She didn’t even clean herself up. Instead, she walked out of the room and came back a few minutes later.

This time, she brought the dwarf out of his cage.

The dwarf hadn’t left his cage in a long time.

Whenever the Old Witch came to him, it was always to extract some piece of his body.

Sometimes more, sometimes less.

Though his body was tough and his regenerative ability strong, he was now extremely weak.

He never knew when this kind of life would end. But recently, he’d begun to see a sliver of hope.

The newcomer—the boy who still looked like he hadn’t fully grown—seemed to have brought the experiment to its final stages.

The sign was that the Old Witch had been taking samples from him more frequently.

Despite his injuries, the dwarf’s heart was filled with hope.

If he could just hold on, perhaps he would regain his freedom.

Whether the Old Witch’s experiment succeeded or failed—anything was better than this stagnant torment.

But today, the Old Witch brought him straight into the lab.

Oqili was assisting Saul, recording data. When he saw the Old Witch dragging the dwarf over, he was surprised at first, but then seemed to realize something, and a trace of joy flickered in his eyes.

He tapped Saul on the shoulder. “Watch.”

Saul stopped what he was doing and casually tossed another sample into the failure pile.

Then he saw the Old Witch strap the weakened dwarf onto the lab table.

“You said you needed a complete soul for your experiment, didn’t you?” The Old Witch glanced at Saul. “You’re not picky about race, are you?”

Saul stared back at her, expressionless, saying nothing.

Then, the Old Witch dissected the dwarf.

Despite his strong vitality, the dwarf didn’t die immediately from being dismembered.

Next, the Old Witch brought over her homemade soul extractor.

It looked like an upside-down cauldron, haphazardly connected to a number of jars.

The apparatus was extremely crude, built from common materials. The true value lay in the intricate miniature magic formations etched all over it.

These formations turned scrap into a precise instrument.

The Old Witch activated the device with her magic.

In an instant, the barely-breathing dwarf lost consciousness.

Saul narrowed his eyes, watching as a translucent soul—shimmering between white and gray—was gradually pulled into the upper pipes.

Throughout the process, the Old Witch chanted spells carefully to make sure the soul didn’t fracture.

Once the extraction was complete, she took off the cauldron-like cover and tossed it to Saul.

“Here. A complete soul. It’s deformed, but I guarantee not a single fragment is missing.”

(End of Chapter)

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