Chapter 249 - Mind and Space! Part-3

{15th July 1992}

{Rigel’s POV}

I stared at the notification, the memory of where the anchor point was already there, but with the system acknowledging that memory as a skill, it became a lot clearer. I had a sense that if I wanted, I could access that anchor point now quite easily. Before I could think about experimenting, though, I was pulled into the next memory.

--

Dhanvantri drifted closer to the walls, the motion seemed effortless. His feet never touched the ground, but he still had the sense of motion, speed, and balance. The world shimmered faintly at the edges, slower—no, stretched as the senses seemed sharper. The falling dust motes hung lazily in the air, drifting still slower, but didn't give much away as to the shift in perception. It was not until he leaned down and focused on the patient who was looking at his still body that he calculated and pinpointed the shift.

'Hmm, I can think, move, and react almost twice as fast.'

He raised his hand and willed mana forward. Without his wand, he focused on pure mana manipulation to see if he could use any spells. His translucent fingers glowed, and a faint spark coalesced at the tip of his index finger—the levitation charm was rudimentary but recognizable. The spark hung, stable, before fading away as he tried to fire it.

His eyes gleamed.

'Using spells seemed possible as my intent was present along with half of my mana. Though the spell broke apart as I'm not used to using the levitation charm without a focus.' He noted.

He tried again, this time with more intent pushed through, but it didn't help. The spark flared into a brief stream of mana that curved midair and vanished. His control over the spell wasn't enough, it seemed. Still, the mana was able to leave his soul clone, which caused excitement to bubble in him

'Yes, as expected. I can cast spells, though their effectiveness would drop like wandless magic, and only spells that I could use without a wand or other focus objects would be available to me in this form.' He noted as he drifted around himself in a circle, watching the tether connecting him to the back of his physical head, pulse with faint light. The air shimmered in rhythm with each beat of his physical heart, which he used to verify that he could perceive things twice as fast now.

'Or my heart was beating a lot slower than expected.' He continued his experiments, counter-arguing as he did so.

He floated higher—through the ceiling, through stone and soil as if the world had forgotten how to stop him. Above, the night stretched endlessly, the stars crisp and close. The wind didn't move him, but he could feel the motion—every shift in air currents, every ripple in heat. It felt a little weird, as did moving through solid objects.

Still, he decided to test the limits of his movements. He was moving fast—faster than a human could run, but not faster than a broom could fly—there was no resistance from tha air, no weight holding him back. The ground blurred beneath him in streaks of gray as he realized his vision had gone monochromatic.

'The perception of color and light is off. I didn't notice that in the cave, but everything is just made up of shadows. I wonder what creates this unique perception.'

He turned sharply, descending through a wall of rock and reemerging above a river that flowed above his base. It shimmered like molten silver. Ripples formed below his passing, not from touch but from the displacement of mana.

He turned his attention backward. He could still feel where his body still lay miles away in the sanctum. The silver tether between them stretched impossibly long yet never thinned.

"Mana transfer along the tether remains constant. Separation does not break the flow. Both forms can act independently, but the body cannot react. Vulnerable… defenseless…"

His tone flattened at the realization. The coldness returned.

"Perfect for reconnaissance and exploration… maybe even assassination if some hard-hitting spells could be used quickly."

He drifted backward now, through the layers of stone, walls, and wards, until the chamber returned around him. His body still lay slumped over the table, pale but alive. He noticed it immediately, the tell-tale signs of mana exhaustion.

He paused and immediately willed himself to go back. The silver line thickened, pulling him back in a rush of mana.

The world folded.

And then—he was back, along with a new headache and slight tingling in his fingers, which subsided as the remaining mana from his soul clone flooded his parched channels.

He staggered upright, trembling, the afterimages of his own translucent self still imprinted behind his eyelids.

"This spell or ability is dangerous," he rasped, writing down observations with shaking fingers. "Extending farther away from the body uses the mana that is left behind to stabilize the tether cord. If you move too far away, you could break your own foundations, along with killing yourself from vitality exposure, to keep the ability running... Still, it is a remarkable ability if used..."

—

The vision ended as I snapped back, and the thought of experiments died down as I calmed down. Why would I need to take those risks when someone had already done some of the experiments for him?

'Still, that painful tingling that I felt along Dhanvantri's fingertips. That was similar to the records I had read about in the diary of Ararctus Black the Third. This ability has incredible use but also has clear pitfalls.'

…

[Secret Mana Art Levelled up: Soul Clone Lv-2]

[Passive Gained: Divided Perception — halves temporal drift during mana separation]

[Anchor Point Comprehension: 100%]

…

The tome dimmed. The air in the sanctum felt thicker, denser, with a palpable potential.

I could still feel the echo of that thread—silver and thin, connecting the mind to the body. I could sense where it resided in my body; it still existed, but it was currently within my body. With a gentle nudge, I could force my soul outside my body now, breaking free from its confines.

'What about the Horcruxes then, I'm going to assume they are also tethers to your soul, since Voldemort didn't die even when his original body was destroyed, or whatever. If that is the case, and since that is the case, shouldn't he be aware that one of the anchors binding him to this world is gone when someone destroys a Horcrux... How in the hell was he unaware as Harry and his gang destroyed his anchors to reality in the books?'

I questioned as I sighed, the world that I knew from the books and the movies was nowhere to be seen, and from the foreboding feeling I'm getting, Tom won't just kneel over and die to an Expeliarmus... This has just become a bit more complicated.