Chapter 3 Talk Session

"Samuel... Aunweor..."

"Samuel... AUNWEOR!"

"Samuel... AUNWEOR!"

Samuel felt a tremor in the air as he heard the voice. It was unnerving and distorted, like a broken radio. This was another nightmare, just another dream!

"I don't need to be afraid. This is not real," Samuel muttered to himself despite his nervousness.

"One with the self... throw away your burdens, as the true self is weightless," Samuel recited from the 'Mind Nurturing Mantra' to keep his mind calm.

When Samuel finally reached the source of the voice, he was shocked. A giant creature sat with its arms around its knees. The creature was pitch black, its features terrifying with no eyes, a gaping mouth, a pair of horns, and countless small tails that wriggled like a bunch of waris. Samuel was familiar with the tails; they were the same black tentacles from his previous dreams!

"What... is this?" Samuel was in disbelief. He quickly put up his guard because of the black tentacle that had devoured him before.

"SAMUEL... AUNWEOR!!"

The creature grabbed Samuel and swallowed him through its mouth. Samuel couldn't even put up resistance against its hand.

***

"Again?" Samuel trembled as he opened his eyes.

This time, Samuel didn't feel as shocked as before. In fact, his mind became clearer as he woke up!

'I think I have a rough idea of why I become self-aware in my dreams,' Samuel thought as he looked at the 'Mind Nurturing Mantra'.

Turning his attention to the book beside his bed, Samuel reached for the 'Mind Nurturing Mantra'. The worn pages held the secrets to unlocking the power of the mind, a power that Samuel had only begun to explore. As he traced his fingers over the intricate script, he couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation. What if delving deeper into his dreams only led to more questions, more uncertainty?

'It must have strengthened my mental strength. Strong enough to keep me awake in my dreams.'

However, based on the research done by his former patient, it doesn't affect dreams in any way. Specifically, he didn't do any particular study in that field. This book contains his experience on practicing the mantra, making the fragrance, and many other things. Even the fragrance Samuel is using is a modification of the original because some of the ingredients are very rare.

The 'Mind Nurturing Mantra' can be divided into two techniques. Although his former patient didn't specifically name them, Samuel calls them the 'Suppression Technique' and the 'Nurturing Technique'. The latter can be used in any situation even if the mind did not suffer from the suppression state. However, the effect will be less in normal situations. But if the mind is already stressful without the first technique, it's more or less as effective as using it with the first technique.

It also seems that he's done much research about people who fail to practice the mantra. He did some experiments with many different results. He concluded that people most likely will go crazy if they failed. Samuel wants to confirm this theory but he doesn't want to share this technique with other people.

Now that he's interested in doing so because of the book's potential, he's planning to give it to one of his subordinates.

'The fragrance will be useful in the meeting with Karina; it will make my job to control the course of our conversation. But...' Samuel thought of something but immediately rejected the idea.

The Mind Calming fragrance, as the name suggests, has the effect of calming a person's mind, it even can influence people's mind, similar to lesser hypnosys. The problem is that the smell is too strong. Although it is not annoying and in fact, it smells very nice, a knight like Countess Karina might find it suspicious.

'I need to do something about the smell. There are still four hours before our meeting.'

***

"Hey, look, it's the Countess. Why did she visit Dr. Aunweor's clinic again?"

"I don't know, but you better be quiet!"

Countess Karina walked through the front door. She entered the room and saw a patient still consulting about her illness with him.

"Good morning, Doctor." She greeted him with a smile.

"Ah, Miss Karina, good morning." Samuel nodded and smiled back at her.

"It seems you're still busy with your work?"

Seeing this, his patient wanted to leave, but before she could do anything, Dr. Aunweor explained,

"I'm so sorry, Miss. Her condition can become severe if it's not treated properly. I hope you can understand that," said Samuel with a regretful expression.

Countess Karina was satisfied with his answer. She wasn't like those filthy nobles who looked down on peasants. Well, being a pure-blooded noble, she still looked down on them, but not because of their blood status. She viewed them as people who needed to be protected. She understood that at one point, her ancestors were peasants too. She valued every life, with some exceptions, of course.

"I understand, Doctor. I will wait until you're done."

"Thank you, Miss." Samuel smiled gently.

Seeing this, Mrs. Reynold's tense demeanor began to soften, replaced by a sense of relief and gratitude. She began to tell Samuel about her symptoms.

Listening attentively, Samuel leaned forward, his expression calm and reassuring as he carefully considered Mrs. Reynold's concerns. With gentle prompts and probing questions, he encouraged her to share more about her medical history and any previous treatments she had undergone.

"Thank you, Doctor. If it's not for you, I wouldn't even know what am I suffering to.."

"It's my job to help people, don't thank me." Samuel smiled

After saying thank you once again, Mrs. Reynold left the clinic. Samuel finally began to talk to Karina.

"Aren't you rude to make a beautiful lady wait?" Karina said jokingly.

"Then I'll have to punish myself, no?" Samuel smiled as he heard the joke.

"You don't need to, Doctor." Karina replied.

"By the way, that was an impressive performance; you treated her patiently. How did you know she was overworked and had a burnout?"

"Haha, you're praising me, Miss. The symptoms are similar from what I know. Besides, I always see her working until midnight." Samuel waved his hand.

"Also, I didn't think you would share the medicine recipe. Why is that?" She asked, curious.

"It's nothing; if you ever go to the public library, the basic medicine recipe is always there."

Hearing this, Karina nodded. This is why she looked down on peasants. They wanted to stay weak and uneducated, so what could she possibly do?

"Anyway, here, I gathered some information regarding the Fitzroy family, as per your request." Samuel changed the subject and handed over the document Morgan collected.

Karina nodded, her eyes fixed intently on the documents spread out before her. "Thank you, Doctor Aunweor. I trust that your sources are reliable."

"You work fast, Doctor." Karina smiled as she took the enclosed document.

With a nod of affirmation, Samuel launched into a detailed explanation, his words flowing smoothly as he recounted the key points gleaned from the reports. He spoke of the Fitzroy family's recent activities, their connections within the city, and the rumors swirling around their prestigious lineage. He also told her information about the new nobles, of course, without the part where he's the one who leaked it.

After hearing his explanation, Karina was shocked. Samuel finally concluded his briefing, his gaze meeting Karina's with a hint of anticipation. "I hope this information proves useful to you, Countess Karina. If there's anything else you require, please don't hesitate to ask."

"The new nobles... they knew about this?"

"My father moved secretly; how could this have happened?" Karina was confused, but she regained her calm.

'It's not a bad thing though,' Karina thought.

"If I may, Miss. Why is the House of Ironheart hostile towards the Fitzroy?"

"Well, I think you need to understand the current situation of our family first."

"Within the Edrea Kingdom, there are three duke families: Fitzroy, Ironheart, and Dragonshore. The Edreana Royal family always suppressed our family, so my father is not satisfied with such treatment."

"Just a while ago, the emissary of Noer Church came to my father and said they could suppress the Royal family for a while. They asked my father to attack the Fitzroy; he can seize their resources, the Church will not participate in plundering." Karina said, she paused for Samuel to process the information.

'This is completely unexpected, I can benefit a lot from this if i play my cards right. Well, I don't want to get involved with the Noer Church though. If supernatural exist, what about God and other beings?'

Noer Church believes in the Lord of Light, Noer. It's a church state ruled by religious belief. They consider Noer as their God, which, in the old language of the Church state, means 'Light'. There are plenty of religious beliefs in the continent, and even heretical teachings exist in the form of cults.

"Miss Karina, I don't think the Noer Church would make these moves without prior motives. Can you tell me the reason?"