Soulless Players

The imposing figure continued, "They should have realized that once you become a mentalist, some degree of eccentricity is almost guaranteed. Why would they still insist on the rule that only those who unlock cores from positive memories can become mentalists? Whether we unlock such cores or not, we will eventually become more unhinged in the future."

Intrigued, Lala probed further, "Perhaps they have a hidden motive for eliminating them earlier?"

The man locked eyes with Lala, his silence echoing in the room. After a few moments, he responded, "I know what you're trying to do. Don't push further. It's not the right time for you to know..."

Shifting the conversation, he continued, "For now, let's focus on finding a way to inform Conrad about the danger. It would be tragic if he truly self-destructed upon entering his consciousness."

Lala absorbed the man's instructions before leaving to return to her duties, maintaining her pleasant demeanor as she welcomed incoming McRonald's customers.

***

After his class, Philip could be seen exiting the university, his mind slightly in a daze.

Earlier, he had noticed Sam seemingly monitoring him at the university while in his astral state. Philip understood why Sam had approached him; he was likely attempting to ascertain if Philip had become a mentalist.

Without concealing his emotions, Philip displayed his surprise. However, he merely nodded at Sam and chose not to initiate a conversation. After all, he wasn't confident in interacting with another empath while concealing his true emotions.

As Philip made his way towards Alma Inn, he spotted a bluish beam on the floor, extending from the street up to the third floor. Recognizing it as an astral domain, he knew it led to one of the guest rooms, specifically to the newlywed couple.

Seeing this, Philip couldn't help but smirk. He had expected this to happen.

Recalling his previous encounter with Lala, he knew he couldn't deceive an empath due to his inexperience. This was why he hadn't used Conrad's identity at McRonalds. Instead, he had chosen the appearance of the man he had mimicked the night before.

Even if he failed, he wouldn't arouse suspicion. Furthermore, his unique ability to mimic made it nearly impossible for others to trace him.

"But even with this uniqueness, I still need to be cautious. I shouldn't rely solely on this to escape every situation," Philip decided, making a mental note.

He then thought back to his experiment earlier.

What Philip had done at McRonalds was his first attempt to imbue his space of consciousness with the dominant emotion emanating from his core memory. With this, he could keep his true emotion orbs from showing up.

Philip had chosen his second core memory, originating from a happy and carefree period of his life in the forest. This was also the reason behind Lala's obvious shock that morning when he forcibly exchanged his nervousness and anxiety for joy.

"While I can hide my emotions, it would still be difficult to conceal my outward expression and body language from a mentalist," Philip concluded. He then made another mental note to further improve his acting skills.

After a few minutes, when he no longer saw the astral projection at Alma Inn, Philip waited a little longer before transforming into a new identity, assuming the appearance of a 40-year-old middle-aged man.

He had "borrowed" this man's appearance from one of Alma Inn's guests. Knowing that he was still resting and had no plans to stroll outside, Philip temporarily adopted his identity to venture out.

This time, Philip's objective was to retrieve the 'traveler's rings' he had hidden far away and inspect their contents.

Philip traveled from city to town, and town to another town before arriving in a dimly lit and unpopulated area.

Philip easily located the rings' hiding spots. His only concern was whether magicians or other super beings had a means of tracking them.

However, when he found the rings undisturbed and without any traps, he quickly retrieved them and dashed to another location.

Shortly after, he transformed again, this time into a woman who was the 30-year-old man's partner in the previous night's exercise.

"This is rather uncomfortable," Philip murmured as he donned women's clothing.

He struggled with certain aspects of the transformation, especially the chest and lower parts. Thankfully, Philip was still considered a child so he didn't experience any inappropriate sensations.

With his new identity, he journeyed to a location two towns away from Bryxton City again. Following the instructions from the book he had purchased, he summoned a small part of his astral domain to envelop the rings in a bluish aura.

Immediately, Philip was bombarded with information about the contents of the rings, as if the objects were floating before him.

He also realized each ring had a storage space of 3 cubic meters and he could will the objects inside to emerge from the rings.

Inside Loen's ring, aside from accumulating mud and soil, he found a few items: a bag with 50 gold crystal coins inside, an identification card he believed belonged to Loen, a few books, and a diary.

In contrast, Emile's ring was a treasure trove: 5 bags with 500 gold crystal coins inside, his identification card, gemstones, medicine bottles, and a strange red envelope.

Philip couldn't help but widen his eyes at Emile's wealth; he was even richer than Steve, a tycoon's son! However, his attention quickly shifted to the identification cards, which revealed their ranks:

[ Loen Lesse, 1st class earth magician ]

[ Emile Cruz, 1st class wind magician ]

"So magicians also have ranks, and they seem to be at the lowest, just like Dreamwalkers in Mentalist," Philip nodded in understanding.

Next, he focused on Loen's books. Most were about magic, but some were related to mentalism.

"Why did he have these?" Philip wondered internally, recalling Loen's unusual behavior and apparent mental instability.

"Come to think of it, Loen seemed to be not in his proper state of mind in the past. Yes, it is only now that I've become a mentalist that I noticed his abnormality," Philip mused, his brow furrowing. He had just unearthed yet another reason behind his seemingly abnormal successful escape in the past.

Philip decided to read Loen's books later, particularly his diary. He was curious about the reason behind his instability.

His attention then turned to a peculiar envelope in Emile's ring labeled "Formula for Sexual Reproductive System Reconstruction (1)."

"What's this?" Philip's curiosity was piqued, even though the content seemed rather perverted. He believed it must have held some significance for Emile.

"Come to think of it, Emile was physically stronger than Loen," Philip mused. He recalled the moments when Emile had endured a lightning strike and a gunshot with no life-threatening damage. It was only when Philip kicked him that he promptly took his miraculous medicine.

"Speaking of medicine..." Philip then examined the medicine bottles and, upon spotting a particular blue liquid, he rejoiced.

"Yes, I finally found something that can help me regrow my limbs!" As a current woman, Philip's smile was especially graceful and seductive. His happiness was palpable.

"With this, I will no longer have to suffer from a disability, and perhaps I can use my original body for training," Philip thought optimistically.

He had always believed that his mental capabilities had improved through continuous mental torture, and he hoped the same could be true for his physical capabilities.

After formulating his rigorous training plans in his mind, Philip returned to Alma Inn, bringing the rings with him—one full and the other empty.

Although he intended to hide them again far from himself for safety, he ultimately decided it was better to keep them within his reach, perhaps in the inn's backyard.

"After I heal my body, I should proactively placate nightmares to increase my karma and finally use the system's information board," Philip contemplated. "With it, I'll never be as ignorant as before and won't make as many mistakes."

Philip quickly returned to the Alma Inn. As he entered, he noticed that the middle-aged man had gone out to check the night market. Similarly, the newlywed couple had also departed, enjoying the city view at night.

Grateful that he hadn't encountered the woman upon his return, Philip couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It would have been quite a trouble if she saw him and noticed the striking resemblance between him and her.

Upon returning to his room and finding Maris' absence, presumably in the kitchen, Philip reverted to his original child form. He then drank the contents of the blue medicine bottle. The process was excruciatingly painful, but Philip welcomed it, knowing it would grant him the ability to walk without difficulty.

After half an hour, Philip smiled contentedly. Finally, he was back at his peak again!

While happily examining his child's body, he unconsciously was reminded of the poor street children's condition.

"I'm worried about them. I hope Gerald has finally managed to gather the street children," He walked toward his study table with newfound mobility.

However, when he opened the jewelry box, shock washed over him as he found it was no longer empty. The medicine bottle was inside, containing a piece of paper within. Philip picked up the bottle, his hands stained with the blood, coming from the note stuffed inside.