Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 96

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 96. The Magician of Sephiroth – Astral Body (4)

“The Astral Body has two major disadvantages.”
Andromallius extended a finger as he spoke.
“First, the issue of Essence that I mentioned earlier. In truth, the method of accumulating magical power in the physical body renders magic that attacks Essence ineffective. It’s no exaggeration to say that magic designed to attack Essence was created precisely because of the Astral Body.”
“Essence?”
“The Astral Body is a method of creating a spiritual form connected to one’s soul. Before the Astral Body existed, the Essence of the soul remained concealed within the body. But by creating a separate spiritual body, part of the soul becomes exposed to the outside.”
I furrowed my brow at his explanation.
“Isn’t that a serious problem?”
“It was a serious problem.”
“Past tense? Does that mean you’ve solved it?”
He nodded at my question.
“To some extent. In the early days when the Astral Body was first created, the Essence of the soul was dangerously exposed to the outside, making it a grave issue. The second problem with the Astral Body is that when the spiritual form takes damage, the physical body suffers damage as well.”
“Is damage to the spiritual form different from damage to the Essence?”
Andromallius smiled and nodded.
“An excellent question. They’re completely different problems. To use an analogy that’s easy to understand, losing an arm doesn’t affect your cognitive abilities or memories.”
“That’s true.”
“Similarly, damage to the spiritual form doesn’t create confusion in your identity. But Essence is different. To use an analogy, it’s like taking a blow to the head and suffering amnesia. Naturally, attacking the Essence when only a portion is exposed is extraordinarily difficult.”
I pondered his words. The Astral Body—wasn’t it far too dangerous?
As I narrowed my brow, Andromallius spoke as if he understood what I was thinking.
“As I said before, when people encounter problems, they solve them. To address the vulnerability of the Astral Body, practitioners use the Astral Dimension—the spiritual realm—by concealing it within their own body.”
“Concealing it within the body?”
“It would be more accurate to call it a four-dimensional subspace contained within the soul rather than the body. The Astral Dimension is also called the inner world or microcosm.”
The term “microcosm” made it intuitive.
The microcosm had been an important concept in martial arts as well.
Andromallius drew another human figure on the whiteboard and sketched another figure inside it.
“When you place the Astral Body inside the Astral Dimension like this, it doesn’t expose itself to the outside at all. Naturally, both the spiritual form and the exposed Essence remain safely hidden.”
“But can the Essence still be attacked even then?”
He nodded at my question.
“Unfortunately, yes. Even when safely concealed, there are multiple attack methods that can forcibly expose the Astral Body compared to a state where body and spirit are completely unified.”
But he added as if to reassure me.
“As I mentioned, forcibly interfering with another person’s Astral Dimension is extraordinarily difficult. Conversely, protecting your own Astral Dimension is remarkably easy. Taken to extremes, even a magician who has merely created an Astral Body can defend against the attacks of a high-ranking 5-Class mage using nothing but simple ‘will’—not even magic.”
Indeed, if one could defend against such a disparity in power, it would certainly be safe.
“That’s why your True Name is so important. Your real name becomes the means to stimulate the Essence of the soul that lies beyond the Astral Dimension.”
In other words, a name was the key that unlocked a sealed door.
“Now I understand why you told me not to reveal my name.”
“Good. Then shall I explain the advantages of the Astral Body now?”
Advantages? Didn’t he explain those already?
“What I explained earlier wasn’t about the disadvantages of the Astral Body itself, but rather the flaws in the mana operation system. I haven’t mentioned even a single advantage of the Astral Body yet.”
“Isn’t avoiding disadvantages itself an advantage?”
“That could be considered an advantage, but if that were the only benefit, many mages would have simply accepted the drawbacks and continued using the old magic system rather than risk exposing the fundamental nature of their souls.”
He had a point. The disadvantages of learning the Astral Body—the balance of the spirit-body-soul trinity and physical concerns—were indeed substantial.
The trinity’s balance could be adjusted, and the problematic mana storage methods could be avoided.
Physical loss was manageable if one simply took precautions.
Honestly, unless one was a combat mage, how often would body parts actually disappear?
Even combat mages fought from the rear, casting spells from a distance, so they’d face far fewer risks of physical loss compared to frontline fighters.
“The Astral Body’s advantages are primarily twofold. First, it allows the spirit form to accept mana far more delicately and precisely. The Astral Body is what enables even those with underdeveloped intuition to become mages. And for those with developed intuition, it develops it even further.”
In simpler terms, it meant developing a heightened sense for manipulating mana.
With a more refined mana-handling sense, the speed of gathering mana would increase dramatically.
Since I hadn’t yet experienced the limitations of an underdeveloped sense, this advantage didn’t particularly appeal to me.
“The other advantage is that, theoretically, the mana one can accumulate is infinite.”
“Infinite?”
“Mana stored in the physical body is inherently limited by nature. The space available in the body to construct mana circuits is finite, and while the next step involves increasing mana density, even when compressed to a solid state, there are still limits to the surface area.”
That made sense. If the body were a balloon, its capacity would be limited.
That’s why martial artists once considered the Natural Realm the ultimate limit of martial arts.
There was nothing beyond becoming nature itself.
But the Martial God Cheon Yu pioneered realms beyond the Natural Realm by developing the method of condensing a small universe within the dantian.
“However, the spirit form has no such limitations. Insufficient surface area to accumulate mana? Then simply expand the surface area. Unlike the physical body, the Astral Body is capable of infinite expansion!”
I asked him as he spoke with excitement.
“‘Theoretically’ means it doesn’t actually work that way in practice, doesn’t it?”
At my observation, Andromallius gave a small cough and nodded.
“Correct. Expanding the size of the Astral Body is a difficult and time-consuming process, much like a lobster molting. Do you know? Lobsters can theoretically live forever.”
I understood what he was getting at.
Lobsters continuously molt throughout their lives, growing larger with each cycle.
But despite their theoretical immortality, once their bodies grow beyond a certain size, their exoskeletons become too thick to molt.
The very shell that protected them becomes a prison that confines them.
Lobsters either exhaust themselves attempting to molt and die, or they perish crushed by their own unyielding shells.
“So even if one theoretically continues to increase mana, there are practical limits in reality.”
“Precisely. Still, it allows for accumulating far more mana than systems based on the physical body. The two advantages of the Astral Body were attractive enough to make mages willingly stake their lives on it.”
So they discovered how to protect the Astral Body in the Astral Dimension through reckless trial and error.
I was amazed at the audacity of these mages.
It was as if they’d been swallowing pufferfish poison across generations to perfect pufferfish cuisine. It was madness.
When I thought about it, protecting the Astral Body by placing it in the Astral Dimension was similar in concept.
Martial arts also had a clear vulnerability in the dantian.
Martial arts and magic had many similarities in various ways.
“Now, let me explain the Astral Body in detail.”
Andromallius drew a circle on the whiteboard and divided it into four sections.
“Humans maintain balance in their spirit-body-soul trinity centered on the soul and body. To be precise, we call the spirit (靈) that receives mana and the soul (魂) that is the fundamental essence together the ‘soul,’ and we call the substance that is flesh (肉) and the white (魄) that connects soul and flesh together the ‘flesh-form.'”
Spirit and flesh unite to form the essence of humanity.
“The astral body here can be described as a spiritual form created by combining the spirit aspect of the soul and the flesh aspect of the body. In terms of ratio, it’s approximately 1 percent spirit and 99 percent flesh—so the astral body is essentially composed of flesh.”
Flesh and spirit together constitute a single unified form.
Therefore, when an astral body composed mostly of flesh sustains injury, the physical body naturally suffers damage as well.
Still, only 1 percent spirit? Is that what they mean by inspiration—that 1 percent spark?
“Even that mere 1 percent is the most critical element, for it’s the reason the astral body connects to primordial essence and the very foundation that allows magical power to accumulate within the spiritual form.”
Andromallius explained the method of creating an astral body in meticulous detail.
The concepts and techniques were entirely foreign to me, making comprehension difficult, but through Andromallius’s patient repetition, I finally managed to grasp the fundamentals.
Understanding was challenging, yet actually creating one seemed like it might be straightforward.
“So, that concludes the method for creating an astral body. Then, what should we do first?”
At his question, I started to say “create the astral body,” but paused. Then I answered instead.
“…Open the Astral Dimension?”
My answer seemed to satisfy Andromallius, and he smiled with approval.
“Correct. Why? Because exposing an astral body to the outside is suicide. When a newborn enters the world, you must wrap them in swaddling clothes first—you cannot birth the child and then begin making the wrappings.”
“But is it even possible to open the Astral Dimension before creating the astral body?”
He nodded at my question.
“It is not.”
“Pardon?”
I was taken aback hearing him state so definitively that it was impossible.
Yet Andromallius spoke as though it were of little consequence.
“That is why novice mages with Naedo City citizenship are thoroughly protected as they create their astral bodies and learn to open the Astral Dimension through that sensation.”
“Then shouldn’t I do the same?”
“I am grateful for your trust in me. However, regarding the astral body, trust no one—not your parents, not your friends, not your lover, no one.”
For a moment, his eyes seemed to harbor a deep and somber darkness.
“And opening the Astral Dimension first will likely be possible for you.”
Andromallius regarded me with eyes full of anticipation.
“Because you possess exceptional sensitivity and control.”
He spoke with absolute conviction.
“I am certain you can do it.”

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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