The Cursed Extra: Twin Souls Against the World

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Xenor said with a smile, "So, there are two challenges you have to face in the projection plane. First, moving inside the projection plane places a strain on your mind."

Xane asked, just to be sure, "My mind, not my soul?"

Xenor nodded. "Yup. Even though we call it soul projection, it's your mind that links to the soul ball."

"Also, your mental endurance affects the size of your soul ball. Whenever you move, your soul projection will shrink in size."

"The moment it shrinks down to nothing, you'll be thrown out of the projection plane."

Xane rubbed his chin. "So I have to find and make contact with one of the big chaos balls before that happens."

Xenor nodded. "You got it right. Now, the second challenge is a limitation. Viyron, a hex master, can only link to one small world."

"The moment you touch any ball, you will forever lose the ability to enter the projection space again."

Xane said in understanding. "Sir, if I'm unable to go into the projection space, that means the world selection is a permanent thing?"

Xenor nodded. "Correct. You have to be very careful about your choice."

This suddenly placed pressure on Xane. But then a question came to him, and he asked, "Sir, I have a doubt. What will happen if I touch a different element world by mistake?"

Xenor shook his head. "You can try, but it's close to impossible. You see, while you'll be attracted to the worlds with the same element, all the other colored worlds will repel you."

"Though you could try to touch some of the faded ones. You might be able to forcefully connect to those worlds. It's just that it would forever close your path to ever summoning a creature. In the worst case, there's a chance your hex core might explode."

Xane looked at Xenor and saw he was serious about this.

Zayn complained to him, [Dude, don't forget, curiosity kills—]

Xane cut him off, <I know, I know. I just want to ask about all the possibilities, you know? Do you think I'll actually do any of that?>

Zayn said in a low tone, [I'm not sure. Forget about that and ask about these faded worlds.]

Xane nodded to Zayn and asked Xenor, "Sir, what do you mean by faded balls?"

Xenor waved his hand. "I'm coming to that. But before that, let's talk about selecting a suitable world."

Xane took a guess. "Sir, is it based on the size of the ball?"

"Well, that's one factor. The size of the giant balls reflects the total number of creatures present in that small world. The bigger the size of the ball, the more creatures that world has."

"Sir, so you mean I should target the bigger balls?"

Xenor shook his head. "Not always. Imagine a world filled with small worms. That world would have a big projection on the plane, but if you leave your mark there, all you'll ever summon would be a bunch of small worms."

Xane scratched his head. "Oh, I didn't even think of that. So how can we choose a better world, sir?"

Xenor said with a smile, "You see, when you move close to a ball, after a certain distance, you'll get to see the color intensity of the ball."

"Color intensity?"

"Yup. The brighter the color, the higher the purity of the element present in that world."

"If, for example, the world is filled with worms, but the high elemental purity increases the likelihood of those worms evolving into something much more frightening."

"Oh, so I should try to look for the biggest and brightest world?"

"Normally, I recommend that to my students. It's just that your case is special."

Xane didn't have to think much as he said, "Is it because of my chaos element?"

Xenor frowned a bit and spoke in a serious tone. "Yeah. Just to give you a vague idea of the projection plane, almost 90 percent of the giant balls fall under a dim color. "

"You can compare them to rust or bronze purity."

Xane said, "So most of these worlds are really just filled with worm-strength creatures."

Xenor nodded. "Almost the same. Then around 9 percent of the world's will have copper to gold purity, and the last one percent will have bright colors like dark gold or higher."

Xenor looked at him and said, "For a silver potential like you, if you want to become a good summoner, you must leave a mark on at least a medium-brightness planet."

As Xane heard that, his mind was already in chaos. Still, he asked, "But sir, I still have like a 10 in 100 chance, right?"

Xenor looked at him and took a deep breath. "That's true for others. But Viyron, the problem in your case is the rarity of chaos element worlds."

"You have the main element of one of the ancient, cursed lands. Let's just say there's an abysmally low number of chaos element worlds out there."

Xane grabbed his head and asked the dreaded question, "Sir, you mean it'll be hard for me to even find a chaos world?"

Xenor said in an uncertain tone, "Well, it all depends on where you start in the projection plane. "

"There's a chance you'll find a bunch of chaos worlds around you, but the opposite could also be true. So instead of focusing on elemental purity, I want you to first try to find at least some chaos worlds within your range."

"You can take your time, as long as you don't mark any world, you can enter the projection plane again. Viyron, take your time and pick the best possible world. Just keep in mind, if you want to learn my method, you need to leave a mark on at least a mid-brightness ball."

Xane just looked down as he ran his hand through his hair.

Zayn said in a dreading tone, [Dude, I think we fucked up.]

Xane took a deep breath, trying to suppress the emotion, and said, <Hey, be optimistic. Maybe our luck has changed.>

Zayn screamed in his mind, [No, no. Did you forget what I said earlier? If we want to copy Liam's method, we need to find a chaos element world of mythic purity.]

[What's the probability of that? One in a Million-no, it might be one in a billion. Fck, what if there's no world with that purity? We're screwed, man.]

Xane clenched his teeth and screamed in his head, <Calm the fck down! It's not the end of the world. And didn't you already experience death? So why the fck are you panicking so much?>

Zayn stopped whining after that.

As things calmed down in his head, Xane saw Xenor getting up.

He tried to stand when Xenor motioned to him. "Oh, you don't have to follow me. I've already covered all the basics. I believe it's time for you to enter the projection plane, Viyron."

"But, sir—"

"No buts. We will continue further only once you succeed in forming your mark."

Xenor pointed to the platform. "Don't worry, though. I'll observe you from the side." With that, Xenor walked away, leaving Xane inside the circle with the hex art in his hand.

Xane just placed the hex art and stared at the floor. He didn't dare look at any of the white lines.

He calmly asked Zayn, <Are you okay?>

Zayn said in a low tone, [I'm sorry, Xane. I just panicked and lost my reasoning for a moment. I promise it won't happen again.]

Xane just sighed and nodded. <It's okay. I understand.>

Xane didn't blame Zayn, even though he thought Zayn's reaction was mostly normal.

After all, the guy was just a college kid, and it's kind of normal for someone to panic when they realize they might be in a doomed situation.

He also came to understand that Zayn was more of a planner. The kind who might spend hours thinking about all the possibilities before making a move.

From experience, he knew that these kinds of people tend to panic when faced with the unknown.

Xane stopped thinking about Zayn's nature.

Now wasn't the time for that. He focused back on the hex art and suggested, <Well, I believe it's best to experience it first. Maybe I'll find something that might help.>

Zayn didn't argue and said, [Well, sure, but Xane, don't make any marks this time.]

<Yup, thinking the same.>

With that, Xane turned to Xenor and shouted, "Sir, how can I activate this hex art?"

Xenor shouted back, "Just call your status and rip the paper. The hex art will pull the hex energy on its own."

As Xane grabbed the paper, it suddenly hit him. <Hey, are you sure I'm the only one who's going to have a soul projection? I mean, if the first vision was true, then your soul should also be in this body.>

Zayn stayed silent for some time and then said, [I think there's one way to find out.]

<Yup.> Xane wasted no time and said, "Status."

The very next second, he ripped the hex art in two pieces.

Nothing changed for a moment, but then he saw smoke starting to rise from the white lines, and all of it rushed to the circle.

Before he could react, everything blacked out as he lost consciousness.