NOVEL NEXT Chapter 172: The Thelema Mind State
Nareth walked up to the bronze gate and pressed his hand against it; the surface was icy to the touch.
He immediately felt the space around him turn cold and eerie, filled with all sorts of illusory sounds.
The cries of infants, the screams of adults, the wails of the elderly...
Low, dark whispers echoed in his ears, pulling at his mind.
The Primarch's eyes instantly turned jet black, the darkness spreading across his entire sclera until his eyes were voids without any whites.
He entered a state of meditation, merging with the transcendent "Self," the infinite "Self," the cosmic "Self."
He could sense the tremors of the entire island, the churning of the Sea of Storms, even the wild desolation and death of Fenris.
Nareth immediately clarified his sense of self and expelled all the phantasmal voices.
Since acquiring the Book of Thelema, the Nareth had, like Magnus, begun contemplating the inner states of mind and had already grasped two such stages.
The first level of mind state he comprehended was the core philosophy of Thelema, "True Will."
A sacred blueprint of the soul, transcending worldly desires, dissolving self-deception, and resonating with the will of the cosmos.
Nareth pushed forcefully. The bronze gate slowly creaked open.
Inside the pitch-black Temple of Morkai, there was not a trace of light.
Even with his superhuman senses, the Nareth could only see about four meters ahead.
The temple's dome was overgrown with green vines.
Drawing his power sword with his right hand, he pressed a rune with his thumb, activating a flickering disintegration field around the blade.
The light extended his visibility by one more meter. He spotted a stone pillar etched with runes.
Nareth stepped forward. As soon as his foot was about to touch the ground, the vines above sprang to life, hundreds of them lunged like man-eating pythons.
With a downward slash, Nareth unleashed the fifth technique of "Otsberg-Vaya."
A flash of blue light cut into the "pythons."
The disintegration field shredded hundreds of vines. In the air filled with the scent of burning plant matter, the vines were torn apart, turning into scattered green motes.
He pressed forward, passing ritual tools inlaid with gemstones, bloodstained golden chalices, and offering tables piled high with withered bones.
'These were sacrifices from the Fenrisians. When they entered the Temple of Morkai, they would kill captives and offer them to the Death Wolf.'
Wielding his power sword, Nareth searched the temple thoroughly. On a wall, he found a shrine containing statues resembling Leman Russ's wolf brothers, Freki and Geri.
The statues were pitch black but glowed with a green aura of death in his spiritual vision.
He also discovered several stone chambers labeled Treasure Vault in Vlka script.
He pushed open one and entered.
The cold chamber had been mostly emptied, likely looted by Fenrisians who had discovered the temple.
Inside, he found pearls scattered on the floor, iron axes and spearheads on racks, and stretched-out furs...
'The treasure vault likely held offerings to Morkai. To the Fenrisians, each of these items was a treasure.'
Nareth knew that compared to the stone and common sea-beast bone weapons used by Fenrisian tribes scattered across the islands, iron axes and spearheads were far more precious.
Even after Fenris rejoined the Imperium, such weapons could only be found in two places: the Asaheim continent of the Space Wolves or the Ironmaster Archipelago, a permanent landmark of technology.
Any tribe with access to forged iron weapons would hold an advantage in brutal tribal warfare.
After exploring four treasure chambers, Nareth determined that only the furs and pearls were valuable to him.
He then discovered four more stone chambers labeled Priest Chambers. He pushed open one and entered.
Inside were 24 stone beds. The priests who once served the Death Wolf had long since fled when Kraken Spire sank into the Sea of Storms, spreading belief in Morkai to the surrounding tribes.
Following the spiritual glow, Nareth located 14 mirrors.
Spirit Communication Mirrors are the main alchemical ingredient for Sequence 7 "Spirit Medium" of the Death pathway.
He didn't immediately send the potion materials to the "Kingdom of Disorder"; he could still sense some lingering danger within the temple.
After passing through the four priest chambers, he continued deeper into the temple.
The deeper he went, the colder it became, and the vines grew thicker and stronger.
Nareth slashed, swept, and hacked through them. The disintegration field shredded them into glowing debris.
Finally, he arrived before a massive statue, several meters tall.
A black statue of the Fenrisian Great Wolf stood atop a bronze pedestal.
The black metal looked like a devouring black hole, its carved patterns resembling real fur.
Fangs bared inside its gaping maw shimmered with an icy gleam.
Its front paws rested on the pedestal, posed like a Fenrisian wolf striding proudly forward.
Beside the statue's base was a pool that emitted a cold, sinister aura. The surface reflected a distorted wolf's shadow.
As the ripples moved, various wolf forms emerged, leaping, circling, howling at the sky...
Nareth scanned the statue and looked at its head.
Unlike other divine statues, the head of Morkai's statue was fitted with a bone mask covering its pitch-black eyes.
The mask, about one-fourth the size of the wolf's massive head, was etched with mysterious runes.
The moment Nareth's gaze met the mask, he felt as if he were staring directly at Death itself.
A dim light radiated from the bronze mask, rapidly spreading across the space. The remaining vines withered and decayed, dying instantly as if robbed of all life.
Even the Primarch's superhuman body felt fatigue, as if he were wading through an endless swamp, entangled in countless cold, slimy tendrils dragging him into a black ocean.
Horrifying screams and maddening roars echoed in his ears endlessly, a mental assault capable of driving any soul mad. It instantly shattered the first layer of his Teloma mind state.
"True Will" blurred and distorted, replaced by terrifying illusions.
A burst of brilliant flame erupted along Nareth's spine, and he ascended into the second Thelema mind state: "Kundalini."
Kundalini, derived from the Thelema spiritual practice system, was a form of energy mastery that transformed physical energy into psychic power.
The terrifying screams and maddening roars vanished instantly, but his body was still entangled by countless tendrils.
Nareth infused spiritual power into the silver gauntlet on his left hand and spoke with authority:
"Death is forbidden here."
The "Prohibition" of a Sequence 6 Judge, when amplified by the Hand of Order, burst forth with power approaching that of Sequence 1.
Radiant golden light tore the tendrils apart.
Freed from all restraint, Nareth's body leapt into the air.
He pressed the rune to shut off the disintegration field and sheathed his power sword.
Soaring to the wolf's head, he reached out and removed the bronze mask.
The instant he touched it, a wave of icy chill spread across his body, bringing back the piercing howls and horrifying roars...
But Nareth focused his thoughts and shifted into the third layer of the Realm of Disorder.
There, he tossed the mask aside and used his authority to establish a connection with this suspected relic of the Death pathway.
Returning to the real world, Nareth immediately felt the chill surrounding the temple gradually dissipate.
'Could that mask be the actual remains of Morkai? Was it forged by someone, or did it form naturally?'
Nareth pondered, but found no answers. Though Morkai had long been revered as a god by the Fenrisians, he existed only in myth. No one alive had ever actually seen the Death Wolf.
After sending all the Spirit Communication Mirrors into the Kingdom of Disorder, he ordered the pearls, furs, and other valuables to be transported to the Throne of Shadow's Soveriegnity trophy chamber.
The ancient iron weapons were also sent back for the Techmariness to study; perhaps something could be learned from them.
Having emptied Kraken Spire of the treasure accumulated over millennia, Nareth received a summon from the Emperor.
...
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