A barrier raised from beneath the walls of the courtyard. A barrier of red, blue and green, created by red salt, blue sulfur and green mercury.

The owl gave up on flying and landed back on the ground. Its beak slammed on the barrier, intending to break it.

Instantly, the red salt dispersed all the force into waves of energy on the surface of the barrier. The blue sulfur converged at the point of contact and responded with a blinding blue flame that repelled the owl back a few meters.

"The combination of red salt and blue sulfur really is terrifying. The red salt absorbed all the impact. The blue sulfur responded back with a deadly attack." Nora adjusted her glasses and said.

"You're almost right. Red salt absorbs the force. Green mercury transforms it into usable energy. The blue sulfur then uses that energy to reflect back the attack." Siderius said.

"A perfect loop. Impressive!" Nora scribbled down even more.

"Not perfect. There will always be energy loss in the process. The process alone needs energy to maintain. The excess heat and light also consumes energy.

The seal absorbs the force to maintain itself, then repulses back only a percentage of the attack. That is why the force from the blue sulfur is much weaker than the owl's original attack."

As Siderius explained, Nora carefully recorded everything down in her notebook. Everything inside this place was made with Siderius' mind. So even her notebook belonged to Siderius. He could read everything she was writing.

"It might not be perfect, teacher. But it is a one of a kind alchemical seal. I doubt a lot of alchemists can do what you do." Nora said.

"You're wrong, Nora. In my world, I am not the most brilliant alchemist. What I am the best at is balancing alchemy and witch-hunting."

"What should we do next, teacher?" Nora looked to the two beasts outside.

The raven saw what happened with the owl but still, it persisted to attack the castle. Its wing collapsed and it turned into a bullet bolting from above down to the barrier.

The seal stayed strong. Red salt pulsated again, leaving waves of red lines on the barrier. Then blue sulfur reacted, shooting back a blinding flame. The raven was hurled back a few hundred meters. Its black feathers were burned partially, blue flame lingered on its flesh.

With its feathers damaged, it finally felt what it was like to have rain hindered its ability to fly. One side of its wing felt extremely heavy due to the rain.

"The two of them have tasted the strength of the barrier. It is unlikely that they will attack again."

"I heard that psychosis will deteriorate over time. Are we going to wait, teacher?" Nora said.

"Wait? The only time we wait as witch hunters is when we need to ambush our prey. When the enemy steps on our front door, we do not wait."

Siderius went back inside the castle. With the barrier, the two beasts had no chance of getting through and invaded the Mind Palace. He built and fortified this place for two hundred years. He had won many psychosis battles with it.

Siderius opened his armory. In there, all of his previous suits of witch hunter armor and weapons were still there. Each of them was made by varying grades of steel. The weakest one was made with Strong Steel while the strongest one was made with True Steel.

They were carved with intricate seal lines inside them, providing many benefits that a normal suit of armor could not.

Siderius liked to design his armor and weapons. He had all kinds of shapes and sizes.

There was the wolf armor with speed enhancing seals and sigils. There was the tiger armor with the focus on strength. There were also specific suits of armor that were designed to deal with undead, specter and many other unique creatures.

For a battle against a mutation, Siderius walked to the end of the room and pulled away dusted old fabric, revealing a chest underneath.

Siderius had reached the highest rank of a witch hunter long ago. He hadn't succeeded in finding a new rank for decades.

Nora was beside him, looking at all the armor and weapons with great admiration. She also yearned for the life of killing monsters and demons, fighting for the greater good of all.

Siderius opened the chest. Inside was a mirror-like suit of armor. Its surface reflected the images of the environment perfectly. The material was similar to the surface of a calm lake.

Nora widened her eyes. "What is that material, teacher?"

"Mind Steel. A fictional steel that can only be made in the Mind Palace. It is weaker than True Steel by a whole margin."

"Then why are you wearing it, teacher?"

Siderius put on the armor. Nora put down her quilt and notebook to help him dress up. She tied the strapped behind his back and made sure everything was secured.

Siderius tightened the strap of his gloves of armor.

"Mind Steel isn't the strongest metal. But it has one capability that makes it essential when dealing with psychosis mutations."

"And what is that, teacher?"

"It reflected back all the invisible corruption and mental erosion caused by the mutation."

"Oh!"

Alchemy Palace wasn't always the safest choice for a Psychosis Meditation. At first, it was considered one of the more dangerous choices.

The witch hunter had to battle the beast's psyche in his Mind Palace. He could either kill it or capture it. Both choices would bring out the same result and dissolve the psychosis caused by the mutation.

However, the beast's psyche exuded a type of wave that continuously harmed the witch hunter's mind if he was in close proximity. Because of this side effect, a battle against the beast's psyche was very difficult, almost impossible for the weak minded.

Then, Siderius found another way.

Mind Palace was the reflection of a witch hunter's mind. It was also an exact copy of his perception toward reality. But it wasn't reality itself.

There were rules in reality to keep the physical world running. The only rule in the Mind Palace was the limitation of the witch hunter's imagination.

It sounded much easier than it actually was. You wouldn't be able to create things that you wouldn't believe that didn't exist, no matter how much you tried.

However, Siderius treated his Mind Palace as a second reality and he studied it. In time, this palace became a real world to him. And in time, he was able to create a realistic material that would have existed if his Mind Palace was real.

The Mind Steel.

Siderius walked out to the courtyard in his mirror armor. On his waist was a weapon made by True Steel, the highest grade of Steel, much stronger than Dull Steel that he was trying to make in the real world.

Siderius raised his hand and commanded the barrier to open up a small pathway. The raven and the owl spotted him immediately and rushed at him.

Siderius smiled wickedly. In the Mind Palace, he wasn't the weak Snow. He was the witch hunter with all 69 mutations.

The hunter lowered his body slightly. When the beasts were within his range, he moved.

Siderius disappeared from his location.

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