A loud noise brought by the shockwave sent the flag in Alka’s hand flying. It landed on the distant ground, rolling diagonally until it bumped against the doorframe and stopped. Alka kept rubbing his numb right hand, as if it had suddenly cramped.
The noise in the living room startled everyone residing in the mansion. This was a three-story mansion with a garden, located on the outskirts of the Great Cathedral. This was the place Bobby had bought to live in after his retirement, planning to spend his later years here. Alka and his companions were temporarily resting here, including Andre and his group. Fortunately, the three-story mansion was large enough, with ample rooms for them to rest. However, only Alka and his group were currently in the mansion; Andre, Vanessa, and Bobby had gone to the Great Cathedral.
"What happened?" Jason poked his head out from the second floor. He saw Alka on the first floor silently stand up and retrieve the Treasure flag from near the door.
Chadite walked in, observed Alka’s actions, and asked with a smile, "Such extravagance, just tossing a Treasure around?" Lucilia was perched on her shoulder. Pororo and Julia also walked in from outside. The commotion just now had indeed been quite loud.
Alka picked up the flag, sat back down on the sofa, and sighed. Lucilia hopped onto Alka’s shoulder in a few quick bounds, settled there, and asked, "What’s wrong, Alka? Did you run into a problem?"
In front of everyone, Alka raised the flag in his hand and said, "I can’t control this flag. The Dream Catcher strongly rejects it. Whenever I try to infuse Magic Power into the flag, the Dream Catcher emits a shockwave of Magic Power that repels it. Moreover, this flag also fiercely resists Magic Power imbued with the Dream Catcher’s attributes. It refuses to accept it, completely repelling all of it."
It was clear to Alka that these two Treasures couldn’t coexist in one person. Given his constitution, Alka sensed that if he forced it, the conflict between these two Treasures could inflict internal injuries upon him.
Clearly, Alka’s question ventured into an area beyond their knowledge. Regarding Alka’s problem, everyone looked bewildered. Matters concerning Treasures were far too advanced for them to comprehend.
Alka gestured to Lucilia on his shoulder and asked, "Do you have any idea about this sort of thing?"
Lucilia sat on Alka’s shoulder, her doll-like hands clasped before her chest, tilting her head as she began to ponder. She had read so many books; she needed to recall carefully to find any trace related to Treasures. But it had to be said, knowledge concerning Treasures was exceedingly rare in books. Such knowledge usually came from oral tradition, or was even a closely guarded secret of a faction; how could it be easily known? Furthermore, she hadn’t previously been one to interact with such items, so she hadn’t been interested in this type of information; after all, she’d never encountered such a problem.
"There’s no such knowledge recorded in books," Lucilia said, "but I do recall some incidents from my family that might be related to your current situation. When the family obtained a new Treasure, they would ’activate’ it. During that time, some family members who already possessed Treasures were not allowed to be present."
The ’activation’ of a Treasure meant discovering its abilities without actually possessing it. This was some of the knowledge about Treasures that Alka had learned from Lucilia when he acquired his. This ’activation’ would trigger the Treasure’s Energy, and this Energy would carry some of the Treasure’s abilities. Some Treasure holders weren’t allowed to be present... This implied that rejection wasn’t absolute. Of course, this was just a simple guess, difficult to confirm.
Just then, Lucilia’s voice chimed in again, "Also, Alka, do you know? During that period when you were dead—uh... I mean, when you were in a state of feigned death."
"What about it?" Alka asked, puzzled.
"I overheard Jack saying some very strange things, which might be related to your situation."
"Jack?" Alka’s brow furrowed, his confusion deepening.
At that time, Lucilia wasn’t in the Magic Mirror but was temporarily residing in the Soul Space of the decoy body. It was very safe there; even if the decoy body perished, she wouldn’t be in any danger. Moreover, from there, she could still sense what was happening outside.
Speaking of which, it wasn’t just Jack who hadn’t anticipated it; even some of Alka’s and his companions’ preparations had been adjusted at the last minute. Based on the previous Curse experiment, Alka had assumed that after eliminating Jack, Jack’s wounds would be transferred to him, leading to his own death. However, that wasn’t what happened. It seemed Jack had deliberately arranged for Alka to kill him personally. This ritualistic act appeared to have caused Alka’s soul to die instantaneously. The Curse, on the other hand, did not transfer the physical wounds. This led to the destruction of the false soul within Alka’s decoy body, yet the body itself remained in the world. That was why Alka wasn’t immediately ejected from the Dream Realm and instead managed to linger there.
Was it because Lucilia, who was in the Soul Space of Alka’s decoy body at the time, judged that this body could still be used? That was why Alka hadn’t been ejected—because the decoy body had only "half-died."