Island God: Going From Level 1 To World Ruler-Chapter 90: The Mind

’Hmm... Dorian’s words.’ He thought about the first line in his statement. ’What was it again? I think he said... unwavering action through distress and despair.’

This line made him think about when he broke through the first breath for the first time.

’Indeed... all I felt was distress and despair.’ He thought, ’Maybe... when he was speaking in riddles, he was trying to tell me how to break through this circulation technique...’

It was only a thought. A far-fetched idea. But he had been thinking of a solution for so long that even this random idea seemed worthwhile.

After all, it was the only thought he got that had at least some semblance of a coincidence leading him in the right direction.

Even if it wasn’t true, trying it out was worth a try.

’What was his second line then? I don’t remember it exactly, but it was something about the mind, right? Oh, I remember it a bit now! It was... through all other spectrums of the brain--which only exist to bind us to what does not exist.’

Midas tried again.

He closed his eyes. He became as calm as he possibly could.

All of his focus was zoned into Dorian’s words.

What exactly was he talking about when he said, through all other spectrums of the brain, which only exists to bind us to what does not exist?

This confused Midas at first, but as he thought more about it, all he could derive from it was that it seemed to be revolving around the mind.

So, instead of focusing on other things, he decided to think internally.

Instead of trying to use his body to breathe, he calmed his mind and noticed fluctuations in his own brain.

It wasn’t when he would take a normal breath, but every time he flowed in a sequence of perfect breaths, he noticed vibrations through his head that felt like breathing.

He noticed his heartbeat syncing with his mind.

Every time he breathed inward, it felt like the neurons in his brain moved faster.

It felt like they were expanding and contracting, just like your lungs during a breath.

He finally began to understand what Dorian might have been talking about.

Even though it wasn’t really a breath, his mind expanding and contracting felt like he was breathing through his own head.

However, even though he noticed this, he did not notice any other extraordinary effect.

His body did not feel warm. He felt no pain.

He didn’t feel any different from what he felt just minutes earlier.

Understandably, this made him quite frustrated.

But that was when he decided to pay attention to the latter half of Dorian’s sentence.

’Which only exists to bind us to what doesn’t exist,’ he thought to himself.

’So, the brain only exists to bind us to what does not exist? I imagine what that is talking about is the world. After all, the brain is how we process the world. It’s how we process colors, emotions, even feelings, such as touch, or all the other senses. So, the world does not exist?’ He questioned.

He was confused at first. He wanted to pry. He wanted to see what the real meaning behind this was.

Surely, it wasn’t that the world wasn’t real. After all, he was inside it. How could it be fake?

But, at the same time, he needed to somehow figure out how it was fake to successfully use this breathing technique, it seemed.

’How is it fake? Just how?’ He thought to himself.

He continued using introspection, looking deep within his own brain. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

As he did this, he continued breathing through his head. He continued feeling his brain radiate.

Eventually, as his introspection deepened, within the darkness of his closed eyelids, he noticed a light.

He noticed a light deep within his own body. It felt as though he had been teleported inside his head.

Now, he was soaring through the darkness.

The light was getting bigger, so clearly, he was traveling toward the light.

Eventually, the light became as big as the sun. He felt as though he was now at the core of his heart.

’This must be my soul.’ He said to himself.

He didn’t know how, but he just knew it. The knowledge seemed to be engraved within him already.

Right now, Midas was looking at his own soul.

It was giant and made of ivory-white color. It was pure and radiant, just like a massive explosion.

At that moment, he felt a horrible headache burst through his head.

It emerged like a dragon, the pain shooting through all crevices of his body at once.

However, his body did not react. Instead, his head seemed to only get heavier.

It felt as though the pain was radiating through his body, but really, all of the pain was only in his head.

Although the pain was excruciating, Midas found himself still within the confines of his own body, staring at his soul.

And then, a realization hit him like an epiphany. He realized that other than his soul, nothing else existed.

In reality, he was his soul.

He was peering at himself.

He was all that existed, and he was a soul, an orb of light, a module of consciousness.

He felt as though he was trapped here, but that was fine. There was nowhere else to go.

He was at peace.

He was where he needed to be.

After all, he was with himself.

He was with the observer who saw all other things, such as light and darkness.

He was with the observer who saw pain, who felt horror, who made the decisions on whether or not he should act.

Whenever he got thoughts in his brain... some good, some bad; he now understood that these thoughts were not him, but rather he was the soul, the observer taking a back seat, ready to look and observe these emotions and thoughts before deciding whether or not he wanted to take action on them.

’I think I get it now. Dorian isn’t actually saying that the world does not exist. He is saying that when it comes to the path of supremacy, all that matters is the soul. Or, in other words, the consciousness. This is because when it comes to becoming supreme, one needs to act. And the brain does many things, but what it can not do is act. Only I, the observer and action taker, can act.’ Midas surmised his thoughts.

"Who are you?" A resounding voice suddenly echoed from the soul orb.

Midas’s eyes widened with shock, "W-who am I? I’m Midas..." He quickly replied.

"Why do you continue living?" His soul abruptly asked another question.

Midas furrowed his eyebrows, perplexed.

Before he could even react, the soul began spouting more and more questions.

"What is this darkness? Why must I be connected to the material world? WHO ARE YOU!?" The soul turned red all of a sudden, a blast of malicious intent thrusting against Midas.

All Midas felt was shock. There was even a hint of betrayal, since this was his own soul. He did not think he could ever fear his own soul, but right now, his soul seemed more like an independent entity than something within him.

A feeling of doom fell over Midas in the midst of the pain.

’I-If I don’t answer my souls questions... I’m afraid something really bad is going to happen.’ He thought as pain continued growing in his head.