Reincarnated As A Lion In Another World-Chapter 529: Struggle With Oneself

The subconscious, the part of the mind that operates on its own without the consent of the main ego.

Kael was aware of his subconscious self and never really thought about it. Not just him, no one ever really thought about it.

Besides, what was the point of trying to control or fuse with the subconscious when he was weak or ordinary? 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The subconscious self was responsible for many things that enabled Kael’s continued existence.

Thanks to his subconscious self, he didn’t need to worry about breathing, he didn’t need to worry about his thermal regulation, and he didn’t have to remind himself to blink because his subconscious mind would do all that for him without him having to think of it.

Some of the decisions he made were also due to his subconscious, the type of meat he preferred, the reason he felt regret for some actions, and the reason why he was constantly seeing everyone as a potential traitor.

It was also responsible for not-so-noticable but significant things like his instincts, his ego, his pride, the emotions that he couldn’t control, his attachments, the things that made him happy or sad.

For example, one of the dirty tricks that the subconscious usually employed was the method of projection.

It was a way for the subconscious to see itself in others. A bit egoistical but also crucial for survival and it acted as one of the many defences against emotional turmoil.

Projection was why some people would be paranoid about the possibility of their partners cheating on them in a romantic relationship. It wasn’t because the partners were actually cheaters, but because the person himself was likely a cheater.

The reason why Kael found it hard to trust anyone was that he subconsciously saw himself betraying those close to him if he ever had to.

Kael knew that he would betray them all if he had no choice. He would sacrifice them all if it meant that he would receive significant profits.

He would subconsciously project this onto others and automatically assume they would do the same if they were put in the same situation.

Although Kael’s paranoia was usually masked by his calmness, it was still there and entirely justifiable in his mind.

That was simply one of the things his subconscious self did daily.

His subconscious mind was responsible for a lot of things that made Kael who he was.

To get rid of his subconscious self when he was weaker could have spelled death for Kael, if that was even possible.

But now, did Kael still have any need for it?

With how advanced Kael’s mind was at this point, he had no problem splitting his focus into a hundred segments to handle different problems and calculations.

One could say that Kael’s mind was now more effective than his subconscious mind.

He could actively pay attention to potential threats while discussing casual topics with different individuals in the lion system.

Besides, Kael used his active mind to run the Lion System, not his subconscious. The only reason the system ran on its own most time without Kael’s input was because he automated most things on the system.

The systems were not tied to Kael’s subconscious in any way.

So, if Kael’s active mind was already going to render his subconscious mind ineffective at some point, why not swallow it whole now?

This was an activity that couldn’t be described best with words and had to be experienced by oneself.

Kael used his spirit powers to structure and arrange all the aspects of himself that were being controlled by his subconscious self. There were a lot, probably close to a million activities, that were under the administration of his subconscious self, most of them involving the body.

Kael, while still in his lion form, took in a deep breath and raised his intent. To conquer oneself was to embody the law of conquering.

To embody the Law of Conquering was to embody oneself.

Right now, it wasn’t really holding Kael back or being a hindrance. It was still doing what it was spiritually and biologically designed to do, ensuring his survival.

But, for Kael to advance, he would have to take full control of his mind again at some point. He could not afford to allow anything to be left to the whims of his instincts.

*BOOM!*

An explosion went off in Kael’s head.

Kael directed the Conquering Essence in his body to flow like a raging river and attack one of the aspects of himself.

Kael’s physical body remained unharmed but his soul felt like it had been swallowed and spit out by a nasty and disgusting monster.

Kael felt icky and slimy all over. This was the aspect of his subconscious control, how he felt things.

Kael was trying to take full control and his subconscious self fought back by showing him what it would feel like if it wasn’t in control.

Kael felt slimy, hot, cold, and more, all at once. It was deeply uncomfortable.

"Uuugh!" Kael’s breathing ceased all of a sudden.

It was as if he had forgotten to breathe, just like that. Kael had to control his lungs and chest muscles manually so that he could start breathing again.

It felt weird.

And then...

"What the..." Kael’s breathing became automatic again. He didn’t have to manually breathe.

Kael was confused to the point that he was finding it hard to tell the difference between left and right.

Was it him who was fighting back or was his subconscious fighting back? Technically, he and his subconscious belonged to the same sense of self so Kael was the one fighting himself.

It was frustrating.

Then, Kael remembered that he actually didn’t need to breathe. He remembered that his tolerance was very high and he didn’t have to react to every external stimulus that he threw his way.

"Embody for me you fucker!" Kael gritted his metal teeth and pressed his paws into the ground, creating two deep holes.

"We’ve come so far, I’ve come so far! Just give it up!" Kael said.

"What would you be without me?" Kael replied to himself as if there was another entity inside him.

He shook his head.

"Nothing!" Kael admitted.

"Then why?" Kael asked.

"For more power!"

"..."

"..."

Kael and his subconscious stopped struggling for a moment and he felt at peace.

They had a common ground, a common goal. One feared weakness, the other fought for survival.

But both had a common desire.

Power.

And so one decided to be conquered by the other.

From the moment Kael entered his trance-like state, days, weeks, and months had gone by.

If it were the outside world, Kael would have inevitably been distracted by something as the outside world wasn’t as quiet as this place.

Kael was free from distractions, threats, noise, and drama.

It was no wonder that other Primordials barely had the chance to embody their law. They could have easily gotten distracted even if they began the process.

Kael sat there for a long time, his body occasionally making small movements. Sometimes, his body would freeze up, then weaken.

Sometimes, his eyelids would struggle to open but Kael would struggle to keep them shut.

His claws would involuntarily come out of his paw then go back in.

It even got to a point where elemental powers would flare up around him, causing a lot of damage to his surroundings before going calm again.

All this was because of the struggle within Kael’s mind.

After another three years of Kael sitting like this, the first sign of success was evident.

A massive pulse swept out from Kael’s lion form.

However before this pulse could leave the confines of the time bubble, it halted, its diameter shrinking with each second as it returned back into Kael’s body.

With his eyes still closed, Kael wore a satisfied smile on his face. He didn’t stop, he continued, unaware of how much time was passing.

His perception of time was taken away at some point as he gained more control over himself.

Without a perception of time, Kael could not determine how long he was in this state.

Ten years passed.

The blow coming from Kael’s body was getting more intense and his aura was extremely heavy. The soil around him had compressed seriously and exposed multiple cracks.

For the first time ever, Kael had found another source of Conquering Essence.

Before, he could only depend on Conquering derived from Conquering Activities done by lions in his system.

Now, Kael himself was actually generating Conquering Essence.

It wasn’t much. If he were to compare it, it would be the same amount he would get if he conquered a continent inhabited by human civilizations.

Well, to Kael, it wasn’t much. But it was flowing out of him steadily.

This Conquering Essence was pure and dense, it couldn’t flow into the system and was directed towards Kael once again.

That limit that had been holding Kael back from reaching tier 6, was finally cracking.