Chapter 24: Chapter 19 Really Knows How to Play
The familiar academy environment made Rod heave a sigh of relief.
Although he had been at the academy for only three days, he felt as if he was accustomed to the place.
Perhaps, this was because he had spent most of the past decades of his life in similar settings. Jinworth Academy was entirely different, but its inherent nature had not changed.
Once he accepted its peculiarities, he quickly adapted.
Rod dashed back to his dormitory. It was still class time, so there were hardly any people in the entire dorm building.
He crossed the empty public lounge and ran up the right-hand staircase.
His dorm was on the third floor.
All of the dorms for group ten were on this level, which was why Kashan could always bring the whole group over to knock on his door.
Rod opened the now-repaired door, lay on the bed, interlocked his thumbs to form a lightning symbol.
The next instant, his vision blurred, his soul felt light as if lifted into the air.
When his vision cleared, he was surrounded by a gentle stream of gray fog, facing a three-meter-tall blue obelisk, with a black altar behind it to the side.
This was Rod's fourth visit to the dream realm, still amazed by its mystery and strangeness.
But he was more anxious to verify his guess.
Rod rushed to the stele, but he did not find the Soul Fire at the same location as last time.
He touched all four sides of the obelisk in turn, finding no difference.
"Don't tell me I was wrong?"
In his confusion, Rod turned and saw the black altar. In the center of it, on an open large hand, six flames of souls floated midair.
Five of them were very small, and when Rod concentrated, their information appeared in his mind.
[Soul Dust]
Below was another line of text.
[A part of the soul from the vengeful spirits of the River of Death]
This text was in Common Language, coupled with his own voice, making it very recognizable.
All five flames looked identical, no apparent differences, all a pale flame with strands of black entwined like thin silk.
Rod had a moment of realization.
Weren't these the five balloons he had popped before, the "Dead Souls" mentioned by Lauren?
Soul Devouring was real.
Rod didn't know whether to feel excited or worried as he shifted his gaze to the other flame.
[The tainted soul of Soter Red]
Below, a line read [A part of Soter Red's polluted soul].
Indeed!
In an instant, Rod clenched his fists.
His soul is with me.
He is not Bas; his true name is Soter Red.
If I could unearth the secrets within his soul and follow the severed clues, perhaps I could find the real murderer.
Rod became excited.
However, he quickly realized he didn't know how to interpret this soul.
He tried to touch it, but his fingers passed right through.
He tried to speak to it, but there was no response.
This soul was like a phantom, with no way to interact with it.
Rod tried everything, only to find one thing useful, which was to stare at it, to listen to it.
Then, he heard an extremely faint voice.
"13 Baker Street..."
"Alex..."
They echoed deep within Soter Red's soul, like the melody that made up his soul, endlessly repeating.
Only these two pieces of information.
Somewhat disappointing, but at least better than nothing.
Rod tried listening to the other five souls, but all he heard was madness, noise, and jumbled screams.
Despite only listening a few seconds, he felt a severe headache and nausea.
"Damn it!"
Rod angrily uttered the name of a plant.
Listening to the voices of souls was evidently not to be taken lightly, the world was so weird, what if he heard something he shouldn't have?
He must be careful, cautious.
Rod told himself quietly.
He looked at the six souls before him, pondering his next move.
He didn't intend to hand over this information for the time being.
Firstly, it was very difficult to explain the source of the intelligence.
Secondly, in the face of unclear circumstances, it was best not to rashly push the case forward.
If the situation allowed, it would be best to verify these two pieces of information himself before deciding on the next course of action.
Once his mind was set, Rod glanced at the Obelisk and thought, "It seems that's all the information I can get from the soul. I can try to see if these souls can really ignite the spots of light on the Obelisk... If I can gain extra strength, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing."
Rod jumped down from the Altar and approached the Obelisk.
When he touched the surface, the profound starry sky appeared once again, with countless dimly lit points flickering in and out on the black background.
The "Dark Devourer" at the center was emitting a dark red glow, like an ominous eyeball.
There was no difference from before.
However, when Rod focused his attention, he instantly sensed the presence of the Altar, as if his spirit was connected to it.
It was a strange connection, as if the Dark Altar was under his control.
Rod had a feeling that he could at any moment send the souls from the Altar into any of the spots of light in the starry sky.
Yet, when he tried to target the dark red spot, a clear intention to forbid emerged in his mind.
"Uh... this one won't work."
When Rod shifted his gaze to other flickering points, the forbidding intention disappeared.
"Seems like it's feasible."
From the myriad points of light, Rod chose one that was more appealing to him.
It was located to the upper right of the "Dark Devourer," relatively close.
When not looking at it directly, it emitted a faint blue light, with a delicate starlight.
But when Rod concentrated on it, it turned into a black hole, clearly demarcated, separating itself from the black background.
With a thought, six wisps of Soul Fire flew up from the dark Altar and entered the Obelisk.
Then, they appeared in the starry sky, and following Rod's gaze, they shot into the black hole like shooting stars.
But the black hole was not ignited.
The six faint fires remained quietly within the black hole, occupying only a small space.
"Not enough."
Rod thought.
"I need more souls."
What to do?
Where can I find them? How can I get them?
Rod hadn't figured it out yet and was about to continue observing when suddenly a tightness gripped his body, followed by a blur before his eyes, and a familiar sense of falling emerged.
Bad news!
He knew someone outside must have interfered with him, causing him to be pulled out of the Dream Realm.
Indeed.
When his vision cleared, Rod immediately saw Kashan's lake-like pale blue eyes and the blonde hair that hung beside her forehead.
"You're finally awake?"
She snorted, straightening her back and moving her face away from him.
"You were sleeping like the dead."
Rod quickly withdrew his hand, glad he was covered with a blanket; otherwise, with these cult-like symbols, his suspicion would have deepened.
Looking up, he saw several upper-year students standing behind her.
One of them, wearing a red armband, took a step forward and said, "Rod, we're from the Academic Affairs Office. Please come with us."
A shock ran through Rod's heart. I'm not being expelled, am I? he anxiously asked, "What's going on? Is there a problem?"
The person with the red armband smiled kindly, "Don't worry, it's just a test. Time is a bit tight, let's talk while walking."
Rod glanced at Kashan.
Misinterpreting his look, she lifted her head proudly and said, "Don't worry, it's not bad news."
"No," Rod said, "I'm asking, how did you get in?"
Kashan smiled slightly, a trace of cunning flashing in her pale blue eyes.
"I have a key."
"Where did you get it?"
"I made a copy when the door was being repaired; from now on you won't be able to keep me out."
Her ambiguous words caused a great deal of misunderstanding.
On the way to the Academic Affairs Office, a senior student remarked softly, "The young people today sure know how to have fun."
His voice was filled with envy.
"Maybe we'll witness a freshman take paternity leave."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone