The Astral soul system-Chapter 204: It stays on

Zen ignored Theia, closing the message .

It seemed she had suspicions about him. He wasn’t sure how or why but she clearly did, and wasn’t making an effort to hide it.

If Ava Ryder wanted to antagonize him, he would probably have to deal with her. Unfortunately due to her family name he couldn’t just kill her and be done with it. It would cause an uproar.

Not to mention the fact that he had absolutely no knowledge about her prior to their earlier meeting at the party.

So killing was out of the question. Could he just threaten her?

Unlikely. She was antagonizing him even though she suspected him of being a player, and had been completely calm and collected when face to face with one. He doubted using his identity to scare her would do more than confirm her suspicions

Sable groaned, rubbing her temples

"Her?"

"You know her?" He asked

"A little . Ava’s... she’s weird. She’s not exactly a troublemaker. She actually prefers keeping to herself and playing with her toys. Though she’s always been a bit on the stubborn side"

Maximilian scratched his head

"This isn’t her style. She usually doesn’t give any biased info. That’s one of the reasons the academy cleared her despite her age. She’s got a flawless record, Heck, she’s even more trusted than more ’Official’ sources"

Everyone turned to face him

"Did you...upset her?"

Zen shook his head

"Well she’s clearly got something out for you. I’d offer to talk to her for you but I’m guessing this doesn’t really bother you"

Zen blinked and didn’t respond. That was enough of a response for Max to just close the thread and smile.

"Well. I guess you’re on your own then"

Maximilian said with a chuckle. He already knew Zen wasn’t the kind of partner you tried to curry favor with with petty favors. No need to push it if Zen preferred to take care of it himself

No one else offered to help either. He wasn’t the least bit shy, and If he wanted help, he’d ask.

Zen gave them another glance before turning around

"I’m leaving"

He said before walking away.

No one stopped him and they just watched as he left. The moment he passed through the doors, Zaria muttered.

"He’s really not getting any better at this,is he?"

"Nope"

"Nuh-uh"

"Not a chance"

Maximilian sighed and laid back on his bed

"Well,he can fight. That’s good at least"

He closed his eyes to rest,a familiar figure flashing in his mind

’Valerie... what was that strange feeling i got from her’

He mulled it over for a few seconds before shaking his head

’No, it’s probably nothing. Can’t waste time on pointless thoughts’

"Well,see you guys. I’ve got some stuff to do"

Sable said, waving as she left.

"Me too"

Zaria said, popping a pill in her mouth

"I’ve been feeling weird. I think I need to lay down"

The two left and split up, not before Sable swiped something on her way out, careful not to let anyone notice.

Walking down the halls towards her room, Sable sighed and pulled out a blood bag.

She groaned a bit before sinking her fangs into it.

"I guess even vampires stress eat"

She said after draining the bag halfway. She hadn’t even bothered hiding what she was doing, although she’d made sure to avoid security cameras and only walk in the blindspots, someone could still walk by and see her, but right now she wasn’t thinking about that.

She finished the bag and stuffed the plastic into her pocket before pulling out a second and biting into it.

She took a final turn and ended up in front of her dorm, opening it.

The single student dorm room had an air of suffocation alongside the usual loneliness. She dropped down onto her bed,her fangs still skewering the now empty bag.

"Damnit. This one’s going to be extra bad"

She said finger rubbing the surface of her watch before finally turning it on and tapping on a contact titled "Father"

It rang a few times before the other side picked up ,a familiar face appearing in the hologram.

Sable’s face quickly became stiff, resembling her usual aloof persona.

"Greetings family head"

The stone faced man with silver hair and blue eyes stared at her for a few seconds, keeping eye contact

"..."

*********

The door to Zen’s dorm opened and he quickly went to the bathroom before looking at himself in the mirror, specifically the choker around his neck.

It was black, looked like leather with strange engravings and silver chains wrapping around the leather firmly once and loosely the second time, and at the front was a small black gem. It looked rather extravagant, and yet simple at the same time.

"Zaria was right. It does look cool"

Theia said, nodding approvingly.

Zen wasn’t interested in how it looked. He’d already checked. There was no latch or clasp meaning no way to take it off

His hands slid under the chain, holding it firm before pulling as hard as he could , feeling it tighten around his neck. He pulled harder and harder until he felt like it was choking him before letting it go.

"I can’t break it"

He said , breathing heavily.

Theia scratched her head

"Well I doubt soul form will work since it probably counts as part of your outfit now.

Zen thought for a second before suddenly activating soul blade .

"Whoa! Are you insane?!"

Theia asked shocked.

He didn’t reply and swung at his own neck.

The blade didn’t even get a chance to touch him, it clashed with the choker and the black gem suddenly lit up. His soul blade was immediately dispelled and before he could react, the choker tightened around his neck again before sending another jolt of pain through his body.

He grabbed at his neck, dropping to the ground as he groaned in pain,, completely immobilized.

The pain lasted for almost a full minute before the choker relaxed, letting him breathe again and ending the torture.

Breathing heavily, Zen shakily got up. He’d been stabbed, sliced and tortured but even those couldn’t get that kind of reaction out of him.

He didn’t know why but ever since he got the system he’d been getting hit with inescapable pain. A few months ago he’d get stabbed five times and just walk it off without making a sound, now he could explain as vividly as possible what he was going through and it would barely scratch the surface.

And it didn’t help that the pain somewhat resembled getting electrocuted, which considering his intolerance to that was just another dash of salt on his numerous metaphysical open wounds.

He groaned, rubbing his neck as he noticed a system notification

[Astra: 15/166](-10/hour)

"Looks like taking it off isn’t possible"

He said, coughing.

"You need to lie down "

He ignored Theia and asked.

"What happens if my Astra hits zero to Moirai i mean"

"It’ll start feeding off your life force. Your HP. And if it can’t do that it’ll die. Of course that won’t matter since you’ll also be dead, but still"

He turned around and started walking towards his bed. That shock hadn’t taken any of his HP luckily, but it made it very clear to Zen. The collar was here to stay.

He sat down on his bed, before lying completely flat on his stomach, his breath evening out as he closed his eyes.

He found himself in the throne room, the other two already waiting for him.

He looked at the chain wrapped around his neck that was linked to other two and didn’t even touch it.

Zyro chuckled

"So, taking it off is a big no-no. Ouch!"

They’d all felt the pain at the same time in equal measure,so they were in total agreement about leaving it undisturbed for now.

"So Jade’s safe"

"For now"

Zen answered Zyro

Zaine rolled his eyes

"Enough about that bitch. We’re fucking pathetic. We might even be weaker than when we got to this stupid academy, and it’s all thanks to this stupid thing"

The other two went silent. They agreed but they didn’t exactly have an an answer for him.

"Theia?"

"Sorry guys. Maybe if you level up your read skill a bit more? I don’t even know what exactly it is I’m looking at, much less how to stop it."

"So you’re useless "

"..."

"Forget about that. We need astra now. We need to -"

They all suddenly stopped, turning to look at the door.

They exchanged glances. Something felt... different?

The doors opened under their influence and they took a few steps out, immediately noticing a difference.

The ground was filled with lush green grass and flowers of all sorts . There was a bright golden sun in the sky and the usual depressing aura was replaced with something more wondrous.

They looked around confused. This wasn’t normal at all.

"Z?"

Looking up they suddenly saw a girl in the distance,curly green hair falling to her waist and glowing golden eyes staring at them. She was in a pure white dress, staring at them confused.

"Jade?"

She reached out to them and suddenly started flickering like a light. A few seconds later she suddenly disappeared and the realm returned to it’s usual state.

The three stared out into the empty darkness for a few more seconds.

"Theia. What was that?"

Zyro asked

Zen shook his head, turning around.

"It doesn’t matter. It’s over now, and we have work to do"

He said as the doors shut with a full bang,a feeling of finality and futility left lingering in the void of the depressing dark and broken world