Almond opened his eyes.
“Welcome back,” Madam Ruby said with a smile.
“How long I was out for?” Almond asked as he blinked, feeling something more than usual. He could see flickering white motes with hazy golden hues to them, appearing and vanishing.
“Eight hours and that’s impressive.”
“Eight hours only?” Almond raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “I don’t know how long I spent in the Paradise of Nightmares. The concept of time I spent there is blurry.”
“That’s normal. What matters is that you’ve awakened your soul magnificently and even gained a Soul Trait, which you will eventually discover in the Academy once you get more familiar with the new path of power you’ve stepped on.”
Almond looked around, blinking and focusing, “I sense something new.”
Madam Ruby stood up and said, “That’s alright. But your time here is up. I am going to send you to the Academy. Survive for fifteen days, and you can go home.”
Almond frowned as he stood up and asked, “Won’t you tell me more about the Academy?”
“That won’t be necessary. You’ll know everything there is to know soon.” Madam Ruby smiled and waved her hand. A ring on her third finger glowed before a mysterious black door manifested with golden, red, and blue wooden patterns.
“Introspect yourself and get familiar with your awakened soul while you’re on your way to the academy. Goodbye,” Madam Ruby smiled as the door opened and gestured for Almond to enter.
Almond knew he wouldn’t get answers from her, so he just nodded plainly and entered through the door.
On the other side, he saw a small room with a big window showing fast-flowing colorful neon lights. The room had two big couches facing each other and two people, both looking young in their late teens.
One black-haired girl looking out of the window and another was a boy with dark blond hair.
“VIP door? Nice going,” the boy said with a grin. “Come, sit here.”
The girl glanced at Almond briefly before turning back to look out of the window where it was just flowing colorful neon lights.
‘Nice. I can get more information here,’ Almond thought as he sat down and greeted the boy with a smile.
“Hi, I am Almond.”
“I am Zek, nice to meet you,” Zek said before grinning slyly, “So, brother Almond, who is your patron? To directly enter this moving train, you must be a VIP.”
“VIP? Far from it,” Almond wryly smiled. “Anyway, so we are all going to an academy, right? Can you tell me more about it?”
“What? You don’t know anything and you’re here?” Zek was dumbfounded.
The girl also glanced at Almond again for a second before turning back to the window.
“The one who sent me here didn’t tell me anything, unfortunately.”
“Well, we are going to Starry Horizon Academy, which has existed since, well, forever. Hmm, where do I start…alright, yeah, so basically anyone can go to this academy as long as they manage to reach there. Usually, it’s a bit hard to reach there, but a big organization created these trains that can travel to the academy, making it easier for people to go there.”
“Now, about the academy, the people who teach there are immortals. They only exist in the academy, and they have all sorts of knowledge and everything. And you can stay in the academy as long as you…can.”
Almond blinked, “As long as I can, huh.”
‘She also told me to survive, so that academy gotta be dangerous.’
Zek grinned and said, “The academy can make you strong, but everyone can only enter there once in their lifetime, and only people below 50 years or above 1000 years can enter.”
Almond raised his eyebrows.
‘People below 50 years or above 1000 years…that’s a bit strange, but whatever.’
“Anyway, you seem a bit strange, Almond. I don’t sense any bloodline from you. Either that or you’re very good at hiding your bloodline aura completely.”
‘I don’t have a bloodline, but I can see you two have it,’ Almond internally sighed. He couldn’t see their stats anymore as it was all in eccentric symbols and metric, but he could feel they were more powerful than him in terms of stats.
“Well, I don’t have a Bloodline at all,” Almond answered truthfully to see the reaction.
“Eh? No bloodline? Did you perhaps ascend from the first layer?” Zek’s eyes shone as he asked.
The girl turned to him with a blink, clearly curious.
“Yeah, I ascended up from the first layer,” Almond nodded with a smile.
“Still, having no bloodline is strange, but don’t worry. You can get a Bloodline at the academy if you are capable,” Zek grinned. “I also want to change my Bloodline and get a better one. That’s one of the many things I want to do after going to the academy.”
“That’s good to hear,” Almond’s eyes glinted. ‘Well, since I am going to a mysterious academy, I might as well grasp this opportunity.’
“So, brother Almond, do you mind if I inspect you?” Zek asked with a grin as he took out a monocle with a magical lens from the aura it gave off.
“Sure, and can you also show me my status?”
“Alright.”
Zek infused Prana in the device and inspected Almond. Shortly, his jaw dropped to the ground as he exclaimed, “What?!”
“Ain’t no way you are this weak. And you don’t have Prana sea, and your soul sea is small like you just awakened it…” Zek was speechless.
‘But my will is more powerful than yours,’ Almond internally rolled his eyes. The only stat he could clearly see of others was their wills, though he couldn’t see Madam Ruby’s will, which indicated that her will was likely stronger than his.
“Show me,” Almond said.
Zek coughed and snapped his finger as energy motes manifested and formed into a screen in front of Almond. “Here’s your status, brother Almond.”
[Almond]
-Lifeform Rank: Mortal
-Ability Power: F Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire
-Prana Sea: 0
-Soul Sea: 10
-Stats:
— Body Constitution: 20
— Mental Constitution: 40
— Soul Constitution: 10
— Arcane Constitution: —
‘Well, fuck…this new status looks weird,’ Almond blinked. ‘It looks like I’ll have much to learn at the academy.’
Suddenly, he felt something in his primary class source.
The new Spirit Wraith just finished forming, waiting for Almond to give a name, personality, and backstory to complete its birth.