Chapter 23: Soul Shenanigans

Chloutarg walked past the many reporters that had come to congratulate him on this special occasion. He shook many hands and felt a surreal emotion coursing through his body.

"Brother! How do you feel about this opportunity?" yelled out one of the orc reporters.

"I, uh. I feel-" Chloutarg said before being interrupted by one of the Arcanist.

"No questions until after the presentation." yelled the human. The Chief of Ambience was the 2nd in command under the Pillar of Atmosphere and was also in charge of guarding duties. "Chloutarg," he yelled as he conjured a cloud, "Get on this cloud and you will arrive at the venue!"

As the student departed, Daniel Bergon controlled a stream of wind and flew gently through the air back to the academy.

"Hey Dan." Barbados watched as he flew through the air. "Tell Adam that all the preparations are done and to come give his speech."

"Right." replied the Chief of Ambience. Barbados was still lying on the ground from when Chloutarg left. He previously tried to use his wings for flight but they wouldn't hold his weight.

"Sir, shouldn't we be going to support him?" asked Dranim, the single-handed axe user.

"They're going to have an entire speech about the academy and a bunch of advertising and statistics. We have special VIP seats reserved for us and the 5th years."

"Do you expect everything to go to plan?" asked Minteen.

"No."

Barbados was right. On the other side of the campus, guards had found 3 hooded figures with white stars drawn on their hoods. They had bombs in their possession.

"Really? During this special event?" criticised Dan as he summoned down a thunderstrike. The terrorists fell to the ground helplessly as their bodies were paralysed. "Has there been any more reports of suspicious personnel?"

"Not yet. But it is best to be on guard." replied the Chief of Combustion.

"Why do people wish to cause problems for no reason? They are not oppressed or in a tyrannical system." Daniel sighed as he drank some water.

"Eh. It's the effects of freedom. Everyone thinks they are able to freely act however they wish to, even if it has a harmful effect on others."

****

Barbados and the rest of his class sat down as the real reason for this event was beginning.

"Chloutarg thank you for accepting this ceremony."

"It is an honour to be a part of this once in a lifetime experience."

"Now," Adam said as he smiled, "May I introduce Rathna, Chief of Body!" She walked on stage while waving to the ginormous crowd.

"Once again, thank you Chloutarg for accepting to be part of today's event that should surely go down in history." Cheers erupted from the crowd. In the secluded seats, Barbados leaned over to Grog.

"Does history know about my stand against a hundred Angels?" Grog, taken back, replied and said no. "Shame." said Barbados while looking back at the stage.

Rathna talked about the process of discovering the material and its manufacture.

"Now, dear student, it is time to become a legend." she said while grinning. She took the Aster into her hands and struck Chloutarg through the heart, signalling the healers to approach them and subdue the antibodies in his system. "How do you feel?" Although in pain, Chloutarg could still form a sentence.

"I can feel small sticks poking into my heart." he said before screaming as the Aster struck his soul.

"Remember, you must hold on. Extracting the Aster now could lead to blood vessels bursting and going into a heart attack." Barbados still felt unsure about the experiment but trusted Adam's instincts.

"Barbados," poked Grog, "Have you given any thought to the fight between you and Erven. That is in two days."

"No. My ultimate move I had prepared is destroyed and…have you got a minute?"

"Oh? Yes I do." Grog answered back.

"Come outside. Uriel, find us if you suspect that something is wrong."

"Got it." he said as he cracked his knuckles and stared intensely. The two teachers walked outside into the hallway.

"What is your plan then, Barbados?" Grog said after shutting off the camera near them.

"What I am about to say may be illegal."

"Ok? I pledge to not give you in to the authorities, or something like that."

"I dug up the corpse of a fallen warrior and took the pure mana crystals that formed." said Barbados nonchalantly.

"What?"

"Yep. I know it is immoral and wrong. But that's not the problem. I found out that I can store mana in my body and use it as a finite source. However, during my fight with the Chief of Combustion, he managed to strike the mana heart I formed and lost all the mana I had accumulated."

"Huh. You could still win using your overpowered weapons-"

"My weapons have been deteriorating and I am unable to form weapons of the same quality without my forge."

"What a predicament. Oh also, the blessing the spirit gave you won't work again. It was a one-time use."

"Figure." grumbled the Sinborn.

"I could potentially get in contact with a Remnant hunter and see if they are willing to sell any crystals they have acquired."

"I forgot that wild animals have the chance to turn into Remnants."

"Yes. The problem is that they are mostly low quality as most wild Remnants are formed from the death of insects."

"Won't matter. Use my money that Adam gives me. I don't use it. I am, after all, at a disadvantage." Before they could continue, Uriel rushed to them.

"Bomb!" he yelled. Grog reactivated the camera and rushed with Barbados back into the venue. A group of 5 people wearing black hoods and with badly drawn white stars tried to hold the reporters and the students hostage. Adam had knocked out 4 other terrorists and charged at the remaining one. However, he was too late. The last person, a human, ripped their hand off and threw it towards Chloutarg.

From the ground, a vine launched out of the ground and grabbed a hold of the hand. Barbados noticed a small device in between the fingers but before he could act, the vine slashed Chloutarg and jabbed the device in the same place the Aster had been put. The student screamed in pain as his blood veins visibly pulsated. An aura of mana was given of the body that continued to grow unnaturally.

"Oh no," said Grog as he witnessed the oncoming disaster, "They were trying to turn him into a Remnant."