F-Rank Soul Eater-Chapter 197: Too Close To The Truth.

Soren stepped out of the Science research institute.

As he did, he paused, turning hiesrds the facility behind him.

The place had no windows, but he could still feel her eyes on him.

And he was right.

She sat in front of a CCTV monitor, gaze locked in on Soren’s figure.

She reached for a control button and pressed it.

~static. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Inquisitor Hale, from now on Cadet Soren has express pass into the facility. Change his entry permit from Red to Green.

~static.

"Understood Doctor." Inquisitor Hale replied.

Dr Kaya’s slender fingers traced the rim of her cup.

She placed it down, rising from her seat. She walked over to a bookshelf not far away.

Her fingers danced on their hard surface in a certain rhythm, specifically touching certain letters on the Spine—as if pushing codes.

Then she stepped back.

The book shelf suddenly sank further into the wall, a door frame curving itself out as certain Aether neurallinks appeared on the wall.

—revealing a passage—a flight of stairs going down.

Heels clicking lightly, she went down.

The place opened up to a wider basement.

What looked like a giant Fish tank a hundred meters long, and wide sat in the middle of the room.

At the sides were equipments, huge pipes connected to the fish tank.

At first it was dark.

But the moment her fingers. Touched the tank—

THUD

A figure slammed into the glass. It was the blue holographic projection of a giant frog, parts of its body were wounded—bite marks.

As if someone or something was eating the giant frog, but was suddenly interrupted.

It had Neuralink runes dancing about on its body.

If Soren had seen this Shade, he woukd have instantly recognised it. After all, he had seen it several times in his mind space.

It was a familiar Shade—Ivory’s Shade.

What Soren did not know was that, those three days he had been on Dr. Kaya’s operating table had not been peaceful.

Through the wound on his chest, he had lost several Shades.

And Dr. Kaya... oh, She had collected them all.

The light in the room flickered, and within the giant fish tank appeared several wounded Shades.

"Now, where were we?... Ahhh, I remember. I was draining your life force..." she smiled. The image of the frog backing off in fear reflecting off her glasses.

....

Meanwhile...

It was dark of night.

Streetlights brightened the place, and the silent humming of the aether neurallinks that kept the academy running was quietly comforting in the background.

Soren walked through the snow.

Having been promoted from Clown to Cadet Black tunic was good.

The tunic protected him from the cold— another layer that allowed his mind the opportunity to think.

Dr. Kaya was not human—mostly. Even though he had caught on to her secret as the Shade Stealer, there was no reason for her to tell him about her origins.

But she did either ways.

Sorwn was not dumb. It was her way of saying I’ll keep your secret, and you’ll keep mine.

Of course, she did not know what he was. But she knew he had multiple Shades.

At least she suspected so. Such a thing should not be possible.

If the authorities found out, his new room would be the borders of an operating table.

It was a silent deal between them.

You shut up, and I’ll shut up.

No one needed to say more than that.

Suddenly the moment she mounted his lap appeared in his head.

Her gaze—emerald eyes digging into him, pulling him to willful destruction.

It felt wrong.

Forbidden.

Careless.

But unavoidable.

Like his soul wanted to have her more than his body.

Soren had never felt that kind of attraction before—even with Vinegar.

SLAP.

He smacked the thought out of his head.

The stinging on his cheek helped.

Just then, another thought came to mind.

From what Dr. Kaya said, she was not the one that placed the bounty on his head.

Yet, from what he knew, the bounty was an integral part of the plan. It was used to pull him into the Hunting ground early.

At the time, the instructors had found out the identity of the Shade Stealer, and removed its access from the academy’s network.

Meaning that the Shade Stealer could not have put up the bounty on his head.

Dr. Kaya who was the second Shade Stealer did not do it too.

So who did?

This thought made Soren stop in his tracks.

He remembered his conversation with the Shade Stealer.

The plan was to secure all the glasshearts and escape to the outside world.

But with the way things were, how was it going to do that?

Surely, the Instructors were monitoring it evwn within the Hunting ground.

There was no way they would allow it escape, and with the glasshearts of the school’s strongest parties.

It could only mean one thing. The same conclusion Soren had come to before. It had outside help.

But he had already met Dr. Kaya.

It could only mean one thing. There was a third party.

One capable of challenging the Instructors just enough ho secure the Shade Stealer’s exit.

Soren’s eyes widened as he remembered that the incident that led to the deaths of all first year cadets was done by a powerful foe.

That foe allowed the Shade Stealer to survive in time for Commander Jared and Boyed to arrive.

That foe was the one behind Instructor Ivory. The one she called master during their fight.

Another thought came to his mind.

Didn’t that mean that just like how Instructor Ivory had been a proxy for its plan in the train station, it had others within the academy?

Soren did not know how close he was to the truth.

In fact, he was closer than he knew. Yet, he was ao far from it.

After all, as he was going back to the dormitory, a figure stepped into the holding cell, keeping the Shade Stealer prisoner...

(Author’s note: please tell me if you liked this arc. Cause the next one is going to be so much fun. Also, we will soon be going back to the outside world. There is also the other races and... shit... I am giving too much away. Coughs... please send gifts, powerstones, gifts, comments, gifts, and more gifts. Thank you so much. See you in the next Chapter)