The Astral soul system-Chapter 156: Access card

"Teach?" Zyro asked looking at the owner of the hand and surely enough it was her.

"I... didn’t hear you come in"

"I know"

She replied rather ominously.

Zyro cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward

"You were asleep when I came in so I thought I’d tidy up a bit"

"..."

Aurora didn’t reply and started looking around the library,her grip on Zyro’s hand not reducing in the slightest.

"I see"

"Yep?...Hehehe"

Zyro chuckled, feeling her grip tightening around his wrist.

Aurora just stayed silent, staring at him with her eyes squinted.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"So....you asked me to come to you for something?"

Aurora suddenly snapped out of her thoughts.

"Right"

With a force he couldn’t resist she pulled his hand away from the frame. Suprised, Zyro tried to resist or pull back but Aurora seemed to barely register or even notice it, pulling him away like a ragdoll.

"Come with me, now"

Despite her voice being as low as before,it wasn’t as tender as it used to be, and unlike the other times she demanded he follow her it seemed she’d actually do something if he didn’t obey immediately.

It was a bit jarring for him. Usually Aurora was like a burnt out aunt who didn’t care if you did something stupid and almost killed yourself in the process, but now,it seemed she’d be the one doing the killing if he tried something stupid.

"Something about that frame’s important to her"

Theia whispered but Zyro didn’t give any visible reaction only letting out a gruff moan

"Mmm"

He looked back out of the corner of his eye but didn’t try to go back to the frame. He could,he wasn’t at all afraid of Aurora but it just wasn’t worth being banned from the library or being hated by his teacher.

Following behind her, Zyro noticed that Aurora actually had an aura about her. Usually she just seemed like a normal teacher that got payed way too little and got given way too much work and stress, but now Zyro actually felt like he was following behind a war hardened military veteran who was still in her prime, and every word that came out of her mouth weren’t just words, but orders given to a cadet.

Closing the door behind him when he left, Zyro stood in front of Aurora who had sat down .

"You called for me?"

Seeing that he was standing rather rigidly, Aurora raised a brow and a flash of emotion flew across her face. Zyro wasn’t sure what it was or if he just imagined it but it looked almost a little like...hurt?

Zyro was a bit taken off guard, suprised by what he saw but by the time he blinked it was gone and she was back to the ice cold stoic he knew.

"You can sit. I’m not going to punish you"

Zyro was still a bit shook. Did he just imagine it?

He nodded and took a seat but his movements still felt a bit forced.

"So what’s up?"

Aurora yawned, clearly still exhausted. His headphones rested on her shoulders and the blanket he’d given her was still on the chair.

Noticing that she glanced at them, Zyro quickly spoke.

"Oh, they’re mine. I... noticed that you hadn’t had time to clean up yet so i decided to do it for you , and I didn’t want to wake you up with all the racket so I just kinda put them on you. And the blanket? Well i... sorta noticed you were shivering in your sleep so I thought you might’ve been cold"

Aurora stared at him a bit, seeming a bit distracted. It was really strange,it felt like she was looking through him. Zyro wasn’t even sure if she was really mad but he decided not to take any chances. That incident in the library was proof he was still nothing to her.

"S-sorry if I overstepped my bounds "

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Um... teacher?"

Snapping out of it Aurora sighed.

"Yes, it’s fine. You did a good job"

Zyro smiled, happy that she didn’t seem too upset.

"Oh,i-"

SCEEEECH

Zyro suddenly heard a strange sound and looked at Aurora’s desk, seeing her nails scraping the desk as she failed to control herself.

’Looks like i spoke too soon’

Was she still hiding her anger? Or at least trying to?

Zyro at this point would have just used soul bridge to see what she was thinking but he was sure it wouldn’t be effective against the furious teacher, plus Theia had said that carelessly trying to read someone’s mind or intentions was considered rude amongst "other" beings, and should only be done in a fight, when necessary or when he was confident.

Deciding to keep quiet, Zyro made a mental note to find a gift for Aurora. He had no idea just touching that frame would get such a reaction from her,it only made sense to make up for it.

The two stayed in an awkward silence for a few seconds before Aurora acted first.

She opened the drawer on her desk and pulled out a card, closing the desk back.

She examined the card a bit before putting it on the table. It was a plain white card with the academy insignia on it boldly in gold. There were a few words written on it but she didn’t seem interested in that.

She suddenly started fiddling with the card a bit, confusing Zyro as to what she was doing. After a few seconds an electronic glow suddenly appeared on the body of the card, surprising Zyro. It seemed to have been activated.

"There, swipe this card over the your watch’s scanner." She said in a commanding tone.

Not asking any questions or beating around the bush, Zyro took the card from her,took a few seconds activating the scanner and swiped the card over the neon light that was being projected from the watch.

Zyro immediately put down the card, thinking she just wanted him to do that as he waited for the loading bar that had appeared on his screen to be filled.

"So what no-"

<Ding! Process complete. Authorization process complete, unlocking access to 1...5....7...9>

"What is this?"

Zyro asked a bit confused.

"It’s what you asked for. Now you’re free to go to the dungeons around the academy to hunt beasts,you can also go to dungeons around the city border. All your have to do is show them your card and security won’t bother you, plus,you won’t be bothered by tax requirements and other payments that will reduce your load"

Zyro’s eyes widened and right on cue his watch chimed.

<Ding! Process complete. Gained access to 26 new locations!>

"This is...I don’t know what to say. Thank you ma’am"

"Don’t get too excited. I only gave you access to dungeons around level one to three. Once I think you’re ready, you’ll get the rest"

Zyro wasn’t bothered by this information. At least that explained why the number was so low. Twenty six wasn’t at all low,he was more than happy with it.

He excitedly scrolled through the new options on his watch, looking at the new dungeons. This would finally solve his levelling problem. He’d been stuck at level seventeen for weeks now and although he was in no rush, he was still excited to see how strong he could get if he kept going. So far he was the only one who hadn’t experienced the sensation of levelling uo yet and he was curious as to how it felt. He was also really losing his patience on that new pair of tonfas he wanted to make for Ben. His apology was weeks late but he figured he might as well still do it.

"Ah..."

He suddenly realized he’d gotten excited and ignored Aurora.

"Thank you so much. This helps me a lot"

Aurora nodded

"Alright then. Have fun, and don’t kill yourself "

Zyro nodded enthusiastically.

So...i can take the card?"

"Yes. You can take the card"

Aurora replied, rolling her eyes.

"That’s it. You can leave now"

Zyro nodded,He wondered if Aurora was still mad at him but he decided to just do what she says for now.

"Thank you for everything ma’am"

Zyro said politely before turning to leave.

Once he was gone, Aurora let out a deep breath she’d been holding, gently rubbing her arm before pulling the blanket back around her. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Aurora sighed, noticing that Zyro had called her ma’am instead of teach or just miss Aurora, and had left without giving her a hug like usual. She couldn’t help but notice now after Zyro had made it a habit to suprise her with one whenever he was leaving.

"Was i too rough... again?"

She asked herself looking at her hands and the mark she made on the desk, remembering the way she forcefully pulled him.

Sighing she put her hand over her face when she suddenly heard the door open again.

"Sorry..."

Zyro said quickly, grabbing the white card he had forgotten to take

"Almost forgot this"

He suddenly put his arms around her shoulders in a hug.

"And this too"

Once again Aurora was stunned, caught off guard by the sudden show of affection and gratitude.

Her hands twitched and one of them looked like they were going towards Zyro’s back when he suddenly broke off the hug.

"Thanks again"

He said, dashing out of the room speedily.

Aurora’s eyes stayed glued to the door for a few seconds before she sighed with an uncharacteristic smile.

"That idiot forgot his headphones".