The Astral soul system-Chapter 162: This is us

The door to the cab opened and Jade and Zyro made their way out together, making sure to pay the taxi.

"That was fun, right?"

Zyro nodded.

"Should I walk you to your room. I’ll drop off your new armour and bow"

Jade shook her head.

"No need. I can take care of myself, and you can hold on to the gear. I’ll come pick it up early tomorrow morning. You also need sleep "

Zyro smiled but didn’t say anything, simply nodding.

’Yeah...sleep.’

"Well, bye. Thanks for accompanying me"

Jade said, walking towards her dorm, occasionally turning to wave to him.

"....Jade. wait"

"Hmm?"

She stopped, looking at him.

"What do you think of me?"

Jade tilted her head, confused.

"What kind of question is that?"

"I mean...are you afraid of me?"

Zyro felt like it was a dumb question but he was curious,since they’d all seen his mark, and although they didn’t act different too much, he knew they didn’t look at him the same.

Jade seemed confused on how to answer. She walked closer to him and suddenly took his hand.

"Well honestly...you are kinda scary,or, you act scary sometimes. Zen and Zaine too. But I trust you"

Zyro smiled

’A foolish answer’

"Now go get some sleep. I think you’re getting dizzy"

This time he let her go as she skipped off.

Theia suddenly appeared in front of him

"You know,i hate to agree with the girl who thinks you’re a good person, but she’s right. Astral or no,you can’t go hunting beasts after staying up for two weeks straight. You’re still weak"

Zyro started walking to his room,hands in his pockets.

"Well yeah but it’s not like I have a way to make sure things don’t get out of hand. Usually it wouldn’t be an issue to just let Zen pop in for a night but we’re no longer in the arcade. There’s no telling what might happen here. What if he doesn’t agree to go back. We can’t have another meltdown during a hunt in front of the entire academy"

Theia had a smug look on her face as she poked Zyro’s chest.

"Well don’t worry. Your absolutely lovely , beautiful and wonderful assistant has found a brilliant solution to this problem "

"Well? Don’t keep me waiting. What is it?"

Zyro asked impatiently.

"First of all. You three all count as separate people right?"

"Yes and no?"

Theia sighed.

"Do you all share the same consciousness?"

"Well,we have the same physical brain,so sometimes our thoughts overlap but we’re seperate enough to self identify instead of just being a collective. So....no?"

Theia nodded

"Good enough. Sign a soul contract then"

"What?"

"Your main problem is that you all no longer trust each other,right? Before all the trust issues, things were okay?"

Zyro nodded

"Then use a soul contract to make it so you can’t betray each other. That should be enough guarantee right?"

Zyro seemed to be considering it. He was honestly a bit surprised he didn’t think of it.

"Will that work?"

"One way to find out "

By now Zyro had gotten into bed. His roommates were all deep asleep so he just quietly get into bed before opening the soul contract skill.

A keyboard appeared in front of him as well as a screen that said draft.

"So now I just type in the contents of the contract"

"No need for that. You have me now "

The keyboard suddenly disappeared and a loading screen appeared.

A few seconds later a draft was complete.

--This contract is by and between [ZYRO HEART], [ZAINE ANIMUS] and [ZEN HOLLOW]---

---The specifics are as follows:

A) Zyro heart, Zaine Animus, and Zen hollow shall interact in a non aggressive manner for the duration of the contract

B) They shall act in benefit of themselves and each other for the duration of the contract

C)All major decisions made by the trio during the duration of the contract shall be debated and discussed between them before a conclusion is reached

In consideration of the mutual promises set forth. All parties agree to _______________

Signature:

Signature:

Signature:

"Huh"

Zyro examined the draft for the contract and wondered if it would actually work.

"Well it looks good. But I don’t want it to be long term"

"Why?"

"I’m still hoping things can go back to the way they were before. Besides, tere’s no way they’d agree to something long term "

"Well, that’s an easy fix. Just add a time duration and it’ll nullify itself once it’s complete.

"Well that’s great,i-"

*Surge!*

Zyro looked to his hand and pulled off his glove .

"Well that’s not good"

[New quest recieved]

"That’s not good either"

Zyro clenched his fist, looking at the crest on his hand that was glowing with an ominous light and put his glove back on before looking at the quest.

[Ties of fate]

[A ghost from your past has returned to hunt you, and a weaponized ghost nonetheless. Exterminate it,or fall,weighed down by your past. The choice is yours]

[Reward: Mysterious key]

"Mysterious key?"

Theia shrugged.

Zyro didn’t know what the system meant by that but he wasn’t going to just wait. He quickly grabbed his mask. Unfortunately he didn’t have time to change out of his uniform so he’d just have to wear his hoodie over it and hope for the best.

He grabbed his shield and even Zaine’s sword for good measure.

"That was..."

Zyro sighed and answered Zen

"Yep. I think it’s them"

"Those things? They creep me out "

Zaine said with clear distaste.

Carefully he crept out of the room, putting the mask on before heading towards the woods behind the academy.

He looked at his hand and suddenly paused, closing his eyes as he tried to feel where they are.

The light on his hand seemed to brighten a little as Zyro opened his eyes and kept heading deeper into the woods.

A strange scent suddenly entered Zyro’s nostrils followed by a whooshing sound as someone suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Where are you going?"

Zyro barely stopped in time to avoid hitting her, stopping with barely an inch of distance between them.

"Sable? What are you doing here? And... were you following me?"

Sable was in a black and blue tracksuit. She didn’t seem very eager to converse with Zyro and just repeated her question.

"I’m just out for a walk"

"With a mask?"

Zyro was a bit stumped. Why was she being so suspicious?

"Well why are you here?"

"Don’t change the subject"

Zyro felt a headache coming on, not because of Sable but the mark’s effect was getting stronger and stronger

"Sable. Can we do this some other time? Like tomorrow? We’re teaming up tomorrow, right?"

Now Sable was even more curious. What was so important out here that he couldn’t or wouldn’t tell her about? And why did he need to wear a mask?

Zyro suddenly heard footsteps behind them and looked back to see his roommates.

"Guys?"

"I think she has a point Zyro "

The mark on his hand was tingling. He was running out of time. He’d originally left immediately to make sure this stayed private but it seemed his suspicious actions had alerted his friends.

"Guys, seriously. This is nothing."

Maximilian nodded

"Right. "Nothing" requires you to just grab your weapons and take off in the middle of the night "

"Okay !What do you guys want?"

"Easy. Take off tha mask and let us see your eyes "

Zyro suddenly realized what this was all about.

"Is that what this is about? Guys it’s me, I’m not Zaine"

"Take off your mask and we’ll believe you "

Zyro sighed. But somewhere inside he was relieved they were being hostile because they thought it was someone else and not that they suspected he was up to something shady.

"Alright. Fine"

His hand gripped the edges of the mask and he was about to take it off when he suddenly felt a jolt in his mind

"Look out!"

"Hmm?"

He suddenly tackled Sable, pushing her out of the way as a dark shadow descended where she was standing a second ago, shattering the ground beneath it.

Everyone immediately got on edge, pointing their weapons at whatever it was that had attacked.

As the dust cleared, what was revealed was an absolute monstrosity. It had a vaguely humanoid figure but it’s skin was completely pale, it’s body so skinny that it’s bones could be seen. It had eight limbs and was bent over its back, crawling like an insect. In place of eyes were two holes in its head. It’s nose,or what was left looked like it had been cut off and it didn’t even have a mouth. It had razor sharp nails that resembled claws and beastlt groans kept escaping, although it wasn’t clear where from.

"Man. I was hoping to deal with this alone"

Zyro said but didn’t look disappointed. His mask had fallen off when he tackled Sable and his golden and mutated eye where now shimmering in the moonlight as he stared at the thing that was the size of a fully grown man while crawling.

Sable quickly got up, looking at Zyro before facing what had attacked.

"That’s what you were hiding? What even is that? I can’t hear a heartbeat or even breathing, but it feels... alive "

"It’s here for me"

"You?" They all repeated.

"Why?"

"I was trying to lead it away from the school. I’ll explain later but you guys have to leave "

"What?! We’re not leaving you!"

Xavier exclaimed, charging the beast with his gauntlets, slamming his fist into its head,his gauntlets glowing as he activated their active skill, turning it’s head into mush immediately.

"Huh! That was easy" Xavier grinned

"Xavier! Get out of there!"

"Huh-"

Before he could react, Xavier was suddenly sent flying as one of the monster’s hands slammed against his side.

In mid-air, Xavier managed to find his bearings, adjusting his body and landing somewhat upright.

"What just -"

The beast let out another angry roar, the lack of it’s head seemingly not affecting it in the slightest.

Zyro groaned.

"Xavier!"

"I’m fine" he replied, clutching his side with a wince

"Don’t let it touch your skin"

Neo growled and aimed his palm at the beast,using his ability. A flash of something unexplainable shone and Neo suddenly winced, staggering.

Blind with rage, the beast charged him, slamming into him and sending him flying as well.

It suddenly let out a loud roar, and unlike the others, this one forced Maximilian to cover his ears, almost making him drop to his knees.

"That won’t work"

Zyro took off his glove, revealing his mark that was already glowing with a blinding light.

Almost immediately, the beast turned to face him.

"This thing can barely be considered alive to begin with. It’s life is held together by cruel fate,forced to play in a cruel game of it’s own creation "

The crest’s light suddenly started bursting out like from a projector , washing over the beast. Suddenly, glowing chains appeared on the body of the beast, wrapping around it entirely while strange strings tugged at it’s limbs.

[Ding! You have encountered an "ill fated"]

[It posseses a small amount of corrupted fate]

"You guys can’t help me right now, and even if you could, you need to leave. This is something I have to take care of "

Sable gritted her teeth and was about to try attacking when Zyro stopped her.

"Just go..."

A few similar roars suddenly sounded from deeper in the forest.

Gritting her teeth,sable suddenly grabbed his hand

"Let’s go get a teacher. We can get Aurora. If Neo’s ability did nothing then we can’t either. Aurora can probably take this "

"Maybe . But i WANT to do this. Please let me. I’ll explain. I promise "

"..."

"You have let me. This is how we are. You’ve got to give us space sometimes to do our own stuff. Let us...be us. Because this is us"

"..."

The beast had stopped standing around, looking like it was planning on finishing Maximilian while he was down.

"Hey ugly!"

Sable said, picking up a rock and throwing it at it, successfully drawing its attention.

"Over here!"

She turned to look at him

"Stay safe. I’ll go get a teacher"

Zyro knew trying to convince her would be pointless so he just nodded.

The beast was now charging towards them but Sable didn’t panic. To Zyro it might be fast but it was still slow to her.

She gripped her katana and charged towards it at full speed to meet it.

Closing her eyes during her charge, Sable let out a breath and muttered something incomprehensible. The wind suddenly howled in a strange manner and Sable seemed to vanish, appearing behind the beast and directly in front of Maximilian and Xavier.

"What? I swear I..."

She turned to look at the beast and was suprised to see three of the beasts cleanly sliced limbs moving like normal.

"...."

She picked up Maximilian and Neo, helping them stand before looking at Xavier

"We need to go"

"And leave him with that thing? No way"

Xavier suddenly heard Zyro call him

"Hey! One benefit to being me...."

Two almost identical copies of him suddenly walked out from behind him,each sporting a different expression.

"I’m never alone"

[Contract active. Nullified after completion of quest]

"... fine. Kick it’s ass for me, will ya? You guys too" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The mark suddenly shone again and a system screen appeared in front of each of them.

{Player :Hecate has entered the game}

{Begin!}

The beast seemed to get even more violent, thrashing around wildly before charging them.

All three of them dodged in different directions, avoiding the strike.

"An ill-fated"

Zen murmured from the top of a tree

"Fucking creepy"

Zaine said

"Yeah, I thought we were done with these when we were kids"

Zyro suddenly pulled out his shield and Zaine’s sword, throwing the latter towards Zaine.

"There are two more on the way"

"Whoopie. Enough for everyone"

Zaine rejoiced sarcastically.

"I’ll finish this. You two go for the others"

"Who made you boss?"

"Roger!"

Zaine and Zyro replied, running deeper into the forest.

Zen glanced at them before focusing on his own opponent.

"Come to me. One of cruel fate, tragic life, and pointless death"

With those vague words he dropped from the tree top, immediately activating soul blade and encasing his right hand in the translucent blade and brandishing it in a downward slash.

It brought two hands up, blocking the attack that only went an inch deep and flailing it’s arms at Zen, forcing him to retreat.

"Sable sliced through it in one hit. I suppose that shows the difference in our strength."

He dashed in front of the beast, slashing at its limbs.

***********

Running through the forest brashly, Zaine had his sword strapped to his back as he looked around for the ill-fated.

He suddenly groaned , turning around and half-swording his great sword as a bony hand struck it, putting pressure on him and slightly cracking the ground beneath him.

"Fuck! This shit is stronger than i remember, and uglier too"

He released one hand on his sword, allowing the attack to slide off and rolling away.

"Ugh, I don’t have time for this "

"Then deal with it quickly "

Sylphie’s voice appeared in his mind.

"I got you?"

He groaned and dashed in, his crest glowing as he aimed to cut it’s limbs one by one, but his attacks either only made barely noticeable damage or none at all.

"Are you done?"

"Just warming up"

His blade was suddenly coated in a red flame like aura, and a second layer of light

[Sin heart flame: Wrath]

[Soul blade]

[Shadow step]

He dashed at the beast, slashing at a limb,all the enhancements on his weapon pushing it to the max as it sliced through it and the illusory chain as he passed.

Before he could completely slow down, he turned around, sliding on the ground like it was ice and repeating the attack. His body moved back and forth like a pinball, slicing and cutting until all that was left was a pile of meat.

All the chains and threads had been sliced through and broken, disintegrating in the air as the battle ended.

[Astra: 0/200]

"Hmph. Easy"

*********

Zyro’s thin figure moved in the wind until he reached a clearing where he stopped moving.

"Hmm it’s here"

A loud chittering made it’s way to his ears as the eight legged monstrosity crawled out from the forest.

"I have to finish this quick"

"I’m sure you do master. Which is why i expect you’ll be making use of me"

’Lilith?. Sorry but this thing doesn’t have any blood ’

"But you do~"

’hehe. Sorry, but I think I’ll pass’

"Besides, this one is smaller than the other one"

He said, dropping his shield on his back as a soul gun charged up in his hand, slowly compressing while he backed away from it.

It suddenly charged, forcing him to dodge as he kept that soul gun in his hand, charging and compressing it.

After a few seconds of running and dodging, he suddenly threw it right beneath the beast, but it didn’t hit before it exploded, collapsing and loosening the rocky ground beneath it that Zyro had lured it into.

Those few seconds of instability allowed Zyro to get on top of it before activating soul barrage.

His fists landed on the ill-fated like a shotgun forcing it down whenever it attempted to get up, and due to the rapidly collapsing rocks it was stepping on it couldn’t get enough footing to buck him off. He specifically aimed for the illusory chains on its body, and once they were all gone, he stabbed the edge of his shield into it, striking it harder and harder until it eventually stopped resisting and fell into the small crater.

"Whoo. That was close"

He muttered, sitting on the ground

"Congratulations master. You did well"

"Ha... don’t flatter me Lilith. This one was the weakest of the bunch"

*********

Zen sighed, looking at his blood soaked uniform, and then at the ill-fated that looked like it had been brutally ripped to pieces on the ground.

"Ohho! we are SOOOO back!"

He turned around to where the voice came from and saw Zyro and Zaine walking out of the woods, barely scratched and still full of energy.

"Hmmmm"

Zaine folded his hands with a scowl, looking at Zen’s handiworks.

"..."

Zyro exclaimed once again.

"We are so back!"

{Game over: Hecate Wins}

[Quest completed]