Chapter 40: Astral Soul...
Dad leaned back in his chair, his voice calm and thoughtful.
"To be honest, Seth, your mother and I had no intention of sending you to Avalon anytime soon. You spent years working yourself to exhaustion in the mortal world. We wanted you to relax, spoil yourself a little, and simply enjoy your new life."
"Then why the sudden change?" I asked.
"Because of yesterday," Dad explained, meeting my eyes. "The sheer scale of your awakening proved beyond any doubt that your Astral Soul is far from ordinary. Bizarre or conceptual Astral Souls often carry unforeseen dangers if left unmonitored. Sending you to Avalon for a term is the safest way for the world’s leading scholars to help you understand your power."
"And make no mistake, Seth," Alistair said, tapping his silver-headed cane against the floor. "Avalon is neutral ground, an inviolable sanctuary. Not a single pantheon, Demon Lord, or foreign faction would dare attack anyone within its borders. To do so would be to declare war on all of united humanity, a price no god or demon can afford to pay."
"Besides," a lively, honey-sweet voice chimed in from the grand staircase, "living a peak college life’ is literally on Seth’s bucket list! He’s going to have a blast there."
I turned to see Yerin walking down the final steps, looking completely refreshed in a stylish casual hoodie.
Alistair’s face instantly lit up the moment he saw her. "Ah, Yerin! My favorite little pop star! Come sit with your grandfather."
Yerin stuck her tongue out at him without a hint of hesitation, completely ignoring the grand patriarch’s request. Then she darted straight to Mom, flopped down beside her, and wrapped both arms tightly around her waist.
Alistair could only sigh, shaking his head with helpless affection at his granddaughter’s usual antics. Still, his eyes twinkled as he asked, "Well, Yerin? Do you want to attend Avalon alongside Seth this term?"
Yerin paused, a thoughtful look crossing her face.
Mom chuckled, nudging Yerin with a playful smile. "Oh, you don’t have a way out this time, young lady. You’ve been skipping your mandatory Avalon terms for two years straight by using your world tours as an excuse."
Yerin gritted her teeth dramatically and crossed her arms with a stubborn huff. "Fine! But I’m only doing it because I promised Seth I’d help him complete his bucket list! I’m just being a good cousin!"
I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Right. A "good cousin" who spent all of last night getting thoroughly rocked in my bed... I kept my face perfectly straight as she stole a sneaky, affectionate glance my way.
"Well, speaking of Seth’s Astral Soul," Yerin said quickly, skillfully steering the conversation away from her attendance record, "aren’t we going to find out what it actually is?"
"Ah! Thank you for reminding me, my girl," Alistair said with a smile, snapping his fingers.
He reached into his inner suit jacket and pulled out a strange metallic object about the size of a compass. It was forged from ancient dark bronze, its surface covered in intricately carved runes that glowed with a faint, pulsing blue light.
"This is an ancient Diviner Artifact," Alistair explained, setting it on the glass coffee table between us. "It sends a spiritual probe into the Astral World, searches the conceptual archives for information matching your soul’s signature, and returns the results to us. Seth, place your hand on the central crystal and focus on the vibrations."
I leaned forward and pressed my palm against the cool, smooth stone at the center of the artifact.
The moment my skin touched the crystal, a soft vibration coursed through my hand. Deep in my mind, I felt a gentle tug, but before it could probe any deeper into my consciousness, Paige stepped in.
[Don’t worry, Host,] Paige giggled. [I’ll feed this little toy just enough filtered information so it doesn’t explode trying to read your true form!]
About a minute later, a soft click echoed from the device, and I pulled my hand back.
The ancient artifact began to tremble violently atop the table. The glowing blue runes across its surface shifted, rearranged themselves, and projected a hovering construct of light that resolved into three ancient symbols suspended in the air.
"The information always returns in ancient High Runes," Dad said, leaning closer to inspect the projection. "We’ll have to interpret their conceptual meaning... let’s see."
Dad’s sharp eyes scanned the floating runes, translating them one by one. As the symbols settled into a stable formation, his brow furrowed and a look of deep intrigue crossed his face.
"The name of his Astral Soul..." Dad murmured as he read the final translation. "Origin."
Alistair frowned thoughtfully, rubbing his chin as he studied the glowing symbols. "Origin? Your translation is accurate, Julian, but High Runes often carry multiple conceptual layers. It could also mean ’The Beginning, ’The Source,’ or even ’Foundation.’ I’ll have some of my colleagues at Avalon search the ancient records to see whether an Astral Soul bearing this title has ever appeared in human history."
"Look, there’s more," Mom pointed out, gesturing to a second line of glowing text manifesting beneath the first. "It’s displaying his domain of authority, what the soul allows him to do."
Dad focused on the second set of runes, reading them carefully. As he processed the translation, his eyes widened and he froze mid-breath.
"It... it says..." Dad swallowed hard, a rare look of stunned disbelief crossing his face. "...It grants the user authority over Reality Manipulation."
The room fell dead silent.
"While his current mortal vessel is still weak," Dad continued, his voice shaking as he read the smaller runes, "and he must learn to properly channel and refine this Authority through practice... the inherent limit of his soul... does not exist."
Even though my family had already guessed my Astral Soul was extraordinary after yesterday’s realm-wide disturbance, seeing the words Reality Manipulation written in divine script still hit the room like a physical shockwave.
Alistair stroked his silver beard, his sharp eyes filled with equal parts pride and gravity. "Reality Manipulation... a conceptual soul of the highest order. Yes, he absolutely must attend Avalon. Unguided reality warping without proper conceptual training could accidentally unravel local space-time if he loses focus."
’Unravel local space-time?’ I thought dryly. ’Paige does that for me on a daily basis just to clean my bedsheets.’