Our Soul Nexus

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ayben scratched at his face, feeling something tickling his ear as he woke up. He squeezed his eyes as he felt a cool, hard surface beneath his body. Then, a warm breeze.

He opened his eyes, adjusting to his surroundings. Blades of green grass had been blowing in the wind, brushing against his face.

Had he seriously fallen asleep outside?

He groaned as he picked himself up, rotating his joints, still feeling groggy from the weird sleeping position. The sun was barely up but the heat of the day had already started to seep in.

He probably only slept for half the night, which is about the same as what he expected from sleeping in the dorm. Though he would've preferred his soft bed over the bumpy cobblestone path.

As he trekked back out of the garden and up the green hill, he replayed the events of the night with Rizel over in his head.

So much had unfolded, and that wasn't even including the spell. Rizel had trusted Ayben with his past, his memories, and allowed him to see the vulnerabilities beneath his porcelain exterior.

The ice had finally melted from around them, and that spell was the key to keeping them thawed.

And such a spell like that was still so unfathomable to Ayben. He had never heard of such a thing, nor had he witnessed anything like it. It was a known fact throughout sorcerer history that contact between the Mirror and Magic realms could only be achieved through the portals manifested through the mystical Soul-Bond, allowing for a crack between the two worlds for two souls to unionise temporarily.

Ayben felt goosebumps on his arms as he asked himself,

Are portals really the extent of our contact with the Mirror realm?

A part of him shivered, feeling sacrilegious to ponder the idea. But...he was right, wasn't he? He had to be. Why else would such a spell be possible?

He had to research this, but he had to do it discreetly. Looking into magic and spells that go against the laws of Soul-Bonds was already something to be frowned upon, to actively search for it was asking for trouble.

But he just couldn't leave this alone. Because if something shouldn't be possible, then why was he able to do it? Didn't this mean other Summoners could perform the spell too?

Ayben felt a slight headache start, the little pulse in his temple threatening him to stop overthinking so early in the morning.

Fair enough. Breakfast first, then the library until I find some answers.

* * *

Ayben had completely forgotten about Chesca. It was ridiculous, since she had been on his case every damn day non-stop, but his current thoughts and curiosities took precedence.

He ate his breakfast before anyone else even made it into the mess hall, and went into the back of the library, combing through sections of books for hours before he realised his mistake.

He was honestly too caught up right now to be concerned with the consequences of dodging Chesca. Besides, she was a silver mage; if she wanted to find Ayben urgently enough, it wouldn't matter if Ayben hid underground, she would undoubtedly find him.

The stacks of literature he had flipped through grew higher as Ayben tried to rule out specific genres and types of text that wouldn't be of any help to him.

He was inclined to believe if any book would have something about a forbidden Soul-Bound spell, it would be in one of three places.

The 'Advanced Soul-Bound Sorcerer' book selections.