Chapter 24 Two Peas Of A pod

Chapter 24 Two Peas Of A pod
If the book Jorren held was a codex, Jorren expected it to glow. He expected the book to react. He expected some from of explosion. He expected something to at least happen. Nothing happened. 

His codex, hidden within his coat, didn’t even react at all. It was only warm against his ribs, like it had always been. No new reaction, nothing different. Jorren opened the book.

Inside, he met a lot of scribbles. The writer seemed to have done the writing in a hurry. Accompanied the writings were drawing of all sorts. He flipped along the pages, encountering some words written in ancient Vashen, some of which he couldn’t understand nor interprete. 

“What is this?” He asked.

“The book I told you about,” she leaned forward. “My father handed it over to me before he died. It taught me things. Some of them, Aunt Veil helped me to master.”

Jorren leaned back, closing the book and staring at her. “So, this was how you learnt to… do what you did during the wrestling match?”

“Not just that,” she shook her head. “I have learnt to do many other things. Watch this.” 

Solaria turned to the side and Jorren followed her line of vision. At the end of the room, a woman was having a chat with a man before her. They seemed to be in an argument. 

“Can you see her essence?” Solaria asked Jorren. “I am assuming she’s tier two. Just a step above my aunt.”

“Yes.”

“Now, watch this.” Solaria clasped her hands together, then wriggled her thumb and whispered something. A small ball of yellow light left the woman heading behind her, before descending, stopping just close to the floorboard, and then sailed to where they sat.

Solaria flicked her wrist, and the light rose, stopping in the air between them, meters above the table separating them.

“A chunk of her essence,” she continued. “We can steal people’s essence, use it to mask our own. People wouldn’t know you’re zero tier. But it barely lasts.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” Solaria nodded, snapping her fingers. The yellow light disappeared in a shattered grains of light that disappeared to nothingness. “The best I did lasted 16 hours. My aunt believes it’s because the power is forbidden.”

“Is that how you sailed past the Soulstone trial with a fake evaulation?” Jorren asked.

Solaria’s eyes widened briefly before she leaned back. “How can you think that!” 

She looked this way and that before turning back to Jorren, her voice dropping. 

“Listen, you can’t fake the trial,” she started. “People who did years ago were executed by hanging. Everyone lives with their fate. However, some people have become experts in hiding their true nature.

The statement sounded like Solaria was referring to Jorren, but didn’t flinch. He was on the same path too. He just wasn’t using forbidden power. He was going the route that the system believed was impossible. A math that the system had left unsolved. It wasn’t illegal. It was just hidden from the path of daily living, and only people who refused to settle for the norm can find it.

Jorren pushed the book back to Solaria. He thought the book Solaria was using was the codex, and hoped he would be able to get some experience that would help his new found life. What he had realized at the end of the day was that Solaria was no different from the others living under the system. She was someone who had learnt how to rebel against it.

“Sol baby,” a woman’s voice echoed. The two youths turned in the direction of the voice to see a middle aged woman. She waved Solaria over and shot Jorren a small smile. He didn’t return it.

“Aunt Veil,” Solaria murmured, picking the book and hiding it in a compartment under the table. “I’m sure she has some silly task for me to take care of. Stay put, and I’ll be back.”

She stood up and moved, heading to the back of the room with a counter stretched across. 

Jorren leaned back and pondered on the information he just received. It didn’t occur to him that there were people manipulating the system. He thought about having the conversation with the Keeper, but he didn’t quite know if the Keeper was ready to have such conversations with him.

His gaze flickered towards the entrance and he saw a figure he didn’t expect to meet walking through the entrance. 

Davan Rell.

His pristine white glowed in the orange lit room as he headed toward the counter with a straight face. Jorren wasn’t suprised that a man like Davan Rell could come here. He only didn’t expect to meet him at this time, and considering the strain in their relationship, this was the last space Jorren was willing to stay with Davan, even if he sat at the other end of the room. 

Jorren stood to go, and a sight made him freeze. Solaria was chatting with him. She frowned at something he said, then glared, before her face went normal. Then she scanned the room and their eyes met. Jorren looked away. Without a second thought, he headed for the entrance.

When he stepped out into the dark street of the evening, the frigid air of night felt more welcoming than the warm air of the tavern with Davan Rell in it. He shoved his hands into his pocket and slipped into the handful of people walking down the street, heading to the alley where he’d meet the guard who checked on his sister.

He made the turn that led to the alley when someone stepped in his way. He looked up to see the guard who had been helping him reach out to his sister, a grimace on his face. It looked like he was at the verge of trembling in the cold, like a leaf in the wind.

“I’m sorry, Thale,” he said. “I know you’re here to send a message to your sister, but I can’t continue to send these messages. They are watching my every move.”

“Who?” 

“I can’t tell you beyond what I know, Thale,” he said, tapping him on the shoulder before disappearing into the dark night streets.