The rejoicing continued all the way to the cafeteria that was barely finished enough to be used.

However, the atmosphere was a joyous one.

The impossible had happened. Even the guards and those mechanics that worked on the Soul mecha came to celebrate.

After all, since the beginning of the Blackspire Bastion prison, this was the first time such a thing was happening.

"Free drinks for everyone." Soren screamed.

"Yah!!!"

And so the celebrations faded into the night.

Even after lights out, murmurs could still be heard from different prison cells.

Same with the guards.

In all the many 'todays' Soren had experienced, this was by far the best.

And yet, even though he had smiled and laughed, waved, and made quite the connections, now—lying on his bed—he frowned.

Slowly, his fingers touched the pendant around his neck.

Images flashed in his head.

Chronovore.

Soren remembered.

That time after the battle. Chronovore had taken him and was about to...

He swallowed.

A shiver ran down his spine.

He could not help but remember all the times he had ordered Chronovore to devour a Shade.

Did it mean that Chronovore actually obeyed him, or was it waiting and looking for an opportunity?

Having Chronovore felt like he was holding a double-edged sword.

One wrong move and he could be stabbing not just his opponent but also himself.

Or in this case, devouring.

Soren closed his eyes to sleep.

Unfortunately, no matter how he tried, he just could not. He stood up from the bed and made his way to the bathroom.

He stared at himself in the mirror, and his reflection stared back.

Leaning over the sink, he turned on the tap.

Hand full of water to wash his face. Once. Twice.

He looked up.

Chronovore... Hiss

Soren backed away, hitting the bucket behind and almost falling to the ground.

"Soooreeennn!" Cynthia called in worry.

"Don't worry, Cynthia." He panicked, breathing hard as he tried to get himself together. "Don't worry about me. I'm... uh... just a little accident."

Even though he said this, he could still feel his fingers shake a bit.

He tightened them into a fist. Summoning courage, he looked into the mirror again.

However, only his reflection stared back at him.

Soren turned off the tap. And then wiped his face with a towel.

"What's wrong with me?" he muttered.

Soren could tell that he was carrying around a ticking time bomb.

Maybe it was the anticipation of when it would go off or the gravity of what it meant, but he did not feel comfortable about it.

He had died before. Many times. But the assurance to come back had always been there.

But what would happen if his death happened not because of external forces, but because of the said assurance?

Soren knew there would be no going back.

He stepped out of the bathroom, making his way to his bed.

However, Soren suddenly remembered something.

He turned to his cellmate. "Uh... Cynthia about today. When we were fighting on Big Mama, did you see any..."

Cynthia turned over, the bed groaning under her weight.

She brought a hand to her mouth and made a zipping motion.

Then she turned back.

Soren smiled. "Thank you." He made his way back to his bed.

Sleep still eluded him. However, it allowed his mind the opportunity to think.

When it came to Chronovore, there was nothing he could do for now.

Since he had essentially gotten enough points to earn his freedom, he would make an effort to find knowledge on Shades.

Maybe he could ask Commander Jared.

The man had been the one that gave him the Discipline of Sorrow. Soren believed that he might know a thing or two about Chronovore. Or help him find information on it.

Maybe he could somehow get full control of Chronovore before it decided he was beefy enough to eat.

Thinking this far made Soren remember another problem.

His trial.

With all that had happened, he had forgotten why he was thrown in here in the first place.

However, since he now had enough points to buy his freedom, the relevance of the trial had moved from time in prison to if they would allow him to continue his education in the Imperial Soulforge Academy.

There was also that family that wanted to kill him.

Soren knew that the stars would more easily fall to the ground than for the Ivory family to let him go after he killed a valuable asset—even though she was a threat.

However, thinking this far made him remember the assassination attempt on his and Cynthia's lives.

This was an assassination attempt that never happened again because Cynthia never came back wounded.

The guards had taken the yellow-teethed prisoner and dealt with him accordingly.

But from the information Soren interrogated from him, he was not the person planning to kill Cynthia that night.

This meant that the person or people planning to kill Cynthia were still somewhere out there.

Soren could only hope that after buying everyone drinks at the cafeteria, whoever they were now had a change of heart.

"Soooreeennn," Cunthia called, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Than... Thannnkkk Yooou."

Soren felt it. That 'thank you.' It was not just her usual speaking pattern.

She was holding back the tears.

Soren turned to her. He could only imagine the relief she felt knowing that she would make it.

Before bed, Soren had seen the science team talking with her in the underground. Her operation had been scheduled for tomorrow.

Knowing that his hard work had paid off brought a satisfying smile to his face.

"You are welcome, Cynthia." He replied warmly.

She could not hold them in again, and the tears fell—accompanied by low sobbing sounds

Soren turned to his side. Regardless of all that had happened, good things did come out of all this.

And this was not just about Cynthia. Soren touched his chest. He closed his eyes, feeling his soul's energy reserves.

After all, he did consume all those antibodies.

If he were to describe it, then it was this. The container for his soul energy had increased...

(Author's note: Don't worry, the fun is far from over. Also, special thanks to Cody_ and The_Unknown_6477 for the support.)

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