Soren had fainted from a mix of exhaustion—mentally from all the loops and physically from the strain he had put his body through.

To make matters worse, he had burned all his Soul energy.

However, the moment the room became quiet, his Glassheart opened with a click.

And like living water, his Shade, Chronovore, flowed out. It headed straight for Ivory's Glassheart, breaking it open and devouring the shade within.

It was like a huge gray snake swallowing a frog.

A few moments later, screams could be heard.

"Over here! There are signs of a battle." A Soulbound knight arrived.

"I have found them..."

Two more arrived, and so did Boyed.

He walked inside the abandoned, rundown building with careful steps, a hand holding a white handkerchief to his nose.

He stopped just before Ivory.

"What kind of monster did she battle to have made such a large hole in her chest?" One of the knights commented, shaking his head.

However, Boyed's gaze hovered to Soren.

"Him," he replied, walking towards the fainted boy.

One of the knights shook his head. "But... that's not possible. A child, barely a trained cadet, should not be able to beat a Soulbound Knight, much less a Soul Mecha Pilot that has experienced the field."

Boyed squatted down.

He took a closer look at Soren's bloody arm. It was definitely not his blood.

"Well, I'll be damned.

It's the same way an untrained child should not be able to pilot a Soul Mecha. But here we are."

"Two miracle strikes in one week?" The knight added with a look that clearly stated he did not believe it even though he was seeing it.

What he did not know was that it had only been a week for them, but several years for Soren.

"Bring the cadet and the corpse." Boyed ordered turning around.

"Waterfells, what in the Neuralink is with your bloodline and miracles?" Boyed muttered, walking away.

...

[Hunger...Hunger... more...]

Soren's eyes snapped open.

The rhythmic beeping of a monitor reached his ears.

Eyes darted around.

At first all he saw was the white of the ceiling, then more hazy clearing from his eyes.

Curtains, royal blue.

And of course, the formidable but annoying smell of medicine.

"Twice in one week? Are you really in love with hospital beds, or just interested in dodging training." A familiar voice.

Soren turned to his side.

His guest sat, cross-legged, a book in hand, no doubt passing time, waiting for Soren to wake up.

"Commander Jared." Soren groaned lightly in his attempt to sit upright.

Commander Jared raised a hand to stop him. "There will be no need for that. Your body is in terrible shape. The doctor said your body looked like it was used as a punching bag."

Soren lay back down.

The memory of Ivory landing those hits on his body flashed in his mind.

Yeah, that makes sense.

"Don't worry, I was made to believe that your body is already recovering fast. For an F-rank, that's rare."

Soren did not know whether he was being complimented or scrutinized.

"Regardless," he replied. "Thank you, sir."

"We have already seen the footage of what happened, coupled with the testimonies of your friends, and the Eldritch you managed to capture—we do have a general idea of what happened. But I'd like to hear your side of the story." He closed the book in his hand, dropping it on a table at the side.

Soren sighed inwardly. The moment had come.

He knew it would, and that was why he took extra steps.

He had to hide Chronovore. At least he had to hide what it was capable of doing.

Not the time-looping thing, but the eating-shades thing.

There was no way he was going to explain that and be branded an Eldritch sympathizer or an enemy of the state.

But seeing that it was Commander Jared that came to him for information, it showed that the matter was that important.

Also, he had a faint feeling that he had to be as truthful as possible.

"How did you know that the late Instructor Ivory was in control of the Eldritch and planned to kill the other cadets?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Soren started, looking away.

The commander gave him that gaze that seemed to be attempting to dig into a person.

"I have seen a great deal of many things." The commander replied, "Try me."

"It was my Shade. I knew from my Shade." Soren looked away. Not because he was shy of what he said, but because it was a part of the acting.

The way he gave the answer had to be believable.

Also, he was not lying—not technically, at least.

Chronovore was the first to sense that Ivory's Shade was wounded.

However, as Soren looked away, he did not see the shocked look on the face of the Commander.

"Your Shade... it speaks to you?"

Soren nodded.

Technically yes... although it only screams how hungry it is every time.

He added in his mind.

But Commander Jared was even more shocked—enough that it ruined his well-practiced stoic look.

Right now, Soren did not know that the words he just told the commander had rocked the man's world.

No, it was information that would rock the world of Soulbound warriors.

There has been evidence that Shades were intelligent creatures, but a monkey having the capability of solving a puzzle was entirely different from the ability to learn a foreign language and communicate with it.

It's not that there were no Shades capable of communication, but it was extremely rare.

A lot of things needed to be in place for that to happen.

But the most important thing was that it had never ever happened to an F-rank rank.

This opened a lot of new doors to a lot more possibilities.

Commander Jared suddenly remembered something. "Was it also your Shade that informed you that there was an Eldritch in your town?"

Soren was not expecting that question, but he still nodded.

After which a few more questions were asked, and Soren answered. It was a good thing he had lied to Ivory about removing the camera in the garden. What Soren showed her had come from his room.

In another thirty minutes, Commander Jared nodded and rose to his feet.

Soren was happy that the questions were over.

However, as Commander Jared opened the door, a few Soulbound Knights walked in.

They were dressed differently—much differently.

These people wore robes that had red swords on their chests.

The moment they entered, they surrounded Soren.

"Cadet Soren, you are under arrest."

(Author's note: A warm thank you to Fnu_Rameez for the first golden ticket on this book.)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.