Soulless Soul

Chapter 17: Dreamless Sleep

The administrative office was quiet, lined with glowing holographic terminal screens that hummed with a low, rhythmic frequency. The air inside smelled faintly of ozone and clean parchment, a welcome relief from the tense atmosphere of the courtyard outside. The silence here felt calculated, a sterile bubble designed to isolate the high-stakes calculations of the academy’s intake system from the raw, chaotic energy of the students outside.

Every flicker of the blue terminal lights cast sharp, mechanical shadows across the polished black stone floor. As Sky reached his hand toward a sleek, silver registration stylus sitting on the main terminal desk, the heavy glass doors behind them suddenly burst open with a loud, sweeping rush of air.

The sudden atmospheric shift caused the floating magical arrays near the ceiling to ripple, their golden runes pulsing defensively before stabilizing. Sky’s hand froze mid-air, his fingers centimeters away from the cold metal of the stylus. His muscles locked instantly, his body automatically dropping into a lower, more stable center of gravity.

A cheerful girl with short, vibrant purple hair bounded into the room, her energy completely shifting the solemn mood of the space. She practically vibrated with a bright, untamed enthusiasm that felt entirely out of place in a fortress meant for forging lethal weapons.

"Vesper!" she cried out happily, her voice ringing through the quiet office like a clear bell.

Without a single shred of hesitation or warning, the purple-haired girl threw her arms around the dangerous, silver-haired girl, hugging her tightly around the neck.

Sky flinched, instinctively bracing himself for a violent explosion of ice magic or a severed limb. He had just witnessed the absolute apex of Vesper’s lethal intent outside; to touch her so casually seemed like an explicit invitation for a swift execution. His hand moved toward his hip out of sheer habit, searching for a weapon that wasn’t there.

To Sky’s absolute shock, the cold, murderous Vesper immediately softened.

The terrifying amethyst fire in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a deep, affectionate gentleness. The razor-sharp aura of frost that had been radiating from her uniform just a moment ago dissolved into a harmless, cool mist. She wrapped her arms back around the newcomer, returning the gesture with a genuinely warm, protective embrace that seemed entirely impossible for someone who had just radiated an intense desire to kill only moments prior. It was a staggering display of compartmentalization. The apex predator had transformed into an older sister within the span of a single heartbeat.

Sky stood frozen in place, his fingers hovering just inches away from the registration stylus. His mind raced, calculating his next move, fully convinced that his negative curse would trigger once more.

He remained perfectly still, barely even allowing himself to breathe. He knew the mechanics of his affliction all too well.

That explained Vesper’s murderous look from earlier. His curse, a lingering remnant of his dark trials, twisted the perception of anyone who looked upon him, making him appear as a horrifying, existential threat to their very survival. It preyed on the instincts of the powerful, turning their defensive mechanisms against him by projecting an illusion of monstrous malice. But as Sky braced his muscles, expecting the purple-haired girl to turn on him with the exact same venomous hatred and murderous intent, she smoothly let go of Vesper and faced directly in his direction.

Sky’s breath caught in his throat as he looked into her face. Her eyes were wide, beautifully shaped, but they were completely cloudy, milky white, and entirely vacant of any pupil or iris.

The realization hit him like a physical blow.

The intricate web of his negative curse required a visual vector to distort the victim’s mind. It was an optical toxin, a psychic trigger that relied entirely on the target’s eyes capturing his form and misinterpreting his biological signature.

She was completely blind.

"Hello there," the purple-haired girl said, offering a warm, sweet smile toward Sky’s general direction. She tilted her head slightly, tuning her ears to the sound of his breathing and the faint, heavy breathing. Because she couldn’t see his horrifying, hollow visage, she was completely unaffected by the visual trigger of his curse. To her, he wasn’t a terrifying demon or a monstrous threat; he was simply another student standing in the registration room. "I’m Chloe. Nice to meet you!"

Sky opened his mouth, but before he could form a proper response, Chloe turned back around, her hands reaching out to grab Vesper’s sleeve. The contrast between the two girls was staggering—one an avatar of absolute winter, the other a pocket of unconditional warmth.

"Come on, Vesper, we’re going to be late for the orientation. The instructors are already gathering the freshman blocks. Goodbye, sir!" she added, waving cheerily toward the holographic receptionist behind the desk.

Vesper shot Sky one last sharp, warning glance over her shoulder—a silent promise that she was still watching him—before allowing Chloe to easily pull her out of the administrative office and back into the bustling courtyard. That final look was devoid of the initial blind panic of the curse, replaced instead by a cold, analytical suspicion. She didn’t understand why Chloe was unaffected, and that unknown variable made Sky an even bigger target in her eyes.

Sky stood alone in the quiet room for a long moment, letting out a deep, shaky breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. He wiped a sudden bead of cold sweat from his forehead, his mind reeling from the encounter. It was a fascinating, pragmatic discovery. Being completely blind made Chloe entirely immune to the visual trigger of his curse. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, someone had looked toward him and smiled instead of drawing a weapon. It was an incredibly bizarre form of relief. The revelation provided a small, vital piece of data for his long-term survival strategy. If he could find ways to obscure his visual profile or manipulate how others perceived his physical form, he might actually be able to walk among humanity without constantly inciting blood feuds.

Turning back to the glowing terminal, Sky quickly focused on the task at hand. He gripped the silver stylus, its metallic surface cool against his damp palm. The holographic display flickered to life, demanding his credentials. After completing his registration with the automated system terminal by entering his new citizen data and scanning his soul index, the machine beeped green, dispensing a small, metallic room key card.

The terminal’s synthesized voice echoed flatly through the empty room, confirming his assignment to Freshman Block C, Room 214.

Sky grabbed the card, his energy completely spent. He dragged his exhausted, heavy body out of the administrative wing, bypassing the crowded courtyard where the orientation was supposed to take place. He didn’t care about introductory speeches right now. He could hear the distant, booming voice of an instructor echoing over the academy’s PA system, detailing the glorious destiny of the freshman class, but to Sky, it was just white noise. Every muscle in his body was aching, and his mind felt like it had been run over by a freight train. The adrenaline from the encounter with Vesper had completely drained away, leaving behind a profound, bone-deep lethargy.

He navigated the winding stone paths until he finally found the freshman dormitory blocks, a row of austere, stone-faced buildings near the back of the academy grounds. The architecture here was noticeably simpler, stripped of the hyper-futuristic neon accents and floating spires that dominated the main campus. This was where the raw materials were stored before being forged. He walked up to his assigned room on the second floor, swiped the metallic card, and unlocked the heavy wooden door.

The room was sparse—containing only a small desk, a wardrobe, and a single bed. A single, high-placed window looked out toward the distant perimeter wall, letting in a thin sliver of the fading twilight. Sky didn’t care about the lack of luxury. He collapsed face-first onto the small, stiff mattress, not even bothering to remove his heavy leather boots or his uniform jacket. Within a matter of seconds, the overwhelming fatigue of surviving the dungeon, the lingering, mutating effects of the mystical fruit he had consumed, and the chaotic stress of his first day at the academy completely caught up to him.

The world faded to black, and he plummeted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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