545 Soul [2]

"Good morning professor."

"Morning Professor."

While we walked around the academy, we were greeted by students who were heading out for their classes. The students seemed unable to recognize me since my hair had changed, so most of their greetings were directed at Kevin. 

This was good since I didn't want to be recognized at the moment. 

That being said, the fact that my hair was white did attract quite a lot of attention as I felt multiple eyes pause on me whenever we went. 

"How are we going to explain to Jin about the system and everything?"

It was while we were walking that Kevin spoke.

Staring at him, my brows knit.

"What are you talking about?"

"…Didn't you previously mention that we should bring Jin with us?"

"Oh, that."

Right, I did suggest to Kevin to bring Jin with us during the trip. 

Although I wasn't sure how strong he was right now, he shouldn't be any weaker than Amanda, who was on the verge of breaking through to <A-> the last time I saw her, which was yesterday. 

That said.

It would indeed be quite troublesome to explain to him about Kevin's system and everything. Unlike Kevin who believed most of the words I said, Jin wasn't one to be fooled easily. 

As much as I hated to admit it, I was afraid my bullshitting skills would not work on him. 

"Well, we can just not tell him anything.." 

"Huh?"

Kevin's feet came to a sudden halt.

Turning his head to glance my way, he asked.

"What do you mean we don't have to tell him anything? He's currently working to take over as the next Guild master of the Starlight guild. If you want him to come with us, we should at least give him a proper reason to follow us."

Listening to his words, I slowly nodded my head.

"…You're right."

His words made sense.

Just like Amanda, Jin had a lot of responsibilities for himself. If we suddenly sprang the idea of going to another world to him without a proper explanation, he might end up refusing our offer.

Although I knew a couple of other people that could replace him, ideally I wanted Jin to be the one that came with us.

Considering his skill set, he was the most appropriate person to come with us.

"Hmm…"

Squinting my eyes, I asked.

"What is the time difference between here, and the place we're going?"

"Let me check."

Waving his hand in the air, Kevin carefully looked at the air in front of him.

To be honest, had it not been for the fact that I knew he had a system, I would've thought he had some mental problems as he tapped and swiped the air randomly. 

It was quite a comical scene.

This persisted for a good couple of minutes before Kevin turned around and informed me. 

"The time difference between here and there is about half of that of Immorra."

"So about five times?"

"Yeah."

'Five times, huh? This is a lot longer than I expected...' 

  Even though I didn't know how long I would be away, I didn't think it would be a good idea to take another long trip after just getting back. 

I might end up suffering quite a bit before leaving.

'Mother aside, it is also quite a pity to leave earth.' 

Presently, the best place to train was on earth. 

Although time flowed slower on the planet that I was just about to go to, there was a major flaw in the place, and it was the fact that it lacked mana.

Just like the demon world, the place was filled with demonic energy. 

Compared to earth whose mana density is increasing day by day, the time difference advantage would simply be negated by the fact that the mana there was thin. The same went for Immorra, which unfortunately also had little to no mana in the air. 

Had the two plants had more mana, I would've without a doubt spent my time training over there. 

'What a pity...' 

While my thoughts paused there, I had a sudden thought as I opened my mouth and voiced it out. 

"...Wait, if the time is five times slower, why don't we just kidnap Jin?"

"Huh?"

Kevin's face changed the moment those words escaped from my mouth. Snapping his head to look at me, he frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't misunderstand…"

Raising my hands, I quickly explained to Kevin my thoughts.

"Since it will be troublesome to convince Jin and even tell him about your secrets, might as well just open the portal and send him in before he knows it. Coma back before his guild members notices something is wrong. It's not like this trip will be a long one."

  A dumbfounded look crossed Kevin's face as he stared at me. 

"…are you serious?" 

"Just an option."

As I approached the enormous structure in the distance, I shrugged my shoulders. 

The goal of the operation, from what he told me, was to prevent the mana on the planet from corrupting and becoming demonic. 

If everything played out well, then I didn't see why we would need a lot of time to do it.

We just had to find the device that converted the mana and destroy it. Furthermore, since the system judged that the difficulty was around <A> it shouldn't be too hard for us to deal with it.

Who knows, perhaps I might even find a way to break through to <S-> rank. Though, I doubted it since it was actually hard to break through. 

"Haaa…"

Thinking about breaking through to <S-> rank, I let out a long sigh.

Although I was closer to it than ever, it still felt as though I was quite far away from it:

'I'm probably still a year or two away from breaking thorough.'

Sounded slow, but by then I would be around 23 years old.

A 23/22 year old <S-> rank Hero. 

The news would probably shake the whole domain as not even Monica, who was considered one of the greatest prodigies humanity had ever seen, had accomplished such feats. 

'If I don't remember incorrectly, Monica reached it when she was just 25..'

For me to do it at 22/23, it would probably alarm a lot of people.  As I imagined Monica's face once I beat her record, the edges of my lips curled. 

"We're here."

Jolting me out of my thoughts was Kevin's voice as we stopped in front of a large wooden door.

"The headmaster is already waiting for you, so all you have to do is just knock on the door."

Glancing at the door for a second, Kevin soon turned around.

"About your proposal of kidnapping Jin, tell me more about it later. I've got classes to teach now. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Waving Kevin goodbye, I turned to glance at the door in front of me.

Without wasting any time, I raised my hand and knocked on the door.

Knock. Knocks

"Come in."

Following my actions, a familiar aged voice echoed out from behind the door. 

Without hesitation, I twisted the doorknob and entered the room.

Clank—

As soon as I opened the door, an old wooden smell filled the room, while sunlight filtered through the large window at the end. 

Sitting in front of it, and behind a large worded desk was Douglas who slowly stood up and smiled in my direction.

"Haven't seen you in quite a while."

His aged and tranquil voice echoed throughout the room. 

Extending his hand, he pointed at the leather chair in front of his desk.

"Have a seat for now. I heard you wanted to talk to me, what do you need?"

Smiling at him, I complied with his request and sat down on the chair.

Brushing my hair up, I thought for a moment before I decided to go straight to the point.

"I need a favor. Do you have anything that can heal the soul?"

Right as those words escaped from my mouth, Douglas's face changed as he asked.

"Did something happen to your soul?"

"Sort of."

I nodded my head before explaining.

"I sustained a bit of damage to my soul, and I need to find a way to heal it."

"Hmm…"

Massaging his long beard, a deep and contemplative look appeared on Douglas's face as he mused to himself.

His brows soon furrowed tightly.

"Something that can heal your soul, huh…"

Seconds passed, and soon minutes passed as the frown on Douglas's face deepened.

The longer time passed, the less hope I had that Douglas would find a way to heal me. 

'Looks like I will have to ask someone else.'

Douglas wasn't the only person that I could ask with regards to possible news about something that could heal my soul.

There were other people I could ask. Of which, there was Kevin, and possibly even Gervis. 

Though, making contact with him would prove to be quite difficult.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like I can be of help, Ren."

It was then that Douglas shook his head in disappointment.

With a smile on my face, I waved my hand. 

"It's okay, it—"

"But, I do know someone that can actually help you."

But halfway through my sentence, Douglas suddenly said something that immediately caught my interest.

"You know someone that can help?"

"Yes."

Douglas nodded his head before his face turned weird as he looked at me.

"You might not like it but if there is one guy that can help you, it's probably him."

Listening to his next words, I suddenly had a bad feeling. However,  as I thought about how urgent the matter was, I reaffirmed my resolve.

"It's okay as long as he can help me, then I can do anything."

"You sure?"

"Sure."

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you."

A grin appeared on Douglas's face as he caressed his beard and leaned back on his chair.

"If you're looking for a way to heal your soul, then the individual you should contact is none other than Octavious Hall. The strongest human in the human domain."

"Ahh…"

A strange sound escaped from my mouth as my face hardened.

'Seriously?'