Perched silently atop the tunnel entrance, Orphan waited, his eyes fixed on the heavily armored box truck passing him from the tunnel below. Its thick plating gleamed faintly under the moonlight, broadcasting itself as the ultimate prize to any would-be attacker.
"That’s the decoy," Orphan muttered, a sly grin tugging at his lips.
The truck was bait its impressive defenses a mere facade for the swarm of armed soldiers crammed inside, ready to ambush anyone foolish enough to target it. But Orphan had no intention of falling for their ruse. His real target trailed just behind.
He tensed, gauging the distance, and leapt.
The ten meter drop would have shattered the bones of most men, but Orphan’s recently upgraded Durability Soul cushioned his landing. His boots thudded softly against the roof of the military escort vehicle tailing the decoy, but the sound dissipated instantly, smothered by the veil of silence he cast over his movements.
Flattening himself against the truck’s surface, Orphan waited, his pulse steady, his mind already calculating his next move. The winding road ahead twisted sharply, and as expected, chaos soon followed.
A horned deer emerged from the shadows its massive frame gliding gracefully into the path of the box truck. The driver had no time to react; the truck veered violently off the road, its massive weight tearing through trees and foliage before vanishing into the darkness of the forest.
The deer, as mysteriously as it had appeared, vanished into the underbrush. If one looked hard enough, they might've noticed the deer never to have been real in the first place.
The vehicle beneath Orphan skidded to a screeching halt. The passenger door flew open, and a middle-aged man with a five o’clock shadow and a stern expression stepped out, his boots crunching against the gravel.
"Stay in the car, Lieutenant!" he barked in a gravelly voice, his tone leaving no room for argument. Without waiting for a response, he jogged toward the crash site, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his sword.
The lieutenant, still dazed by the sudden turn of events, nodded absentmindedly, his fingers gripping the steering wheel tightly.
Orphan saw his chance.
Slipping through the open door like a shadow, he moved with practiced precision. The driver’s focus remained on the crash ahead, his mind too preoccupied to notice the subtle distortions caused by Orphan’s Illusionary Soul. If the lieutenant had been expecting trouble, perhaps he might have spotted the faint shimmer in the air or the flicker of light that betrayed Orphan’s presence. But he wasn’t—his thoughts were elsewhere, and Orphan was practically invisible.
Sliding into the back of the vehicle, Orphans eyes immediately locked onto his prize: an unassuming black box, secured tightly with a seatbelt. With nimble fingers, he unbuckled the belt, vanishing the faint click as he worked. In its place, he conjured a replica of the box, woven from light and shadows, identical to the original in every visible way.
Satisfied, he slipped out of the vehicle as quietly as he’d entered, the real box cradled securely under his arm. The entire operation had taken less than ten seconds.
"They won’t notice until they touch it," he mused, a smirk curling his lips as he darted toward the cover of the forest.
Glancing back briefly, Orphan spotted the lieutenants worried expression.
'Relax, your friends are fine... Probably. Maybe a broken bone or two for someone with a weak Endurance Soul, but nothing life-threatening' Orphan thought wryly.
His smirk widened as he vanished into the shadows, his silhouette swallowed by the dense forest. With the black box in hand, his plan was off to a perfect start.
---
An elderly man sat in a well-appointed office, speaking on an antique rotary phone that matched his venerable demeanor. His half-moon spectacles perched on his nose reflected the warm glow of a nearby desk lamp. A full yet meticulously groomed white beard framed his face, and his neatly slicked-back white hair spoke of precision and care. Dressed in a refined suit, he exuded an air of timeless authority.
His furrowed brow betrayed a growing concern as he spoke, his tone tinged with disbelief.
“A crash?” he asked, his voice steady yet laced with a hint of shock.
From the other end of the line, a gravelly voice replied with grim clarity, “Yes, Principal. The armored vehicle swerved off the road to avoid a deer.”
The principal leaned back in his chair, the springs creaking faintly under the shift. His expression hardened, deep in thought, before he pressed on with a measured question. “And what of the package?”
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“The package was unharmed,” came the reassuring reply.
The principal’s shoulders eased slightly, and he nodded as if to himself. “Good, good…” he murmured, his voice trailing off. He continued “I will come escort it the rest of the way myself. You aren’t far from the academy, correct?”
“No, sir,” Marcus replied from the other end. “We just passed the tunnel leading north from Basins before the incident.”
“Stay where you are until I arrive, Marcus. Do not move.” His tone brooked no argument. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Yes, sir,” Marcus confirmed without hesitation.
The principal set the phone back into its cradle with a faint clink, rising to his feet. He smoothed his suit with deliberate care and adjusted his spectacles.
He sharply turned toward the open balcony door and disappeared from the room. The vacuum left in his wake swept through the room, scattering papers from his polished desk and rustling the antique curtains.
--
A few dozens meters away from a gravelly mountain road soldiers were rummaging through an upturned heavily armored military truck, the truck come from the road above and had plowed through many trees on the way until it had flipped and got stuck on an especially strong oak.
"That oak has to be a soul plant right? No way it stopped Bertha without snapping like a twig." One soldier asked
"Maybe But is that important right now" Another on answered in a fed up tone
Up from the crash site on the gravel road another pair of men were talking
"Sir the deer came out of nowhere" One of the men explained in a pleading tone.
"Private Relo... what will I do with you..." A gravelly voice said in a stern tone.
The private visibly shuttered
"Well, no matter. we will solve the matter at base once the mission is completed. Until then go return to your duties." Captain Marcus relaxed and turned to the military car on the road and spoke to the driver.
"lieutenant hold tight, the Principal should be here any min-" Before the Captain could continue a sudden boom startled the liuetenant.
"And that's him" Marcus continued and turned towards the dapper old man that had appeared out of nowhere.
"Have you gotten faster Lucas?" Marcus said to the old man a slight smile appearing on his rough face.
"Positively so." Lucas replied with a smile "Now where is the package, I need to get it to the academy before anything else goes wrong."
Marcus walked next to the car and opened the backseat door. Inside a black metallic box was hugged by seatbelts.
"Here"
Lucas wasted no time in getting to the box, but just as he was about to take the box his face fell and the atmosphere around the car turned cold.
"How long has it been since the crash?" Lucas asked in a no nonsense voice.
catching that something was wrong Marcus answered "14 minutes. Why?"
"It's an illusion" Lucas turned towards the box with a serious expression and swiped at it making it dissapear.
--
Orphan was laying low behind a rotting log, hidden deeper in the forest where the shadows were thick and the air was damp. He could have run farther, but the thrill coursing through his veins had stopped him. He couldn’t wait any longer.
“I really got it,” he whispered to himself, his grin wide and triumphant.
Clutched tightly in his hands was the black box. Its smooth, metallic surface felt cool against his palms, and even in the dim light filtering through the canopy, it gleamed faintly. His heart pounded with anticipation as he fumbled with the latch, carefully lifting the lid.
Inside, nestled in a velvet lining, was a brass-colored compass. Its craftsmanship was exquisite—intricate engravings spiraled around its edge, and at its center, an ivory needle floated serenely in a pool of obsidian , defying gravity. The surface of the compass seemed to shimmer, as if alive with some unseen energy.
Orphan’s breath hitched as he reached out, his fingers trembling slightly. The excitement of the moment overwhelmed him, and he couldn’t resist the urge any longer. With uncontainable eagerness, he touched the compass, his fingertips brushing its cool, polished surface.
[Bind to Soul Sea?]
The glowing words appeared before Orphan’s face, shimmering with an ethereal light. Without hesitation, he mentally accepted the question.
In an instant, the compass transformed into a glimmering orb of obsidian and shot into his chest, merging seamlessly with him.
[The Compass of Desire has been bound to your Soul Sea.]
Orphan’s grin stretched even wider. Without wasting a moment, he closed his eyes and delved eagerly into his Soul Sea.
Around him stretched a vast expanse of glimmering water, its surface alive with shifting waves of light. He stood atop the rolling waves, weightless yet grounded, as if the sea itself supported his very essence. Above him, the sky was fragmented into countless shards, each reflecting pieces of the sea below like fractured mirrors. The surreal beauty of it all filled him with awe.
“The stronger my Illusionary Soul grows, the stranger my Soul Sea becomes…” he murmured, his voice carrying across the shimmering expanse.
The atmosphere of a Soul Sea was shaped by its owner’s most dominant soul. Orphan knew this well, and yet he couldn’t help but marvel at how unique his had become.
His attention wavered momentarily, drawn to the strange beauty of his surroundings, but his gaze quickly settled on a cluster of glowing orbs. Five luminescent spheres of various sizes floated in an intricate dance, orbiting one another like miniature stars.
Surrounding the cluster, as if guarding it, was a much larger soul, its light steady and powerful.
[Illusionary Soul – 54% Mastery]
The words appeared briefly before him as he focused on the dominant soul, but they faded as quickly as they came when he noticed something else.
His eyes narrowed, locking onto a solitary black orb hovering near the largest soul. It was devoid of light, a stark contrast to the glimmering orbs around it, yet it radiated an almost magnetic pull.
Orphan extended his will, and the black orb began to drift toward him. As it floated closer, he reached out and grasped it firmly in his hand.
The orb shuddered under his touch, then transformed back into the familiar brass-colored compass.
With a deep breath, Orphan returned to the real world, the compass still gripped tightly in his hand. Its presence felt different now—stronger, more alive. He could feel it humming with potential, practically pleading for him to feed it with the energy of his Soul Sea.
He raised the compass, preparing to channel his power into it. But before he could act, a deafening bang erupted behind him, the force sending a gust of wind surging past him.
Orphan spun around instinctively, but before his eyes could even register what had happened, everything went blank. His world faded into darkness.