“It is concerning how quickly the conversation shifted from discussing God to the bathroom? I’m really curious about your thought process, how do you come up with such connections?” Dhruv asked White Snake with concern.
“As a child, I was taken into a religious order that practices with white beads. As members, we are meant to help people in our own unique way. Alternatively, you could say that I’m a graduated nun who can discuss matters of faith at length, which caused me to lose my train of thought.” She explained.
“But now, you are a renowned thief, how does that work?”
“I’m a good thief who helps people like what I’m doing here.”
Dhruv was speechless for a moment after he heard that.
“You raise a fair point. It would be better for me to avoid assessing you and the five Soul Avatars solely from the perspective of this world.”
“No, you shouldn’t do that. Your way of thinking is good. As I have previously said, there is nothing fully good or evil, only benefits and deficits. Where there are more losses, make those losses less, and where there are big gains, also make them less. And that’s how I help people, as in both cases, others suffer.”
Clap, clap, clap, clap,
“So, that’s how your thieving business works. You’re just balancing everybody out.”
She didn’t continue this pointless talk as it was triggering a painful memory in her mind and asked seriously. “It’s time to get down to business - how do we track down those elusive Soul Avatars?”
Dhruv suggested “we take over the state control room.”
“But that plan won’t fully work.”
“Still, let’s give it a shot, as these Soul Avatars can change bodies as easily as changing clothes, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Even if that approach falls short, we have to find some kind of lead to go on.”
...
In the same city Kolkata, 7 km away from Dhruv’s home.
XYZ Auditorium, in a concert hall, a DJ is entertaining 30 thousand people. They can be seen jumping up and down with his beats, and with a loud bass, the music stopped. DJ started speaking.
“Alright everybody, are you guys enjoying the show?”
“Yeah!” A collective shout could be heard.
“We will take a short break, but you will be happy to know about our sponsor today. They are generous enough to provide drinks for everyone here, so you can look up and grab yourself a glass.”
As he said that, the large cloth covering the auditorium celling started to move, and countless glasses of drinks hanging by a thin thread could be seen.
“You are not getting it for free. So, can I get a cheer for our sponsor? The largest alcohol production company in our state, ‘The Beer Beverage’.”
Wooooow~ everyone cheered.
Glasses came down, and everyone drank. In the VIP room, one man in a businessman look was looking down at the crowd with a grin on his face. He was Avnish, one of the Soul Avatars.
“Drink to your heart’s content, idiots; within half an hour, you will all be in deep sleep, and I shall take your souls with my innate ability, ‘Soul Snatcher’. If not for my limitations, I wouldn’t have to plan this hard.” He murmured.
On the roadside, Dhruv was standing facing towards the state control building.
“I’ll stay here; you go inside the surveillance room and gather clues. And we need to find a dead body for you to use, as you don’t want to take over someone’s life.”
“How can you say that with a straight face? Wait here; I’m going.” Saying that Dhruv weakened his soul to its limits and flew inside the building.
White Snake watched as she saw him fly away and wondered, ‘if he went to the upper world, he’d be the first to die with this attitude. But who am I to judge? In any case, he will forget me after passing Soul Domain, nor can I recognise him. Let’s hope you don’t meet me up there.’
Dhruv flowed down the hallway and arrived outside the surveillance room. By making his finger solid, he knocked.
One operator opened the door only to see no one outside. He cursed before closing the door and sitting down in his chair.
Dhruv tried watching the live footage of the whole state, but he didn’t have any way to keep track of it. There are over fifty CCTVs, each with 12 mini-live screens inside. With no choice in hand, he sat beside the emergency call counter and watched live footage of famous areas in the city.
And who would have thought that an emergency call would arrive a few moments later?
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“Hello, I’m at the XYZ Auditorium. Over here, tens of thousands of people are falling down on the ground one by one *sob*, and-and the doors are locked. I’m also feeling dizzy *sob**sob*. Please help *sob*. Call ended.
Operator 1: “Alert the headquarters, inform the nearby police station to seal the area, and ask them to form a special rescue team with immediate effect.”
Operator 2: “Yes, sir,” he opened the door and pressed the emergency alarm, which rang throughout the building.
White Snake heard the alarm from outside. “Damn, what did he do this time?”
Dhruv flew down near White Snake, entered his body, and quickly went to a cab.
“XYZ Auditorium, please, and be as quick as possible.” After that, he explained everything internally in his mind, ‘bout what happened in the surveillance room.
“Tens of thousands of people!” She exclaimed. “This has to be one of them.”
When they arrived at the XYZ Auditorium, Dhruv directly flew out of the window to the top of the auditorium and heard a loud music playing, he looked inside.
There is a human-shaped black soul. Covered by a long coat, pants, and shoes, everything is formed by compressed air. He touched one person’s hand and took out his soul. These souls are gathering towards one point, like getting attracted to it.
“So that’s a Soul Box, huh?” He muttered and thought of the moment when he first tried possessing a body of a living human.
...
“Are you sure this is the right target to practice my soul talent?” Dhruv asked while standing on top of a roof. He can see a man in the next building, sitting next to a window in his apartment.
“Yes, this is your first time using any power of your own. So, you have to figure out what your Black Practitioner’s innate talent is? Follow my instructions clearly, and don’t worry about that man. Even if he dies, many girls would be happy.” White Snake replied in a serious tone.
I didn’t ask much and flew in my soul form towards that man. I entered his body and activated one of the black beads. Almost immediately, the man’s soul entered my Receptor. His soul separated into 36 pieces and started to compress.
I was controlling his body, but internally, I felt pain and was shaken to the core because I just killed that man in an instant. ‘How terrifying is having power in this world? I am just a normal person. Can I really make a change?’ I started doubting myself and walked uncontrollably.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a sight that made me shiver even more. There was a mature woman whose hands and legs were tied on the bed. She was in a miserable state. After seeing this I tried to resolve my mind.
‘Yes, I can do this and at least try to make changes that would be beneficial for someone. I can choose not to leave my comfort zone, but what’s the use of having power then? I will make a new comfort zone for myself.’ Thinking that he had untied the ropes from women, he went back to the seat and flew out of his body.
“You look very confident now.” White Snake said it in a teasing way.
“I don’t know what your plans were, but thanks anyway.”
...
Crack~
With the cracking sound of the window glass, his train of thoughts stopped, and he flew down.
“Why the hell did you flee like a maniac? What if you get spotted and we become all of their targets?” Immediately, White Snake scolded him.
“There’s only one Soul Avatar; he seems to be taking out souls from people one at a time.” Dhruv replied.
“And did you see the Soul Box?”
“Yes, it’s in the centre of the auditorium, on the ground.”
“As I expected, alright, watch and learn if you want.” Saying that White Snake moved a little closer to the auditorium, she dug a small hole using a stone and put her hand inside it while activating her magic skill.
It was a wide-area magic skill for treasure detection, it spread like white fog in all direction which was obviously noticed by Avnish Seth; he immediately realised it’s the work of a White Soul user, then he looked towards the Soul Box. It was shaking slightly; something is clearly wrong. “Oh, no, they are targeting Soul Box, not me.” He rushed towards the artefact, but before he could do anything, a white hand came out of the ground and took the Soul Box inside.
Outside the auditorium, Soul Box appeared in the small hole. She quickly placed it into the subconscious and told Dhruv, “Quickly control the body and leave this place. I almost used up all of my ‘Will’ I need to recover.”
“What about the souls inside the box?” While asking, he took control of his body and went back inside the cab. “To the nearest hotel, please.”
“These souls are forced out from their body; they are already dead, but the good news is that there are only a few hundred souls here. So, the rest are saved, additionally, we got one Soul Box.”
“Why didn’t you try to kill him there?”
She sighed and said with a helpless tone, “they are nearly level 1, but I would have been able to kill him if I took control of your body fully.”
He now realises the fundamental problem of his and her slow growth. He told the cab driver, “Can you take me to the hospital instead? I don’t think I feel well. Thank you.”
“I understand what you are saying, but I will still not kill anyone unless there is no choice. I am willing to compromise.”
“Really by grave robbing?” She teased.
“Grave robbing! What are you saying? We will borrow a body from the mortuary; that is all.”
“Sure, sure,” Hehe. She giggled.
Screech~ Cab driver hit the break. I paid the fare and headed towards the garden. There was an empty bench. I sat down and told her to wait here; “I would come back after possessing a dead body.”
She firmly refused and wanted to go with me. Instantly, I fell into a dilemma. ‘What should I do? Wait, did she notice that I figured out some of my Wisdom skill? No, that can’t be. Let’s just ask her, why am I debating?’
“Are you interested in dead bodies?”
“Yes.”
Dhruv: -_-
“Don’t think too much; let’s go. I will handle the rest.” White Snake replied confidently.
A few moments later, they arrived inside the mortuary.
“Say, I don’t think you handled anything.” Dhruv said this while feeling annoyed.
“I was mentally helping you; don’t dismiss me carelessly.” She rebuked.
“Whatever, we’re already inside. Let’s look around and leave here.”
They looked around together and finally decided to take a man’s body at the age of 35 to 40. He was about to leave his body, but a new stretcher with a body came to the mortuary. He went near and unzipped it, inside we saw a beautiful girl in her teens, she has straight hair, a little tan, but fair skin, a small nose, and thin lips with her eyes shut lying on the stretcher.
Dhruv said “she must have died today, but I don’t want a girl’s body, so let’s get back there again.”
“Wait, put your index finger in her ears.” White Snake instructed.
I did as she told me, I touched her cold ear and felt White Snake leaving my body. From the top of my index fingers, she slithered inside the girl’s brain and slowly opened her bright brown eyes. I saw that and was stunned.
“You lied to me, you can also switch bodies like those Soul Avatars” saying this, he left the mortuary and arrived at the garden to wait for her. From the outside, he seems a little angry, but inside, he is relieved and happy. ‘Although I didn’t ask, she could have mentioned it. I was fussing over how to get a body for myself but she made me work hard to get herself a body. She must have her reasons for doing that, and even so, I can’t trust her every word from now on.’