Chapter 73: Prelude To A Discovery Mission
The system replied: [That is because two souls inhabit that body]
However, before Aiden could ask another question, a wolf made of mud was about to pounce toward him.
He made his broadsword of flames take form in his hand, and in a single swing, he cut through the monster.
The battle with the monsters ensued properly, and everyone got into action, throwing attacks in different directions at the wolf monsters made of mud.
In no time, they were done with the first wave of monsters, giving Aiden a brief moment to continue his question. "Two souls?"
[Yes. That is most likely the case when a body is being possessed by a foreign soul. Although, of course, there are other reasons beyond possession]
Aiden was startled for a second, took a brief look at Arianna who was catching her breath, then looked away. He wasn’t sure what to think right now.
However, they continued the dungeon raid, and after a while, they had defeated the boss and cleared the dungeon completely. This team was very much too powerful for wolves made of mud or a C-rank dungeon.
They also seemed to have slowly been developing coordination between themselves.
Aiden had the highest firepower and could clear out groups of enemies in a single fire blast. Kayden’s raging bolts were the fastest, and in addition, his lightning-enhanced body movements allowed him to close distances almost instantly at the speed of lightning and deal with monsters that tried to attack any team member unexpectedly.
Laela’s tree binds offered the most utility; they slowed movements for the monsters, preventing them from moving too far before Aiden’s flame blasts caught up with them or Kayden’s lightning strikes connected.
Arianna was good general support with the way she used her mass magic expansion on the ten-inch nails being hurled at targets.
Evidently, none of them were using any of their newer spells. Perhaps the dungeon wasn’t worth the effort.
Due to being engaged in battle, Aiden had his Dragon’s Sight active most of the time. After the boss monster was defeated and the mages started leaving the dungeon, Aiden refocused his vision to see through ephemeral material.
He saw the whitish-blue lights that looked like orbs in all of them, which were their souls’ essence. And he confirmed that there were still two of these souls within Arianna.
However, he noticed something more peculiar. One of the orbs of whitish-blue light was very dim and much smaller in size compared to the other that was glowing brightly.
He asked the system in his thoughts, "Why is there such a difference?"
[One is the dominant soul and is in control of that body, and the dim one is subservient or asleep]
"Would you say Arianna’s body is being controlled by someone else other than her?"
[I can only answer questions pertaining to how your dragon-related abilities work and what it is your Dragon’s Sight sees]
[To that effect, what Dragon’s Sight sees is this: two souls in one body]
"Hmm..." This left Aiden puzzled as they all walked toward the translucent portal leading outside of the dungeon.
...
As soon as they left the dungeon, a system notification popped up in front of him:
[Side Quest: Clear the C-ranked Dungeon → Complete]
[+5 Available Stats Points]
[You have gained +8000xp]
[Bonus Reward +3500xp granted]
[XP Boost Badge: Extra +11,500]
[Dragon curse meter: +0.42]
A smile appeared on Aiden’s face. The system rewards seemed to increase as he leveled up.
He looked at the dragon curse meter increase, which was probably due to his Dragon’s Sight extensive usage.
The team then stood side by side. At one end was Aiden holding Laela’s left hand. She held onto Arianna’s left hand, and Arianna held onto Kayden’s.
Piers then placed his hand on the shoulders of Laela and Arianna and whispered, "Transport!"
Instantly, they disappeared from their position and reappeared before the guild’s main room before splitting apart.
As soon as they arrived back, the guild members looked at them rather surprised. "Back already?" Fred called out from a distance.
Sorkin had an amused expression when he said, "These new initiates are really something."
The other members of the guild immediately got the feeling that they had to start working harder, or these new initiates would actually surpass them like the captain had once said.
One of them spoke up from the crowd, "Have you guys seen the new Initiates rankings?"
The initiates looked at each other with confused expressions. Then Piers turned toward them and said, "There’s a rankings board at the General Wing for all mages of the kingdom. It records the merit star progress for everyone."
They all immediately left the guild room and started making their way toward the General Wing.
They eventually came to a point where several other initiate-rank mages were clustered. The Rankings Board had different ranking lists for the different mage ranks. The Initiate rank had a total of 30 names, which represented the 30 new initiates that passed the exams.
The top of the Initiate ranks list read:
1. Aiden → 16 Merit Stars
2. Laela → 14 Merit Stars
3. Ambrose → 13 Merit Stars
4. Kayden → 8 Merit Stars
5. Amelia → 6 Merit Stars
6. Arianna → 6 Merit Stars
...
The list went on like that until all 30 names were completed.
Looking at the list, Aiden realized that he had been awarded merit stars from his Dynamic Dungeon experience; it looked like he was awarded up to 8 stars.
Of course, this development put a smile on his face and, as usual, really vexed Kayden. The list practically irritated the young lord so much that he stormed off in anger.
There was a total of 70 names for Mage Apprentice Rank, and Bernard was ranked No. 69, while Rick was No. 67.
The rankings went on like this for other mage ranks except for Arcane Rank, Arch Magisters, and the High Enchanter Rank. It stopped at the Senior Ranked List.
This was because the Arcane Rank was where people could start vying for the position of Guild Captain. Currently, Katherine was the only captain at the Arcane Rank.
The only other Arcane-ranked mage was Talen of Fractured Stars, but he was Cassian’s vice-captain.
While Talen wasn’t on the mage ranks list, he was on a general rankings list; a list of exactly 199 names, and Talen was No. 1.
The General Rankings also reflected the names of the Initiates, and while Aiden was Rank No. 1 on the Initiate Rankings List, he was Rank No. 170 on the General Rankings List.
The peculiar thing about the General Rankings list was that climbing onto it was by merit star value for that year until the top 20 on the list. The top 20 was entirely based on ranking matches or challenges between mages.
The challenges could take any form; magic duels, tests of wit, or whatever methods the challenger and the challenged deemed fit.
If No. 30 challenged No. 20 to a ranking match and won, No. 30 would take No. 20’s spot on the list, and the previous No. 20 would go down to No. 21. The list would keep resizing itself in that manner.
However challenges to mages in the top 20, could only be issued by mages in Rank No.21 to Rank No.40.
The rankings were updated on the last day of the week, and this was currently that day, which was why the initiates got included today.
In addition to the Mage Rankings, Guild Rankings were also on the board. They ranked in this manner:
1. Fractured Stars → 3,756 Merit Stars
2. Crimson Dawn → 3,520 Merit Stars
3. Black Lions → 2,700 Merit Stars
4. Hollow Pact → 2,351 Merit Stars
5. Void Embers → 1,785 Merit Stars
6. Storm Sentinels → 1,100 Merit Stars
7. Phantom Order → 800 Merit Stars
8. Ravens Grave → 413 Merit Stars
These stars embodied the total number of stars the mages of the guild had gathered so far from the beginning of the year.
Stars for the guild reset every year, and right now it was the fourth month of the year.
...
While people were still fixated on the rankings, Aiden held Laela’s hand and whispered into her ears, "Come with me, I need to tell you something."
She nodded affirmatively, then slowly they both left the crowd with Aiden holding Laela’s hand.
The whole Arianna situation had been a thing of bother since they they got into that dungeon and he needed to speak to one person he trusted right now.
They got to a far away corner of the General Wing and Aiden began, "This is going to sound Absurd but Arianna Greystone may be a different person altogether"
"I’m failing to understand you" Laela said, with a building expression on her face to fit her confusion.
"It’s as I have said. There’s another soul within her body and that may be the person we’ve been conversing with all these while." He said, then added "Wait.. Unless.. Have you noticed anything different about her lately?"
Aiden was building another assumption here, and that was maybe this other soul possession may have only been a more current thing.
Laela looked at him still confused somewhat but was slowly beginning to understand him, "You’re trying to say that Arianna right now may be possessed by some spirit or?"
"Yes, Exactly!"
"Well I haven’t noticed anything different about her ever since. How did you come about this finding?" She asked. Now, she was slowing into the conversation.