Freya stood in the middle of the training room, dozens of papers spread across the floor around her, all covered in ancient words written in black ink. One by one, she picked them up and murmured incantations toward them before setting them back down.
Raiden stood aside with Levi and Speed as she performed the ritual. But while it continued, Raiden couldn’t help but think.
If there were stickers that could seal away such overwhelming presences like Soul’s and the book of Ashes, then wouldn’t there be one that would help her release her aura without fear?
Raiden pondered it for a brief moment, then decided it would be best to ask. "Since there are restraining seals, wouldn’t there be seals that’d help her?"
Freya turned to him for a moment, her expression unreadable as she sifted through her memories, then gave him a positive nod before returning to her task.
Raiden’s eyes narrowed, his expression growing weary. "Seriously?... and you didn’t suggest it?"
Raiden let out a sigh.
"Well, I’m not sure," she said, turning to Raiden once more. "I know of only five seals—summoning, contracting, restraining, protecting, and stabilizing."
She turned back to her work. "Stabilizing seals might help, but we use those to grow plants in my kingdom. Only a few survive, though."
Since the kingdom of Noor doesn’t get any rain or water, the stabilizing seals might help their plants make the most of whatever little moisture they encounter over time. If that were the case, then it would certainly help Soul.
"Deal... make some for her," Speed said, the words blurting out.
Freya turned to him with a wicked grin. "Then we extend our deal. You will serve me for a month."
"Okay!" There was no hint of hesitation in his voice.
Raiden stood motionless, shaking his head in disappointment. As he thought about it, he was glad to have Freya back as his servant, but with his memories still required, he couldn’t help thinking she might kill him one day.
Still, he had to tolerate her, even though her desire for control might surpass his own.
Before long, Freya had finished creating dozens of restraining and stabilizing seals. She stood proudly as she assured Speed she would kill him if he ever broke his word.
But their little bargain held little interest for Raiden. He gathered the seals and headed to Soul’s new room to finish what they had started.
Without sparing so much as a glance, Raiden left the training room for Soul’s. To enter the dense atmosphere wasn’t easy for him; perhaps he could have asked the others to do it. But with someone as fragile as Soul was, these small gestures were what mattered to her most, and Raiden wasn’t going to let that opportunity pass.
The moment he entered the room, Soul sat cross-legged on the floor. Once again, the only thing Raiden could see was her golden eyes piercing through her thick, dark aura.
"We’ve gotten the stickers, and maybe more."
"What do you mean?" Soul asked, wariness in her voice.
But Raiden just handed her the restraining seals. "The room is too dark for me; care to lend a hand?"
Soul gave him a subtle nod, rose to her feet, and began placing the stickers on the walls.
Just as Raiden stood there, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of trouble his dragon soul might cause him. If being around people with overwhelming auras could literally blind him, there would be much worse problems in the near future.
Before he could delve deeper into his thoughts, Soul returned to him. "Done." She said it simply, her golden eyes locking with Raiden’s gray ones.
He gave her a firm nod and extended the stabilizing seals to her. "If this does what it’s supposed to do, it would help stabilize your control over your ability."
Raiden instantly saw the uneasiness in her eyes. It was clear she had come to believe nothing external could help her situation, which was partly true—the seals wouldn’t help her control her ability, only help her take it at a slower pace. But this was still a step she needed to take. If the seal worked, it would do more good than doing nothing at all.
"I can’t guarantee success since Freya herself wasn’t sure if this would work." He stepped closer to her. "But this is a step I think we should all take. It might help."
Soul stood frozen for a moment, then gave her approval to Raiden. He smiled and adjusted the stickers on her.
There were eleven of them, and without hesitation, Raiden placed three on her dark hair. Using his sense of touch to guide him, he placed one on each hand, one on each leg and thigh, one on her back, and the final one on her stomach.
In the next moment, all he could see was Soul’s eyes sparkling with happiness. "It’s working... I can feel it." Her voice was etched with excitement.
But before Raiden could reply, her eyes began flickering rapidly, just as they had the previous day. She began pulling her hair and screaming out loud.
A sudden wave of guilt washed over Raiden as he wondered if he had made a mistake by using the stickers on her.
He quickly touched her shoulder. "What’s happening, Soul? Should I remove the stickers?" he asked urgently, concern etching his voice.
"No..." Soul muttered through her screams, teeth gritted.
Her response puzzled Raiden. She was obviously going through hell, so why would she want to keep the stickers? But something else struck him as even more perplexing: unlike before, Soul’s aura wasn’t threatening. Was this time different?
Just as his hand rested on her shoulder, Raiden’s hands began moving upward slowly, making his eyes narrow in confusion. The next thing he heard was the sound of her clothes tearing. Right before his eyes, he saw his hands slowly rise to almost the same height as himself.
In that instant, Soul’s screaming stopped and she collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Raiden remained motionless, mouth slightly parted, hands suspended in midair as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.
After standing for quite a while, he needed to see what had actually happened to Soul. In his mind, it was as if she had grown in size. Taking steady steps backward toward the entrance, he reached the wall and brushed his hands against it, looking for the lantern switch. When he found it and turned it on, his heart skipped a beat—he turned it back off in an instant.
A sense of embarrassment coursed through him as he slowly opened the door and left the room. Just outside, he grabbed his knees and began panting.
Soul had truly grown taller, but that wasn’t the source of his sudden reaction. Her abrupt growth had torn her clothes off, leaving her naked on the floor. Only her black turtleneck, now stretched tight and too small, covered her from neck to just below her chest.
He rose to his feet and braced himself. "That was nothing," he said, giving himself a firm nod to justify his situation. "I’ve seen plenty of naked dead women, and this wasn’t even my fault. Just a coincidence." He muttered the words as he made his way to the living room.
Well, he had seen dead women, but he hadn’t reacted because they were dead. Even with those, he refused to look at their private parts. It wasn’t about sexual attraction—he just didn’t think it was appropriate. Perhaps it was because he wasn’t good with women and intimacy.
The moment he reached the living room, Speed stood up. "What happened? How is she?"
Raiden narrowed his eyes. "Wait... you didn’t hear the screams?"
Speed’s expression darkened as he shook his head.
"We couldn’t hear anything because the seals keep everything within the room—even sounds."
Raiden’s eyes widened in realization as he remembered the storeroom and the book of ashes. Despite all the sounds the dark energy had made, not everyone could hear them—not even him, until he’d gotten Ash’s soul.
"Well, the stickers made her mature. She looks her age now."
Speed’s eyes filled with excitement as he stared at Raiden.
"How is that possible?" Levi called from upstairs.
"I think she was stuck at twelve because she was suppressing her ability, not because of Seth’s experiments."
"So you’re saying she was born able to stop herself from growing unknowingly?" Freya asked, her expression startled.
"Yes, she’s Soul after all."