The Astral soul system

Zen walked into the mall behind the others looking around and taking in the relaxed ambiance in the place.

Almost immediately they started picking out clothes for the party tonight.

Zen picked an all black outfit that didn't limit movement too much, everyone else picked out their own ideal party outfit, keeping combat efficiency in mind as well as style.

When all that was taken care of, it was time for some fun.

Jade walked out of the changing room with a flowery dress and a sunhat, striking a few clumsy poses, but still managing to look cute.

"What do you think?"

Diane gave her two thumbs up, grinning wildly while the others clapped.

Jade looked towards the boys for their opinion.

"Nice"

"It suits you"

Maximilian lightly hit Zen, snapping him out of his thoughts before pointing at Jade.

"Cute"

"Is that all?"

Zen looked at her for a few more seconds. Unable to take it anymore,Theia spoke up.

"You really aren't used to giving compliments, are you? Just be honest,i doubt that could go wrong "

Taking her advice, Zen answered.

"It may not be good for combat, but I think it looks best on you"

Jade seemed thrilled by the compliments as she fiddled with the hem of the outfit nervously before running back to the changing room.

Sable discreetly looked at Zen. He had been lost in thought all day. She couldn't help remembering what he said to her today.

'What did he mean by that?'

"Why are we still here?" Zen asked Maximilian.

"For fun and relaxation. I feel like we've earned it. Besides,we received such a generous compensation from the academy,it would be a shame not to spend some of it"

The school had believed the incident to be a result of their carelessness and had given each of them a substantial amount of credits to compensate, after making them all promise to keep this secret from their families.

Maximilian, Xavier and Sable didn't care much for the credits but still accepted them. Jade was thrilled and immediately sent a large portion of it to her father,who she said ran a small shop at the outskirts of the city, Neo had done the same for his sister, and despite this, the amount they had left was still huge. Zen didn't have anything he desired money for, the academy already provided food and shelter, but he understood that money was never a bad thing, and he didn't exactly have a family to tell in the first place,so he accepted it.

Zen thought about Maximilian's words looking around. Perhaps they did deserve a little reprieve.

Xavier and Neo joined the conversation.

"Damn right we deserve it. Did you see the looks on their faces when they saw all the beast cores?"

Neo laughed recalling the event.

"That was almost as funny as the look of the guy who had to count them all"

Luckily the academy had decided to return the students' spoils. It would be a little too unfair to take them after they had earned them after being forced to survive for a month alone.

They spent a few more hours shopping and enjoying themselves for a few hours until the sun was almost down.

Maximilian turned to face Zen.

"We're almost done, there's just one more thing we need to do"

"And that is?"

"..."

Zen was confused by the silent stare. Feeling like someone else was looking at him, he looked behind Maximilian and saw Jade, Diane and Neo smiling while waving.

"What's going on?"

Maximilian looked at Zen who was wearing black pants,a shirt and a black hoodie.

"These are your only clothes, right?"

"Yes?" Zen answered not seeing the relevance of the question.

"Grab him"

Zen suddenly felt a few pairs of hands grab him from behind, looking back he saw Zaria and Sable holding him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hmmm?"

Zen didn't feel any negative intent so he didn't react but he was a bit confused.

Maximilian slowly walked towards him.

"You're the only one who didn't get anything except for your outfit for tonight"

Zen suddenly noticed that they were in the clothing aisle.

"Oh, that's what this is."

Zen didn't resist as they marched him towards the changing room.

"Fine,i submit... but I have a few requests "

"Only black and dark colors, and mostly hoodies.We know " Sable said, already expecting it.

"Well I have one more "

********************

Zen heard someone knocking on the door for a few seconds before it opened and Jade let herself in.

Jade was in a gorgeous green dress that Zen had recommended not for its beauty, but because it would be relatively easy to fight in,if she needed to fight...and also because green seemed to be her favourite colour.

Jade looked suprised as she walked towards Zen who still hadn't gotten dressed.

"Why aren't you ready? The party starts in a few minutes, and the car's already outside"

Zen shrugged

"Neo's in the shower."

Almost immediately,Neo walked out in an elegant blue suit, fancy looking dress pants and expensive looking shoes.

"What do you think?" Neo asked, smugly turning around so they could get a good look.

"I think you spent most of that time on your hair" Zen said coldly, almost causing Neo to stumble.

Neo coughed trying to regain his bearings while ignoring Jade's stiffled laughing.

Neo cautiously looked down at Zen's feet, seeing the usual dark patch.

"I took care of it" Zen answered before walking into the bathroom with his change of clothes.

"Good thing that ability resembles the dark ability's shadow manipulation so much, right? It's only too bad you have to constantly expend Astra"

Theia said smugly.

"It would have been even better if you told me Astrals don't have shadows beforehand"

"I forgot" Theia smiled nervously.

"Besides,you keep talking about some dark ability, there's no such thing. And if its so similar,why do you say it only resembles it"

Theia thought for a while on how to answer before replying

"As for the dark ability,i have no idea why you say it doesn't exist "

A list appeared in Zen's vision, similar to the bestiary, it showed abilities, and among them Theia highlighted a darkness ability.

"The system has a record of every ability that's ever existed, and for some reason, the system says there's a darkness ability, but according to human history,there isn't. As for the resemblance...i don't know. For some reason it feels like the darkness ability or shadow manipulation, but it just isn't. If only we could ask the original user"

Zen suddenly remembered that he had an insanely old vampire queen with possible millennia of experience under her belt living inside him, perhaps she'd have some idea.

"Lilith?"

There was silence for a few seconds before she answered.

"You called?"

Lilith answered in a polite tone that still confused Zen. She didn't seem to hold a grudge towards him at all.

"Do you know anything about a dark ability,or shadow manipulation?"

There was silence for a bit before she answered.

"I... might, but I doubt my information would be of any use?"

"Why"

"Well similar to you, they're all legends,stories"

Zen asked her to tell him. He wouldn't pass on any information that could help him.

"I thought as much. The legend goes that back before abilities were even a thing, humans gained power directly from the gods using artefacts that were naturally formed,those artefacts were called awakening stones"

Lilith intentionally paused to let what she was saying sink in.

Zen immediately remembered that the rock he and Neo touched was called an awakening stone. He had originally just thought that it was an original aether circuit but maybe there was more to it. This simple bit of information could have massive implications not just for him but the world.

"May I continue?"

"Please"

"Using awakening stones,humans harnessed the power of the elements, doing things that should have been impossible. Among these elemental gifts was-"

"Wait . Is that exactly how the legend goes,word for word?"

"It is "

Zen suddenly asked Theia

"Didn't the system call abilities gifts?"

Theia nodded.

"I'm guessing you want me to continue. Among these gifts was the power of darkness. The legend says that people with this power were cruel vile and evil, having been corrupted by the dark god. It didn't help that the god of darkness was also one of the most powerful, meaning his disciples were also immensely powerful and wreaked havoc and destruction "

"What happenef?"

"One day they just disappeared. No one knows what happened. Some say the dark god gave up, others say they lost all their powers and surrenderred to pay for their crimes. In the end,all that mattered was that everyone could now live in peace "

Zen thought deeply. That's it? How was that an end?

Zen was no longer thinking of it as just a story. Something felt genuinely wrong to him. That wasn't what happened,that wasn't the end. That didn't happen!!!It was wrong!!!

"Zen?"

Zen snapped out of his trance.

"Are you okay? You've just been staring in silence for five minutes "

"I'm... fine "

Zen said, not completely sure.

He finished putting on his clothes, not really bothered about his look. He had been bathing and dressing up while Lilith told her story so he was already almost done.

"Sorry if it wasn't the end you had in mind"

"It...it was just a story. It doesn't matter..."

Zen answered, not exactly sure if he meant it.

"But that end isn't right"

"How so?"

"A story about a force of good fighting a force of evil. For a story like that,a completely happy end is impossible "

Theia felt like Zen was acting strange but didn't ask questions, changing the subject.

"Check this out "

Thiea suddenly started glowing brightly until Zen could no longer see her, and when the light dispersed, she had her hair tied up in a beautiful bun and was in a gorgeous evening dress.

"What do you think?"

"..."

"What? I'm not allowed to dress up anymore? I want to have fun at the party too"

"You didn't need to"

"What? I look good in this. We can't all just go with a bed head and still look like a supermodel. Now come on, let's go!"

Theia landed on his shoulder kicking her feet excitedly with vivid anticipation.

Zen acquiesced and walked out to meet Jade and Neo who were waiting for him.

"Took you long enough, let's go"

Neo and Jade were already outside the door, holding it open for him. Zen quickly joined them as they walked.

"I still don't know why the others couldn't come with us"

"For an occasion like this it only makes sense for them to go with their families, besides we'll make it soon... right, Zen?"

Zen nodded.

Jade still seemed displeased.

"If only we were part of some big family. That'd be awesome, right Zen?"

"..."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you wouldn't want to be a Kryos,or maybe even a Draconyx "

"..."

"I agree with Zen,seems like more trouble than it's worth "

Jade pouted and went silent.

Neo rolled his eyes playfully and looked at Zen.

"I still can't believe our teacher got a personal ride to pick you up"

Zen could hardly believe it himself. Aurora had just called him, said she got him a ride and that she'd kick his butt if he was late and hung up.

They had gotten outside the school and just as expected, outside the compound was a car waiting for them.

Zen quickly verified he was the person they were there for and the three were on their way.

The ride was quiet, relaxing, and most of all:fast! Very very fast. In about five minutes they were where they were supposed to be.

"Damn!"

Neo commented looking at the huge mansion.

The enamoured expression on his face only lasted for a few seconds before being replaced with a scowl.

"I can already smell the arrogant rich pricks from here"

"Well that's rude"

They all looked at where the voice came from and saw Maximilian sitting on the handrail of the stairs with Xavier, Diane and Sable next to him.

"You made it"

Diane quickly went to greet Jade with a hug.

"Took you long enough"

"Zaria didn't come?"

Diane shrugged.

"Her parents own the place so it'd be weird if she wasn't inside. It's pretty obvious she's hating every second of it though"

"Let's go keep her company then"