Chapter 45: Chapter 45
’What is this thing they call the Forbidden Soul? And yeah, no need for the whole lore dump—I am aware of the basics.’
The man reading the text scratched his head, a slow, deliberate motion, as if carefully weighing how to explain it.
Time seemed to stretch between them, the faint curl of steam from the cups hanging in the air, until he finally wrote.
’If you know the lore, it has become a lot easier for me to explain.
Imagine a normal person is summoned into the lake, right? As soon as they are summoned, their body would crystallize within a few moments.
But in the case of a person who has a Forbidden Soul, that person is still summoned into the lake—unlike you—but instead of floating on the surface, they sink deep into the waters. The crystallization barely occurs for them... barely at all.
For me, one of my legs was somewhat crystallized before stopping completely.’
He paused writing for a moment, letting the weight of the words settle between them, eyes flicking to Aziel as though checking for comprehension.
’That’s what they call a Forbidden Soul: a human who defies the natural laws of the lake. Though these cases are so rare, you could literally count them on your fingers.’
’If that’s the case, can’t I too step up as human in front of them?’
Aziel thought to himself, the question lingering in his mind as he awaited the next move from Alkroz.
The scientist, however, did not lift his pen, merely motioning for Aziel to continue, his calm composure belying the intensity of the moment.
’What happened to you after you did not crystallize? Didn’t they try to kill you?’
The man smirked knowingly, then took the paper from Aziel.
’Well, when I was first summoned, I was terrified, my mind racing a thousand miles a second. Then they came—swooping me out of the lake on those jetgliders—and brought me to the sanctuary.
I had no idea what was happening, no clue of the forces at play, until they lectured me about their policies regarding Forbidden Souls, recounting tales of the ones who had perished, and explaining the expectations they had for me.
And yes, I think you already know it—they told me I could not linger on the ground for too long.
Just like that, I was assigned this research facility, once the domain of the previous Forbidden Soul.
Every detail, every rule, every shadow of expectation pressed down on me at once.
Damn, it was one hell of a ride.’
Aziel read the page carefully, his eyes scanning every line, adamant not to miss a single detail.
He crumpled the paper slowly, feeling the texture in his fingers, then noticed Alkroz sliding a new sheet toward him—this one larger than the previous, almost commanding attention.
’How... did you manage to stay alive till now? Like, changing positions every five heartbeats would have been a hell of a task, and not to mention, you had to sleep, didn’t you? What did you do about it then?’
Aziel added the last sentence deliberately, his gaze flicking toward the man.
Alkroz’s feet hovered just centimetres above the ground, a faint ripple in the air around him betraying the calm control he maintained.
’At first, it was really troublesome to constantly remind myself never to stay in one position for too long.
Though after some time, I got used to it.
Then came the second wave of shock.
I had spent quite some time maintaining that rhythm, until the second wave hit me like a truck. I felt sleepy. I had to sleep. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novᴇlfire.net
For a while, I resisted—scrambling through the research facility, searching for anything that might save my life.
I knew those previous humans must have done something for the likes of me.
That’s when I found it, buried deep among patents and research papers—pills. Horrible in taste. Along with a note.
But fuck my luck, that note too was written in a foreign language.
So, I spent another stretch of time trying to decode it, and still couldn’t make any sense of it.
After all my failed attempts, I finally gave up, swallowed one of the pills, and let sleep take me.
But surprise—that’s what the pill was meant to prevent. It didn’t let me sleep. Like a high-dose caffeine rush tearing through my system.
From then on, every time I felt sleepy, I would swallow those pills—and sleep would slip from my grasp again and again.
My eyes became bloodshot, always on the verge of collapse, with dark circles carved beneath them.
But even then, I realized the danger was far from over.
The third wave struck—this time like a typhoon.
I rattled through the documents again, but unlike the last time, I couldn’t find a damn thing.
The problem this time was energy.
I needed it—to move properly, to keep my organs functioning.
My movements had grown stiff, sluggish.
And none of the Plasmas ever cared to assist me.
They only visited once in a while, just to see if I had invented something worth their attention.’
’I had no choice but to improvise.
I scoured every corner of the research facility, desperate for anything that could keep me alive.
Then, I had an idea—one that struck after digging through thousands of documents left behind by those before me, each filled with their research on Plasmas.
These beings had what I lacked—an excess of energy, overflowing to the point of instability.
All I had to do was convince them to transfer some of it to me.
They complied, though not without negotiation, and when they did, they plunged their limbs into my body, channeling that searing energy straight into me.
The pain was indescribable—every nerve screamed, every cell felt as if it were tearing apart.
I hated every second of it, but it worked.
Slowly, painfully, I learned to endure it—to survive.
Even when the unexpected waves came again, I managed to stand through them.
Though the crises eventually stopped, my body was never the same after that—always trembling on the edge of collapse, as if one wrong breath could end it all’