The Astral soul system-Chapter 155: Cleaning time

Zyro opened his eyes and found himself in the office again.

"Alright, that wasn’t bad. Soon enough things will be back to normal"

Theia appeared on his head with a pensive expression.

Really? Because it looks like the only reason you didn’t all kill each other was because there’s someone else you want to kill even more than each other .

"That’s nothing. You’ll see,soon enough the team will be back together and better than ever!" Zyro declared triumphantly.

"I’m pretty sure Zaine was just angry"

"Eh, he’s always angry, that’s just how he is"

Theia raised a brow

"Zen didn’t even look at you"

"Zen is... well,you know how he is"

Theia shook her head at Zyro, his flimsy attempts at deflecting her questions doing nothing but baffling her. However how much could she really expect from a child?. She vanished into the system, leaving him to his business.

"Alright,look for clues,look for clues" Zyro repeated it to himself as he looked around the office, clearly at a loss as to where to even start.

He looked around the office, noting how messy it was. He honestly wondered if Aurora ever cleaned up since her place was always messy whenever he got here.

"Guess I should clean up first before snooping"

He picked up a broom from the corner of the room and was about to start when his gaze fell on his sleeping teacher again.

’Right, probably shouldn’t wake her up ’

Pulling out his headphones,he activated it’s noise cancelling mode and gently put them on her, tucking her black and blonde hair behind her ears. He also grabbed the blanket she’d used to cover Zen when he passed out in her office and put it over her

"There, perfect"

He then started cleaning up, dusting the shelves, cleaning the table and sweeping the floor. He also picked up all the half finished books that were scattered all over the office floor. One thing he’d noticed about his teacher was that just like him she read a LOT of books, although he wasn’t sure if it was just a hobby or she was searching for something.

He picked up a random one and looked at the cover

"Grimm... Sounds like a horror novel"

He picked another

"Hansel and Gretel? How did she even get this?"

Another

"Childhood,teen, and youth. Everything you’ll need to know about raising your kids...by Emilia surali. This is interesting"

Another

"Parenting 101... okay I’m sensing a pattern here"

Another

"Gardening for beginners . Okay... this is normal "

Zyro was starting to believe she just read whatever books she could get her hands on. Interested he looked at another.

"The voynich manuscript. Hey, I’ve read this. It’s supposed to be a forbidden book. Or at least it was,all traces of it should have been lost in the previous era"

Another

"Soyga... weird. Wasn’t this book believed to be cursed?"

He quickly picked up a few more books, finding a few more forbidden books but quickly arranged everything in the little shelf she kept her books in, arranging them alphabetically. There were also a few cook books and random miscellaneous curiosities but he didn’t think much of it.

Slowly getting up his eyes suddenly caught something at the back of the small shelf.

Looking closer he realized it was a small wooden brown box.

Moving the books out of the way, Zyro reached in and brought out the box. It wasn’t anything too big, just small enough to fit in his palms, it’s surface was smooth and soft, clearly hand crafted.

He moved it around a bit to feel it’s weight: not heavy, whatever was inside was around 350 gramms,or 12 ounces.

He felt a strange pulling force coming from the box, like it was calling out to him. He slowly brought it closer to his face, curiously examining it.

"I wonder what’s in here... but I shouldn’t just open it, right? What if it’s something private?"

Theia suddenly appeared and flicked his forehead

"You dope. Personal is what we’re looking for. We aren’t just here to clean her room, remember? We’re looking for CLUES. Now open it"

Zyro looked back at Aurora who was still sleeping. He looked at the box and he wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating but it was almost like it was glowing through the corners at the top.

His ears suddenly twitched

"Help...me. I’m here"

Zyro suddenly heard a faint, almost completely silent voice pierce into his mind.

He looked at the box, wondering if Aurora had a captive, but he didn’t buy it so easily. Hearing voices that weren’t there was something that happened often to him, so he wasn’t sure if he was just slipping.

"Oh well, only one way to find out"

He tried to open it but it looked like it was locked, and he had no idea where the key even was.

He tightened his grip around it, trying to gauge how durable it was and he eventually concluded it wasn’t very tough. He could just smash it, however if he did that, Aurora would definitely know he was snooping.

He looked at her, wondering if the key was on her but he eventually ended such a stupid thought. If he tried searching her while she was sleeping and she woke up, how would he explain himself?.

Thinking for a few seconds he eventually came up with a new idea.

He dropped the box onto the ground and activated soul form. His body became ethereal and intangible as he floated off the ground.

He slowly leaned down to put his hand into the box. He couldn’t take out what was inside but maybe he could figure out what it was. .

His hand successfully went through the wood, bringing a smile to his face but he barely gotten past when a thick blue light suddenly erupted and he was sent flying.

"I’m here!"

Zyro heard the previous voice and except louder as he flew through the air, flying through the air and luckily, the wall.

He landed on the ground outside with a thud, rubbing him head in confusion.

"What the?"

[Astra: 0/230]

Zyro quickly got up and walked back into the room. Luckily Aurora was still asleep so he quickly went back to the box.

’What was that? Theia?’

"I don’t know? There are literally a million different things that could have had the same effect. You’ll have to look inside and see to know which one for sure"

Zyro groaned. Somehow whatever was inside had managed to fling him away like a ragdoll but hadn’t harmed the box itself, meaning it wasn’t normal force that had done that. It was also completely silent.

Zyro picked up the box, getting no reaction out of it.

"And to think i was going to put my face in so I could see it"

He was about to drop the box when he suddenly got an idea, however he didn’t have enough astra for it now.

He sat down and meditated for a while.

Thirty minutes later he opened his eyes, feeling refreshed.

"Alright, let’s do it"

He put his hand on the bottom of the box and muttered.

"Soul brand"

A faint light appeared on his hand and the box. It lasted for a few seconds before dissipating.

[Successful]

Zyro was suprised. The description of the skill stated that he could only brand something with life force, and lots of it. It wasn’t very specific but he understood that something had to either be alive or have astra to be branded, and whatever was inside this box met those requirements. He looked at the sleeping Aurora and just put the box back,at least now he can find it whenever he wanted to. He still couldn’t help but wonder if it was a clue.

Alright,by this point he’d gone through the entire office and found nothing. Next stop,the secret library.

He walked up to the door and put in the code, opening it and walking in before closing it behind himself .

"aaaaaaand... this place is dirty too". Zyro sighed and picked up the broom

"This is gonna take a while "

***********

’Alright,done. That took forever’

It really didn’t since he’d used his powers. Flying to reach high places and using the shadow to move around quicker. Overall,it was good practice. He’d dusted the books and furniture, swept the floors and even arranged the desks properly.

Zyro was about to say that he still hadn’t found anything despite searching while cleaning when he suddenly noticed something.

On the table next to the chair Aurora usually sat on, there was what looked like a framed picture faced down on the counter. He hadn’t looked there because unlike the rest of the library, that corner was completely neat and tidy.

Curious he headed towards it, wondering if this was what he was looking for.

Zen didn’t think much and reached out, his fingers touched the edge of the frame when he suddenly felt a firm grip around his wrist.

"What are you doing?"