Sacred in the Dream, Part Two

"That's a lot of blood in the air. Killed someone again?"

Flender chuckled as he took the food container Ma Hongjun handed him, set it on the table, and asked his question. The moment he lifted the lid, the aroma of lamb soup sent his appetite soaring. That was the smell. Add the freshly warmed flatbread on the stove, and tonight would be perfect.

"Yeah. I ran into a stupid Soul Ancestor who wanted 1,500 Gold Soul Coins for a Spirit Bone catalog." Jodio borrowed a towel from Flender's room to wipe his hands and explained it calmly. Killing someone was no great matter. If someone crossed him and deserved to die, he killed them. Flender had to understand that. He and Zhao Wuji were veteran Soul Masters who had traveled far and wide. What hadn't they seen? They had seen plenty of people killed over a bowl of soup.

"How much? Fifteen hundred? Why didn't he just rob you?" Flender nearly spat out his lamb. Fifteen hundred was the equivalent of registration fees from 150 students. And the man had dared to ask for it? Incredible.

"So I didn't pay. The deal fell through, and we fought." Jodio pulled over a chair and sat down.

"You should've seen it, Dean. Boss Jo took down that Soul Ancestor in no time. Man, it was cool!" Ma Hongjun said with a grin.

"If you can take down a Soul Ancestor that quickly, I'll celebrate with you," Flender replied, smiling.

"How's the new student? You two haven't been bullying him, have you?" Flender asked, changing the subject.

"He's all right, Dean. That Dai kid doesn't seem too bright. Boss Jo had him fooled in a few sentences."

"Of course he did. Does little Jo talk like a normal person? Forget nine- and twelve-year-old kids like you. Even that old bastard Zhao Wuji gets so turned around by little Jo he doesn't know what to think." Flender gave an amused snort.

"Still, look after the new student. He has a White Tiger Martial Soul and the surname Dai, so he's probably a prince from the Star Luo Empire. What's a prince doing here, anyway?" Flender grumbled.

"He's a loser, Dean. Did you forget what Boss Jo said earlier today?" Ma Hongjun opened his own lamb soup and chatted as he ate.

"A loser, huh? Poor kid. But why didn't he bring his girlfriend along? Then we'd have the same number of students as teachers." Flender was joking.

Jodio sat in the rocking chair by the window, gazing outside as he pondered a great many things. From time to time, he followed old Kong's approach to life and examined himself. He wasn't worried about little Oscar or Hongjun. He had been raising them since they were six, teaching them personally before they had been exposed to other ways of thinking. But Dai Mubai...

"He's still a coward. Let him loose for a moment, and he might never stop indulging himself," Jodio said suddenly.

"Hongjun, put your Great Soul Arena assignments with Oscar on hold for the next few days. Take him out drinking and carousing every day. Just take him there, mind you, then come back and continue your training," Jodio went on.

"What's that supposed to accomplish?" Ma Hongjun asked, puzzled. He had some interest in drinking and carousing, but not much. As long as he followed Boss Jo's schedule of training, soul battles, and activities, he got to eat good food every day. But why treat Dai Mubai like that?

"People have a sense of shame. Whether he finds his resolve is up to him. Let him wallow for a while, and he might recoil from it and remember what he wanted in the first place," Jodio explained calmly.

"Little Ma, if you had an older brother who always had the upper hand over you, and you had to fight him when you came of age, with the loser either stripped of his Soul Power and exiled or killed, how would you feel?" Jodio asked.

"I dunno. I just know my all-powerful boss would help me solve the problem," Ma Hongjun mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"You little..." Jodio grumbled.

"Well, never mind. I've got years to set him straight." Jodio stood and waved a hand.

"Get some rest early. Give the new student a demonstration tomorrow," Flender said with a nod.

Shrek Academy had undergone some modest renovations over the past few years. At the very least, the buildings no longer looked quite so run-down. The dormitories were still shared rooms, but curtains now divided them into separate spaces, and a few small tables and wardrobes had been added. They felt much cozier and more reassuring.

Jodio's nighttime routine had not changed. He went to bed at eleven sharp, after a sip of hot orange juice and twenty minutes of Soul Power training. His abundant mental strength kept him energetic and unusually clearheaded at all times. Fatigue had not troubled his body in a long while.

Challenges? The unknown? The future? Jodio did not waste his energy worrying about such things. He did what he believed in, what he thought ought to be done. It was a conviction: the firm belief that he was walking the right path.

After washing up, Jodio climbed into bed. The warm candlelight illuminated a prototype Soul Tool on the table. Ah, that one had been a failure. Soul Tools might be everywhere by the time of Soul Land 2, but Jodio was only average at making them. Managing to make one that could record images was already pretty good for him.

After failing again and again, Jodio had no interest in continuing with those complicated offensive Soul Tools. He planned to find time to make storage and recording types instead. There was no sense grinding away at something he wasn't good at just because other people in the field made Soul Tools first.

The dreamscape was far more unreal. Jodio walked across a vast white land, not knowing where he had come from or where he was going. He found the dream comforting, so he treated it as a chance to rest, wandering through it and reciting numbers as he went.

"2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37."

Walking across that vast dreamscape while counting prime numbers was an excellent way to rest. But then Jodio suddenly remembered something. If you arrived in an endless white world, unable to make out its bounds above, below, or on either side, and could see only the infinite earth stretching in every direction, what would you call such a place?

"Death?" Jodio thought, rubbing his chin.

The sound of thunder and storm winds interrupted Jodio's thoughts. He looked up and ahead, but saw only a forest fire and a figure flashing past.

"Jodio."

"Jodio."

"Who's there?" Jodio looked behind him, his guard at its highest, ready for an attack like Death 13's. Plenty of Soul Masters attacked people in dreams. Shi Nian, for instance, specialized in it.

"Time is a branching Möbius Strip. You can choose to keep circling, or you can choose to move forward from here."

"Jodio, do you have the courage to choose?"

"I do," Jodio answered simply.

"Then seize it."

At the sound of that voice, Jodio turned to look at its owner. His pupils contracted in an instant. As he woke, everything faded away.

A cuckoo sang, and sunlight slanted through the window onto Jodio's bedside. As calm as ever, Jodio sat up and began putting away his bedding, ready to train. He really had had a good dream last night. He had dreamed of something wonderful.