“So um, the spores in me now…”
“Tell me the story. I’ll answer your questions later.”
After explaining how he lost his body, Angor talked about how he fought for his soul.
But he was not sure how to describe the fight. What was that strange fog? Why did Parasite Queen suddenly disappear?
“… Parasite Queen surrounded my soul with her spores and prepared to strike. I didn’t know what to do, so I tried to release the gray fog from my soul. But it went too fast and I couldn’t stop it. I was almost drained dry… Parasite Queen moved behind me and attacked from my back. I felt itchy first, then Parasite Queen yelled out for some reason and just, gone.
“I don’t know what that fog was. Oh, and the place where I felt itchy on my back was the same spot where I was hurt by the strange stitched woman in the Nightmare Realm.”
The crystal ball showed everything else, about how Angor woke up and ordered Toby to crack Parasite Queen’s head open, as well as how the angry audiences attacked him but were prevented by Dave and Prome.
“I don’t think the body killed by Toby was the real Parasite Queen, and I don’t know whether her soul was defeated. It just, vanished.” Angor’s instinct told him that Parasite Queen did not really die.
…
“Looks like I sensed Nightmare Realm right when Parasite Queen went for the wound on your back,” Sunders spoke. “As for the gray fog… I have no idea what it is either. I’m not really good at this subject. Let me see… I’ll take you to a wizard who studied souls. He should know something.”
It was an order. Sunders took Angor away from Phantom Island without giving the boy any time to rest at all.
On their way, Angor tried to ask his questions which still did not have an answer. Such as the Green Velvet spores. Were they still in his body?
“I helped you repress the spores and forced them back into the core of Green Velvet. Parasite Queen had been controlling that core. With her soul no longer here, the Green Velvet core remained inside you, and I made sure all the scattered spores are back into the core.”
“Green Velvet core?” It reminded Angor of the dream he just had. The green spores in the air were all absorbed by the giant flower bud, which began to bloom and was about to reveal Parasite Queen’s body. Then he woke up from the terrible dream.
Angor explained what he saw in the dream to Sunders.
Sunders chuckled. “The green bud is the core of Green Velvet. It’s still there, inside your body.”
“Why not remove it?” Angor was puzzled.
“I said Green Velvet is extremely valuable, just because of its core. The core cannot survive outside. It has to draw energy from someone’s soul to keep going. If I extract the core from you, it’ll quickly wither away.”
Sunders noticed that Angor still looked worried. He put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Calm down. As long as it receives proper care, the core of Green Velvet won’t do anything harmful to you. It can also nurture your soul in the future. You know, it’s considered another great treasure among all wizards. If you’re still not convinced, you can transplant it into someone else’s body later.”
Angor believed Sunders’ words. However, he still felt uneasy about how he had a… plant, growing in him.
Once away from Phantom Island, Angor and Sunders headed to the other end of the Tree of Eternity on the back of a giant Demon Falcon.
“Professor, is the soul wizard we’re going to see Mister Ness?” Angor asked.
Sunders nodded. “He’s the only soul master in Brute Cavern.”
Angor considered and decided not to tell Sunders about what he went through when fighting Saka.
So he had to meet Saka again? Oh god…
Now both of Ness’ students had grudges against him.
Hookdick was not staying in Brute Cavern now so Angor did not have to worry about that one. Saka though… Angor did not really know how to approach this psycho. He only prayed that Saka was not with Ness at the moment.
Still, Angor was sure that Saka would not recognize him at all. He did a good job hiding his identity on the stage.
“Professor, why did I sense Parasite Queen’s emotion ripples when existing as my soul? And back in Nightmare Realm, there were other monsters I came across other than Glutton Flowers, such as Hover Heads and the Blue Tri-Eye Giant. But I didn’t feel anything from them.”
There was more. He failed to sense anything from “Younger Sunders” too, but Angor did not really have the courage to mention it.
“I don’t know. But I have a possible theory to it. That is, you can only sense the emotions of something whose soul is of a lower level than you, like Parasite Queen, or something that’s willing to open up its emotion to you, like Glutton Flowers. Of course, the theory only explained what kind of targets you can sense. As for how you did it… I think it has something to do with your Nightmare Form.”
Nightmare Form?
Sunders considered for a while and continued, “Once we’re at Ness’ place, make sure you don’t mention anything about Nightmare Form or Nightmare Realm. Just tell him about the strange fog in you. I’ll handle the rest.”