Van and Gil were now in the comforts of Nisha's house in the Encampment. It would seem that her so-called housemate was still not here and was probably blacked out somewhere outside. Or maybe still partying, as he could still hear some people merrily drinking.

And for being so agitated and alarmed just an hour ago, Gil seemed to be sleeping well on the cold floor.

​​

Van, on the other hand, was still wide awake sitting at the table. The thought of the souls, or lack thereof, from the Locals that were mushed earlier still lingered inside his mind. Could it be that the Locals do not have Souls?

That… is somewhat impossible. They were clearly still human no matter how you look at them.

Or maybe they are not? They were born inside the Portal, maybe the System is not considering them as beings with Souls?

No. Of course, they were human. But if that was the case, then there could only be one reason that Van could think of as to why they did not drop any Souls-- he needed to be the one to kill them directly.

So far, he has not encountered any corpses that he did not kill personally, except the Locals. He wondered why he did not think about it before. Even in the Relic Graveyard, where there should be dead bodies randomly scattered in every corner, he did not detect any Souls.

"..."

Maybe he should try killing a Local to see what would happen. Seeing as more Locals will be coming soon to rescue their comrades, he will surely have a chance to do so.

"Hey, can't sleep?"

"Hm?"

Van's thoughts were then disrupted by the soft whisper that almost tickled his ears. Nisha then slithered her fingers on the table as she slowly sat on the other side. Without her bandana, the edges of her grey hair reflected the moonlight that seeped through the window.

And now, without the thick leather armor that was covering her body, the gap between her thick shirt slightly revealed the skin of her bosom.

...It would seem that her statement earlier was not a lie. She did have a decently sized--

"...Where do you think you're looking?"

"Your heart."

"You… say the creepiest things sometimes." Nisha could not help but slightly lean back as she fully covered her breasts.

"I learned it from a friend," Van let out a tiny chuckle as he looked outside the window.

"Of course your friend will be as weird as you," Nisha, as well, giggled as she looked at Van. Afterward, she turned her attention towards the sleeping Gil, "And that one? Where could you have possibly befriended a guard?"

"I just met him here. He's not really my friend"

"...What?"

"I think he was thrown along with me here, in the Pit."

"Wait, so you don't really know him that well?"

"...Not really."

"Wow," Nisha let out a short hum, "I remember you being more aloof."

"He owes me a debt. I am just keeping him by my side so he can one day repay it."

"...Sure, whatever you say, kid."

The sound of wood creaking whispered through the small house as Nisha suddenly stood up, "Anyway, I am going back to sleep. I suggest you do the same because tomorrow will surely be noisy."

"Hm…" Van only nodded as she watched Nisha walking back to her bed.

"..."

He continued to stare at her before deciding to open up his System Window. It felt like weeks since he last checked it, the Crystals that he consumed during his attempt were not really able to give him an ample EXP and were just enough to recover his HP and SP.

[Souls Collected: 3]

Van squinted his eyes as he looked at the dancing flames in front of him. Now is probably the best time to send these Souls to the Afterlife.

And so, without even delaying it any further, Van sent the Souls according to their… color.

He first sent Lucas, one of Gerald's men to the [Asphodel Meadows] since he had an Orange Soul, a Neutral Soul. He then sent the two Souls of the Prisoners straight to the [Fields of Punishment] without even giving it a second thought.

Van grit his teeth, waiting for the pain that was to come, but even after a few seconds, nothing happened.

He could not help but sigh in relief. The last time he sent a Soul to the Afterlife, he felt the most intense headache he had ever experienced in his life. He definitely did not want to repeat that.

Van then turned his attention towards the Windows that popped up in front of him.

[Successfully sent a Lv. 29 Neutral Soul to Asphodel Meadows]

[Successfully sent a Lv. 34 Dark Soul to Fields of Punishment]

[Successfully sent a Lv. 14 Dark Soul to Fields of Punishment]

[Base Level, Up!] x16

[System Level, Up!] x12

[Status Window

Base Lv. 26 EXP: 13533/17600, System Lv. 20 EXP: 917/8000

HP: 520/520 | SP: 180/180

STR: 50 | (Atk: 146+0)

AGI: ??? | (Speed: ???)

VIT: 20 | (Max HP: 520, Def: 40 +0)

INT: 45 | (Max SP : 180, MAtk: 47+0)

HP Regen: 5/min | SP Regen: 9/min

Status Points left: 160 ]

"Hmm…" The satisfaction on Van's face could not be hidden as he let out a slight hum. The large number of Status Points that he was able to get from the Souls truly was a disparity from what he gets from the Crystals.

Maybe from now on, he would only use the Souls to level up, and just sell the Crystals that he didn't need.

On the other hand, there was no noticeable difference in his Skill Window. Even with his System Level going up to level 20, he was still not awarded any Skill Points to allocate for his skills to level up. Just… where is his System putting all of that wasted Skill Points?

There was another thing that did not seem right. The numbers that he has in his Status Window. They were a bit high, are they not? He didn't really care much about it since the Academy will teach it to them sooner or later, but now that he had time to reflect on his Status. He could not help but wonder how his Status Window compares to the other System Holders.

...He should ask Gil and Nisha tomorrow as soon as they wake up.

As for his 160 Status Points, since he could already use his [Time Perception] skill for 180 seconds, that was probably enough for now.

Maybe he should put it in STR?

No… he was not in a safe place anymore. Even right now, someone could come in and kill him while he was sleeping.

Should he put everything in VIT, then?

"Hmm…" Van closed his eyes as he pinched the bridges of his nose. And finally, after deliberating it for a while, he decided where to allocate his Status Points.

[VIT: 20 -> 150

STR: 50 -> 80

Status Points: 160 -> 0 ]

Van could feel a warm feeling journey throughout his body. It felt as if his flesh was being massaged by the tiniest and the most gentle of hands.

"!!!"

However, after a few seconds, he felt his muscle constricting, as if the same hands that used to massage it were now pricking it and tearing his flesh piece by piece. Van could not really let out a howl of pain as there were other people near him, and so, he could only grit his lip to the point that it bled.

"F… fuck."

The pain lasted for an entire hour, or it might have been if Van did not pass out from the pain.

***

"He is in the Pit!? Why would they even put him there when all he did was try to protect himself!?"

A few hours after Sarah's guards incapacitated her, Andrea found herself inside an unfamiliar room, a tent.

Sarah could only look to the side as she held Andrea by the shoulders to try and calm her down. But alas, her screams and bellows continued. But finally, after an hour, she finally got tired and gently collapsed in Sarah's arms.

"Why… why did this have to happen to him?"

Andrea's words whispered in Sarah's ears, piercing it even stronger than her roars.

"Where… are we, anyway?" Andrea stepped back as she wiped the trail of tears that covered her entire cheeks.

"I… can't really explain it myself… perhaps it would be best for you to see it for yourself," Sarah said as she opened the drapes of the tent.

"...What?" Andrea could only let out a word as she stepped outside the tent. It was dark, and the only light that bathed them were lamps that were hanged on the walls of…

...Where are they inside a gigantic cavern?

And she did not notice it before since the whole tent was drowned in her screams, but there seemed to be a lot of people walking around the place. Most of them were holding what seemed to be a… black metal rod of some sort.

Andrea could swear that she had seen the things that they were holding back in the Relic Graveyard.

"Just… where are we?" Seeing the people and the other tents scattered in the darkness, Andrea's confusion only grew even further.

"Oh… so you're the boy's sister? Of course, you're not the biological sister… but maybe you are? But that would mean that miss Evangeline had another child. Well, considering her age, it is quite possible that she would have children elsewhere."

Andrea's confused thoughts were disrupted by the sudden appearance of a young boy… or maybe it was a small man? Andrea found it hard to discern the stranger's age.

"...Hello?" Andrea greeted the small man that suddenly approached her.

"Ah yes, where are my manners," the small man clapped his hands as he looked Andrea straight in the eyes, "My name is Angelo Elton. Your brother-not-brother is under-- Well, was under one of my sister's care for a little while. But she failed to protect hi-- Ack! What? You failed, right!?"

"This…" Andrea was already confused, and this fast-talking stranger in front of her only added to that. It would seem that he knew of Van, but she could not really understand him due to how fast he was talking.

The only thing that Andrea could do was look at Sarah, but it would seem that she was as confused as her.

"You must be confused, yes? You should be, if you weren't then you are definitely a spy. Anyway…

...Welcome to the Resistance."

"The… what?"

"Or Anti Circle, we really don't have a name so you can just call us whatever. Personally, I like the Resistance more. I once suggested calling us The Square, but my sisters did not really like it."

Just…

...What is going on?