"What do you mean?"
"I mean, 'IT' happened! That thing you call my 'Soulless' state!"
Those words Inna used were enough to pique his interest. He looked at her with sparkling eyes as his thirst for research fodder rose.
"And? And? And? What happened?! Did you feel anything? Any pain? Any discomfort? Was it the same as before? Or were there weird happenings?"
Inna was a bit startled with him bombarding her with questions so she paused slightly before answering.
"Well… 'It' was different than before. When you asked me before how it felt back when I was still fighting that Golden Bear, I told you that my whole body would grow cold and numb. Then, my mind would unusually become clear and my emotions become still despite feeling multiple emotions before. It's like being doused with cold water. It suddenly happens and truthfully, it feels like a switch has been flicked inside me. And according to what you've seen, my face has this blank expression and my eyes look empty, right?"
Solomon nodded enthusiastically.
"Well, when I fought with that girl—technically, it wasn't even a fight since she wasn't even given the chance to land a blow—but nevertheless, when I fought with her, I thought I was in that state. I felt that same coldness spread throughout my body. But then, instead of my mind and emotions becoming still and clear, my body simply moved on its own. It was like I lost control of my body."
Solomon sat back down as he tried to make sense of what happened.
"So, it was like your transition was incomplete?"
Inna nodded.
"Yeah. It's like my mind was still 'me' but my body was being controlled."
Solomon was deep in thought as he tried to digest this new tidbit of information.
"Souls… People often mistake it as a sort of a religious belief. It is because they were never able to see it, nor feel it unlike the heart which we can feel beating. Souls are in our whole being yet at the same time, a different entity altogether. It doesn't need a body, instead a body needs a soul. Most people would associate 'souls' as personalities. There has been cases of multiple personalities living in a single person yet no one has ever successfully proven that they had multiple souls inside the body. After all, the traces of one's soul is invisible to the naked eye. In fact, the foundation of knowledge regarding souls were unstable to begin with. Despite that, people still believe in its existence. After all, if there are no 'souls' how can there be life in our bodies? How does life start in us? How does it explain—"
"Okay, cut the philosophical shit please. Just get to the point."
Solomon glared at her from being rudely cut off.
"All I'm saying is that it's not possible to be alive once the body leaves the soul. So, I guess instead of calling it a 'soul-less' state, it's more likely that it's another soul inside you. But then again, it's like a soul, but at the same time not. It's too 'empty' for it to be called a soul."
"And regarding what you experienced, it seems that its 'incomplete', right? Is it possible that it might be because you were merely 'reacting' towards what you perceived as a minor threat?"
"I've been watching you train from time to time with my guards and well, it usually didn't appear during those times no matter how intense the training was. It must be reacting in your state of mind? Like, if it senses a threat, you body merely 'reacts' to it, hence 'it' comes out subconsciously?
Inna furrowed her brows as he continued to speak.
"Though this all purely conjecture since I have no way to prove this until I find enough evidence for it."
But nevertheless, it still made Solomon quite happy to receive new fodder to nurture his research.
"But just because you experienced that doesn't mean I'll let you off the hook. What other rules did you break?"
Of course…
Inna sighed in dismay.
She thought she could get away by making him happy, but alas… he's too adamant about his academy.
"I told someone about my nickname."
Solomon uncrossed his arms as he looked at her in shock and nervousness.
"Who did you tell it to?! Did anyone hear you getting called with that name?! Did you tell someone among the high class nobles?"
"Relax… I only told two people. And neither of them called me with that name. And…. Among the high class nobles…uhm, yeah, I think so…" Frode family is high-class, right?
Solomon can already feel his body temperature lowering to a dangerous degree. He slumped over his chair as his soul began to seep out of his mouth.
"I'm dead. That man will surely find out. He's going to harass me again. My son. My poor son. He'll be forced to marry an ugly girl for the rest of his life. And I'll have to accept her as a daughter-in-law. I'll have ugly grandkids…. Ugly grandkids…"
He wept inwardly. News would surely spread fast if that family was a sucker for gossip!
"From what family was that person?"
"Frode Family."
With this, Solomon's attitude had a sudden flip.
"What?! Frode family? The only one who's from the Frode family is my dear Favian! So you told him? He's the one you said was a high class noble?"
Inna nodded.
"Well, why didn't you say so! Favian is a good boy. He can keep a secret or two. Sheesh, you got me worried for nothing. And who was the other person? Didn't you say you told two?"
"Well, I told Raghnall and he didn't specify his family name because he 'claimed' he's a commoner."
Solomon's eyebrows were raised in surprise.
A commoner?