"Why are thieves so common in here?!" Andrea nearly cried. When she reached the place the big monkey had fallen she didn't find its soul but only the body. She had no idea what happened and found it frustrating.
She had every right to be anyway. That thing nearly got her killed and she didn't gain anything from the whole ordeal.
'Relax, bestie," Rina tried to calm her down. She tok felt it was definitely not fair but what could they do? If it were a thief then they left no traces at all, and they couldn't prove it anyway.
'Alright, but I don't like it anyway," she grumbled.
Three hours later, she was on the plaza and she stepped through the mirror. She appeared on the other side safely and headed straight for the old man's house.
He was seated on a rocking chair holding a smoke pipe. His cape was hung on the chair but still floated around mysteriously.
He sneered when he saw Andrea and said, "Back so soon? Could have stayed for a week in there.."
Andrea didn't think she was gone for long and asked, "what is the time right now?"
The old man retrieved an old pocket watch and looked at it seriously. Andrea was surprised to see a watch here. This world seemed quite medieval and a watch should not be present here.
"Hmm?" the old Man frowned. "My watch must be broken, you were gone for only thirty minutes and yet her you are."
Andrea smiled but inwardly, she was quite surprised. Old Zen had spoken mysteriously but his words were actually full of mock.
"I'm a genius, you know.." Andrea shot back. She made sure to wear her pocket face.
"Genius my foot," old Zen cackled. "Why don't you show me what you found, genius?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Okay," Andrea didn't hesitate. She immediately summoned her vines and tied up the old man to his chair.
Old Zen had closed his eyes and rocked backwards, confident that Andrea has no Martial Soul. He was about to start a round of mockery when something slithered over his body and suddenly tightened around his ribs.
"Ahh!" He screamed. "The Popular Black Rubber Vine? It is a Mutant beast.. how!"
His wrinkly face suddenly tightened in surprise. He was very sure there were no Mutant beasts in the White Mirror World and he was genuinely surprised.
Even more astonishing, Andrea had managed to slay it.
"Is Sally inside?" Andrea asked and old Zen nodded. "I'm going to see her, see you later Old Man."
As she started walking away old Zen frowned then his lips quivered.
"Let me go please, little miss," he tried to call her back. She ignored him and walked straight into the house.
"Fine. I'll have my revenge later, hihihi.."
...
"Aren't you back quite early? And you have two Martial Souls!" Sally said while in shock.
In the real world, Andrea has been gone for only thirty minutes and yet she was back already and has an Advanced and Mutant Martial Soul.
This was an unseen achievement in the whole of Stardust.
Andrea hated being in a spotlight. It made her all cringy.
"Why are the two of you so surprised? How long does it normally take a person to get a single soul?" she asked curiously.
Sally looked at her like she was some sort of an enigma. She waited until Andrea had sat down in the chair before answering.
"Around two or three days.. if they are talented then a day should be enough," as she said this she made sure to emphasize the word "talented".
Andrea suddenly blushed. She knew she had overdone it this time. Even talented individuals were a long way below her record.
Sally blinked then said slowly, "Although there was a legend about a man who achieved something almost similar."
Andrea's ears were perked up. She was immediately interested in the legend and Sally knew it from her sudden change.
"He was an unknown person until that day," she started.
"No one knew where he came from, pretty much like you but he was younger. He registered in a lowly Martial School in a small town in South Thurasia. Those who saw him said he was too poor to even buy a normal mage's cloth and he only used those gifted by good samaritans.."
Sally licked her red lips then blinked. She turned and looked at Andrea in the eye. Whatever she wanted to say next must have been too important.
"He one day angered someone powerful in the school and that person threw him in a Green Mirror World.."
Andrea was shocked at the revelation. The mirror worlds were colored according to the level of beasts inside.
White had only Advanced and Primitive beasts, Grey had upto Mutant, Yellow had occasional Kings in addition to the lower ones. From there, the change was really bad.
Green Mirrors had only Mutant and King level beasts while Blue had Kings only. Purple had Demi-god beasts and occasionally Deified ones. No one had yet to enter a Red mirror but it was expected to have only Deified beasts.
"That isn't the shocking thing yet," Sally added. "It is rumored that at the time he was thrown in there, he had no weapon not Martial soul on him, yet he managed to escape within a day with three King Martial Souls."
Andrea now felt it was truly a legend. She had nearly died because of an Advanced beasts if the vine had not intervened, albeit unintentionally.
She couldn't imagine herself surviving a group of Mutant beasts.
'There is some misinformation here,' Rina chuckled. She found it hard to believe that a bare-handed man survived in such a condition.
"Your.. friend is right," Sally smiled. She walked to a window and pulled away its curtains. It was around three in the evening and a lovely ray of sunshine shone through the open window.
Sally's green robes looked lovely against the sunshine and her ponytail enhanced her teenager look.
"Upto date, the man remained a mystery and only his name is known.." Sally said.
It sounded weird that a man was only known by his name and no other information. It made him definitely suspicious.
Out of curiosity, Andrea decided to ask, "What was his name?"
"Boston.. Maxwell Boston," Sally said.
Hearing that name, both Andrea and Rina felt a chill in their scalp.
"Commander!"