The Devil Withinn - Chapter 247

Meanwhile, the two confused men hurriedly made their way towards Solomon’s office to try and figure out what was happening.

Raghnall was the first to arrive and he immediately pushed the door open with a somber look on his face.

“What is happening to her?”

Raghnall spoke with repressed worry as he stared at Solomon’s face, trying to find any clue that could help him understand the strange situation better.

Ulima quickly followed suit behind him, but he entered in a much more quiet and respectful manner, bowing at Solomon before promptly speaking.

“With all due respect, sir. This is also confusing me. How is she a different person than who she was previously?”

Solomon, faced with questions he barely could answer, couldn’t help but to tiredly plop down on his chair as he rubbed his face with his hands.

“It must’ve something to do with her soul.”

He mumbled while he covered his face with his hands, hoping to rub off the exhaustion he felt.

Raghnall wasn’t satisfied with the ambiguous explanation so he drew closer towards him, and had both his hands imposingly rest on Solomon’s large desk.

“You’ve been repeating that ever since! There’s no way we could accept that vague answer and just figure it out!”

Solomon sighed as he tried to organize his thoughts and retell what his guesses were.

“I don’t know everything and so I can’t guarantee the accuracy of my guesses but what I do know for certain is that it has something to do with her soul. And my guess is that the one before us now is a different soul.”

Raghnall furrowed his brows as he tried to analyze the situation as well.

“How is that possible? Wasn’t it your research that concluded that we can only hold one soul in our bodies? How can it be that she has a different one now? And how can you say for certain that it has something to do with her soul? I mean, what if this is just like the case with Favian and Frode instead? That it’s all about the mind?”

Solomon shook his head as he casted flotation spells to have the books by the corners of his room to float towards him.

“No, no. It’s different from Favian’s case, for sure. That boy had two minds, yes, which makes it seem like Inna’s case now is similar. But the difference is that he had it since he was young. And when I met that boy when he was young, he can talk to his other mind to wish for them to switch. It was a voluntary switch. And Favian also held memories, although most were faint, of the times where Frode was in charge. And he claimed that he could sometimes talk to him, but those times are really rare.”

Solomon began to scan a book as he continued to talk.

“But the thing about Inna’s case now is that… It’s like she was an entirely different person. She didn’t recognize us at all. She was on guard and she looked like she had a past much more different than Inna. A much more… horrid one. Also, she talked about the Edserian tongue of the commoners as though she was one of them. And she told us of how, in her view, we were also speaking the same language. Quite strange, right? Frode never talked about having a different life. His life was a blank slate and he shared every experience he had with Favian. Although he had a vast knowledge of magic spells and such, it was all through his incessant reading of books, not knowledge from a different life.”

When he finished scanning the book, he frowned and decided to scan another.

“Now, if I recall correctly, in my thesis, I theorized that there is one that links us all beings. And that of course, is the soul.”

Solomon finally found the page he was looking for and he turned the book to face Raghnall while tapping the diagram it showed.

“You see, the soul is something that can be found in all. A universal commonality. This is the link we have with all there is in the world. Be it beasts, or plants, we all have souls that link together. That is how we are able to coexist.”

Then, Solomon began to trace the diagram which consisted of a man in the middle with a circle on his chest that signified the ‘soul’ which was connected to different drawings of beasts and plants around him which also held the same circle, although in different locations.

“Now, in this commonality, we are able to communicate well with each other and reach into understanding. Although most of the time, it is done non verbally. Like for example, when we communicate with plants, they communicate back to us through sudden growth, sudden blossom, or maybe even wilting. Their souls are the ones harnessing the magic within them and so, it has been proven that talking to them and uplifting their moods can greatly help in their growth. Because in that way, we create a connection with them through our souls and our soul prompts their soul to use the magic within them.”

Raghnall stared at the diagram as he silently listened in. At first, he didn’t want to listen to the technical ramblings of the old man but for Inna’s sake and for his curiosity, he decided to cave in.

Meanwhile, Ulima was having the time of his life as he tried to catch every word that was said, even every breath that the Headmaster had taken while speaking about his research.

It was a one in a million chance for him to listen to such profound knowledge!

Meanwhile, Solomon coughed as he readied himself to talk further.

“Now, S-salvia… S-she…”

Solomon took a deep breath as he tried to stop the stutters he held whenever he talked about her.

“It was her research that greatly supported my claim. She talked about how this doesn’t only apply to plants but to beasts as well. Although most of the beasts are unreasonable once their primal instincts take control, there are times that we are able to communicate with them. S-Salvia was one of those gifted enough to be able to talk to them and she told me that the trick to talking to them wasn’t to use the mouth to talk, but instead the soul. Because the soul links us towards communication.”