Chapter 511: The Secret Of Grave Ondar

Meanwhile, Theron had been quiet throughout the exchange, but now he addressed him directly.

"Bruce."

"Yes?"

"If you intend to involve Wren in the actual work, you’ll eventually have to tell them more than you’ve told anyone so far."

"I know."

"Are you ready for that?"

Bruce considered the question before answering.

"Not yet. Not today. But eventually, I will have to be."

He glanced at the closed volume resting on the table.

"Wren has already prepared for someone like me. They’ve written down their experiences, knowing another seventh case might come along someday. They’ve even made it clear that they’re willing to help. If I approach them with what I’ve learned, I believe they’ll listen."

"Then when will you tell them?"

"When I know enough for the conversation to be useful. Right now, I’m still trying to understand the problem myself. Telling Wren today would only give them something else to worry about, and I have no answers to offer."

He paused.

"When I have a plan—or at least the beginnings of one—I’ll tell them."

Theron nodded. "Fair enough."

Bruce gathered the volumes and returned them to their respective places on the shelves. He had found what he needed for now. There was still plenty left to learn, but the Library would remain here, and he could always return.

For the moment, he had other obligations.

...

They left the archive in the early afternoon.

The librarian at the desk nodded them out without comment, while the entrance guard waved them through to the street.

The man in the dark grey coat was still at his usual corner. This time, he was pretending to read a notice that had been hanging on the wall for years and was unlikely to change anytime soon.

His eyes followed Bruce and the others as they emerged.

Bruce ignored him and led the group toward the Guild district at an unhurried pace.

"We have some time before the meeting with Elenora," he said. "I want to eat, rest for an hour, and then head to the Second Light."

"Food at the old soul’s place?" Kael asked.

Bruce considered it before shaking his head.

"Not today. I don’t want to see Wren just yet. I’m still processing what I read, and if I meet them before I’ve sorted through my thoughts, I might say something I’m not ready to discuss."

"Then where?"

"The noodle vendor Theron found yesterday."

"Sounds good."

They made their way to the vendor’s stall and ordered the same noodles they had enjoyed the previous day. The food was just as good as they remembered.

They ate at the small outdoor counter, standing shoulder to shoulder, each occupied with their own thoughts.

When they finished, they returned to the rooming house.

Bruce lay down on his bed and rested for an hour.

He didn’t read or practice. Instead, he allowed himself some quiet time to process what he had learned, sorting through the implications at his own pace.

Twelve days.

That was how long he had been in the Soul Realm.

He had arrived knowing almost nothing about its true nature, its power system, or the forces governing its existence. Now, he possessed enough information to understand that the problem before him was far greater than anything anyone had led him to expect before the descent.

He had been told to climb to SSS-rank and speak with the Codex.

Today, he had discovered that reaching SSS was only one part of a much larger undertaking.

He needed to convince Wren Ollan to resume their advancement for a specific purpose. He also needed to find a third fabric-adjacent soul in the Mind Realm—a person whose existence he couldn’t confirm and whose location he had no way of discovering.

And those were only the immediate obstacles.

The Codex itself would resist his efforts as he climbed, because the structure it maintained did not permit fabric-level interference beyond personal scales.

His talent, however, might eventually allow him to work with the base-language that underpinned the Codex’s own operations. If he could reach that level of mastery, a genuine conversation with the Codex might become possible rather than remaining a one-sided attempt to communicate.

Even the theory of reunification wasn’t new. Someone had considered it four centuries ago, yet no one had succeeded—or, at least, no record of success had survived.

Bruce was the seventh orb-overload case in Xiltra. If he pursued the complete configuration described in that ancient text, he might become the first in centuries to attempt it.

The odds of success were impossible to calculate, but he had little reason to believe they were favorable.

And yet...

He wasn’t starting from nothing.

He had Wren, who had spent years preparing written guidance for someone in his position. He had Elenora, who had been willing to sponsor a seventh case long before he arrived. He had the old soul’s counsel, Elenora’s political protection, and access to the Library’s accumulated knowledge.

He had the Proving Ground to sharpen his abilities and the Deepwood to test them under real conditions.

He also had Kael and Theron, two companions he had come to trust more than most of the people he had known in his previous life.

And he had the thread.

It hummed faintly in his awareness, thin but warm, growing stronger as he advanced. He still didn’t understand its full nature, but it remained a tangible connection to the life he had left behind and the body he hoped to return to someday.

He wasn’t alone in this.

Not in the way the ancient theorist might have been alone with an idea no one else had managed to realize.

The chances of success might be small, but Bruce had something that theory alone could never provide: a network of people, resources, and accumulated knowledge to support his efforts.

He would do the work.

There was no point dwelling on the odds when he had no intention of abandoning the attempt.

He would keep climbing, gather information, find the people he needed, and see how far he could go. If he failed, his observations would join Wren’s in the Library, waiting for the next person willing to continue the search.

The chain would endure.

But perhaps, this time, it would lead somewhere new.

Bruce closed his eyes and let the thread hum quietly in his awareness.

For now, he rested.

...

Toward late afternoon, they left for the Second Light.

The journey to the Spire district was easier the second time around. At the checkpoint, the guards recognized the sponsorship seal and honored Caelen’s prior arrangements without delay.

Beyond it, the streets were as quiet as Bruce remembered, a stark contrast to the bustle of the Guild district.

The Second Light’s modest sign hung above the same unassuming entrance.

Caelen was waiting at the door.

"Ackerman."

"Caelen."

"She’s upstairs, in the same room. She’s expecting you."

Bruce nodded, and the group followed him inside.

The room was exactly as Bruce remembered it: a round table surrounded by four chairs, a window overlooking the fading pale sky, and a lantern on a side table casting a steady glow against the encroaching dusk.

Elenora sat in the same chair as before, her hands resting loosely near the edge of the table. Her dark grey eyes settled on them as they entered.

Her soul-body carried that deep, steady, layered glow Bruce had begun to recognize. Now that he understood more about the base-language, he could see something new in it: a signature of the underlying structure itself, shaped by the mastery she had achieved at SS-rank.

Bruce looked at her with fresh eyes.

Her papers contained records of Codex conversations. She possessed an imprint of the pre-split language—or at least, everything he had learned suggested that she must. Otherwise, how could she have participated in those conversations?

According to the four-hundred-year-old theorist’s framework, Elenora might be one of the rare souls capable of participating in the reunification work.

She might not know it.

Or perhaps she had understood the significance of her abilities for a long time and was waiting for the right moment to discuss it.

Bruce took the chair opposite her. Kael and Theron settled on either side of him.

Elenora inclined her head.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Thank you for making the time."

"Caelen told me about Mord’s approach yesterday. I want to speak with you about Grave specifically. Not to influence your decision, but to give you some context that I didn’t think it appropriate to share during our first meeting."

Bruce straightened slightly.

"Please."

Elenora folded her hands on the table.

"Grave Ondar is three hundred and twelve years old," she began. "He is the oldest member of the Nonagon and has had seven Codex conversations over the course of his career. One at each advancement from S through SSS, and three additional conversations outside those advancement events."

Bruce remained still, listening carefully.

"Three additional conversations?"

"Yes. That is exceptionally rare. Almost no other member of the Nonagon has had the same opportunity."

He let that information settle before asking the question that had immediately come to mind.

"SSS?"

Elenora met his gaze.

"Yes. Grave is SSS-rank. He is one of only three known souls in the Soul Realm to have reached that rank. He is also the only one who remains active within a political structure. The other two live in isolation."

Bruce absorbed the revelation in silence.

Elenora hadn’t mentioned Grave’s rank during their first meeting. She had described him as ancient, peculiar, and possessed of interests that set him apart from the other members of the Nonagon.

She had never mentioned that one of the three known SSS-rank souls in the entire Soul Realm occupied a seat on the governing body of his own city.

Now he understood why.

Had she revealed that information during their first meeting, it would have overshadowed everything else they discussed. Bruce would have fixated on Grave’s rank and his Codex conversations, and the conversation about sponsorship might never have proceeded as intended.

Elenora had deliberately withheld the information until he was ready to receive it.

Apparently, that time was now.

Bruce leaned forward slightly.

"Why are you telling me this now?"