55 The Violet Level?

Though Master Nien Dinra's eyes appeared to be physically useless because they could not see, her eyes had more more vision than most people. The only thing was that her sense of sight was radically different from everyone else.

As the Head of the Soul Recovery School stared fixedly at Ovandarrak and Pan, instead of seeing them as any normal person would, people made of flesh and blood, she rather saw them as two green apparitions; one a little greener and more humanoid than the other. Master Dinra could not see things in their physical state. However, what she could see was their inner soul energy. As almost everything around her was made of soul energy, her vision was usually made up of a startling mix of vibrant colours. In humans, the deeper and more humanoid a soul energy was, the higher the person's mental strength, and thus, the more powerful they were.

Moreover, she could see even the simplest difference between two soul energies or essence of the same level. This was why though Ovandarrak and Pan were both green users, she could tell that one person's mental strength was a lot lower given his lighter and more irregular appearing essence. From everything she had heard from Jarjaha, she was sure that the one called Ovandarrak was the person emitting such a powerful soul energy.

"Have a seat." She directed the two boys to a double-seat. But before Ovandarrak and Pan could sit, a new vision started appearing right before Master Dinra.

All the soul energy flowing in the room suddenly went dark while Ovandarrak's essence grew brighter and brighter, taking a more regular solid humanoid form. Behind this solid bright green apparition was a bare-chested young man with long green dreadlocks. The green-haired man, with his eyes closed, and hands folded over his muscular chest, quickly towered over the whole room, exuding a powerful soul energy.

But the vision lasted in mere seconds and by the time Ovandarrak took his seat, everything went back to normal. It was like nothing had even happened in the fist place. For a while, Master Dinra was at a loss of words, however, nothing on her face revealed that she had just seen something which she could not even explain. What was that giant form she had just seen? She had never had such a vision in her entire life before. Well, that made sense, since she had not come into contact with a lot of people throughout her life. Still, she could not help but wonder exactly what that was? If she was seeing it so vividly, did it mean that it had something to do with the boy's soul energy?

As Master Dinra did not have the answers for that, she decided to no longer dwell on it. They were here to discuss other matters, and thus, it would be unproductive to waste time on that.

"I was told you two did exceptionally well in the indigo level. I heard it was a… team work." Master Dinra said once she had taken her seat too. When it came to matters of the trials, Master Dinra left them to her teachers and captain. Captain Jarjaha reported everything back to the master once it was over. In the report about the indigo level, she was told how one of the applicants had helped the other complete it.

Pan shifted uneasily in his seat when he heard what the master had said. Team work? What a kind way to put. Was he about to be disqualified? Since the captain had not said anything about it, he had thought that it wasn't a big deal.

Master Dinra sensed the distress Pan's soul was emitting. She chuckled lightly and then said, "don't worry, Pan. You are not in trouble. In fact, the indigo level was designed to promote team work."

Pan heaved a sigh of relief once he heard the master's words. However, he did not understand what the master had meant when she said the level was designed to promote team work. Where they expected to have worked from the beginning all that while? "You mean we should have worked together from the beginning?"

"That's right. From what I can tell, there was no way you two would have lasted for more than thirty minutes in that level."

For a moment, Ovandarrak was stunned by how the woman knew that. He had calculated that at most, he could only endure the oppressive indigo essence for thirty minutes. So if the master knew they would not last for more than thirty minutes, why was the was indigo level meant to last for four hours? Unless…

"The true aim of the indigo level was for us to recognize our limit and then maximize our strength together to make up for that limit." Ovandarrak said. The four hours for the indigo level was just smokescreen as there was no way they would even have lasted for that long.

"That's right." Master Dinra said, smiling. "As Soul recovery doctors, we need to recognize our own limits when it comes to healing souls. Neglecting something as simple as that could lead to not only your patient's death, but your death as well. This is why your trials were designed to be life-threatening."

Pan felt an inner sense of shame when he remembered how he had just taken off back in the ice desert. At that time, he had felt so sure that he could climb to the top of the mountain while using Heaven's Will; his soul armos. Unfortunately, since he did not have the best mental training techniques, he was not mentally strong enough to endure the oppressive indigo essence.

"Master Dinra, did you know that while some people think you are a man, some do not know who you are at all?" Ovandarrak said suddenly.

Pan's lips twitched ever so lightly as he felt his face heat up with embarrassment. He was not the type to be embarrassed about anything. In fact, he had given himself the title 'God of Shamelessness.' However, right now, seeing that he was right in front of his greatest idol, he was feeling all kinds of shame at once, after all, wasn't he one of those people who had thought that Master Nien Dinra was a man?

Master Dinra laughed heartily upon hearing Ovandarrak's question. "You are quite the honest one, aren't you? Of course. I started that rumor myself."

"But…but why?" Pan said. "You are the greatest soul recovery doctor to ever live. Your father even said so. It would make no difference to people whether you are male or female."

Master Dinra already knew it would make no difference. Ever since she was a child, she had known that she was different somehow. Even before she manifested her essence, she could sense soul energies around her, and thus, though she had been born blind, she could navigate herself very well. Once she manifested when she was five, her sensing of soul energies grew so powerful that she started seeing the soul energies around her. As she grew older, and started learning soul recovery from her father, she became even more sensitive to people's essence. The slight change in a person's temperament was felt in her soul, thus, becoming more of a burden to her.

Once her father, Mazoh Dinra, learned about this, he agreed to let Nien be alone while doing her research. Mazoh soon learned that her daughter was a prodigy, even far better in soul recovery than he was. Though he wanted Nien to be rightfully acknowledged as the one who had developed or rectified many of his theories, Nien did not want that. After all, once people heard about her, they would want to see her, learn from her, or be healed by her.

As someone who was easily burdened by the essence of too many people, given her sensitive soul, Nien Dinra refused to be in the public light. Thus, she forged this whole new personality about Master Nien Dinra being a man, and her father propagated that idea to the world. Even though she now had better control of her gift, and was no longer burdened by the soul energies around her, she had come to love the solitude. Hence, only a few people in the entire world knew of her true identity.

"Well, you are right. But that is not what is important, after all, I called you two here for other reasons. Now that you have passed your trials, it is fair to say that you are now students of the soul recovery school. However, officially, I have to inform you that you have the right to partake in the violet level if you want."

"What!" Pan shouted before he could even stop himself. He had completely forgotten about the fact that they were talking about Master Dinra's identity. He had even forgotten about his embarrassment. This was more important.

The violet level? Was the woman trying to kill him? He had barely even managed to complete the indigo level in one piece, and yet, the master was talking about partaking in the violet level. "We almost died in the indigo level. I doubt we could even last a second the moment we are exposed the oppressive violet essence."

Master Nien Dinra smiled and nodded in understanding. There was no way she was going to tell the children that although everything they had experienced in each level had felt real, their lives had truly not been in danger. The thought that one's life was in constant danger was enough to keep them alert at all times. Revealing such a secret would only defeat the purpose of the trials.

When she asked Master Koo Minchii to lend Naa Vah to her school, she had specifically told Master Minchii that she did not want any of the applicants dead. Thus, while Naa Vah could kill at Master Minchii's will, none of the applicants were killed. All those who appeared to have been killed during the trials were actually still alive. Master Dinra only made it look that way to make the whole trial realistic, and thus, putting more uncertainty and fear in the minds of the applicants. This would make the trials a lot harder than they actually were. However, any wounds or injuries acquired in the trials were real, except that they were not fatal. Given the right treatment, they could be healed.

"Well, you don't have to do it. Like I said, you are already students of the soul recovery school since you have already passed."

Pan breathed in a sigh of relief as he felt the rapid thumping of his heartbeat calm down. There was no way he was going to survive the violet level; he was sure of it. He never had the resources to practice his mental training techniques, and thus, he had figured most of them on his own. Because of this, his mental strength, though better than the average person, was still very low. If not for Ovandarrak, he would have actually died back in the indigo level. He was only doing all this for his brother and now that he was an official student of the school, it was pointless getting himself killed in the violet level.

"Forgive me, Master Dinra." Pan bowed lightly. "But I will have to sit this one out."

Master Dinra nodded in understanding. This was a wise choice. She could see Pan's soul energy and he was way too weak to endure the level. Even if Naa Vah was not meant to kill the applicants, Pan's soul could end up being severely wounded, resulting in him being in a coma for weeks.

"I'll do it." Ovandarrak said calmly. He had been hoping to try the violet essence for a while. He wanted to see what made it so special, so powerful. It was said that true indigo and violet users were from the Third Dimension. Anyone from the Second Dimension possessing an indigo or violet advanced from a lower essence level. Thus, the essence of a violet user from the Second Dimension was not as powerful as a true violet.

Ovandarrak believed that whatever violet essence he was going to be exposed to was not going to be as powerful as the true essence. Still, if he compared it to the indigo essence he had experienced in that level, he knew that the violet level was going to be extremely difficult. And like Pan had said, he could even die within a few seconds. Though he knew this, there was a stubborn part within him that still wanted to do it.

Pan wanted to say something, to bring Ovandarrak back to his senses. The violet essence was nothing like the indigo essence; the two were worlds apart. However, as Pan stared into Ovandarrak's cold unwavering eyes, he knew that the boy had already made up his mind. Besides, he thought that Ovandarrak must already be aware of the dangers involved, and therefore did not try to convince him otherwise.

"Excellent. Pan, you will have to excuse me while I talk to Ovandarrak in private. You should go find Captain Jarjaha. He will tell you what to do next."

"Yes, Master Dinra." Pan bowed lightly, then he was gone from the room.