Chapter 21: Transcendence

After leaving the living room, Wakaba returned to her own quarters.

Although her room was designed in a classical Japanese style, it was incredibly luxurious. Spanning over seventy square meters with a ceiling height of about five meters, the space was vast and airy—spacious enough for Wakaba to jog in circles. The floor was covered in pale emerald tatami mats that emitted a faint, grassy fragrance, while the shoji walls encircling the room were crafted from a rare, purple-hued wood.

An intricate mural of a golden bamboo forest adorned the walls, wrapping entirely around the room. Combined with the soft, elongated candlelight glowing from the four corners, the atmosphere felt as serene and secluded as a quiet bamboo grove. The shoji door directly opposite the entrance opened out into a private courtyard.

Lush, vibrant green grass carpeted the grounds. A crescent-shaped pond wound around the corner of the building, extending toward the garden wall. Beside it stood two rockeries, from which a trickle of water from a stream outside the compound flowed down in a graceful arc, splashing into the pond. A few white royal lotus flowers bloomed in the water, looking exquisite and enchanting.

Though her memories confirmed this was her dormitory, Wakaba could not help but be stunned by its opulence. She had heard the academy instructors say that only by living in such an environment could one cultivate the temperament of a classical noble lady. She failed to understand why a student at an art academy needed to foster the air of a noble heiress.

She pulled open a cabinet door, grabbed a silk yukata, and slid open the shoji door leading to the courtyard. She stepped onto the veranda and headed toward the bathhouse. Located in the northwest corner of the courtyard, the bathhouse was a detached structure connected to the dormitory by a corridor. While the academy provided luxurious rooms, the bathing, washing, and restroom facilities were communal, shared among the four girls. According to the academy, this was to accustom them to such habits in advance.

As she entered the bathhouse, she found it empty, just as she had expected. Evangeline preferred an early night and had already bathed. Keiko-nee liked to bathe in the middle of the night. As for Huolian... despite being a girl, she only bathed every two days, and she had just washed yesterday.

The sunken pool in the center of the room was already filled with hot water. Earlier, Wakaba had deliberately kept the windows closed, allowing steam to fill the room until everything appeared hazy and dreamlike.

Wakaba’s delicate, pale feet stepped onto the cool, jade-colored stone tiles. She placed her clothes on a nearby rack, shed her garments, and stepped down the pool’s stone stairs. Her tender, snow-white body slowly submerged into the scalding water, and her long, silky black hair fanned out behind her, floating on the surface.

Sitting in the corner of the pool, Wakaba focused her attention on the status bar projected onto her retina.

"Name: Wakaba
Age: 11
True Spirit Points: 154
True Spirit Point Pickup Range: 50 meters (including avatar range)
Consciousness Sublimation Count: 0
Avatar Count: 1"

Wakaba knew that the majority of these hundred-plus True Spirit Points had been obtained the previous night in the Fog Realm. The dozens of people killed by Ashida Yuriko at the start, followed by the slaying of the filth-beast and Ashida Yuriko herself—the filth-beast in particular—had provided the most points, yielding nearly a hundred on its own.

"True Spirit Points have two uses: one is for creating or repairing avatars, and the other is for Consciousness Sublimation."

"According to the information from the Spirit-Splitting Rite formula, one sublimation of consciousness requires one hundred True Spirit Points."

She had been in the infirmary until today and had only just returned to the dormitory. Thus, only now did she have the privacy to undergo the process. The swirling steam in the bathroom provided a perfect veil, which she hoped would block any potential surveillance cameras. She had suspected the existence of academy cameras in their rooms, though she hadn't found any. Still, it was better to be safe.

"Let's begin."

With a thought, the number of True Spirit Points instantly decreased by one hundred.

Suddenly, a sensation of coolness welled up from her brain and rapidly spread throughout her entire body, as if she were submerged in a pool of ice-cold water.

"Is that all?" Wakaba wondered.

Suddenly, her small mind jolted!

It felt as though a shackle had been broken; every perception was amplified in an instant. She could hear the beating of her own heart with perfect clarity, the sound of her lungs expanding and contracting, the sensation of steam settling on her skin, and she could even feel the flow of blood within her body.

Normally, her brain and senses would actively filter out these details. But now, that filter seemed to have been lifted. A massive flood of detailed information surged into her small mind all at once—an amount of data that would typically be enough to fry a human brain.

Yet, Wakaba remained conscious and clear-headed. The hundred True Spirit Points transformed into a torrent, continuously nourishing her consciousness. She felt her consciousness growing larger and stronger... until it reached a point where it could expand no further.

However, the torrent continued to pour in, and fissures began to appear in her consciousness.

Pain—!

Her consciousness was engulfed in agonizing pain. In her muddled state, she felt as if she heard something shattering. Had a third party been present, they would have seen her consciousness spontaneously ignite once it reached its peak, burning away entirely. The consciousness that had expanded to its limit was refined in the flames, sublimated through the trial—becoming stronger, reborn.

"Did I... succeed?" Wakaba gasped, choked by the hot water, and sat up abruptly. Her long, dark hair rose with her, sending a spray of water into the air. A few natural curls at the ends of her silky tresses gave her a delicate, breathtakingly beautiful appearance.

Wakaba felt sharper and more comfortable than ever before.

"Oh, those are tiny water droplets!" She realized that with full concentration, she could actually see the minute beads of water drifting in the air.

She turned her gaze back to the status bar. The information had changed.

"Name: Wakaba
Age: 11
True Spirit Points: 54
True Spirit Point Pickup Range: 100 meters (including avatar range)
Consciousness Sublimation Count: 1
Avatar Count: 1"

"One Consciousness Sublimation—that means I haven't just improved my vision; I've become smarter!" Wakaba thought triumphantly.

She prepared to rise from the bath, but noticed a layer of yellowish-black grease on her skin. This was the result of the True Spirit Points sublimating her physical body; as the vessel for her consciousness, her body had also undergone sublimation, though it was not the primary focus. Cleansed by the torrent of spirit energy, the impurities accumulated in her body had been expelled, forming this grime. Her already delicate skin appeared even fairer and more refined.

Though she didn't understand the mechanics, she was fastidious and immediately sank back into the water to scrub herself clean.

About an hour later, thoroughly washed, she climbed out of the tub and dried herself off with a towel from the nearby rack.

Just then, the bathhouse door opened, and Keiko entered with her change of clothes.