Chương 255: Thara's Truth

Thara took a deep breath, then gestured for me to sit on a bench near the back of the laboratory, away from the door. I complied, sensing we were about to venture into sensitive territory.

"Several years ago, shortly after I advanced to Rank 4, I was sent on a mission to collect rare cultivation resources from the neutral territories," she began.

"It was supposed to be routine, I was with a group, and we were well within the Blue Sun's sphere of influence." The laboratory seemed to fade around us as she continued her tale, her words painting vivid images in my mind.

"We were ambushed on the third day. Not by ordinary raiders, but by a coordinated Skybound attack. My group fought bravely, but..." she closed her eyes briefly, "none survived. I was taken captive." I nodded somberly, though inwardly, my mind was racing. If my suspicions were correct, this story would lead directly to Elder Molric, connecting more pieces of this world's puzzle.

"I was certain I would be tortured for information, then killed, or worse. The stories about Skybound experimentation on captives were... horrific." She shuddered slightly.

"I was blindfolded and transported to what I later learned was a hidden research facility, deep in the contested territories."

"When they finally removed my blindfold, I found myself not in a dungeon, but in a laboratory." Her expression softened unexpectedly.

"And facing not a monster, but an elderly man with the most fascinating eyes that contained so much passion. He was disheveled, distracted, talking to himself as he scribbled notes." Sounded like Elder Molric to me. I had vivid memories of him casually mentioning past "acquisitions" of Lightweavers for his research. He had even tried to convince me to help capture more, suggesting I act as bait, an idea I had politely but firmly declined.

"He barely seemed to notice me at first," Thara continued, a small smile playing at her lips.

"Then he looked up and said, 'Ah! Perfect timing! Hold this,' and handed me a runic stabilizer without the slightest concern that I might use it as a weapon or try to escape." I chuckled, the behavior so perfectly aligned with what I knew of the Elder.

"That seems... unusual for a Skybound Elder."

"He was unlike anyone I'd ever met," she agreed.

"I later learned he was a Rank 7 Skybound Master, one of their inner circle, yet he treated me not as an enemy or prisoner, but as a research assistant from the very beginning."

"What did he want from you?" I asked, though I could already guess.

"That was the strangest part, he simply wanted help with his experiments. And someone to talk to." She lowered her voice to a whisper.

"The only thing he demanded was that I listen to his theories about dual cultivation and the true nature of the suns. For hours sometimes, while we worked." Beneath Elder Molric's manic energy and occasional moral flexibility lay a profoundly lonely man. The other Skybound elders tolerated him for his genius but rarely engaged with him beyond what was necessary. I had been one of the few who actually listened to his rambling theories, finding genuine fascination in the unorthodox paths his mind traveled.

"And you weren't... mistreated?" I asked carefully. Thara shook her head firmly.

"Never. He was eccentric, absolutely, but never cruel. He provided comfortable quarters, access to books, even some restricted Blue Sun texts he'd somehow acquired. He seemed genuinely interested in my perspective on his work."

"His work being...?" I gestured toward the vine specimens.

"Yes, though his research was far more advanced than mine is now. He believed that the division between the suns was artificial, that they were once a single golden source of power that was fractured during some ancient catastrophe." Her eyes lit up with passion.

"He had evidence, fragments of pre-Sundering texts, anomalous energy readings from certain sacred sites, even theoretical models of cultivation that predated the current runic and manifestation systems." I nodded thoughtfully, storing this valuable information. So Elder Molric had been researching the original golden sun long before my arrival. Perhaps in my next visit to the Red Sun Academy, I could figure out exactly what the elder had discovered.

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"The more we worked together, the more I found myself... drawn to his mission," Thara continued, a faint blush coloring her cheeks again.

"To him. He taught me things about the suns that contradicted everything I'd been raised to believe, yet made perfect, elegant sense when viewed objectively." My eyebrows lifted slightly as I realized where this was going.

"You fell in love with him," I stated rather than asked. Her blush deepened, and she looked away.

"It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?" She sighed.

"He never treated me as inferior or as property. We were colleagues, exploring forbidden knowledge together, united against the dogma that kept our peoples divided."

"Star-crossed lovers," I murmured, the phrase slipping out naturally. She laughed softly.

"I suppose so, though it was rather one-sided. He never noticed my feelings, despite what I thought were obvious hints. I spent months in his laboratory, working side by side, sharing meals, debating theoretical frameworks until the early hours."

"What happened?" I prompted when she fell silent, lost in memories.

"I finally gathered my courage and told him directly," she said, wincing slightly at the memory.

"I'd never seen an Elder look terrified before that day." I could barely suppress a smile, imagining Elder Molric's panicked reaction. The brilliant but socially oblivious researcher suddenly confronted with romantic feelings he had no idea how to handle, it was so perfectly in character.

"He stammered something incomprehensible, then suddenly remembered an 'urgent matter' that required his immediate attention." Thara shook her head, a mixture of fondness and regret in her expression.

"The next day, he asked me to help him test a new device, something designed to store blue sun energy for later integration with red sun energy."

"He'd created a storage mechanism?" I asked, genuinely impressed. Such technology would be invaluable for dual cultivation experiments. She nodded.

"An extraordinary breakthrough. All he needed was for a Lightweaver to channel energy into it. I did so willingly, of course. And then..." She frowned.

"My next memory is waking up at the edge of Academy territory, with the device gone and a large pouch of crystals beside me.

"He sent you away," I stated, understanding the Elder's actions. He had likely panicked at her confession, decided the situation had become too complicated, and returned her to her people, albeit with unexpected kindness in providing resources.

"Yes. I never saw him again," she said quietly.

"The official story is that I escaped during a moment of carelessness on my captor's part. The Elders were suspicious, especially given the length of my absence, but they could find no evidence of collaboration or corruption."

"So, they assigned you to teaching rather than research," I surmised.

"Keeping you at arm's length from sensitive projects."

"Precisely." Thara's expression brightened suddenly, turning almost zealous.

"But I've continued our work in secret. If I can complete this project, create a true hybrid being that harmoniously channels both energies, I can prove that his theories were correct. I can show him, when we meet again, that I carried our research forward." The intensity in her eyes was concerning. She clearly believed they would reunite someday, that her achievements would somehow win his approval, or his heart.

I remained silent, unwilling to crush her hopes by revealing that Elder Molric had already succeeded where she was still struggling. That Yggy existed, a living proof of concept for their shared theories.

"Master," Azure spoke in my mind, his tone puzzled.

"Her behavior seems highly irrational. She was kidnapped, used for her energy, then abandoned, yet she desires to reunite with her captor? I cannot process the logic of this response."

"It's called Stockholm syndrome," I explained silently.

"A psychological condition where captives develop positive feelings, even love, toward their captors. It's not logical, but human emotions rarely are."

"Fascinating and concerning," Azure replied.

"Human attachment processes continue to defy straightforward analysis." I refocused on Thara, who was watching me expectantly, perhaps waiting for judgment or ridicule. Instead, I offered her a small smile of understanding.

"Thank you for trusting me with your story," I said.

"I understand why this research means so much to you now." Relief washed over her face.

"You don't think I'm mad? Or a traitor to the Academy?" I shook my head.

"I think you're someone who saw beyond the artificial boundaries that divide this world's cultivation systems. That takes courage, not madness." My words were sincere, despite the layers of deception that surrounded my presence here. I genuinely admired her willingness to look beyond the dogma she'd been raised with, a quality rare in any cultivation world, where tradition often calcified into unquestionable law.

"Besides," I added, "I've seen enough of both sides now to know that neither has a monopoly on truth, or on cruelty. There are good and bad people in both academies, just as there are in any village or city."

"You're remarkably philosophical for someone so young. Most village boys your age would still be parroting whatever views they were raised with." I shrugged, mentally cursing my slip into a perspective that might seem too mature for my supposed background.

"When you watch your entire village burn, it forces you to reconsider many things." She nodded, accepting this explanation.

"Trauma often brings clarity, painful though it may be." She stood, straightening her robes.

"Well, that's quite enough about me and my... complicated past. We should continue with your lesson." The abrupt change of subject caught me slightly off guard, but I welcomed the return to my ostensible purpose here.

"What's next in my training?"