When Ruboo and Madison returned to the Witches' Academy, most of the residences lay shrouded in darkness.
The academy's management was lax.
Being adults, even the headmistress paid little heed to students staying out overnight, let alone fellow pupils.
Unless the individual remained unreachable for several consecutive days.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Take Zoe, for instance. Upon noticing Ruboo and Madison's absence during the day, she kept it firmly in mind.
When she saw them return together that evening, her sense of unease intensified considerably.
Fortunately, compared to Madison, Zoe wasn't quite so headstrong and listened carefully to Ruboo's advice.
After hearing his explanation, she said no more, merely urging Ruboo to get some rest.
Her restraint likely stemmed from a quiet sense of guilt—as a Black Widow, she felt she couldn't fulfil the duties of a girlfriend.
"Perhaps we could try another approach."
Watching Madison emerge from the bathroom after her wash, clad only in black lingerie that accentuated her voluptuous figure, Zoe pondered this as she picked up her phone and began flipping through her study materials.
Meanwhile, Ruboo, having washed away the dust from his journey, opened his luggage and once again retrieved the golden arm that had so haunted the female corpse. After carefully inspecting it and finding nothing amiss, he stowed it away.
This was the Witches' Academy, home not only to a gathering of young witches but also to the formidable Supreme Witch herself.
Even if the golden arm had further implications, there was no need for excessive worry.
Ruboo summoned the Book of Containment once more.
After a day's work, it seemed the quota hadn't been met, meaning only an extra 10 containment points as compensation.
From what he understood, containment points could be used to awaken abilities, enhancing one's physical prowess and spiritual essence.
As for abilities? He hadn't seen the shadow of one.
The latter, however.
Ruboo glanced at his personal page.
[Physical Constitution: 1.1]
[Spirituality: 0.1]
Physical Constitution encompassed one's overall physical condition, strength, agility, and such.
Spirituality, as defined by the Containment Manual, represents the total amount of supernatural power an individual possesses.
For instance, natural-born witches like Zoe and Madison possess exceptionally high Spirituality.
Those who occasionally perceive spirits or other impure entities, and whose claims are not unfounded, also possess Spirituality.
As for the vast majority of ordinary people in the world, they possess no Spirituality whatsoever.
In a sense, this is a blessing.
For when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
Ruboo's original form was that of an ordinary person devoid of spiritual awareness, which is precisely why he was slain by Zoe's Black Widow ability.
Ruboo, having travelled through dimensions, awakened his spiritual essence due to the Book of Containment.
Yet this measure proved woefully inadequate against Zoe.
Therefore, even for his own happiness, he must resolve more paranormal incidents!
Ruboo attempted to channel 10 containment points into his spiritual essence.
[Spirituality: 0.1]→[Spirituality: 0.2]
Ten containment points increased the attribute by 0.1. At this rate, one hundred containment points would yield a full point of attribute growth.
Ruboo closed his eyes, sensing the shift brought by the heightened Spirituality.
Soon, he opened his eyes.
Not a whiff of difference. Perhaps his Spirituality was simply too meagre to begin with.
He should have invested the containment points into physique instead, where they'd yield more tangible results.
After all, if you run fast enough, even the most terrifying supernatural entities can't catch you.
Ruboo shook his head. Oh well.
He pushed the thoughts aside. After a day of hard work, it was time for a proper rest.
...
Late at night.
While the other witches slept, in the chamber of the High Witch Fiona, an elderly woman—heavily bound to a chair, clad in a dress from the last century, and of considerable girth—struggled fiercely.
Delphi LaLaurie—the infamous former owner of the LaLaurie Mansion haunted house, whom Ruboo had encountered online.
Her penchant for torturing black servants with various cruel methods—including mutilating the Voodoo Queen's lover into a minotaur—earned her the Voodoo Queen's furious curse. Thus, she became a twisted woman condemned to lie alive in a coffin for one hundred and eighty years, unable to die.
During the witches' field trip that morning, as they passed Mrs. Laurier's haunted house, Nan's mind-reading ability allowed Fiona to unexpectedly discover Mrs. Laurier, who had lived for over two hundred years.
Driven by an insatiable thirst for immortality, Nan exhumed her and brought her back to her room, intending to interrogate her thoroughly the following day.
Finally freed from the perpetual darkness of her coffin, Delphina LaLaurie, utterly unable to sleep, sought to escape this latest prison and attain true freedom.
Yet not only did she fail to escape, she also roused Fiona.
"Good heavens! Can't you just lie still? You know staying up late is terribly damaging to a woman's complexion."
Fiona approached Delphie with an exasperated expression, about to cast a minor spell to silence her.
Suddenly, her brow furrowed as her gaze shifted towards the doorway.
"Why is there an aura of malevolent spirits in here? What on earth is going on?"
No sooner had Fiona spoken than, in Ruboo's room...
Ruboo, who had been sleeping soundly, was jolted awake by a sudden, violent thud.
As he opened his eyes, he witnessed the howling cold wind surging in through the open window and door.
The temperature inside the room plummeted visibly.
"Bloody hell! Not again?"
Shuddering at this all-too-familiar start, Ruboo immediately reached for his luggage without a word.
"Gah... give... me... back... my golden arm!"
Accompanied by that familiar voice, the one-armed female corpse materialised before Ruboo once more.
"Bloody hell! She just won't leave me alone!"
Armed with prior experience, Ruboo no longer felt the panic ordinary folk would at the sight of a corpse. He swung his golden arm again, striking out fiercely at his opponent.
Yet he forgot that his previous success had been due to Madison immobilising her.
Despite her rotting flesh, the corpse moved far quicker than a normal person.
Caught off guard, Ruboo took a vicious blow, sent flying backwards as though struck by a car.
Thud!
His back slammed against the floor. Before Ruboo could even cry out in pain, the corpse lunged forward, charging at him.
Ruboo swiftly raised his golden arm to block her path, narrowly averting being crushed beneath her weight.
"Gah... my... golden arm..."
"Damn you... thief... give me back... my golden arm..."
The corpse opened its maggot-infested, rotting maw, snarling furiously at Ruboo while its sole left hand clutched desperately at the golden arm before it, determined to wrest it free.
The golden arm was his sole weapon against the corpse.
Ruboo would not allow the corpse to take it.
Even though the corpse, mere inches away, filled him with revulsion, he clenched his fists and braced his arms, clutching the golden limb with all his might.
But the corpse's strength proved unexpectedly formidable.
As time passed and the golden arm inched closer to the corpse, Ruboo's anxiety grew.
Footsteps suddenly echoed through the air.
Accompanying them was a violent, invisible shockwave.