Cycle of Destiny

However, to Harry's surprise, the girl in the white robe, who looked like an angel, failed to give him the answer he was looking for.

Harry stared intently at the white-robed woman before him, who also called herself "Bella," trying to find answers in her gentle face and pure white eyes.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the anxiety surging in his heart, and decided to address the questions one by one, just as she had suggested.

"My first question," his voice was still a little strained, but it sounded particularly clear in the quiet room, "do you know why I came back to the present? Back to more than a month ago?"

Bella, dressed in white, floated silently in the air, enveloped in a soft, milky-white halo.

She tilted her head slightly, her long red hair flowing like silk over her shoulder, a thoughtful expression flashing across her face before she gently shook her head.

"I don't know why either." Her voice was still sweet, but it carried a clear sense of apology.

Harry's heart sank. Without pausing, he immediately asked the second question that had been lingering in his mind:

"Holy Mage Odel... what is his purpose in choosing me? Why did he insist on sending me back to the capital after taking me as his disciple?"

This time, Bella in the white robe remained silent for an even longer time.

In the depths of her pure white eyes, a faint light seemed to flow, as if searching for some distant memory.

A subtle change appeared on her originally peaceful and gentle face—her brows lifted slightly; it wasn't anger or annoyance, but rather a kind of…

Confusion, even mixed with a bit of unexpected surprise.

"This matter..."

She finally spoke again, her voice even lower than before.

"Actually, I'm also... very confused. What I know is that Odel shouldn't know what the future holds... but judging from his actions, he seems to understand that you have to return to the capital, and even... is pushing for it to happen. As for why he's doing this, I don't understand either."

These words confirmed Harry's suspicions: the Holy Wizard's decision to take him as a disciple was far more complicated than it appeared.

At the same time, Harry also keenly noticed that when the Holy Magician was mentioned, Bella in white simply called him by his name "Odell" without any awe or respect in her tone, as if she were talking about an ordinary person.

Harry's questions about the Holy Magician remained unanswered, and a strong sense of powerlessness, along with a chill, crept into his heart.

He clenched his fingers, clinging to the last glimmer of hope, and asked the third, and most crucial, question:

"Then... who was the person who killed me in the forest? Or, who was behind it all?"

Bella in her white robes sighed softly, a subtle gesture that revealed a sense of helplessness.

"I don't know who wanted to kill you either," she confessed. "My sister and I slept in the necklace for a very long time until we were awakened by some kind of fluctuation. The first thing we saw was you."

She paused, noticing the barely concealed disappointment and gloom on Harry's face, and immediately added in a tone tinged with obvious guilt, "However... about these things, my sister, she probably knows more. My sister knows a lot of information, but I... don't."

This well-intentioned addition brought no hope; instead, it plunged Harry's heart into an icy abyss.

The only being who might know the answer is precisely the one with whom peaceful communication is impossible, and who even takes pleasure in his painful struggles.

her sister.

Bella, the woman in the red robe, who was capricious and had tormented him greatly.

Harry clearly remembered that when they first met, the woman in the red robe had coldly uttered the words "a second time," so she must have known something.

Bella in her white robes clearly saw Harry's emotional decline.

Her suspended figure lowered slightly, her pure white eyes drooped, and the habitual sweet curve at the corner of her mouth gradually pursed into a soft, downward curve, her entire face shrouded in a layer of silent guilt.

After a few seconds of silence, she raised her head again, her eyes filled with self-reproach for not being able to offer help.

Bella's answer in her white robes failed to illuminate the fog in Harry's mind. The initial three questions sank without a trace, instead pushing his confusion into an even darker abyss—the very existence of the gentle Bella before him, along with her angry sister, was a colossal mystery looming over him.

"Bella," Harry's tone softened, becoming tentative, "may I ask... why do you and your sister look so alike? And why are you both named Bella?"

Bella, in her white robe, smiled. "That's because we're one person."

"One person?" Harry was puzzled. The difference between the two was too great. One was like a volatile knight, and the other was like a gentle princess. How could they be the same person?

"We are all part of 'Bella,' which is quite complicated, and I can't tell you right now."

Her smile remained, but she clearly didn't want to continue with Harry's question. Harry didn't press further, but instead asked a different question:

"So what were you like before? I mean, before you entered this pendant. Why...why are you in here?"

Bella in her white robes seemed surprised that Harry would ask about this.

She floated in the air, her pure white eyes slightly wide open, her long red hair standing out in the soft light.

She was silent for a few seconds, seemingly sorting through distant memories.

"My sister and I..." she began slowly, her voice still gentle, but with a narrative calmness, "we were actually already dead."

"Already dead?" Harry was somewhat confused.

"Our physical bodies are long dead; we are now purely in the form of souls," she explained gently. "Or rather, we are spirits composed of highly concentrated spiritual power and complete memories."

"In ordinary life, when the body dies, the spiritual power that sustains the soul quickly dissipates, memories shatter, and the soul truly ends. But we are different."

She paused, as if searching for the most accurate expression, "I don't know why, but my sister and I can still exist in the form of souls."

Harry held his breath and listened intently.

"I only found out about this later when my sister told me," Bella continued, speaking steadily. "At the moment when our original lives ended, someone safely separated our complete souls—that is, the spiritual aggregates that retained all our memories—from our decaying bodies."

"Even a completely separated soul still needs two things to prevent it from dissipating." She held up two fingers. "First, a stable and suitable 'container' to attach to and preserve it. The gem on this necklace is such a container. Its interior is solidified by a constant magic circle, which can continuously provide us with spiritual nourishment. Second, the soul itself needs to periodically enter a deep slumber, in a near-static state, to minimize the consumption of spiritual energy."

She looked at Harry, her white eyes filled with a calm and clear light.

Harry listened intently, but his brow furrowed even more deeply.

In other words, these two "Bellas" were already dead and are now just souls. But what kind of soul can exist for so long and still have memories and consciousness?

The vague records of dark magic in the academy quietly surfaced in his mind at this moment.

“As far as I know,” Harry began cautiously, organizing his knowledge, “some extremely evil necromancy or dark pacts can indeed forcibly bind the soul after the body dies. But that process… usually erases most of the soul’s memories and will, leaving only an empty shell of power, turning the soul into an ignorant and unconscious puppet or bound spirit that only obeys commands.”

He looked at Bella, his eyes filled with obvious confusion. "But you and your sister... you have complete memories, and even retain distinct and independent personalities. This is completely different from any kind of soul bondage I've ever heard of."

“You’re right, Harry,” she confirmed. “My sister and I are very special. The core reason we can maintain our complete selves lies in this vessel—the gem itself.”

She lowered her head slightly, her gaze falling on the pendant on Harry's chest, her long red hair cascading down.

"This necklace, especially this gem, is not an ordinary magical item. Inside it, an extremely complex and advanced composite magic array is engraved and constantly in operation."

Bella's voice was calm and clear. "This magic circle continuously provides energy for my sister and me, sustaining our lives, while this gem continuously powers the magic circle. Therefore, this gem creates an extremely stable environment for us, perfectly suited for the survival of souls. Unlike dark magic, which brutally tears or cleanses souls, it acts like a... sophisticated preservation device. The continuous supply of natural power prevents the natural dissipation of the souls attached to it, thus preserving memories and personalities for a long time."

She raised a hand shrouded in a white sleeve, as if sensing her own existence.

"So, we are more like... a well-preserved record, continuing to exist thanks to this gem. The magic circle inside is clearly far beyond the scope of conventional magic, and even most forbidden magic."

To illustrate this more clearly, she gently reached her hand towards the book "Tales of Magic" on the wooden table beside Harry's bed.

Harry watched with bated breath, only to see her seemingly solid, pale fingers, the instant they touched the book cover, effortlessly pierce through the thick book, as if passing through a layer of cool mist.

“Like this,” Bella withdrew her hand, her voice calm, “I don’t have a physical body made of matter as you understand it. I can choose to interact with the outside world in a limited way, such as levit like this, or let you ‘feel’ my presence, but fundamentally, I cannot truly touch or move any object in physical form. I am just a…spiritual phantom that retains all its memories and thoughts.”

Harry looked at the intact book, then at Bella's unchanging fingers that pierced through the back of the book. His previous question about how she levitated finally received a clear and shocking answer.

This seemingly unremarkable pendant likely possesses an unimaginably high level of magic, capable of sustaining the existence of a soul.

When a person dies, their soul will also disappear; this is an irresistible law of nature!

This gem can actually defy the laws and allow the soul to survive!

And what kind of being is the person who created it?

more importantly--

Why is all of this entangled with me?