There was a secret entrance inside the manor but it was heavily guarded. On top of that, there was a magic scanner held there to check people. It was mostly used for people with stealth since illusion skills were pretty rare. The front entrance was also guarded but not magically guarded. This was due to appearances.

Lord Felis was a poor noble trying to recover his family's wealthy. While he had made some definite headway it was not enough to have high levels of magic security. For him to have it would draw suspicion, so it was kept to the hidden entrance and select rooms in the manor. On top of that, Lord Felis's Inspect ability was its own security. But she already had a plan for that, before arriving at the manor she pulled up Finder and asked for the locations of her father and Lord Felis. So, she was ready to find both.

Ember felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. When she thought about the best way to enter the manor, she decided that there was only one option. She planned to walk straight through the front gate.

Ember guided the horse through the gates of Felis Manor. With a practiced ease, she used the hand signal of the guards. Right away, she was let in. As soon as she passed the gate, two guards stepped forward with polearms though they kept them at their side.

"I thought you wouldn't be back until the morning, Captain Welks," One of the guards asked. His voice was casual but there was a hint of wariness.

Ember tapped her throat and mouthed. 'Hit with a potion. Can't talk. Need an antidote.'

She had to repeat herself multiple times and do a little charade before the guards got it.

The guards looked surprised. "You were hit with a potion?"

She nodded with an annoyed sigh and then gave a toothy grin and tapped the shield across her back. She was pretty sure the guards must've heard about the soul weapon. Right now, people would know it was a shield and that it changed shape but since she hadn't shown people anything but the shield part then it was likely that was all they knew.

Ember slid off her horse and held out the buckler and then she had Mally turn into a tower shield and then a kite shield before returning it back into a buckler. She needed to make them think that all Mally could turn into were shields.

One of the guard's eyes went wide while the other whistled.

"You got the soul weapon. Well losing your voice is a small price for getting your hands on that." There was a hint of envy in the guard's voice.

Ember looked at him sharply. She gave him a smile that was all teeth.

The guard backed up and his gaze darted to the manor as if he wanted to flee. "The steward has already left for the night but Ronnie should be able to get you something."

Ember glared at the guard and then gave him a jovial smile, slapping the man on the back using her full strength. The man stumbled a little and laughed nervously.

With a nod, she left her horse with one of the guards and continued to the manor. Stepping inside, she didn't get very far before the butler appeared next to her. Once again, she mouthed her fake story about it and the butler called for Ronnie but she waved him away and began making her way in the direction she knew Ronnie would be.

Honestly, she wanted to head straight to the dungeon but she needed to keep up appearances. So, she stood outside the small alchemy lab and slammed her fist on the door. The two guards outside the door didn't flinch, used to Welks coming there. There was the sound of shuffling feet and then a boy opened the door.

"Welks!" he said in surprise. "You're already back?"

She nodded and stepped inside.

The boy was around 13 years old and his power in the manor was on par with Lord Felis. It wasn't because he was a Seedling, but because he was a genius alchemist that was lent to Lord Felis by his sponsor. If anything happened to the boy, Lord Felis would have hell to pay.

Ember considered killing him. It would be the easiest way to get revenge on Lord Felis. His sponsor would turn his back on him and likely kill him.

"You okay, Welks?"

Ember shook her head and patted to her throat. 'Need an antidote. Hit with a mute spell.'

The boy looked confused and then brightened. "Oh! I see. Let me just. He turned and began going through his bottle."

With his back turn, Ember moved beside him and casually put her hand on his shoulder. "Sleep."

The boy's head whipped around in surprise and then he crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Ember grabbed the boy and dragged him behind some crates so he would be hidden from sight. She then hurried and grabbed several refill and health potions, shoving them into her satchel. She looked at the boxes and then went to one, pulling it open. The box had the usual refill and health potion but there was a strange green potion and an orange potion that looked like lava. She grabbed one of each and put it in the satchel.

Ember had no idea what the potions did so she wouldn't be drinking them but she knew they would come in handy later. Those potions were important she knew because they were part of the smuggling ring that Lord Felis was part of. Unfortunately, these were potions she hadn't encountered. Later on, Ronnie made a potion that was double a person power and it they focused on selling it almost exclusively. It had a lot of side-effects but Ronnie had worked himself nearly to death trying to perfect it. At that time, Ronnie was moved to a different location and she never saw him again.

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She never knew much about the kid since he had been in his lab all the time. He didn't seem like a prisoner but to outsiders maybe she hadn't either. She glanced at the boy but shook her head. She couldn't afford to get distracted. Besides, whoever his sponsor was, was the same one who was supporting Lord Felis. A powerful noble who she had never managed to find the name of. All she knew was that if she took the golden child, it would be even worse than the hunt that went after her when she killed Lord Felis in her tyrant life.

With that in mind, Ember turned away and made her way out of the room, being careful to close the door behind her. Outside the two guards didn't give her a second glance. Welks really did have a lot of authority here that not even Ronnie's guards seemed wary. Or perhaps it was just that Welks came here often. She knew he often had potions on him and it wasn't hard to know where he got them from.

Before she took a step, one of the guards cleared his throat and pointedly looked at her satchel. A wave of panic went through her. Did they want the potions? They had to have known he took some but he always had potions. There had to be...Then it dawned on her.

She opened the satchel and pulled out several coins. Then she patted the man's shoulder before handing the coins over to him and the other guard. With that she stepped away and the guards didn't stop her this time.

Relief flooded Ember as she walked away. That had been close. Eventually people were going to notice how strange she was acting. What she needed to do was to get to her father fast. She fished out a refill potion and drank it. She felt a rush as magic filled her once more, toping her off. The next part was going to be tricky.

Ember then hurried down to the dungeons. The dungeons were guarded with two guards in the front and two that walked the length of it. More guards were added depending on the number of prisoners and their importance.

She stepped forward and as soon as she did the man came forward.

"Welks, you here to give Lord Felis favorite your special treatment?" The guard said with a chuckle.

The other guard shook his head. "Lord Felis already had a go at him. I didn't think he would send someone else."

Ember kept walking forward as they talked until she was standing between them. Then her hand snaked out, grabbing both. "Sleep."

The men tried to jerk away but before they could manage, they were sagging to the ground. Ember grabbed Mally and the soul weapon shifted to a sword. Disgust and anger coiled in her stomach. She could kill them right now. She wanted to kill them.

No. I can't.

It wasn't mercy but cautiousness. With Welks she didn't have a choice though she could admit that she would have killed him a hundred times over if given the chance. No, the reason she couldn't kill them was because her father would be tied to the murders if she did. they would think he escaped and killed them in the process. He would be labeled a murderer and she couldn't have that happen. So as much as she wanted to end their pathetic lives, she held back.

Instead, she fished into the man's pocket and pulled out a key. Instead of using it in the lock, she instead she grabbed one of the guards, dragging him to the stone wall. She looked over the stone until she found the stone she wanted then she pressed the key and the man's hand against the wall.

The door to the dungeons opened. Ember smiled. It was one of the tricks of Lord Felis's dungeon. Using the key in the lock would only set off an alarm. The true key to opening was a magic stone hidden in the wall. The man could be clever, something she had underestimated when it truly counted.

She pushed such thoughts away. Right now, she was fixing her mistake. She would think about the rest later. One-by-one, she pulled the guards into the stairway before shutting the door behind her. People would notice the guards were gone but it should buy her a bit of time compared if people found them slumped on the ground.

Taking another refill potion, Ember took a deep breath and then hurried down the stairs. She looked around, quickly locating the guards. There were two but they were a distance away from each other. She would have to get them closer so she could knock them out at the same time.

"Welks!" One of the guards said, looking surprise. "Lord Felis didn't mention you would be coming down here."

Ember simply shrugged and walked forward with a confident stride.

The guard frowned at the response and then looked at his sword. "What's that for?"

Ember still didn't speak but just kept moving forward. The guard immediately went for his sword. "Welks, I said what's the sword for? Why are you down here?"

This got the other guard's attention and he hurried down to join the other. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. Welks is acting strange," the other guard said with his sword raised.

Ember dropped her sword and raised her hands.

The guards looked confused but stepped forward, their swords still raised. "What's gotten into you, Welks?"

She simple smiled and lowered her hand or that's what it looked like she was doing. Then a ball of flame streaked to the pair. One of the guards jumped to the side, avoiding the flame while the other was hit, letting out a loud scream. Ember scooped up her sword and ran forward.

Her sword slashed up, blocking a strike from the guard who had dodged. Ember twisted and kicked at the man's knee he backed up and it gave her enough room, to grab the guard hit with her flame. She pulled him forward and shoved him into the other man while using sleep on him. The uninjured guard stumbled back, trying not to stab his companion but instead found himself thrown off balance.

Ember shot forward, but the guard swung. She blocked his strike and then pushed forward, using his broken stance to get close. It was enough room to close the gap and touch the guard. It only took a moment, and then the guard was unconscious.

Ember looked at the pair before going to the burned guard and putting out the flames before they could kill him. She then fished out a health potion and poured it on the man. With that she moved around the cells until she found him.

"Have you come to kill me, Welks?" her father asked with a dark chuckle. "He couldn't wait to get rid of me."

Her father was on his knees, his hands shackled behind his back. His face was covered in bruises and there were slashes in his flesh as if he had been whipped. It had only been one day! Ember's entire body shook and she forced herself to calm down and fish out the key. This time the lock was just a lock. She twisted the key and stepped in.

Her father lifted his head glaring at her. "If you expect me to beg then you'll be disappointed."

"I'm sorry," Ember said.

Confusions, crossed her father's face.

"I was too confident and I let this happen to you."

Her father's face twisted into disbelief. "Ember?"

Ember stepped further into the cell and dropped her illusion. "Dad. It's me. I-I'm a Seedling."