Evelyn ducked under the wooden training sword, countering with a thrust of her rapier. Her instructor casually slapped it aside with her bare palm. Evelyn allowed the weight of her thin rapier to spin her around to deliver a powerful kick, which the instructor countered by simply taking a casual step backward.
Not expecting to kick nothing but air, Evelyn fell forward. Her rapier fell from her grasp, clattering across the training area’s dirt. She only barely saved her face from hitting the dirt.
“It was a good attempt little lady.” Her instructor teased.
Evelyn rolled over to her back, breathing heavily with closed eyes. She had been sparring with the instructor every day since she turned fifteen. Not once had she managed to land a blow, making one of the three Abilities she had obsolete. And it was the only combat Ability she had.
[Mana Infusion] allowed her to infuse her own Mana into her attacks, directly attacking the opponent’s body and practically negating armor. However, the attack actually had to land for it to work, though the spell still took Mana, even if it failed.
Luckily, while her [Mana Infusion] was slow to level, her [Healer’s Touch] had leveled by leaps and bounds. She had to touch the person, but her healing was quite effective for a Novice’s Spell. She could even heal herself, which she did so at every chance while she was with the instructor.
However, her last spell, the spell that Evelyn felt was the core of her Class, [Soul Seed] was halted. Through close meditation, Evelyn was able to figure out what the spell did, without having to use it. And she never wanted to.
[Soul Seed] allowed Evelyn to split her soul into ten parts. That alone was excruciating, and she could only do it one at a time. She could then take that part of her own soul and implant it into another person.
The effect was that the person would obey her. Not mindlessly, if given a task, they could go about it in their own unique way. It was more effective if the person was unaware of the Seed. The Seed could be removed by those experienced in matters of the soul, but those were few and far between. And after a year of implanting, it became permanent.
It was slavery.
Evelyn shivered in disgust at the thought of using that spell.
The only solace was that those that were implanted also received a benefit. With each level, instead of two points per stat, they received three points per Prime Stat. And with each level one of her slaves achieved, Evelyn would get a single Free Point.
On the surface, that was not much. But she could implant ten people, and if they were all level one, by the time they were all Adepts. That would be one hundred and ninety Free points, and Evelyn would not have to lift a finger. Potentially, Evelyn could become the strongest Novice in all of existence.
Her logical mind was shouting at her to use it while her emotional mind was begging her not to. She was torn, and she was frozen, unable to make a decision.
Only Luke knew about the Spell, and he had sworn to her on his late mother that he would not tell a soul. She had confided in him, hoping for him to tell her what to do, but he was the same as her. At least until last night.
The night before, he had snuck out of his quarters and knocked on her door, something that his stepmother would have beat him for.
‘It is not gentlemanly for a man to be in a woman’s room at night.’ She would say.
But he had done so anyway. He had finally realized something. Evelyn’s greatest hangup about the Spell was removing someone’s free will to their own life. Luke had come to the realization that there were plenty of people who were sentenced to death. People who were going to die anyway.
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As the Duke, his father had the full authority to pardon any one of them. And if he thought doing so would benefit Evelyn, he would not hesitate to do so. They did not even have to tell the Duke the actual reason. And it was not like they had to be treated as slaves. They could be treated as friends and allies.
Under the influence of the Seed, they would have to obey Evelyn, but if they did not know about the Seed, to them, it would seem as if it was their idea to obey and keep her secrets.
After Luke had told her his plan, he had puffed up his chest in pride. But Evelyn was more hesitant. She had to admit, that using the Spell on those who were already scheduled to die would be a mercy, in a way.
But the Seed was permanent, not even she could remove it. Once it was done, that was it. Nothing would reverse that.
And that scared Evelyn.
But in the end, the world was a harsh place. Her Seed might make them a slave to her will, but outside of that, they would still be their own person. They could still live their own life. And by using death row convicts, she would be giving them a second chance.
The number of low-level Novices sentenced to death were low, but certainly not unheard of. Some were forced to commit their crimes due to necessity. Others simply enjoyed it. But the world did not allow civilization to simply contain these miscreants. There were many better places to put resources into.
Taking a deep breath, she sat up from the dirt. Her time with the instructor was over for the day, and she had come to her decision.
She would use the Seeds, she would grow stronger, and once she did, she would return to her family, showing them why they should not have given her away.
Evelyn stood up with purpose, intent to find Luke and discuss the details, but just as she took as step, she felt an immensely strong feeling, causing her to stumble.
It had come from the south-east.
Looking around, she saw that no one else seemed to notice.
The feeling felt distant, more so than she had ever traveled, but no less powerful.
She was not even sure how to describe it. Overwhelming grief, joy, fear, and hope. All bundled into one, and all felt within a mere moment, vanishing the very next.
She turned to face the south-east.
One of the other training soldiers walked pasted, but Evelyn caught his attention.
“Pardon me sir, but what is to the south-east of here?”
The soldier thought for a moment, wiping off the sweat from his workout with a towel, “Lets see here. There is Hasal.”
“No, further than that.” She specified, a strange look of confusion on her face as she somehow knew that.
“Vrens? Its right on the border.”
“Border to what?”
“The Independent lands. Pretty much just a couple of villages and cities that don’t owe their allegiance to any nation. Powerful, considering they have to be self-sufficient and defend themselves against the Monsters.” The soldier shrugged.
“What city is there?” Evelyn eagerly asked, a fire burning in her eyes.
“That would be Onigas. In fact, they just recently came under siege from Taria. It’ll be a costly battle, but personally I think that Taria will capture the city.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Because they are scared of us!” The Soldier decreed with pride, “If they capture Onigas, they are in a position to attack Vrens if we launch an army into their north. Basically, it’s just a prevention move. They take Onigas, and they severely limit our own ability to attack them.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem kiddo!”
The Soldier waved and walked away, leaving a thoughtful Evelyn behind.
‘Onigas huh? What is it?’
Evelyn pondered what it could be as she walked to her quarters. It was a lengthy walk as her quarters were within the center of the Duke’s residence, far from the training grounds. She could have walked directly to Luke’s quarters, but she was sweaty and dirty, and wanted to wash first.
Something had happened in Onigas, she was sure of it. Something that pertained directly to her. Her Special Constitution made her more sensitive to that sort of thing. But as she pounded her mind, she could not think of a single reason for anything as distant as Hasal to pertain to her, let alone even further away in Onigas.
She reached her door and made her way to the washroom, quickly filling the beautifully carved tub with the enchantments. Removing her filthy clothes and depositing them into the laundry bin, she submerged herself. She always thought better while in the hot water of the bath.
But it did not help in this case. As she soaked, she became more sure about using the Seeds, but she was no longer worried about it. The sensation from Onigas had completely taken the forefront of her mind.
To add further to the strangeness, she could not help but feel as if it meant her no harm. Somehow, she knew that whatever had caused the feeling would protect her.
She knew practically nothing about the sensation she had felt, there was simply too little information and too many possibilities, even if those possibilities were farfetched.
But one thing she knew for certain, whatever had caused the sensation, would come for her. And it would change everything.