Chapter 14 – Soul Awakening

Agatha

Agatha felt her body go numb at the scene before her. She had come to this meeting with a plan. But her plans were derailed the moment he stepped into the room. From the moment she saw him coming out of the anthill, she concluded he was a noble. His calm demeanor and confidence were obvious giveaways to his lineage. And when it was revealed that he assassinated the ant queen, even the most clueless idiot could tell that he had been trained extensively to carry out solo missions. After all, noble houses seeded their heirs as participants in these newly integrated worlds for the rare titles. The process was a well-guarded secret, but it essentially allowed them to harvest the most benefit from this rare opportunity. However, every single assumption there onwards was completely wrong.

Coming from a prominent noble house herself, Agatha had vast knowledge and experience on how to deal with upstart and arrogant men and women in power. It always boiled down to one thing - finding what appeased them. For some it was flattery, others were hungrier for money and power. But he seemed to want neither. She even tried relying on the most common feature of all nobles. Their fear of those above their station. But even in that he was different. It was a sort of unsaid multiversal law, to bow down to those above, and prey on those below. And that is what she wrongly assumed he would be like.

She had witnessed firsthand the cruelty and greed of her own family. And even though she wanted to stop it herself, she had no power, political or otherwise. She was a nobody in a house full of predatory monsters. So, she learned to live under the radar and use politics to protect herself and those around her. She became quite good at it too. Until the fateful day when she turned 11. Of all the classes she could have chosen, she had naively gone with the Soulweaver and Pathfinder classes. The former allowed her to read into souls and subtly weave them, while the latter allowed her to find and direct someone towards their true path. She had chosen these classes because she truly believed that every soul had infinite potential. If she could just prove it to her family, she hoped that they would treat those below them with more dignity and respect.

That was when she learned how much of a naïve idiot she was. Her family, who had all but ignored her till this point, locked her up in a gilded cage. Their words were sweet, but due to her soul powers she could clearly sense the all-consuming greed within their souls. She was forced to try boosting the latent potential of promising youngsters within their ranks by helping them find their path. In the inner circles of the powerful noble houses, they had a different term for it – Soul Awakening. It was when a person managed to leave their inner soul space and achieve true mastery of themselves.

The only flaw in their grand plan was that no matter how hard she tried, she could never trigger anyone’s soul to awaken. She could see the end result, but she never succeeded in letting anyone achieve it. This frustrated the upper echelon of her family, who then decided to use her in a different way. To weed out any potential competition from other noble houses, and even the commoners. She tried resisting, going as far as to try to kill herself, but their grip on her was absolute. She was nothing but a tool for them, one that they couldn’t afford to lose at any cost.

Even so, she bided her time patiently, waiting for any chance to break free from their clutches. But they monitored her every move like vultures. The one place they couldn’t look, was within her soul, her last refuge. And so, she molded her own soul and put absolute restrictions on herself, making it impossible for her to negatively impact any soul. It took her 15 years, till finally she succeeded. The spell was complete when they tried forcing her to cull the growth potential of a five-year-old boy, Eskad. He was the son of someone in their employment, and they feared his potential. But when they found the self-imposed limits she had placed on herself without their knowledge, they were furious. She was of no use to them now, so she was abandoned. And had it not been for Eskad’s parents, she would have died. However, the adventuring duo lost their lives in trying to save both her and Eskad. Their last wish was for her to protect their son.

The only stroke of luck was that her family assumed she and Eskad had died too. Which let them escape into the wider world. She was much older than Eskad, so she protected him the best she could. She got a new family – the adventurer’s guild. A group of rowdy men and women who lived as they pleased. She liked it there, and would do anything to protect them. And using her political skills she had a meteoric rise to finally reach where she was now. She was with Eskad every step of the way, helping and guiding him on his path to power. But she could never truly let him achieve his one true path. The very thing she was witnessing right now.

“We tie our fates to yours,” she heard Eskad, and his team declare with conviction before killing the elf.

But her eyes were glued to the four awakened souls. She had known them for a long time and tried helping them on many occasions. But she never succeeded in accomplishing what the man managed with just a few words. The weirdest thing was, she didn’t detect any soul manipulation from him. The masked man, Ashryn, just stood there, calmly analyzing the situation. And like before she detected no emotion from him at all. His soul was like a dark abyss from which nothing escaped. She knew he was a soul mage, but everything else was shrouded in darkness.

Soul Awakenings were rare in the multiverse. And everyone who succeeded in achieving it was a powerhouse. And for four awakenings to occur simultaneously, there had to be a catalyst. And she had no doubt in her mind that he was the catalyst. Agatha was mesmerized by the display of power. Berserkers were a force on the battlefield, their only flaw being the loss of control. Similarly, fire mages were severely limited by the need of a conduit to harness the flames from. As for earth mages, the ground was everywhere. But it seldom yielded to the call of the caster.

Which is why the current scene was that impressive. If any of the noble houses were to witness this, they would pay any price to bring the four under their control. Failing which, they would stop at nothing to destroy them. And the four in question had submitted willingly to one man. A man who didn’t demand anything in return, except doing what is right.

“What is your answer?" she heard Lord Ashryn ask her in his usual calm and detached voice. There was no malice, no threat in it. But the weight of those words nearly made her knees buckle.

“I…,” she tried responding. But couldn’t get the words out of her mouth. She looked deep within herself to see what was holding her back. It was fear.

“You have always protected me, Lady Agatha. Going as far as to restrict your own power to save me from a wretched fate. You have guided me and my team when we needed it most,” Eskad spoke up while turning to her. If she couldn’t sense that he was in control, she would have been absolutely terrified of the hulking red monstrosity before her. “So, let me be your guide for once. I feel that this is the best way forward.”

“And what of the retaliation from the elves of Glendwyr?” Agatha asked solemnly.

“And what has fearing people like them ever gotten us?” Elara asked in a tone dripping venom and hate. “We tried playing by their rules, we bent the knee and complied to all their demands. But in the end, we were still victims of their schemes. We lost a party member to escape them. But their schemes reached us all the way here too. Death would have been easier than what we were put through.”

Agatha looked away in shame, for she knew the truth behind it. She had seen Eskad’s party go from one power hungry noble house to the next, trying her best to protect them using politics. But she had failed in the end. She knew she had let them down, and that is why she had so desperately tried to get this opportunity to come here. But their far-reaching claws had reached all the way here too.

“Very well then,” she finally complied with a sigh. “You have followed me everywhere. And it has not worked out for the best so far. This once, I will follow your advice, Eskad.”

The giant man had a broad smile on his face at the declaration. She wasn’t fully sold on the idea yet. But she wanted to see where this road led. For she was curious too. Curious about the man who could trigger 4 people to awaken and find their path.

“I will follow your lead, Lord Ashryn,” she said with a bow. “But know that the welfare of my people will always take precedence. Having said that, you can rest assured that I will not betray your trust or try any secret schemes,” she said honestly.

“Very well then. It is settled,” the man said dismissively while walking out the door with the city admin. Agatha saw his departure in silent contemplation.

“How sure are you that whoever is backing him can protect us when the trial ends,” she asked Eskad when she was sure he couldn’t hear them.

“Backing him? What do you mean?” Eskad asked in confusion.

“The noble house he is from. They must be strong indeed not to fear retaliation from Glendwyr,” Agatha clarified her question.

“Heh. I do not think he is a noble at all,” Eskad replied with a smile, further confusing Agatha.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“What do you mean? It is obvious from his behavior that he has a backer,” Agatha said as horror started to take root with the realization of what Eskad was saying.

“Nope. My instincts tell me he is not a noble. Moreover, he is younger than what we are assuming,” Eskad said with a wink. He turned towards the retreating figure, his soul leaking nothing but respect and admiration. “He is an awakened. And his burden is far greater than ours. Which means he will reach heights none of us can imagine.”

Agatha looked towards the corridor the duo were walking down. Lord Ashryn chose that exact moment to look back, his eyes boring into her. For a moment she thought she saw a mischievous smile appear on his featureless mask. But it was gone before she could register it, making her doubt she ever saw it. She wondered if she had made the right call. But alas, it was too late to backtrack anyway.

………………

Aenon

Aenon walked down the busy corridor slowly. His advanced hearing allowed him to listen in on the conversation between the people in the room. And what he heard impressed him. The berserker was a perceptive one, correctly guessing his origins as well as age. He wasn’t sure what an awakened was, but it didn’t matter to him at the moment. What he cared more about was Agatha’s reaction. And thankfully, he didn’t detect any hint of betrayal from her. Shock and awe, sure. But she didn’t consider betraying him, which was a point in her favor,

He momentarily turned towards her and displayed a smile on his mask to let her know that he had heard them. But it was too brief for anyone else to notice. He then proceeded towards the mansion’s main door, with Henry dutifully following behind him. The mansion looked very different from earlier now, because it was bustling with activity. Even though none of the refugees dared to come in his path, he could clearly sense them all. Some even dived into random rooms when they sensed him approach. Probably too scared to face the owner of the house.

Everyone except one. Aenon detected a tiny soul following him, radiating a lot of hesitation and fear. But there was something else too, which made Aenon stop in his tracks. He slowly turned around to face the mini stalker who was sneaking along. It was a little girl, no older than 5 or 6. And she froze the moment Aenon turned towards her. She was clutching something behind her back and was filled with dread at having been caught. Henry was about to go talk, when Aenon stopped him with his hand. He walked up and kneeled before her.

“Hello little one. You got something for me?” he asked softly.

The kid started trembling in fear, refusing to reveal her hand. Henry was behind him, and no one was in the corridor besides them. So Aenon removed his mask for the first time in a while. Showing a warm smile to the terrified kid. And it had the exact effect he intended. The kid calmed down and stared in wonder, finally feeling relaxed.

“Well?” he asked with a smile while also extending a hand towards her. The kid snapped out of her shock and revealed what she was holding sheepishly. It was a crudely made bracelet of stones, held together by a weak thread.

“I made this for you,” she said while presenting the gift with both hands while bowing. “For letting my granny live inside where it is warm. It is a good luck charm, to keep you safe.”

Aenon took the bracelet gingerly, careful not to fray the already weak thread. It was made from stuff you would normally find on the roadside. But for the little girl, it was probably a prized treasure. He took it with a smile and gently patted her head.

“Thank you. I will treasure this greatly,” he said while putting it on his wrist. He injected some mana to reinforce it, making sure it would not fall apart. The action brought a bright smile on the kid’s face, who hugged him and ran down the corridor towards a room. Aenon sensed a frail old soul within it, no doubt the little girl’s grandmother.

He stood up and put on his mask before turning towards Henry. The man had a complex look on his face, his soul a mixture of confusion and admiration. When he saw Aenon looking at him, he snapped to attention and bowed.

“You can give it to me, my liege. I will keep the trinket safe,” he said while extending his hand.

“Why?” Aenon asked.

“Huh?” Henry replied with a frown. “I assumed you would not want to wear it. Merely putting it on to keep the kid happy.”

“Nope. This is mine, and I know how to keep my things safe,” Aenon replied while looking down at the odd trinket, smiling internally. “Time to get down to business. Direct me towards the closest blacksmith, I need my daggers fixed,” Aenon finally said while turning towards Henry.

The city admin recovered quickly and called for someone through something that was attached to his hip. It was a strange crystal with something engraved on it. It looked remarkably similar to the crystal that Allie had left behind for the village admin to contact her. So perhaps a communication device, like the cell phones back on Earth. They resumed their walk towards the door, where a maid was waiting for them.

It was the same one that had addressed Aenon before his breakfast. She stood attentively by the door, with her hands clasped in front of her. When they approached, Aenon detected a hint of a smile before she went back to a formal expression. Henry addressed her as they reached the door.

“You will escort Lord Ashryn to the market to help him with his chores. Start with the blacksmith,” Henry said in a formal tone. “I assume you have brought the storage ring with all the supplies.? Excellent.”

Aenon took the ring from the woman, whose name he still didn’t know, and inspected it. His eyes widened when he realized the thing had a grid of 20 by 20 for storage. When compared to his 5 by 5 inventory, this was a massive upgrade. It already had about 20 slots filled with food and other necessities like a tent, and tinder for starting a fire. He was fully capable of building his own shelter but wouldn’t say no to finally having some proper camping gear. He nodded in acknowledgement towards Henry, who excused himself to go start his day meeting the long line of people.

“What’s your name?” Aenon asked the maid, who was looking ahead impassively as she led the way out of the building.

“My name, sire?” she asked while stumbling, probably not expecting the question.

“Yes,” Aenon replied simply.

“Annabelle, sire. Although my friends call me Anna…,” she slapped her lips shut in shock and horror. Bowing deep she continued hurriedly, “Forgive my insolence. I did not mean to imply…”

“You are not really a maid, are you?” Aenon asked.

“Uh, no. I mean, yes. I mean, I am a maid currently. But I wasn’t until last month. I was helping my parents with their leather working shop, when I was… uh… reassigned to serve in the mansion,” the woman replied uncomfortably.

That explained her odd behavior when compared to the other mansion servants. Looking at her beauty, and knowing the creep who was the previous mayor, Aenon didn’t have to ask further to understand the situation.

“Let’s go then,” Aenon said to change the topic. She quickly fell in line ahead of him, but he could clearly tell she was kicking herself internally at her gaffe. She was probably being trained by the others in the mansion, but she had not mastered maid etiquette or behavior yet. She stumbled again when Aenon casually added, “Although, lets head over to your parents’ shop first.”

Aenon sensed her holding in her curiosity and not ask the question she definitely wanted to know. But Aenon didn’t expand on his command. He just followed in silence, as she led him on with dread. After a 15-minute walk, they finally reached a quite little part of town, where a bunch of shops were hawking their businesses. Throughout their march, the people avoided him like the plague, silently staring at him from the shadows.

“This is the shop, sire,” she finally said while stopping before a shop that had obviously seen some better days. “Might I be bold enough to ask, why we are here?” she added with a lot of trepidation.

But Aenon didn’t reply and just walked in. The shop was a mess, with goods scattered around haphazardly. The crafter was obviously skilled, but the shop’s maintenance left a lot to be desired. Plus, there were no customers to speak of and the only attendant, a boyishly young man, was soundly asleep at the counter. The scene made Anna frown, as she looked around in sadness and worry, momentarily forgetting who she was with.

“Papa, are you there?” she called out with cupped hands. The attendant was startled awake while a commotion could be heard in the back as a disheveled man fell over various objects while making his way out. Aenon quietly blended into the background, as the man’s eyes landed on nothing but Anna.

“My sweet child. You are here,” the man wept as he hugged his daughter.

Looking at her father, even Anna began to cry as she started reassuring him that she was ok. That went on for about 5 minutes before Anna finally realized her position. She turned around to apologize but was stunned when she found Aenon inspecting a leather boot with intense concentration, completely ignoring the two.

“Do you have this in black,” Aenon quipped when he saw the two were finally done with their reunion and were staring at him instead.

Anna was the first to recover, “Um, yes. My father should be able to make it,” she said weakly, confusion apparent on her face. His nonchalant attitude probably threw her off completely.

“Oh good,” Aenon said as he put down the shoe and stepped a few shelves over, completely disappearing from view. He could clearly sense the pair’s feelings but decided not to comment on it. Instead, he added, “I might take a while to peruse the goods here. Say, 60 minutes. You are free to leave and come back at your leisure.”

The woman finally understood the meaning, as she hurriedly came to the aisle he was in. She gave a deep bow, before running off at top speed while dragging her father towards the houses down the street, leaving a confused attendant, and a grinning Aenon in the shop. The young man soon got his wits about him, and he stepped up to point out the details of any goods that Aenon picked.

After roughly 40 minutes, the poor guy breathed a sigh of relief as Anna came back with her father, and an older woman in tow. Their eyes were red and swollen but had wide smiles on their faces. As one they all bowed before Aenon, who calmly regarded them. Before they could say anything further, he spoke.

“You are free to remain behind with your parents,” he said in a reassuring tone. But it was the father who spoke first.

“Forgive me, Lord Ashryn. But I would much rather have her serving you,” the man said with another bow. “My only concern was her safety. But with what I have heard from her about you, and your action of letting us meet, I am reassured that she will be safe.”

“If that is what you wish,” Aenon said while nodding in acknowledgement.

“Besides, this way she will stop wrecking my precious leather,” the man added with a grin which made his daughter blush.

Aenon chuckled dryly before Anna’s mother too started thanking him profusely. Aenon tried his best to dismiss their concerns and stop them from thanking him. Only after he assured them that she could come and visit whenever she wished, did they manage to extricate themselves from the shop. The last thing he heard before leaving was the renewed man shouting at his hired help, a new vigor in his voice.

“Lord Ashryn…,” Anna said when they were in a slightly secluded part of town. When Aenon turned to face her, she bowed yet again and said, “Thank you. For everything.”

And this time there were tears dripping down on the ground. Aenon placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. After she wiped her tears and walked ahead, he looked at the bracelet on his wrist before looking up at the sky.

“It appears not all shackles are bad,” he told Bane mentally.

“No. They are not, Alpha,” Bane replied from his shadow.