I had a healthy respect for mages. Especially when I had no idea exactly how powerful they were. This mage, though, was badly wounded. He was fleeing for his life from a demonic invasion. He was trapped in a tunnel, struggling just to walk.

So I did the only thing that made sense to me at the time.

I rushed him.

The disdain that spread across his face told me exactly how he felt about that. But he must’ve been more than just a pampered researcher, since even with the rapidly approaching threat, he managed to raise a glowing hand.

A spell shattered in front of me, its jagged edges spreading like cracks through air. I barely threw myself aside in time. One of the edges brushed against my bare upper arm, disintegrating a line of flesh instantly.

I had to bite back a scream as I turned my forward roll into a spring. Leaping towards the mage, I brought my sword down on his left hand.

The man had all of a moment to sneer at me before his hand hit the ground, and he screamed. My blade had sheared right through the faint glow he probably thought would protect him. He clutched the bleeding stump, staring wide-eyed at his severed hand.

This meant he wasn’t focusing on me. My position made it difficult to swing again immediately, but I could and did slam the pommel of my sword directly into his face. A purple glow covered his skin right before impact, but whatever property my sword possessed that allowed it to tear through soul-stuff clearly applied to the whole weapon, not just the blade.

The mage screamed again when his nose crunched in a spray of blood. He reeled backwards, his head hitting the wall with a satisfying crack. Hopefully, the impact would stun him for at least a moment.

I took a step closer, looming over him, and raised my sword above my left shoulder for a decapitating blow.

That’s when my luck ran out.

This time, when the mage screamed, his voice manifested as a wall of purple force that slammed into my chest and took me right off my feet. I hurtled away and up, hitting the ceiling of the tunnel with an even sharper crack.

To add insult to injury, the asshole known as ‘gravity’ immediately reasserted its control, and I plummeted to the grimy ground of the tunnel. The crash rattled my bones. Plate armor is great only until it lands on you and knocks the breath out of your lungs. If it weren’t for the superb leather undershirt I was absolutely going to thank Yules for, the plate probably would have dug straight through my skin.

I didn’t have a ton of time to groan on the ground. I could already hear the crackling of mana. Pushing myself sideways, I managed to roll away just before a spell gouged through the stone I had been lying on.

I raised my blurry eyes and cursed when I spotted the mage staggering to his feet. He was in even worse shape and had an unfocused look in his eyes, but those eyes were glowing angrily with the color of his elemental mana, so he was still a formidable threat.

I threw myself forward, desperate to take him out before he could wrestle himself under control and decimate me with a major spell. But the second I started moving, his eyes snapped into focus, glaring in my direction.

The look of pure hate he sent me was nearly enough to freeze me in place.

I pressed onward against my rising dread. His last spell had flung me too far away. There was nothing I could do to stop whatever was coming next as he raised his one good hand.

Then he stumbled.

His skin went deathly pale. His eyes almost rolled back into his skull. The glow of his mana flickered, stuttered, and went out.

I didn’t hesitate.

My sword came up. Forcing every bit of my mana into a boost of speed, I closed the distance between us in a single instant. His eyes cleared just in time to see my descending blade.

I didn’t quite manage to hit his neck, but my sword clearly didn’t care. It sheared right through his lower jaw and whatever else was in the way in a glorious shower of blood.

For once, I didn’t care how long it would take me to wash it all out. Even the stench and unidentified grime in the tunnel couldn’t stop my heart’s victorious drumming inside my chest.

The mage had been powerful. I wasn’t sure what kind of mana he’d been using, but it was far stronger than any human mage I had encountered so far. Something do with force? Or maybe… space?

The thought gave me pause.

All the demons had freaked out over a barrier, or ward, or whatever they liked to call it, made out of space mana. What would it mean for this city to have a spatial mana-wielding mage around? Were there more of them? I didn’t know.

What I did know was that If I hadn’t come across this particular mage when he was practically at death’s door, he could have obliterated me with a vague wave of his hand in my direction.

But I had conquered him. His soul was mine.

That heady realization sent my hand reaching towards my soul purse. Immediately, my muscles locked up as sparks of pain danced all over my rib cage. I resisted the urge to collapse and cry, but I failed to hold in a whimper.

Cracked ribs, at the very least. Maybe broken.

I purposefully did not go poking around to discover the extent of the damage. Hayden was trained in some basic first aid, but that was it. Since demons could just resurrect from any mortal wound, they weren’t all that invested in advanced medical training. Surprise, surprise. Sure, there were healers around, like the one Graighast sent to me after the Proving Grounds, but they were few and far between.

Gasping in pain, I rifled through the many pouches attached to my amazing belt and pulled out the only healing potion I possessed. Then I stared at the little vial, pondering. Was it really wise to use it now? It was supposedly capable of bringing people back from the brink of death. And it had cost me twenty souls. Could I justify chugging it over a few cracked ribs?

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In the end, with great reluctance, I put the potion away and staggered to my feet. It wasn’t that I didn’t value my health and wellbeing. I just didn’t want to waste the precious item, especially if the army was about to spend a few days resting.

Besides, I was an apprentice mage. The healing potion wasn’t my only option.

I did an experimental run of the body strengthening and mana gathering technique, focusing the mana flow on my rib cage. The strengthening technique dulled the pain and enabled me to move freely, while the mana gathering technique actually started a slow healing process in my ribs.

Good call on the potion.

Proud of myself for not squandering an important resource, I dipped my hand into my purse. The new soul was easy to identify. I pulled it out, marveling at how much bigger it was than the basic and lesser souls I already had.

Staring at the twisted face of the mage trapped inside the crystal, I had exactly one second to savor the elation that bloomed inside my chest before it was swept away by dread.

This was not a greater soul like Clarinette’s.

It was superior.

I could tell immediately. The size, the inner light, the spectacle of mana dancing in fractal patterns… considering what a desecration it was to trap a human soul like this, the crystal was stunningly beautiful.

But no matter how beautiful or useful it was, this soul was also liable to get me in trouble. In a few different ways.

For one thing, even a demon would be tempted by a superior soul. If anyone in the camp found out I had it, well… murder did net at least a portion of the souls trapped within a soldier’s purse.

And someone would find out. The demons had a way of tracking what each soldier earned during the invasion. Hell, it was probably the soul purses, which came from the army and which even demons carried around. I could still remember how the demoness in the bank who greeted me with, ‘Our system detects that you are currently in possession of 158 souls.’ Not a lot of room for misunderstanding there.

Of course, the soul wouldn’t have time to bite me in the ass if I could just hunker down, wait until the city fell and transformed, then beelined to the nearest Absorption Station. But I couldn’t. I didn’t have enough other souls to cover the cost of absorbing a superior soul.

I was also terrified to try.

Clarinette, a greater soul, had almost consumed me with her memories. If I really tried to absorb a superior soul, who would walk away from the station? Me, or a reincarnation of the mage I killed?

I shuddered at the thought. No, trying to claim the mage’s skills was not a viable option at the moment.

So what was? What should I do?

Anger flared in my chest. By all accounts, I should be praised for my actions. I managed to take out a powerful enemy mage, all on my own! But instead of enjoying my reward, all I could think of was how to avoid getting shanked at the first opportunity.

If I had the strength to defend myself, or if I could just gobble up the soul the way a demon could, I…

I let the thought trail off as a new option presented itself to me. Staring at the tunnel wall, I let the idea take shape in my mind.

Not a perfect solution. Not even a great one. But, it’s better than what I’ve got.

With a sigh, and then a groan of pain as my ribs reminded me that yes, they still hurt, I forced myself to start moving.

It didn’t take long to get back to the tunnel entrance, though wiggling through its opening was significantly more painful this time. I had no trouble retracing my steps along the channel and up the stairs to street level. Making my way out of the city and back to camp was not a chore, even if my ribs forced me to move at a leisurely pace.

The next part of my little scheme was going to be a bit trickier though.

Instead of heading towards my tent, I forced my feet in the direction of the partially assembled tent where the commanders were sitting to watch the conquest of the city. Only the rain-fly was actually attached to the tent poles, providing shade for the two demons as they lounged, drinks in hand.

It should have been a relaxing picture, but there was an underlying tension between the demons. Even the two guards they each had stationed at the perimeter of the tent seemed on edge. The scene felt more like bitter enemies sharing a drink than the fellowship of two brothers.

My mind swam as I walked towards them, struggling to remember all Hayden’s military etiquette lessons from his childhood. Thanks to those lessons, I knew to head directly towards the two guards who belonged to my commander. I also knew to keep my eyes down, my shoulders straight, and my head at the right angle.

My ribs really didn’t like any of the posturing.

“Excuse me, sir, I urgently need to speak to Sergeant Glaustro, if he can see me.” I addressed the guard closest to me, a demon completely covered in plate armor. This seemed to be a rarity among demon soldiers. I had only ever seen two other demons wear full plate.

I was keeping my eyes on the ground, but I could feel the weight of the demon’s gaze as he sized me up, trying to determine if a mere human was worth the commander’s attention.

Then, to my great shock, the commander’s voice rang out from within the ‘tent.’

“Oh, let him through, Dominique. If he’s wasting my time, I’ll take him apart myself.”

To my further shock, Glaustro sounded more amused than annoyed.

“Go on then,” the guard declared gruffly, and I scurried to obey before either of them could change their minds.

“Sergeant, sir.” I continued with the pointless pageantry, bowing my head when I was exactly two yards away from the demon.

“Proceed, soldier. I want you to know I wasn’t joking. This better be good. I was just about to enter the city myself and claim it as an outpost for our legion.”

The words were harsh, but they lacked some of the commander’s usual bite. Strange.

I took a deep breath, stepped forward, then fell on one knee. Reaching into my soul purse, I drew forth the mage’s soul and presented it with both hands, the way a poor subject might hold up an offering to a tyrant king.

“Sir, when I entered the city, I spotted tracks leading off into a rainwater channel. I decided to pursue, thinking that an enemy force might be trying to sneak out. Instead of mere soldiers, I encountered a powerful enemy mage trying to flee the city. I don’t know what he was looking for, but he was near death when I found him. That is the only reason I won. He wielded an unusual mana element which reminded me of the barrier we encountered, so I thought it best to present his soul to you.”

I concluded my speech and waited, heart thundering in my chest.

The idea had occurred to me when I remembered the ease with which demons could absorb souls. Power, memories… demons could slurp up both with no risk of identity displacement. And after witnessing the near panic caused by the barrier, I was banking hard on the notion that the commanders would want to know more about it. Maybe they would even reward a human who brought the info to them.

“You better not be lying to me, soldier. If you are just wasting my time…” The demon trailed off, but the eagerness in his voice gave me hope.

The soul was snatched away from me, and I let my arms fall while I dared a peek at the demons. Glaustro’s eyes blazed with desire as he stared at the soul in his hands. Graighast was watching his brother with equal intensity.

Then my commander threw the soul into his mouth and closed his jaws with a resounding crack. I had to blink several times as I struggled to conceal my astonishment. I’d heard demons use expressions like ‘devouring a soul,’ but I never understood how literal it was until that moment.

The demon closed his eyes and settled into his chair. The only sign of action was the wild twitching of his eyelids.

When he finally sighed and opened his eyes, I didn’t need the vicious smile on his face or any words of affirmation to validate my decision to bring the soul to him.

No, I had much more direct proof as my brand flared with a message.

Alert!

You have a new Merit added to your service record:

Berlis, city of Flaurmere siege contribution (Radiant Merit x1)