~~~Bradley~~~

-1 Soul

Bradley screamed and clutched at his chest as he fell to one knee. He wasn't the only one.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over. Silence fell. Almost.

Like a lingering echo of his screams, Lee's soul continued to cry out, even as his body went mercifully quiet and limp on the floor.

Bradley knew it was Lee's soul... He had known nothing about souls before this moment. He hadn't even known they existed. Now he knew far too much. Like the fact they could get attacked... or destroyed, and how much it would hurt if that happened.

Voices spoke. Discussing what should be done and what could be done. Bradley didn't understand the words. All he could hear was his own pounding heartbeat thundering in his ears. All he could see was the monstrous skeleton coming closer. All he could feel was that fading echo of pure, deadly rage. All he could remember was the towering building that loomed over the world and asked him to help...

He leaned on his staff to drag himself back to his feet while voices murmured nonsense around him. Then he turned and ran. He didn't just run; he fled for his life across the cement floor, up the ramp, and outside beneath the wide open sky.

There, he vomited into a bed of Saira's crops.

He gagged, heaved, and spit until nothing more would emerge from his stomach.

"Bradley?" A hand touched him along with the words, and Bradley didn't flinch away. He knew that voice. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. She was why he fought. The reason he would never give up.

I will fight for what I want and for what I care about. He straightened up with some difficulty. But he did it. "I... I'm okay."

Mar stood beside him, fully visible, her haunted expression likely a twin to his own. She was holding it together better than he was, but her arms squeezed him back with a desperate grip when he pulled her into a hug.

He stayed there, both of them holding on for dear life, until the trembling in their bodies eased. His frantic thoughts followed suit, calming in the warmth and strength of Mar's embrace. "Are you okay?"

She nodded silently into his chest before lifting her head to look at him. Moisture glistened in the corners of her eyes, but no tears fell. Instead, she leaned up and kissed him.

Then she stiffened and pulled violently free of his hug as she spun away from him. Bradley felt a riot of tumultuous emotions, from the sting of rejection to a panicked fear that she was dying. What if it had hurt her more than him? What if she didn't have enough soul!?

"Oh god," she gasped, bent over, and spit on the ground. "Your breath!"

Bradley froze. Oh, no. "I... I'm sorry!" His face felt like it might burst into flames—until Mar started laughing.

She laughed and straightened up before turning back to face him. She was smiling... and crying while she laughed. "I almost threw up!"

"Sorry..." He stopped talking when she crashed back into him and buried her face in his chest. Her body shook with silent laughter in his arms, but it didn't last. A single sob broke free... and the dam came undone. The shaking continued, and Bradley held her tight while she cried.

Mar pulled back some time later. She met his gaze with furtive glances, as if embarrassed, though he didn't know what she had to be embarrassed about... Her eyes flicked toward the garage, where voices still echoed.

Bradley turned with her and stared at the entrance. He had a brief flash where the opening looked alarmingly like a great maw waiting to devour them... It wasn't. He knew it wasn't. But it was definitely not what he'd thought until now.

He would never forget seeing Lee laying there, screaming within a vortex of power.

So much power had swirled around him, flowed towards him, sank into him, raged back out, and poured into a towering structure looming behind him, stretching to the heavens.

A tower that blotted out the sun and the sky. Everything and everyone... cast into its shadow.

Visions of horrifying monsters had danced through his mind. The old man fought against them, trapped in a dark place with another man that looked just like him and a pug... Together, they fought against the horrors. Together, they fought, and won.

Only somehow, they still lost.

Bradley saw and felt it all. The pain. The fear. The rage. The triumph. The... dying.

But then that looming tower reached out, touched him, and asked for his help. Bradley didn't know why he had agreed, whether it was the fear that felt so much like his own or just the peer pressure when he felt others instantly accepting.

In the end, he had done it, and now he was bound to the tower—to Three. To Lee.

With unspoken agreement, he and Mar walked hand in hand back into the garage. Back into the maw. Into the tower.

Bradley felt it the moment they crossed the threshold. That looming presence was still there. Waiting. He felt it stir at their entrance. Attention turning. Seeing.

It found him. Knew him. And nothing happened. The deadly attention that he felt... just passed over and moved on.

Together, they took another step. Then another.

Lee's screaming soul grew in volume with each step. Though it wasn't technically the volume that increased... Maybe intensity? He wasn't even sure if the sensation came from Lee or if it came from the link that bound their souls together. All of their souls.

It was faint, but he could feel it. Every person in the garage carried the mark. The same mark he did. They had all accepted. They all helped Lee.

"I cannot heal this," Saira said from where she crouched over Lee. She looked up at their approach, her eyes hard and her expression murderous. Something in her eased when her gaze landed on Mar, then her eyes shifted to Bradley.

Vines ran from her in red streamers that stretched through windows and all the way to her tree outside. Mana pulsed non-stop through the plants, enough that he could feel it even though it wasn't earth mana. Enough that it was frightening.

He refused to wilt or look away. Not like he always had before when confronted by the mother of his girlfriend. Instead, he squeezed Mar's hand tighter and met her gaze. I will fight for her. Against anyone or anything.

Saira nodded at him in a gesture Bradley wasn't entirely sure he hadn't imagined. Then Maria was speaking... in Spanish. She stopped mid-sentence while staring at the ceiling and sprinted from the garage a heartbeat later.

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Alejandro watched her go with a strange look on his face before turning back to the small crowd surrounding Lee. "He is losing soul points. I... I don't know what to do. Trak, do you know anything about... soul magic?"

The anubi looked even more dazed than Bradley felt, and he shook his head. "Not enough, my lord." He sprang to his feet. "But we will not rest until we discover a solution!"

"Okay," Alejandro said to the anubi's back as he vanished into the potion workshop. "Everyone put out the word for anyone with soul skills... until then... I guess we gather more cores? I don't know if it will help, but... maybe we can trade..."

Bradley stretched out his free hand and called to the stone staff he'd dropped earlier. The staff Lee had enchanted for him. It flew into his hand with a burst of mana. "I'll go."

"I'm going with you," Mar said, her hand tightening on his.

"Of course." He wouldn’t have it any other way.

...

~~~Saira~~~

Saira watched Mar vanish through the wall alongside Bradley and the other hunters, the stone parting around them and flowing back into place as they went.

It was the second day of nonstop hunting, and she wanted nothing more than to go with them. To keep Mar safe. But her place was here. Her power was here. She could keep Lee safe. Not that she was sure he needed protection. Not with that... building. Still, she could heal him... from most injuries.

Bradley would keep Mar safe, as he had before. He was a powerful young man, and he only grew stronger every day. Both in power and spirit.

Saira had only wished to help Mar emerge from her shell when she jokingly pointed the children at each other, both of them similarly shy and timid. She no longer felt that way. About either of them.

Not only did she and her daughter live thanks to that young man, but she could see the true strength of their bond as it grew. She'd never seen Mar as happy as she was lately—not since... It had been far too long.

It both pained her and filled her with pride that Mar had made the same choice to help Lee. Mar had become a better person despite her mother's mistakes. No, she'd remained a good person despite her mother. She'd always been a sweet child. Before I drove her into her shell.

Now her life was in peril again. If they couldn't find a solution...

Saira touched her stomach, feeling the new life stirring within. We will find a way. We will live, and I won't make the same mistakes again. Mar's little sister would be happy. She would grow up safe and strong. "And you will have a wonderful big sister to teach you."

The baby inside her squirmed and kicked at Saira's words, as if she couldn't wait to come out and meet her sister. Soon. Saira pulled more mana, even though she was nearly at her limit already. It flowed in a stream of pure life energy from the tree at her back, circling throughout her body and around the small life sheltered within the blood vines, nourishing her. Then she sent the mana out to all the surrounding plant life, fueling its growth.

More of it continued past the garden, traveling through the climbing red ivy that scaled the exterior of Lee's building. It traveled up to the roof, over the top, and down into the courtyard, where vines snaked under a closed door and touched the unconscious man within, pumping a never-ending trickle of life into his body.

Lee had shared his mana freely. It was that gift that had given her the means to survive and thrive despite everything. Giving back now was the least she could do. She just wished it was enough...

There was one more way in which she could help.

Rax scrambled to a stop in front of her and bowed, his face in the dirt. "Master!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Stop calling me that!"

"Yes, Mistress!"

She sighed. No wonder Lee was so grouchy dealing with them. Saira looked at Trak instead. "Just tell me what worked and what didn't, and we can get started."

"The nectar of verminete was too strong. We need to soften it while enhancing the shivering flowers' bloom essence..."

Saira listened dutifully, her vines threading delicate fibers into the seed in her hand and adjusting the very nature of what it would become once grown. It was a marvellous feat of agriculture that would have taken a lab years of experimentation to replicate, and something she could now do in seconds. Unfortunately, she was dealing with completely unknown, not to mention magical, herbs.

Trak's extensive knowledge of his own craft was the only thing that made this possible. With his help, she was learning fast. She only hoped it would be fast enough.

~~~Wilson~~~

Wilson took one step into the building and stopped.

[Three] is offering you permanent residence and mana access in exchange for acceptance of [Soul-Link]

Accept: Y/N?

This must be what all the fuss was about. Lee had somehow gotten himself hurt without even going outside.

Going by the sparse description of this soul link thing, the supposed fort commander had injured his soul. Assuming that was a real thing? Though he supposed it must be if the system recognized it. Which meant he wasn't about to accept the offer.

Sharing soul damage sounded like a terrible idea. Much less doing it for Lee. The man who was directly responsible for all of Wilson’s problems. Especially since it was Lee’s fault that the monster had tricked him into making a deal. That it had trapped him. Lee just had to be so special! With his magic building and fancy runes. All because he got lucky with a good class!

Now everyone loved him.

It was the same old story of his life. Always getting passed up for promotion in favor of somebody born with a silver spoon.

The only problem with this was that he was very sure what would happen if Lee actually died. More specifically, what that creature would do to him if it came back to find Lee dead. He needed Lee alive. Though perhaps not to the point of risking his own soul directly. He had no idea what else that link might do. Perhaps he should order some of his men to accept the link? Yes. That would work. Not only would it serve the purpose of helping Lee survive, but it might also help to have people on the inside... He just had to decide who.

Obviously, it needed to be one of the oath-sworn and a new one who knew nothing too important. Just in case. Being new might also help with ingratiating themselves into Lee's little clique, especially if he sent them in alone to hide their connection to him.

Wilson said nothing of his thoughts to the men beside him. Specific orders could wait until they were not within this building. He didn't trust it. The damn thing could offer soul bindings. Who knew what else it was capable of? Was it listening to them right now? Would it report back to Lee? Better safe than sorry.

There was a lot on the line, after all.

He found her in the courtyard, watching over Martin's classroom. It was a useless endeavor and a waste of time. Soldiers didn't need to know math. They only needed to know how to fight and how to follow orders. "Mrs Morales, is the General in?"

"No. He hunt."

It was the same story for too many. A mad rush for cores. "And the Fort Commander? Any improvements?"

"He sleep." Definitely a clique. These people knew more than they were saying. No one wanted to explain what had really happened. It was all silent glances and knowing looks. He seriously needed someone on the inside.

Wilson left Maria to her pointless schooling efforts and went back outside. The building was giving him the creeps. He avoided Saira's garden, especially that weird red tree. The thing was almost as disturbing as Lee's building.

Saira. If only she wasn't such a stuck-up bitch. Who was she to think she was too good for him? Her!? Everyone knew what had happened to her. She was damaged goods, yet she still thought she was something special. She should be grateful for any interest, but she only spurned him while running around dressed like... like that!

It was no wonder someone had gone after her.

He didn't let it get to him. All of this would be worth it in the end. Once he had the power promised to him. Then all these people would stop living in their little dream worlds and learn who the real authority here was. Wilson couldn’t wait. Once he got a hold of real power, everything would change. Everyone would finally see that Lee wasn’t special just because he got a lucky class. Once the playing field had been leveled, they would be forced to see the truth.

But until then, he could bide his time.

Back in his office, he took a seat, leaning back and steepling his fingers in thought. Eventually, he spoke. "Emerson."

The man snapped to attention. "Yes, sir?"

"You have new orders," he said, writing a few lines on a piece of paper. "You are going on a hunting trip with someone. Once you're alone and far away from the fort..." He slid the paper across the table. "Tell him this."

"Who, sir?"

"Take J..."