Within my inner chamber, I continued to practice the Heart Sutra till I was once again unable to continue. It was already evening by the time I was done and the Villagers were going to have dinner soon. Some females had already taken a portion of the meal to the pregnant members of the Black moon clan.
'Black Moon clan' I thought with a laugh, that was what Kharag Greyeye called us. this goes to show that we are slowly integrating with the Orc lands.
[Ding!]
[(Shev) Branding completion has reached 45%
- you can now passively suggest ideas to the target.
- Possession time available : 7 minutes ...]
[Ding!]
[(Shev) Branding completion has reached 61%
- you can now passively suggest ideas to the target.
- Possession time available : 12 minutes ...]
'Right' This notification has been bouncing back and forth for hours, that means, the Branding effect has gotten to the creature attached to his soul and that thing is trying to fight it off.
"As if" I let out a dark chuckle as my steps led me towards my back yard, a makeshift prison had been made there, calling it a hostage cell would be more fitting though.
A HobGoblin was watching the prisoners and I could hear Cail screaming.
"Let me out!!, I don't know what is going on with this..."I loud gasp was heard before, "By the Gods, he's eyes are rolling backwards...let...Let me out!!".
unfortunately for him, no one could understand him besides me, and, well Janetta of course. I signal the Hobgoblin to keep quiet before approaching the cell, "They can't understand you" I said while opening the door rather sharply.
He looked shocked at my sudden appearance and I couldn't help teasing, "Missed me?".
He was visibly shaken as he crawled to a corner, he has lost weight from being starved.
apparently, he tried escaping twice but was caught by Urim and Torrelsav respectively. He got beaten badly each time as well and to top it off, Urim says he has too much energy and decided to starve him.
And that's what reduced him to this...'I can't even find the word for it'.
I turned to look at the convulsing Shev with my Wraith vision, and as expected, the leech like thing was trying to pull itself out.
Surprisingly, the Abysmal mana has been busy and I began to spot a mutation going on.
Perhaps, I'm about to have a Variant under my control. With such thoughts, I grabbed Shev's neck and used <Branding> a second time on him, to test a speculation of mine and to see what effect it would have on him.
He began to struggle with an almost non existent strength, the creature within him was writhing in agony and an audible screech could be heard. I controlled the Mana and made it stab directly at the leach repeatedly, the screeching became louder and Cail continued to cower in the corner of the cell, all the while covering his ears and shaking his head furiously.
A liquid formed mana began to spill out from the creature and onto Shev's soul bead, I wrapped it all together, forming a cacoon around the Bead and surprisingly, I got notifications.
[Ding!]
[(Shev) Branding completion has reached 65%
- you can now passively suggest ideas to the target.
[Ding!]
[(Shev) Branding completion has reached 73%
[Ding!]
[(Shev) Branding completion has reached 80%
[100%]
[Branding complete]
[(Shev) Branding 100%
- you can actively take control of the Target's thought process.
- Possession time available : 2 hours 15 minutes]
[Duration increases as the skill level progresses]
And then there was silence, Shev was now unconscious but I was to busy staring at my own hands and my thoughts were long gone.
'What was that creature? It's death increased the speed of my Branding. if I could get one, Branding Davis might not be totally impossible' A grin was now etched on my face and I looked at Cail, he flinched again while looking at me like some monster.
'Monster? is that not what I am?' For some reason I found it funny and so I laughed.
A while later, I looked at Shev curiously or rather, I looked at his soul bead and noticed it's changes.
Firstly, it was bigger but still smaller than Urim's.
'Definitely a Variant, but how much changed?' I wondered, I guess I have to wait till he recovers a bit to continue.
[Ding!]
[+500 system points]
[You have gained new title, 'The one Behind the veil']
[The one behind the Veil : increase your evolution circle to view. ( )
Effects: Unknown.]
'Great, another thing I can't use yet... Luckily, I got system points, which means I can finally use the lottery option ones' I looked at the shivering Cail one more time before stepping outside, the Hobgoblin looked scared and kept eyeing the cell suspiciously.
I quickly looked at his stats for his name and said "Gruk , go get them food from the others."
"!!" although he was shocked for a second, it looked like he was more shocked about the concept of giving prisoners food than the fact that his Chief knew his name.
"Yes my chief" without delay, he left to complete the task. Meanwhile, I was excited about the lottery and began to think about what I could possibly get.
Too bad life had a different plan for me, "Brother...we have a problem".
That sentence alone, changed my mood completely.
_____________________________
Thann's End,
Moongret castle,
The Study,
Frank's POV,
"That's absurd!, the only human's with purple hair, is the Fairchild family! and you say she was helped by a 'Great' Orc?" Charles voice went higher with each word and I had to stop myself from slapping him.
"My Lord, this was something that was seen by all" I said.
"Has the Fairchild family given any explanation?" he asks while standing up from his chair.
"They claim to have no idea about this woman"
"Do they think they are untouchable because of their son's present status?" Charles says with a laugh before sipping from his tea, a minute later he says, "Fine, let's play along with them...after all, our dear Davis Fairchild, is the Lord's champion after all... Despite the fact that he was bested by a lower circled orc" .
"Yes..." I supported his words rigidly as always.
"Make sure to keep them in the dark, about what was in that carriage"
"Of course my Lord"
Charles got up and walked towards the window, he looked at the somewhat dark sky "Bring me, Bess"
"..." I saluted before stepping out, I could almost guess what this so called high human wanted to do, he's most likely going to try and make a connection between his grand daughter, Bess and Davis.
Walking through the silent Hallway, I couldn't help muttering "Pig".
_____________________
Radiant Sun Cathedral,
Thann's End Branch,
Davis's POV,
With a wary heart, I kneeled before the image of our father and God. A sadness like no other washed over me, as I thought about what happened the other day.
The Images, flashed across my face, every single time I closed my eyes. since then, I couldn't sleep and now I can only hope...
"Father, forgive for I have sinned"
"I had doubted you and questioned my Faith"
"I..."
The sound of footsteps interrupted my prayers and I turned to look at who was approaching, but her words came first.
"Do you want to know what happened to your friends?" I turned around sharply and...