Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

The Fourth Circle Arcanist had her legs crossed and her eyes closed within her consultation room. Harnessing the Arcane Arts to bolster her Spiritual energy reserves and give her a breakthrough into the Next Order.

The whole point of her retreat from the Arcane Church was to be free of the hassle and bustle that came with her religion... Free her mind and gain sanctity.

She was \'supposed\' to remain chaste all through in a bid to free herself from the mundane and attain enlightenment in hopes of breaking through her bottleneck but of course, Evian had rendered that aspect of the retreat moot.

Because really, how could she ever resist him?

The fact that she had so quickly fallen for his wiles that first time was evidence of her weak Will.

"*Sigh* There I go being distracted again," Daria mumbled before letting out a breath and doubling her effort to clear her mind.

And then she sensed a presence.

Smelled a scent that caused her heart to flutter despite her better judgment.

She hid the reaction of her heart and the subconscious reaction of her body as best as she could before she smiled while her eyes remained closed.

"So NOW you remember me."

Evian stood in front of her and chuckled at her words and her tone.

"Is that yearning I hear?"

Daria shrugged.

"Maybe," she admitted with her eyes still closed.

Evian\'s eyes narrowed. Although he had no connection to Spiritual energy, he could of course still sense it clearly as it was pulled from this atmosphere and siphoned by Daria\'s body. Increasing her aura by tiny but no less noticeable margins.

He had seen the theory of this martial counterpart of what she was doing in the manuscript Lord Stygian had given him to use to Cultivate but it was the first time he would actually see it in person. It looked even more boring than he had previously thought.

"To have to sit in place diligently like that... Does it ever get boring?" He asked Daria quietly.

The Witch shook her head.

"The idea of getting stronger, surpassing your previous limits

can never be boring... Can it?"

Evian shrugged.

"I guess not," he said still not looking convinced.

Daria opened her eyes and laughed when she looked up at his face.

"How do YOU get stronger?" she asked.

"I kill," Evan told her simply with a cold glint in his eyes.

The past two days, with his hunting of Larnak\'s men whenever he went into the Territory to commune with the rest of the Crew, he had killed in the double digits and wracked himself a good deal of Soul Points he was just waiting to spend.

The whole concept of Soul-Eating was very much easier to swallow (pun intended) for him now. In fact, he enjoyed it.

Daria sensed that.

The words, the look, everything about the short exchange reiterated what Daria had already long suspected or known about what Evian was but she was again faced with the motion that it hardly mattered. She had gone past the point of caring.

"Daria," Evian called her softly as he bent so he was face to face with her, cross-legged as she was,

"I need your help."

The Witch\'s lips stretched into a wide knowing grin.

"Of course. You only remembered me when you needed me," she said.

"It\'s not like that-" Evian started but was quickly interrupted.

"It\'s fine. What do you need? Surely you won\'t label a booty call as \'help\'?" Daria said with a smirk.

Evian returned her smile.

"No, I won\'t. That\'s an activity we both enjoy."

"Indeed." Daria said with a nod, "Alright, what do you need me for? I\'m all ears."

And so Evian started his narration.

Knowing those he wished to assist were running out of time the longer he dilly-dallied, he kept his narration to Daria as short as possible.

When Evian first learned about the ambush of Viyeen Complex, it was undoubtedly already underway and the quad of Gillert, Ember, Gryon, and Carleine were bound to be quickly overwhelmed especially with the involvement of Captains.

With no way to warn them ahead of time, Evian did what he felt was best; He sought outside help.

"So- You want me to fight the Larnak Guards for the sake of the Resistance." Daria paraphrased once Evian finally reached the end of his narration.

Evian nodded.

"Yes. Yes, I do."

"Why not ask your Father? Surely the Stygians have enough squads to spare." Daria said and Evian shook his head.

"That\'d be a proposal to storm enemy Territory for a group of people the Estate has no attachment to. I\'d bet there\'d be some sort of protocol that would make things annoyingly complicated.

You\'re my best bet."

"You mean I\'m easier to convince."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Daria paused, there was a few seconds of silence as she and Evian just stared at each other and then she let out a long sigh.

"Evian, We\'ll be outnumbered."

Evian nodded.

"Yes, we will. But it\'s not some fight to the death. Not for you at least. I just need an opening so I can get them out."

"How?" Daria asked finding it difficult, nay impossible to imagine how her involvement would help him get out four individuals along with himself out of a tight siege.

Evian placed a hand on her shoulder. His grip was firm as he smiled at her confidently.

He used his Phasing spell and for the first time ever, he spread the spell\'s effects past his body so it could coat another.

Daria\'s body, including of course every article of clothing she had on, turned translucent and she sunk into the ground with Evian.

The Witch\'s eyes were wide in the horror of a sudden deprivation of certain senses; Touch (feeling) was gone, taste, non-existent and she could no longer breathe.

Her mouth was open as though to let out a scream or at least a gasp of shock but that was impossible.

The only thing Daria could \'feel\' was her connection to Evian. The spot on her shoulder he had grabbed was tingling as the nexus of this strange intangibility she had suddenly gained.

As for Evian, the feeling of bringing someone along with his Phasing adventure was a curious one.

He had planned it in theory but was still amazed at how it felt in practice.

The Phasing aspect was the same as always but the curious part was how strangely connected to Daria he became. A necessary requirement/consequence for him being able to share his intangibility with her.

*GASP*

When they returned to the surface, he wasn\'t surprised to hear Daria gasp with eyes wide with immense shock at what she had just experienced.

"I apologize. It felt a little weird the first time I did it too." Evian told the Witch who looked around and was met with even more surprise to realize they were no longer inside her home.

They were still in her courtyard, but somehow the seconds (barely two despite the horror of it) they had spent Phasing through the ground had delivered them many many feet away from her consultation room.

"What-?" she tried to ask and then stopped to try her hardest to catch the breath she had not lost. She then cleared her throat,

"What just happened?"

Evian relaxed his grip on her shoulder to a soothing one.

"I made us intangible, we fell through the ground, I made us tangible again and we were forced back to the surface. How we got here from your Consultation room has something to do with angles and geometry-"

"Geometry? What\'s that?"

Evian just smiled.

"Don\'t worry about it. I\'ll explain better some other time. Just know, with this, I can get everyone out if only I get a chance to try. I just need you to get me that chance."

Daria nodded.

"Alright," she said and started to form seals with her fingers until a four-ring movement circle appeared beneath her and Evian\'s feet and they were off towards the Larnak Territory.

The journey was faster than it would have been had Evian run on his own. The very height of his speed could not be compared to the magical prowess of a Fourth Circle Arcanist.

That said, once they neared the boundary line, Evian gave Daria a quick warning before using his Wraithic phasing to send them sinking into the ground all so they could avoid any possible blockade.

Whether or not the Second Order Guards or the Third Order Elites were enough to pose a threat was of no consequence. They had no time to waste.

The last thing the Crew needed was delay.

Evian could only imagine what they were currently going through.

...

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