A few minutes after Alessia had spoken to the boy, he returned to camp with red puffy eyes. He didn't say a single word, but his body language told Alessia and Aatazaz all they needed to know. He moved with a purpose while helping them set up camp, instead of just standing or sitting idly. He had returned to how he was before, if not better.
Fifteen minutes later, they had finished. One fire pit and three tents, as per usual. Alessia and Aatazaz were relaxing near the fire pit when suddenly the boy approached them. He bowed his head low, his torso at a ninety degree angle relative to his legs. When he spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically serious and steady.
"In the last eight days we've known each other, you two have done nothing but show me one kindness after another. For almost half of those days, I did nothing but mope and groan in return. I even attempted to cast away my life. I took the kindness you have shown me and threw it away without a second thought. But . . . even after all that, you still took the time out of your days to train me. You believed in me, trusted in me, invested your time and effort into me. You showed me all of this goodwill even when I am Soul Broken. I am already dead . . . and yet you still saved me. So, please—" he paused for a moment before continuing"—Please allow me to become your servant, slave, attendant, whatever you wish as long as I can of use to you. It's no secret that I am powerless without magic, but I refuse to be a burden any longer. If the only way I can be useful is as a servant, then I shall be the most loyal servant you have ever laid eyes on. I swear to do whatever it takes to repay the kindness you have shown me, even if it takes me a lifetime."
Alessia was stunned. His voice didn't shake or stutter, nor did he sound anxious. This was the most determination she had ever seen in him. Even so, she found it hard to accept as her face wrinkled with confusion. "Please, stop bowing to me like that. I only did what any good person should do, it's not anything special. Besides, you aren't a burden to me at all. Please, raise your head."
The boy did the opposite, dropping even lower into a bow. His head almost touched the ground. When he spoke, the determination in his voice hadn't faded even a bit. "I refuse! Alessia, you are too kind for your own good! I have been eating your food, accepting your training, and using your tents. I haven't offered anything in return, but I won't be a freeloader any longer! I beg you, take me as your servant so that I don't have to feel this guilt anymore."
Alessia looked at the boy with confusion etched all over her face. Guilt? Why does he feel guilty? Alessia felt that any normal person would have done what she did, she was just in the right place at the right time. He was making it a big deal when really it wasn't. She looked over at Aatazaz for guidance, but he said nothing as he stroked his enormous red beard. He couldn't believe that her first oath of fealty came not from a Zaohin, but from a human.
Alessia looked back at the boy. "Do you really feel that way?" she asked in confusion. She had only done all of this because it was the right thing to do. Any good Samaritan would have done the same, Alessia thought. The boy nodded his head. "Please, I feel like a leech right now. Let me do something for you in return, even if it's only setting up camp or preparing your meals. Please, allow me to repay your kindness."
"You're not a leech and you don't need to repay me at all, but . . . fine, if it'll make you feel better, I accept you as my servant."
The boy sighed in relief. "Thank you, thank you very much," he said to both Alessia and Aatazaz. They could hear the excitement in his voice now, which was a stark contrast to the previous eight days. Aatazaz brought his hands down from his beard and clapped, creating a loud boom that got their attention.
"As good as sweet words are, they are only words. Alessia, as a White Tiger, you cannot take risks when choosing your allies. It's time I taught you the Ceremony of Fealty"
Both the boy and Alessia were confused. "The Ceremony of Fealty?" Alessia asked.
"Yes. Here me now boy, if you go through this process half-heartedly, if you have any doubt whatsoever, the spell will stop your heart and kill you where you stand. Alessia has a dangerous journey ahead of her and she needs allies she can trust unconditionally. If you truly want to repay her, then repeat after me, but beware, If you speak any lie during the spell, you will die. If after all my warnings you still whole-heartedly want to continue, then repeat after me."
Aatazaz looked deadly serious while Alessia suddenly protested. "That isn't necessary! There's no need to risk his life, I already trust him."
Aatazaz looked at her with eyes that spoke a thousand words. "That's exactly what your parents said before they got stabbed in the back."
Alessia felt all her argument's die in her throat and her hands felt cold. The boy reassured Alessia. "It's fine, this is the most serious I've ever been about anything." The boy neglected to mention that his memory only consisted of the past few days. That would have weakened his statement.
Under Aatazaz's insistence, Alessia could only swallow her doubt and allow them to continue. The boy did as he was told, repeating Aatazaz's words. "Si falsum est verbum, devorabit cor meum divina bestia."
Aatazaz was prepared to use his own spirit to substitute for the boy's lack of any magic power, but stopped himself. As the boy spoke the ancient language, Aatazaz could feel the air hum with power that surpassed anything he had ever felt before. It was as if he was standing in front of a nuclear bomb which could go off at any moment.
The boy's entire body was glowing purple, but he didn't seem to notice. Alessia let out a small yelp and took a step backwards on instinct. Aatazaz stiffened his entire body as if bracing for a blow which never came. Both of them could feel their skin tingling as if going numb. Aatazaz overcame his amazement and began to speak. The spell wouldn't last forever. Aatazaz told the boy what to say.
"I humbly request to become your Servant, Alessia White-tiger. I promise to serve you to the best of my abilities, no matter the situation. I promise to protect and defend you against all enemies. If you choose to accept, my life is yours."
Alessia couldn't stop her mouth from hanging agape. Unlike Aatazaz, she hadn't recovered from her shock. If not for the fact that she trusted the boy in front of her, she would have already ran for her life. The magic power buzzing in the air around her felt unreal, unnaturally dense and pure. The boy looked at her with confusion, he wasn't feeling anything different.
Aatazaz spoke quickly, trying to hurry the ceremony along. "Now, Alessia, if you wish to accept, take his hand and channel your spirit through him and repeat after me."
Alessia hesitated, staring at the boy for a few moments. Only after meeting Aatazaz's gaze and sensing his impatience did she take the boy's hand. She managed to croak out the words Aatazaz wanted her to repeat. "I, Alessia White-tiger, accept you as my servant. Foedus signatus."
As soon as the words left her mouth, her spirit responded, circulating through the boy's body. Eventually, her pure white spirit settled around his heart and began to pulsate in sync with his heartbeat. The process lasted for a whole minute. During that time period, Alessia could feel exactly what the boy was feeling.
Anticipation, joy, excitement, and various other positive emotions. Despite the fact that he could die if he had uttered a single lie, he wasn't worried in the slightest. The anxious, fearful boy who could do nothing but put himself down was absolutely rock solid in his belief that he would be fine. Under normal circumstances, Alessia would have believed this to be out of character for him, but Alessia could feel exactly what he was feeling.
Inside his heart, the boy felt nothing but eternal gratitude and adoration to her for everything she had done for him. The depth of his respect for her was so deep she couldn't see the bottom of it. The only thing in life that the boy was one hundred percent sure about was his trust in her. Alessia couldn't help but blush at his feelings that put her on a pedestal as if she was some great hero.
Eventually, the spell ended. That horrifically powerful purple mana receded deep into the boy, eventually becoming undetectable again. Her white spirit naturally returned to her body as well. Alessia smiled with red, blushed cheeks as she spoke quietly to him. "I'm not some hero like you think, just someone willing to do what's right."
The boy nodded happily. His expression was filled with joy. Her words had only given him more certainty. "That's exactly what a hero would say."
Alessia blushed even harder. Aatazaz clapped a hand on the boy's back. "Well done!" Aatazaz said with an approving nod. "Since you're not dead, you spoke no lie. You are officially a trusted ally of Alessia."
The boy's smile was brilliant. Alessia couldn't help but smile as well. Compared to when they had first found him, he was like a completely different person.
"I must say, that mana was quite impressive, boy. To think you said you were magicless." Aatazaz commented with admiration.
The boy looked confused. "What mana?"
Alessia was aghast at his obliviousness. "The purple mana you summoned to start the ceremony. You were glowing like a purple torch."
The boy looked at his own hands. "Really? But I didn't feel anything."
Alessia was forced into stunned silence once more, unable to find the right words. Aatazaz looked deep in thought. The boy looked back and forth between the two of them, his joyful expression slowly turning into an anxious one. After a few awkward seconds of silence, Aatazaz extended his hand, igniting the palm of his hand with spirit. A red glow quickly surrounded his hand. "Boy, can you see this?"
The boy nodded. Aatazaz then brought that same hand behind his own back. "Now, is it still there?"
"I don't know. I can't see it if it's behind your back, how would I know?"
"So you can't feel it at all?"
"Feel what?" The boy looked more and more confused at the seconds passed. Aatazaz clenched his fist, snuffing the red spirit out.
"Imagine tossing a pebble into a pound. When it makes contact with the water, ripples spread outwards from it, disrupting the water which naturally wants to be still and calm. The ripples distortions on the water can be used as evidence that a stone was cast into the water. It's the same with spells. You can feel the disturbance that the spell has on the natural energy of the world. Without a properly functioning soul, you have lost the ability to feel all the magic around you. You can see its visual effects with your eyes, but you can't feel its effects with a broken soul."
The boy let out a sad sigh after understanding Aatazaz's explanation. Unfortunately, it made sense. "As if I wasn't already a big enough cripple . . . but I guess I don't need to feel magic to be a good attendant."
He had looked depressed at first, but quickly recovered and shrugged it off with an indifferent expression. Alessia did a half smile, happy he wasn't putting himself down but also disapproving of his pessimistic outlook. Aatazaz spoke before she could.
"Accepting one's limitations is a sign of wisdom, but at the same time, you shouldn't give up hope just yet. We still have yet to speak to a real human mage who would be better at diagnosing you than us Zaohin's."
After hearing Aatazaz, the boy's face was alight with hope. "Thanks Aatazaz."
Aatazaz smiled back at him. "I'm glad this old man's advice could be of use."
***
The mountain city of Krin was bustling with life at the foot of the Mountain. It's stone walls rose ten meters high, suddenly ejecting themselves from the mountain side as if they had grown out of it. The mountain side facing the back of the city was impossibly steep, preventing any creature without wings from attacking the city from the mountains themselves. The biggest creature that had ever descended down the mountain had been a singular wyvern. The real threat was the monster stampedes which would come from other creatures and monsters that lived at the foot of the mountain. These only occurred every few years, making Krin relatively peaceful for ninety nine percent of the time. Quite the achievement for a city on the edge of the monster-infested mountains.
The walls themselves were stained and cracked with mossy green lichen. To the untrained eye, they looked like they could crumble at any moment. To the magic eye, the wall was as sturdy as steel due to its enchantments. Every few meters along the wall, buried beneath the moss and cracked stone exterior, were small chunks of Hypodianite. Engraved in the metal were defensive Runic enchantments that the Hypodian people were known for. As long as the runes were active, the wall wouldn't be brought down even by a Run-On-Sight level monster.
Inside the walls, the place was a chaotic mess. Some houses were three stories tall with pristine paint while the very next building was missing its ceiling. The roads were of differing sizes, ranging from wide cobblestone alleys to narrow paths barely wider than a horse's shoulders. It was easy to tell that there had been no plan in building the city. The oldest point was at the very center of town, getting progressively more new as you got further from the center. It was plain to see that the city had been started as a small village, slowly transforming over time into the thriving city it was today. The lack of a plan in expanding the city made sense once you understood its origins. After all, starting a village so close to monster territory was suicide.
The only buildings which looked uniform were the ones up against the inside of the wall. The reason for this was that they were built by the military to be barracks. This was done so that if an attack occurred, the soldiers could easily make it to the top of the wall. The rest of the buildings in town were completely as chaotic as the streets, placed randomly wherever the owner had seen fit.
At the center of town, one building stood out as the oldest and most important. It was a spire which rose fifty meters into the air, its white walls of pure marble glistening in the sunlight. Atop the spire was a house with one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living space. It took over two thousand steps to reach the top, but it was worth it. When looking out from the balcony, it provided a breathtaking view of the entire city. From the top of the spire, the old Arch-mage known as Krin Sterling looked over the city he had founded himself over a century ago. His face was lined with gray hair, wrinkles covered his skin like a cloak, and brown eyes which remained youthful despite his body's age. He held a staff in his right hand which quietly hummed with power. The mana residing in the staff would make any normal mage turn green with jealousy.
"What a gorgeous view. Do you agree, Deroc?"
From behind Krin, a boy who barely looked twelve years old spoke. His violet eyes were filled with annoyance. His blonde eyebrows were furrowed into a frown. His long blonde hair fell to his shoulders, giving him an androgynous appearance that was more handsome than pretty, but still a mix between the two. His voice was flat, poorly hiding his contempt. "The mountain city is a wonderful sight indeed, but the people of this city are a blight upon it."
Krin sighed, closing his eyes with a disappointed and unsurprised expression. "Deroc, that attitude of yours is unbefitting of your age."
"I'm sorry master, but this attitude of mine is their fault." Deroc's expression darkened. "The people of this city are rotten to the core. They all watched me suffer and did nothing. If not for you, I would have long exact my revenge on this wretched place."
Krin shook his head, his eyes suddenly aging a decade. "Hatred will consume you if you hold onto it for too long. You need to let go of that anger for yourself and others. I'm not getting any younger, Deroc. I need someone I can trust with my staff when I am gone."
Krin turned around, looking at Deroc who had suddenly become very interested in his shoes. An awkward silence fell over the balcony. Deroc couldn't blatantly deny his mentor who had picked him up off the streets and saved his life. Anytime Deroc thought about his mentor, Krin, he felt nothing but respect. At the same time, he also couldn't forgive the people of this city. They had all watched him get beaten and abused every day, yet they did nothing. They had allowed it to happen, and in Deroc's eyes, that was just as bad as being the one who beat him.
They were all guilty in his eyes.
After a minute of silence, Krin let out a sigh and returned his gaze to the city. His wrinkles seemed to have doubled as he spoke softly. "Go and practice the spells I gave you. Until you can perform each one perfectly, do not return to me. You have gravely disappointed me, Deroc."
Deroc clenched his fists, barely holding his tongue as he marched away with nothing but rage in his heart. Once inside the tower, he quickly made his way to the stairs which spiraled down in the shape of a helix with a gap in the center. Hopping over the safety railing, Deroc began to rapidly accelerate downwards.
"Ventus porta me."
A gust suddenly exploded upwards with enough force to slow his fall. After a few seconds, Deroc's feet tapped against the ground floor of Krin's White Tower. He fixed his clothes and hair before exiting the tower. Instantly, the eyes of everyone walking by were drawn to him. Whispers spread like wildfire.
"It's him, The Dead-eyed apprentice."
"Look . . . it's him."
"Why'd Krin ever take someone like him? He doesn't deserve to be the apprentice of Arch-mage Krin."
"He's nothing like master Krin. I heard he once denied a dying man healing because he couldn't pay."
Deroc suddenly stopped in his tracks, spinning around suddenly. His nostrils flared and his hands clenched into fists as he quietly muttered a spell. "Vento, liga inimicos meos."
Everyone was silent and pale, unmoving. Deroc's mana spread into the surrounding atmosphere, manipulating the wind like an anaconda squeezing its prey. For the next few seconds, it was so quiet that you could hear a mouse whisper. Deroc snarled, breaking the silence. "If you have a problem with me, say it my face you damn cowards!"
No one said a word. One small girl began to cry and another boy wet himself. Deroc saw them and immediately his anger died down. Even so, he was still; frustrated.
"You all watched me suffer, so don't expect me to be all heroic and selfless like my foolish mentor!" He spat the words. "You're all a bunch of cowards. You're all lucky Krin hasn't left this city to rot, because I have long ago!"
Deroc spun around, blasting himself forwards with a powerful gust of wind like a child running from its parents after throwing a tantrum. The magic hold on the crowd of people dissipated, and everyone was released.
***
Far above the mountain city of Krin, nestled in a dark cave where no light could penetrate was the home of one person. After a moment, the man spoke one word in the ancient tongue.
"Lux."
Immediately, a bright white light appeared in the man's palm, illuminating his surroundings. The man holding the light was a Zaohin, like Alessia and Aatazaz, but he looked slightly different from them. His tail was bushier and his ears were much pointer. His hair was cut short and wildly out of control, like he hadn't combed it his entire life. It was a dark greyish color, not completely pitch black, but dark enough to be mistaken for a shadow during a moonless night. His eyes had a fierce yellow glow to them, similar to a wolf gazing at its prey.
A second after he had spawned light, a soft breeze blew past him. Without a single sound, a humanoid insect monster appeared right in front of him. It towered over him at ten feet tall, with four arms, two legs, and eight eyes. Four wings protruded from its back, flickering and twitching as if it was ready to take flight at any moment. Its hands were large, capable of grabbing him easily. The creature's face was mostly hidden by the insect's helmet, but it sported a single horn on its forehead and another longer one running down the center of its chest. Armor coated the entire thing from head to toe, showing little to no skin. The skin that the Zaohin could see was a shiny black color, as if his skin was made from metal.
Immediately after recognizing who was in front of him, the Zaohin dropped to one knee and spoke. His voice was guttural, as if someone had damaged his vocal cords. "Lord Qher'ud. To what do I owe the honor of your presense?"
Qher lowered his head, all eight of its eyes focused on him. "Hagor, you of all people should know."
The Zaohin nodded in a cold sweat as a pitch black crow landed on his shoulder. It's beady red eyes flicked between the Zelksis and Zaohin. It croaked a couple of caws before Hagor spoke again. "The traitorous Felidae bastards have been spotted in the Asteron hills, heading towards Krin. We have an ambush set up along their path which they should run into by tomorrow. We would have already dealt with them if not for the Crimson Lion Aatazaz. Gathering three Stygian Wolves to deal with him took time."
"Call it off." Qher immediately responded.
Hagor paled. "My lord, if they reach Krin, we will miss our-" Hagor was interrupted by a burst of corruption. Dark black energy tentacles twisted themselves around Hagor's neck, making it hard to breathe. He could feel his spirit being drained from his body at a rapid rate as he was lifted off the ground. The pain was like nothing he had ever experienced. This was the power of Zelksis corruption he had heard so much about.
After the worst five seconds of his life, Hagor was dropped to the ground, gasping for breath and clawing at the ground. "I'll send word immediately, Lord Qher'ud. Forgive my insolence."
Quer'ud placed one of his feet on the back of Hagor's head, tapping the back of his head with incredibly sharp, long talons. "Never forget your place, dog. You Canidae only rose to power because of us. The world may not know it, but never forget that we are the only reason you mutts were able to overthrow the Felidae clan."
"Forgive me, I had forgotten my place, Lord Quer'ud." Hagor held his breath and closed his eyes. Each tap on the back of his head was like thunder to him, making him flinch a little. All Quer'ud had to do was shift his weight a tiny bit and that would be the end of Hagor.
After what seemed like an eternity, Quer'ud released Hagor from the ground. Hagor breathed a sigh of relief as Quer'ud began to make his way towards the entrance of the cave. His four wings spread outwards, catching the wind. Quer'ud's strangulated and clicky voice resounded off the cave's walls before he left.
"Ready all the manpower you have. In a couple days time, a monster stampede larger than any before will hit Krin. In the chaos, you will kill the Crimson Lion, the White tiger, and the slave they keep. If you fail me, I'll kill you myself."
Without another word, Quer'ud leapt onto a nearby boulder and shot upwards into the air. His black form quickly melted into the night sky. Hagor fell onto his back and let out another sigh of relief. From beside him, the red eyed crow let out another few caws.
"I know, I'll feed you in a bit, Pandora. First, I need you to send a message to Ouray for me."
Pandora flapped its wings angrily as it pecked Hagor. Hagor could only sigh and begin rummaging for a piece of parchment and a quill.