*Gasp*
The Witch let out a gasp and for a second, Evian thought she had heard the voice in his head too.
'Maybe she knows what a Wraith is and it scared her.'
It wasn't any of that.
The Witch's eyes widened and she stretched her hand forward and started chanting strange words under her breath.
As she chanted, three mystical rings appeared and started revolving on top of Evian's body. As they moved, deathly grey energy started to seep out of Evian's body, and as she felt it, Daria the Witch shivered and took a few steps back.
"What is it? What is wrong?" Evian asked in confusion.
With a wave of her hand, the Witch deactivated her spell while muttering urgently.
"Oh this is bad, this is very bad. Excuse me Young Master Evian, I need to report my findings to your parents." Daria the Witch said before walking away towards the large doors.
"Wait- Report what findings? What did you find?" Evian asked but Daria paid him no heed.
With a wave of her hand, the doors opened enough for her to slip outside where Lady Myrine and Lord Stygian were perfectly waiting for her.
"Hey!" Evian called out but the doors sealed up and cut off all sounds going out or coming in.
Unsure of what to do next, Evian directed his attention at the voice in his head.
'Hello, Voice in my head?'
[Hello]
'Um, hi. What is a Wraith?'
[Wraiths are decadent creatures whose power growth relies on soul consumption.
Upon your death, you became one]
'Soul consumption- Is that why Evian's soul tasted good?' Evian asked in his mind.
[Souls will adopt a taste that best satisfies you and the more of it you consume, the more of it you will want.]
'So how strong am I now? What did I get from his soul?'
[Nothing. You consumed his soul to adopt the required compatibility with Evian Stygian's body. That soul will not count toward your development.]
[That said, as a Wraith at the start of your development, you have been denied the satisfaction of starting from the bottom]
'What does that mean?'
[This world contains two paths; Martial and Arcane.
As a Wraith, you currently have physical abilities comparable to a Third Order Knight and possess Eldritch energy strong enough to contend with the magic of a Third Circle Arcanist]
As the voice explained, Evian clenched and unclenched his fist to feel the power flowing through him.
The grey energy/aura Daria had felt was Eldritch energy and Evian could feel it flowing through his body and strengthening his muscles in ways he would not have expected.
Even his little member down below was receiving strengthening of Eldritch energy.
'Sweet!' he thought with a grin.
['Cursed' as in 'Cursed Wraith' is a step in your development.
Other steps include; Corrupted, Denounced, Fallen, Condemned, Abhorrent, and Unholy.
Once you become an Unholy Wraith, you can make a push to become a Cursed Wraith Noble]
[To make tracking your decadent development easy, I can show you a Status Screen.
Would you like to view your status screen?]
'Sure' Evian thought and then a rectangular interface blocked his vision.
[Name: Evian Stygian.]
[Race: Wraith]
[Decadence: Cursed Wraith {0/500 Soul points}]
-
'That's it?'
[That's it.]
'Huh, I honestly thought there would be more.
So soul points are the number of souls I consume?
Does one soul equal one soul point? So I need to consume Five Hundred souls?!' Evian thought with wide eyes.
[Incorrect.
Soul points refer to the units received per soul. All souls are not equal.
The more powerful the practitioner, the more soul points consuming their souls will grant]
Before Evian could ask the voice any more questions, and he had many, the door burst open and Lady Myrine walked into the room followed closely by Lord Stygian.
Lady Myrine rushed over to the bed to snuggle up with Evian. Occasionally taking breaks to brush her hand through his hair and stroke his face.
"Oh, my beautiful boy, I thought I'd lost you" she muttered.
Evian wasn't sure what to say. Lady Myrine had his face pulled into her chest. She smelled good but her large breasts and the tightness of her hug were almost suffocating.
Thankfully, she pulled back and allowed him to breathe while she stared into his face.
"Daria said you've lost your memory. Better your memory than your life" Lady Myrine said with multiple nods.
"Um, what else did she say?" Evian asked.
'What did she report to you?' he added in his mind.
This time, Lord Stygian was the one to speak in his loud and deep voice.
"Haha, she said you were healthy. That you now have the constitution to become a practitioner," he said.
"A- A what?" Evian asked making sure to do his best to look confused.
He could easily guess what Lord Stygian was referring to but saw more merit in acting unaware.
"A Practitioner, Son. Now you can join the ranks of great Stygian Knights just like your Brother" Lord Stygian said.
"I have a brother?" Evian asked with genuine surprise.
Lord Stygian nodded.
"Yes, you do."
"Then- where is he?"
"He's somewhere in the Es-" Lord Stygian started to say and then he seemed to realize what Evian was getting at. He just died and came back to life and his 'brother' couldn't even be bothered to show.
Lord Stygian smiled uncomfortably,
"Adrian likes to be left alone while he's training"
'Translation: He doesn't like me. Can't say I care about him either.' Evian thought.
There was an uncomfortable silence and Lord Stygian looked impatient to break it.
"So My Lady, when should we schedule the exorcism?"
Evian's head snapped up.
"What Exorcism?"
Lady Myrine gave Lord Stygian a hard look and the large man's lips twitched a few times before he cleared his throat.
"I apologize My Lady, but I did not know we were going to hide it from the boy," he said.
"Hide what?" Evian asked.
The two ignored him.
"I wasn't planning to hide it but I didn't see any reason to talk about such a sensitive subject at this moment.
We should at least get the chance to celebrate the fact that he's alive because that's what matters.
His life is all that matters and not some ambiguous omen of death" Lady Myrine said.
'Omen of death?' Evian wondered.
"I don't like to think of such a terrible thing either but Daria warned that it would get worse with time. She said it would spread." Lord Stygian said. His voice was steady as a rock.
Lady Myrine sighed.
"Fine. We'll schedule the Exorcism but today, I want to celebrate. There should be a feast.
I should arrange for it right now"
As she spoke, Lady Myrine stood to her feet, looking excited.
The large double doors opened and two maids walked in.
"Prepare Evian for the feast."
With the final order, Lady Myrine rushed out of the room but not without one last doting smile at Evian.
Lord Stygian was left alone with his son and there was a bit of an awkward air.
The large man was not as showy with his affection. If he felt any at all.
Eventually, Lord Stygian cleared his throat.
"Alright, I'll leave you in the hands of your maids now. Your mother will not be pleased if I delay your preparation.
We will talk about your prospects as a Practitioner at a later time"
Lord Stygian walked out of the room after that and the double doors closed behind him.
Once they were left alone with him, the two maids walked over to Evian and helped him to his feet probably thinking he was too frail to stand on his own.
They led him to a door attached to the room. Through those does was a large bathroom equipped with a massive bath with bubbling, soothing, and sweet-smelling water.
The two maids stripped him of his robe and Evian was ready to waddle into his water. That was when he saw that the maids were taking off their clothes as well.
In seconds, they bared their bodies to him.
Both had perky breasts and peachy-looking asses and they grabbed an arm each before leading him into the water.