Sarnith Dralithar was burning with anger. This servant had stolen her opportunity and was now sitting on the sixth floor, laughing with the princess.
"Lady Nyssali, what are you planning? I thought your house wanted an alliance with us." Sarnith hissed in anger at the other woman.
"We have nothing to do with this. The servant is new and will, of course, be punished," Lady Nyssali stammered in fear.
"We'll see," Sarnith growled. "I wonder what the two are talking about."
"Wow, did you ever see such big tits?" Rylak exclaimed in Thalion's head, which was quite distracting.
"Come on, don't ignore me. At least look down a little," Rylak urged him on.
"I think the Stardiver is really kicking in now," Thalion laughed loudly as he noticed the curious look of the princess.
"I think you're doing very well. Any other servant would be knocked out cold from the energy alone," Princess Talythra laughed.
"I'm just well-trained," Thalion smiled, hoping that it was not too suspicious, but in the end it probably wouldn't matter much.
"You just said you only drank water before," Talythra smirked.
"Well, water can be a hardcore drink," Thalion laughed. "It's kind of funny. I never was in the city before, and now I'm talking to the princess after saving her from boredom like a real hero."
"Wait, you're from the slums? Do you know that holy warrior?" Talythra asked, very interested now.
"I saw the guards catching the drunk guy who said he was the holy warrior," Thalion laughed amused. "They believed the guy, or at least they stopped searching."
"So how did you end up here in this hall as a servant? Quite a change," the princess asked while leaning in.
"I guess I got lucky. I found a farmer who helped me get this job, and many of the other servants had incidents. Then I was simply the last one left," Thalion explained, not mentioning that he was the cause of all the incidents. "I hoped to watch the calling. There must be some strong fighters participating. Maybe I can copy some of their spells."
"It's actually not that big of a deal. They just fight some beasts, and we take the ones who seem the best. It's not about raw strength but about having a strong soul," Talythra explained.
"Really? How do you test the soul? I’ve got a strong one too," Thalion asked, intrigued.
"Sure you do," Talythra laughed before continuing, "There’s no magic involved; it’s more about how focused they are on their target. At least when it comes to the calling later in the palace, there will be some testing."
"That’s a vague description," Thalion sighed faintly in disappointment.
"Sure, but we can take basically anyone. The method to bond with the spirit is very safe," the princess shrugged.
Thalion already knew the method they used, and he even had a better one. The only thing he needed was access to a magic circle created by a god. If he got access to that circle, he was confident he could dominate one of the strongest spirits on the other side. Of course, from the perspective of an F-grade, he wouldn’t dare to touch a spirit D-grades normally bound with.
"What speaks against giving a servant like me the opportunity? I'm crazy enough to handle some spirit," Thalion asked, trying to push the subject a bit further.
"You are crazy, that’s true, but you're not trained, and some basics are still needed," the princess dismissed him, clearly not taking his request seriously.
This was a tricky situation. How could he prove he had enough strength for the ritual?
"Although everyone goes through a few years of training at my home before they’re allowed to participate," the princess added.
This was bad. He probably had a few years before Garrick and Michael would arrive at his room, but he couldn’t say for sure. Without the bound spirit, he would most likely get killed. That was, after all, the reason why he had chosen this dimension of existence. Were there easier dimensions? Yes, of course. Were they better in the end? No, most of them had massive downsides. In the end, everything had its price.
"Could you invite me to the calling?" I guess my current master won’t keep me alive if I go down there now," Thalion asked after they silently watched the gathering of nobles below them.
"Ah, don't worry about that. I’ll just make a comment to the young woman you brought the drink about how I’d like to see you again at the calling and everything should be fine," Talythra said without any concern.
"Could you also mention the butler Tor'kel? That guy might lose his head after what happened today," Thalion smiled, unsure if it was enough.
"Sure, any other servant I should mention?" She answered jokingly.
"Na, I'm good so far. Oh, but can you drop something like, 'I have a lot of potential that’s worth nurturing'?" Thalion laughed. "It would be so funny if they had to allocate resources to someone like me."
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"Okay, they probably think I’ve lost my mind, but sure, I guess it’s funny enough to try it out," she laughed.
"Isn’t it illegal to think something like that about a princess?" Thalion shrugged, wondering how many laws he had broken tonight.
"Sure, but the calling is tomorrow evening," the princess said. "At first, they weren’t sure if it was possible, but after my guard spoke with them, it will be tomorrow. They tried to force me to attend even more balls before the calling."
That was bad for Thalion. What should he do? The calling would be his only chance to prove his strength, and he had hoped for more time to prepare. No one would allow him to fight in there, but no one had ever forced his way to do so. Why not give it a try?
"Great, at least no more of those balls," Thalion exclaimed, leaning back and finishing his second glass of nebula nectar.
"Yeah, I won’t miss those," the princess said, amused. "I think I should get back downstairs. It won’t be long before it’s over. It was nice meeting you, Rylak."
"See you tomorrow evening if I’m still alive," Thalion said with a wave of his hand as the princess stood up and left for one of the groups of nobles on the lower floors.
Thalion, of course, would take his time going down to the wolves. He didn’t really know what his position in the hierarchy was now. Was he an hour away from death, or was he above the noble house he had served? It should be difficult to kill him as long as he was fast enough to leave Rylak’s body—everything should be fine.
Thalion watched as the princess spoke with several groups while the people around him relaxed in chairs. He had one of the servants bring him another glass of nebula nectar. That drink was so delicious, and he needed it right now after all the stress of the day.
Thalion noticed Lady Nyssali looking at him after the princess had spoken with her for a few minutes. Yep, he was definitely above them now—how funny. Let’s see what materials he could demand. Soon, the princess was teleported out of the hall by her guard.
That guy was on a completely different level. His aura was fully hidden, but the sense Thalion got from his title sang a song of power. He must be far above C-grade, maybe even B-grade. Thalion wondered if the man had already bonded with a spirit.
After the princess left, the party slowly wound down as the nobles began to leave, though a few were dancing in another room, probably not planning on leaving soon. All this time, some of the nobles had come close, but no one had actually spoken to him, which was quite funny.
They had no idea what position he currently held, so they didn’t want to risk anything. If he was still a servant, it would be embarrassing to talk to him, and if he was on their level and they didn’t treat him with the proper respect, it could backfire.
He spotted Lady Nyssali standing up and saying her goodbyes to all the other nobles with many bows. It was time for him to leave as well. Instead of going down the stairs, he decided on a more dramatic descent. He jumped over the golden railing and managed the perfect Superman landing in front of Lady Nyssali, who stumbled back in surprise. Ten out of ten for style, he thought, smiling to himself.
"So, can we leave now?" Thalion asked, smiling and reaching out a hand to help her stand. Her family had already left the mansion and was probably waiting in the carriage.
As she stood up in shock, still unable to say anything, the entire mansion grew silent a second time. Thalion guided the woman to the carriage. There was no Tor’kel sitting on top of the carriage, and Thalion found out why when he entered the carriage.
Tor’kel’s body lay broken in the corner of the large room that existed within the small carriage. It didn’t look like a quick death either, with his face twisted in a grimace of pain and sorrow.
Well, that wasn’t what Thalion had wanted, but there was nothing he could do about it. In the end, he was here to bond with a spirit, and he didn’t have much of a choice. Still, he felt bad for the nice fellow, but in the end, it wasn’t his fault. This family was killing their servants for something they had nothing to do with. The other servants were either passed out from the monstrous killing intent radiating from the nobles, especially from the patriarch and matriarch.
"You! What have you done?!" Xar'vath screamed in anger.
"I had a talk with the princess. You’ve killed Tor’kel. That’s a penalty you’ll pay for later," Thalion said coldly, walking closer.
"You think you can threaten me?" Xar'vath screamed with hatred at him.
"Not at all," Lady Nyssali interjected, her voice panicked. "The princess mentioned that she would like to see him again tomorrow and that he has potential."
"What? How is that possible?" Xar'vath exclaimed in shock.
How hadn’t this guy known? Thalion thought, feeling extremely close to death—if it hadn't been for the lady's help.
"Like the lady said, I’m expected tomorrow, and not just me, but Tor’kel as well. You’d better show me your wares back at your mansion if you don’t want me to mention something about his early demise," Thalion said, his gaze cold.
"Only if you speak highly of us when meeting the princess tomorrow," the matriarch said after a long silence.
"That depends on what you’ve got," Thalion replied, maintaining the pressure.
"Dude, first you’re against stealing, and now you’re pulling this off?" Rylak laughed in his head. "You’re way worse than I ever was."
The rest of the trip was silent between them until they arrived and exited the carriage.
"Lornak will show you your new room," the matriarch said with a wave of her hand. "We’ll meet later tonight for the negotiations. I guess we’re all exhausted after such a long day."
"No, I want to see your treasures now," Thalion pressed, not backing down.
"You can’t be serious," Xar'vath said, hatred burning in his eyes.
"Fine, I’ll show you around now," Lady Sel’virah sighed, her feelings hidden.
Thalion was hoping for soul treasures that would empower his spirit body. If not, he would take anything that could empower Rylak’s body, as he planned to interfere in the calling. Tomorrow would be his chance to travel to the giant palace in space.
Thalion was guided into a giant chamber, filled with innumerable items hovering above runes near the walls.
"What treasures are you searching for? We have many here," Lady Sel’virah asked, her pain evident.
"First, show me all the soul treasures you have," Thalion said, his voice firm.
Soul treasures were the only thing that could help him when he returned to his body, so they were naturally the most important to him.
"No, soul treasures are too valuable," Lady Sel’virah stated.
"What do you think is more important: the soul treasures or the image of your family?" Thalion continued, refusing to let them off the hook easily, especially after what had happened to Tor'kel.
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"Fine, this way," she said after a long pause.
They entered a beautiful garden, filled with flowers that hummed with power.
"These are all the soul treasures we have. Don’t use more than one—it can be dangerous when your soul is weak and you don’t know what you’re doing," Lady Sel’virah cautioned.
"Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for," Thalion said after feeling the power coursing through the plants. They probably had more soul treasures, but this was enough for him until tomorrow. More powerful treasures could be dangerous, and he couldn’t afford a backlash right now.
"We expect that you keep your word. It took over sixty years to grow them," Lady Sel’virah said before leaving.
Yeah, he for sure would keep his word, Thalion thought, with a sinister smile.