Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith-Chapter 156: The Benefit Of The Doubt

"So, is that all?" Evan asked while looking at the other disciples still standing and backing up towards their Sect's grounds.

"Evian, that might be enough." Gillert said quietly, "This is certainly not what Zayda meant by 'staying out of trouble'."

"What's going on here?"

"Ah, Speak of the devil," Gillert said as Zayda walked out of the Sect and her eyes naturally fell on the kowtowing five who shivered with the Eldritch cold that Evian had seeped into their bodies to ensure they stayed right where they were.

"An innocent exchange of pointers," Evian said, "A simple spar with a bet to make things interesting."

Zayda sighed with a hand on her forehead. She glared at Evian and then at the five at his feet,

"Stand up," she said gently and as though her words were infused with Spiritual energy, it freed the five from Evian's Eldritch hold and they stood to their feet, glared at Evian with the intent to pummel him, and then walked away with their retreating comrades.

Again, Zayda eyed Evian and again she let out a sigh,

"Here," she said, handing them all Spatial pouches one after the other.

Inside the pouches were an equal amount of gold as well as cultivation resources just as Zayda had promised but also, at the very top of the small pile of rewards were gleaming insignias made with iron but imprinted with words of Silver that read;

"Martial Temple Border Knights- Rank 7"

"Your names have been officially registered with the Martial Temple and you are now official members. You will be starting from scratch so your rank is rightly at '7' but you have also received merit points for our recent task. Rack it up with more meritorious deeds and you'll advance in no time."

Everyone in the Squad pulled out their insignias and while the others went 'ooh' and 'ahh' at the sense of importance and responsibility that such an official seal came with, Evian had one question to ask,

"What do these get us?"

"What do you mean?" Zayda asked.

"Well, it seemed important to even have them at all so are they just means of identification of is there something-- more."

The suggestive pause that Evian employed in that sentence gave Zayda an idea of what his question was referring to,

"East City is a Martial City so a seal that shows any level of connection with the Martial Temple is respected but your ranks are low so there is very little level of influence you can have.

Now, let's be off."

Zayda was serious about the one week of rest so she led the Squad to a building she had received permission from the Eastern Sect -The most important power in East City- to use all through their stay.

"Impressive," Carleine said once they had all stepped through.

When Zayda described the building, she made it sound as though it were some dingy hideout but it was quite spacious and only missing a few grand features to truly be called a Mansion. For a place that would only be staying at for a week, the building was luxurious.

Ember grabbed Evian's arm almost immediately,

"Want to choose a room with me?" she asked batting her eyes, her expression showing she was working quite hard to hold back urges that had been building all through their Carriage journey.

Evian opened his mouth but Zayda interrupted,

"Ember, why not go ahead? I want to have a word with Evian first."

When they were alone, Zayda gave Evian such an intense look, that he flinched.

"What?"

"Well done," Zayda said.

Evian opened his mouth and then shut it thinking he might have heard wrong,

"What?"

"I said, Well done," Zayda repeated.

"Wait," Evian says while holding up his two palms, "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Of course. As a member of the Martial Temple, you need to know how to stand your ground. No one will respect you if you always shirk from confrontation."

"But why were you glaring at me then?" Evian asked.

"Because you went too far," Zayda said, "Showing your ability in a duel is honorable but humiliating them as you did crossed a line."

"They would have done the same to me had they won. Worse even," Evian said.

"And what would you have done then?"

"What do you mean?" Evian asked, confused.

"What would you have done if they had humiliated you?" Zayda asked, now in front of Evian and moving so close that the only thing they both had in view were each other's eyes.

Zayda continued,

"If they had humiliated you, would you have let it go?"

"Of course not," Evian answered immediately.

"Then, what makes you think that they will," Zayda asked as she took one step back and shook her head,

"Those brats don't rank high in the Eastern Sect. Hell, they probably left the Sect to rack up some Points by subjugating Beasts within the Forest so they don't yet amount to much. However, they surely will have the backing of their seniors to call to their aid.

They won't forget this. They won't forget you."

Evian stroked his jaw,

"I'll deal with that when it comes," he mumbled almost absentmindedly because there was something else Zayda mentioned that caught his ears, "What's this about Beast Subjugation? Is that similar to what we just did in Kalkao?"

"Yes and No," Zayda said, frowning a bit at how Evian had changed the subject, "What Karenssa created are better termed as monstrosities. However, the Beasts in the East City Forest make use of Spiritual energy and reproduce so rapidly that they have to be regularly culled.

The higher-ups of the Eastern Sect could eradicate them all but they see it as a means for their disciples to get actual experience while also funding the Sect independent of what they are allocated from the Martial Temple Headquarters."

Evian smiled as an idea popped into his head,

'Assistant, do Spiritual Beasts possess Souls?'

['Souls' is such an abstract way to put it considering that requires a particular level of intellect, level of existence as well as a knowledge of self to be tagged as such.

However, Beasts that have evolved to harness Spiritual energy do possess Essence that identifies exactly as 'Soul Points']

"This is wonderful," Evian was so excited that he spoke out loud.

"What's wonderful?" Zayda asked, confused.

Placing his hands on the Squad Commander's shoulders, Evian stared deep into her eyes,

"Zayda, can I take part in the subjugation?"

"You just battled a monster horde and a Witch just days ago and you want to go against Martial Beasts now?"

"Yes!" Evian said.

This was an option he had never considered before today- Before this City.

The reason was; There were no Beasts who could harness Spiritual energy anywhere around Verdelen City or even Kalkao although he had admittedly spent so much less time at the latter.

Spiritual energy is all around and even vegetation as well as animals cultivated in Verdelen City had traces of it but none could make use of it in a way that would give Evian the option to reap their Essence.

Forests with Martial Beasts were usually not allowed around civilized Cities because of how likely Beasts tides would become and of course, only a Martial Temple Sect like the Eastern Sect could see it as a chance to train disciples.

"Anyone can go into the Forest and that's what makes it dangerous. Traps, as well as hunters who are territorial about prey they've stalked are regular run-ins.

The Eastern Sect hardly wants to be bothered with guarding the region so they rely on the sheer beast numbers as well as violent competition to demotivate people like you who carelessly wish to charge in.

Even Disciples of the Sect don't go in alone because of the danger and as such, the spoils of their wins get them a lot of points they can use to earn extra resources on Sect grounds.

'I couldn't care less about spoils. I just want those Soul points.' Evian thought and then he asked Zayda in summary of all she had already said,

"So I can just go right in?"

Zayda was silent for a few seconds and then she shrugged,

"If you want to. But you should be careful if you do go in."

"Sure," Evian said but could not, and did not want to, get rid of his smile.

He made to walk away from Zayda after that but she grabbed his arm to bring him to a stop for the second reason she had wanted to talk to him,

"Evian, what are you?" she asked.

Evian paused. He expected an actual investigation from her to decipher his true nature and not for her to outright ask him but this tactic of hers was not too bad.

"If you're asking that, I'm guessing saying I'm 'Human' won't be enough to appease you," he said.

"No, it won't. Because I want the truth," Zayda said, "You and Karenssa have a lot in common and it's not just some negligible coincidence.

You're not human and I might be abhorring an existence that poses a threat to Verlice's Spirituality."

Evian chuckled,

"You give me too much credit," he said with his hand patting the back of Zayda's hand still on his arm, "My goals are not that grand."

"Evian--" Zayda started but was quickly interrupted,

"Have I ever done anything that remotely hints at some dubious ulterior motive?" Evian asked.

"No, not--" Zayda started before Evian interrupted her again while gently pulling her hand off his arm,

"Well, then, Commander, That should be enough to earn me the benefit of the doubt."