Somewhere along the coastlines of Eldor, the capital city of the Eldorath Kingdom, one of the four kingdoms in the human continent, a dark crow with a wingspan of two meters sped toward the mountaintop city visible in the far distance.
Eldor is one of the most attractive and renowned cities in the Eldorath Kingdom and the human continent at large.
The city, perched atop a massive mountain, has a serene charm that draws people seeking a few days of peace.
Indeed, the city is a haven for peaceful living. The King of Eldorath ensured this, making Eldor not only the safest of all the capital cities on the human continent but also the most welcoming for all kinds of life.
The crow continued its flight toward the city but, two miles away, landed gracefully on the ground and transformed into a striking beauty with dark hair and a refined figure.
She was adorned in dark silk clothing and wore eyeglasses that gave her the appearance of a scholar.
The lady walked toward the city with steady steps, careful not to let even a speck of dust soil her perfect and slender legs.
“Lady Agnis, a pleasure to see you again.”
As she approached the majestic gates leading to the city, the guards, who immediately recognized her, greeted her with deep respect.
This could mean only one thing: the woman named Agnis was a person of influence in the city.
“It’s nice to see you guys too. Tell me, what has happened while I was gone? Any juicy gossip?” she asked with a cute smile that instantly captivated the guards.
In fact, all around who saw the lady pass were captivated by her charm. They all wanted to get close to her and kiss her feet.
“Not that much, but we recently learned one of the noble families was wiped out overnight. Also, a merchant family experienced a similar fate. That is all,” the guard said, making Lady Agnis nod and continue her journey.
“You four should come around some time to receive a portion I recently prepared. You wouldn’t want to disappoint your young ladies in bed, right?” Lady Agnis said while moving again.
The four guards smiled upon hearing her words. They all knew her as one of the few healers in Eldor City. Those who knew her well were aware that she specialized in making potions to enhance and spice up one’s sex life.
The lady moved through the busy streets for a while before arriving at a quiet, secluded house somewhere at the corner of the city.
“Home sweet home,” she muttered before entering the house.
She chose to relax for a bit before getting back to her life. However, her plans were cut short when a certain shadow moved, and a man appeared.
“You are back, Agnis,” the man said.
Agnis, who was perhaps expecting the man, nodded and stood up. She then tapped into her soul ring and retrieved a key.
“I have completed the mission, leader. I managed to retrieve the key from the humans and escaped with my subordinates.”
The man received the key and appraised it for a few seconds before putting it away.
“You have done well, Agnis. The Hand will reward you,” the man said before taking out a small box from his space ring.
“Inside contains a Tier 8 Core of a Spirit Beast and a Tier 8 Soul Shard. Take this as your reward—you have earned it.”
Lady Agnis received her reward with a proud smile.
“Use the next few months to relax. The teams on the Elven Continent are closing in on the next key. Soon, we will have two of the seven. You have really done well, Agnis.
However, your work is not done,” the man stated, making Agnis look back at him.
“What do you require of me, leader? I will do anything for the Hand,” she replied.
The man smiled. “The Oracle has recently discovered a Variable that, in some way, can block our plans. For now, the Oracle is still in the process of uncovering the identity of this Variable, but the moment it is uncovered, you will have to go out there again.
Use this time to consolidate your strength and wait for further orders,” the leader said before moving back into the shadows.
In the next second, the shadow was gone from the room.
Lady Agnis, who everyone in the Alderford family would recognize as Lady Olive, sighed and sat back down. She had been tasked with locating the first key, which, luckily for her, was with someone she had shared a steamy night with.
In fact, when she found out John had the key, she reached out to the Hand and made a plea to be the one to extract it.
Although she knew her status hadn’t reached the level required to pursue one of the Pandorax keys, she convinced them she could do it.
She was thankful that, through her charm and nature as a Soulmancer, she was able to take over John’s body and soul.
This allowed her to get what she wanted. Thankfully, the Hand didn’t doubt her and even sent her more than enough forces to take down the Alderfords.
“I will have to kill the bitch later. If she didn’t have that annoying talent, I would have long finished this quest,” she muttered, the image of Cynthia Alderford appearing in her mind.
What nobody besides Lady Olive knew was that Cynthia possessed a unique class—even she didn’t fully understand it.
Olive was a Soulmancer, someone who tapped into souls and manipulated them. Their job was essentially to turn people into puppets on a soul level.
But soulmancers had a counter, and these counters were known as Aetherwardens. Their role was to act as guardians of spiritual balance and disruptors of soul manipulation.
Cynthia is an Aetherwarden.
This prevented her from getting into John’s soul at first. However, when John started neglecting Cynthia, she found a way into his soul and managed to turn him to her side.
“I need to kill her. For now, she doesn’t know what she is. I need to kill her before she awakens her true nature.” Lady Olive lay on her bed, formulating ways to kill the only counter that could stand against her.
Soulmancers are powerful, but an Aetherwarden can render their existence meaningless.
She knew this, and for that reason, she would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. She had already tried using John to end her, but thankfully, the Sword Saintess saved her.
This was one of the reasons she attacked the Alderfords and stole everything they had. Since Cynthia was now vulnerable and had nothing, the chances of reaching her were very high.
In fact, she expect Cynthia to be drowning in debt by now, Lady Olive believed she would be able to get what she wanted much more easily.
Unfortunately for Lady Olive, things were about to change, and this change would affect not only her but all Soulmancers.
The sole existence that could counter them had made a decision—one that Lady Olive could never predict.
Cynthia, who had spent the last four days getting her affairs in order, had finally made up her mind to let Kent make her feel young again.
Because of this, she would soon learn she was far more dangerous and awe-inspiring than she thought.
Destiny had chosen to roll the dice yet again. Whether this would turn out to be a bad thing for Kent or a good one would depend on how long he could continue to thrust each round.