Soul Knight - Chapter 17 (Patreon)

Nick woke up from their shared dream, Kaya still snoring up a storm. He looked around the tent now lit by the dawn light, but found he had various notifications from the Orion System waiting for him.

[Soul Magic: Soul Pact]

[Create a contract of the soul with a willing target. Contract with followers are dependent upon agreement, but wives will be bound by the same Archaen Law.]

[Followers will be bound by the terms of the pact, unable to violate it. Archaen provides something that fulfills the follower’s desires and protection, and the follower provides loyalty and service.]

[Wives will become hybrid Archaen, merging their mind and soul essence within, and providing Archaen-race class options to wives. Wives are immortal as long as the Archaen Husband lives, and vessels can be recreated with enough Essence invested. Grants special abilities to Soul Knight class once Pact is completed.]

[Soul Pact: Eirwen]

[Pact is currently half-complete. You have made an oath to be the hero Eirwen desires, and her a wife that will support you with her loyalty and devotion as a partner. You also promised to attempt to make Kaya your wife. Soul Pact will be completed when Eirwen is satisfied with the attempt or result, or you accomplish a Soul Pact with Kaya.

When Soul Pact is completed, additional benefits will be gained.]

What the hell is Archaen Law, anyway? Nick found that he could now view his new wife’s stats and information through the Orion System. Her class had evolved.

[Name: Eirwen Torian]
[Race: Archaen Sheep Beastfolk]
[Level: 2]
[Class: Archaen Ordeal Supporter, Rare Class]
[Traits: Soul Bound, Advanced Soul Sense, Mana Resistant, Dreamweaver, Enhanced Body(Sensory)]
[Attributes: 3.22 Body, 4.25 Soul]
[Proficiencies: Novice Crossbow, Intermediate Dreamweaving, Beginner Soul Magic]
[Passive Skills: Carry Weight Up, Detect Safe Area, Map]
[Spells: Loot, Reinvigorate, First Aid]

Seeing Eirwen’s last name matching his own filled him with satisfaction. She was his wife now, which stirred both his protective and possessive instincts.

It shocked him to learn that even in their dream, even if they were separated by distance, it was possible for him to impregnate her if he so chose to. He was connected to her down to their very souls with the Pact, and essence could travel between them.

Somehow, this could allow them to combine their essence, and form their future child. Thinking on it, it was likely this was one of the reasons he was so strong early on. Stronger Archaen parents would mean stronger children.

He also noticed that her level had decreased, with her class increasing in rarity.

She had the same traits as him, but also her own–the Dreamweaver and Enhanced Body(Sensory) traits. It appeared she got a new spell, Reinvigorate.

[Spell: Reinvigorate]
[Mana Cost: Medium]
[School: Soul]
[Spend Body and Soul Essence to reinvigorate the target through the Soul Pact. Restores a small portion of target’s vitality and mana. Increases target’s capability to heal and restore stamina and mana for a period. Can only be used on Archaen Husband or those connected, such as Soul Servants.]

This would definitely be helpful, as floors got longer and more dangerous. It sounded like it would consume some of the Body Essence she generated in order to send it to others.

Nick really needed to get a more detailed understanding of Essence at some point. He absorbed it, but he spent it. Yet, spending it didn’t seem to increase the time it took him to level up. He also regained some over time, so it was like he produced it. How did that work?

He was sure that his Soul Blade now leaked the Essence it charged with–into himself, slowly. It was truly a mysterious weapon.

“What are you thinkin’ about?”

Nick turned and saw Eirwen staring at him, a wide, satisfied smile on her face. Her new tinge of blue in her green eyes revealed themselves, making him truly feel that something had changed.

“Just about Essence, I’m confused about it. How ya feelin’, Winny?”

She stretched her hands above her head. “Oh, I’m feeling wonderful, hubby. That was a special night. I enjoyed the dream world, but I would really like to try that in the real one–sooner, rather than later.”

He chuckled, as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. Kissing her lips, they luxuriated in each other’s touch for a minute before she pulled back.

“Now, did you have a question about Essence?”

“Y-yeah.” He was surprised at the return to the topic. “Just, I thought it was weird that we used Essence to power our abilities and spells, but it doesn’t seem to increase the amount of essence I need to level up when I spend it. But I also produce it?”

She giggled. “It’s a complicated topic, and I could talk about it all day. You can think of your core like a cup which holds essence. But when you weave the essence into your core by cultivating it, you are increasing the size of your core–the cup. The essence that fills the cup is from you.”

Nick frowned. “Where’s it come from? And where does mana fall into this?”

She tapped her lips. “It comes from everything? Our actual bodies, mind, and soul absorb essence from everything–I told you about how it’s in the air we breathe and the food we eat, for example. You could say our bodies store them, which the core refills from, but that’s not precisely right. Not all essence is equal, the essence rewarded from slaying creatures by the Orion System is thicker and more perfect for cultivation than what we have in our bodies.”

She continued, “As for Mana, it is the convergence or byproduct of Soul and Mind Essence. Using it, we can manifest spells and change the fabrics of our reality.”

Nick only became more confused. “Is there a byproduct of Body and Soul, or Body and Mind?”

Eirwen shook her head. “If there is, the books I’ve read from Havendale just don’t have information on them. Instead, Body Essence and Mana is the normal combination. Weaving Body Essence with Mana into the sword was what Kaya told you about, that only Experts can do.”

“What’s this about me?” Kaya sniffed repeatedly. “Why does it smell like sex in here?”

Eirwen blushed as Kaya sat up, looking between the two of them. Nick grimaced, as he realized his loin cloth might be a bit damp, like he had a wet dream. He imagined Eirwen’s situation was probably similar.

Kaya took their response with horror. “Gross, you two did it while I was in the same tent?!”

Eirwen was flustered. “J-Just hold on a minute, Kaya. It kinda just happened–in the dream date, not here! I didn't realize that it might have consequences. I–I’ll go freshen up first, and make breakfast!”

She had fished out some clothes from her pack while she was talking, throwing some fresh items to Nick before she left with her own, bolting out of the tent.

Nick was happy for a new loin cloth anyway, he began shifting to change his clothes when he raised his brow at Kaya. “You gonna watch? I need to freshen up too. Maybe while Eirwen fixes breakfast, we can get a little more training in?”

Kaya rolled her eyes and left the tent, allowing him to clean himself up and get changed into his armor and ready. They had a bit of time before they would need to leave the Safe Zone and head to the next floor.

When he was finally prepared, he left the tent, finding Kaya ready for their spar in the clearing, her armor equipped as well. She had already found her calm, but with her arms and legs transformed.

They sparred for a bit once more, to kill time until Eirwen had finished cooking. He spent time focusing mostly on learning what Eirwen and Kaya had talked about–mixing the Body Essence with mana into his practice weapon, but was having very little luck with it doing anything at all.

“Breakfast is ready! You’re really getting better with your control, Kaya.” She smiled with her ears wiggling, her tail swishing as she plated the rest of the food.

Nick kissed Eirwen on the cheek and hugged him to her, before he went and sat down.

Kaya had sat down, but now had a low rumble coming from her throat, her eyes narrowed on Nick. “What did you do to her?”

Nick raised his brow. “Mostly had a good time? The attraction was mutual, I’ll have you know. What do you mean?”

“Don’t play games. I mean, why are her eyes a different color, and why does she smell different?”

“Hehe, I’m the first of Nick’s wives now! We did the Soul Pact on our dream date, and I became a beastfolk Archaen!”

Kaya started to growl, and was taking deep breaths, doing what she did to stave off turning further into a beast. “Explain.”

Nick started by sharing the Soul Pact information with his menu, though he kept the specific log entry for Eirwen to himself for now. He explained what happened, how he realized that he needed her, and it led to him making this special connection with her.

“So you see, Kaya? With this, I can protect Eirwen better than ever. She can still get hurt, sure, but as long as I live, she will be with me no matter what.”

Kaya had stopped growling, but she still had a frown. “I suppose, it sounds like all positives? But that depends on what this Archaen Law is, and how much essence it costs to remake her body, too. What happens if you die?”

“Er…”

Eirwen giggled. “It’s not bad at all!”

Nick froze. “What, you know what it is?”

“We really need to get you used to using the Orion System, hubby! You have a Codex entry on Archaens, and then Archaen Law. Just think about it to bring it up.”

Nick realized he did have the entry on Archaens, nestled in his menu. Like everything else, he willed information on Archaen Law. It popped up for him, and he shared it with Kaya–he figured whatever happened, she would need to know.

[Author note: I’m still working on this section and how it’s to be presented to the reader–debating just providing it as dialogue or just condensing / making it a little less complicated. If you have feedback on it, I’d be happy to hear it.]

[Racial Information: Archaen Law]

[Archaens and those they form pacts with, whether Wives or Followers, are bound by Archaen Law. All participants, henceforth called Pacters, must follow a strict set of rules.

• Soul Pacts can only be formed with those of Neutral and Good Alignment.
  
• All Pacters cannot commit acts of Major Evil, or allow their soul’s alignment to shift to Evil.
  
• Certain acts of Minor Evil such as betrayal are forbidden and enforced by the Orion System between Pacters.
  

Followers:

• Archaen provides Life Protection to follower. If their corpse is available, Summon Soul Servant can restore Follower from death.
  
• Followers can only provide Archaen Half-Blood Heirs.
  
• Must follow the terms of the Follower Pact formed at creation. Can only cancel Pact with permission from both Pacters.
  

Wives:

• Recent Pact-wives will die along with Archaen Husband, unless they cross into the next Stratum and an Heir is available to connect with as a Follower.
  
• Cannot commit acts that Archaen husband considers acts of betrayal.
  
• Husband provides protection and essence to wives through resurrection and essence sharing.
  
• Wives must provide Archaen Husband with Heirs, and not get in the way of creating more Heirs.
  

]

Kaya hummed. “Well, her dying along with you is not great, but not so bad when considering she was following you into that Trial anyway–odds are anything that could kill you there would have her dead not long after. As long as she reaches the Second Stratum and you have an heir, her life is still guaranteed inside or outside the Ordeals.”

Eirwen beamed, as she worked the grill. “Yup! Nick’s people are really amazing!”

Nick frowned, once again thinking of Jerome. Was Jerome his mother, or one of his father’s Soul Pacts? A problem for later, as it seemed unable to speak.

“You two don’t have any problem with any of that? The wife’s rules are pretty out there.”

Eirwen snorted. “Like what? We beastfolk may be willing to share our man, but that’s because we are built for it. But we’re also built for loyalty to our mate. We don’t go astray just because some stronger male shows up once we’ve chosen. Well, most of us, anyway. It would be the monsterfolk you need to be worried about, but not with the pact.”

“What do you mean, most of us?”

“W-Well, there are definitely good and bad beastfolk, just like humans and so on. But there are a few beastfolk like their animal species that are definitely the…free love types? Or even a few where the females are dominant.”

Nick frowned, but continued enjoying his bacon. He figured he just wouldn’t be interested in the free love types, but if they accepted the pact, then that concern would go away anyway. He asked, “What, like hyena beastfolk? They got those here?”

Kaya nodded as she finished chewing her food. “Desert dog beastfolk? Sure. Many of the bird and reptile beastfolk have more dominant or larger females. Still, many of them will back down their dominance to a powerful enough male, depending. Some will continue fighting it tooth and nail, literally, as their bestial instincts urge them to be dominant.”

“Er, okay, we got off track from the Laws. How does the system define evil, anyway, isn’t that subjective?”

Kaya frowned in confusion. “What do you mean? You don’t know what evil is?”

“Uh, I mean, I can guess, but how about you explain it to me? From where I come from, there’s a culture of people that can even rationalize theft as helping someone else.”

Eirwen was shocked. “H-huh? That’s crazy. How do they figure?”

“By stealing from another, they believe they are teaching them to not be stolen from in the future. They’re not stealing–they’re helping them understand that theft is possible. It’s a good thing they helped them, otherwise in the future they might lose something even more important.”

Eirwen looked at him dubiously. “Well, rationalization like that doesn’t fly in our world. The Orion System, and all of Orion’s denizens, define evil by actions or intentions that purposely cause harm or suffering to others without direct provocation or self-defense. If an area has their own Laws that skew from this, you are immediately warned that this is the case when you enter.”

“Huh. So there could be some sort of city of thieves where this could literally be the case, where theft wasn’t evil, I guess?”

Kaya nodded. “It’s rare, but it could happen. Still, there are limits to even that. Neutral and Good Race Children are universally protected by the Orion System, for example–no matter what Laws you try to change.”

“What about evil children? They get no protection?”

Eirwen giggled. “You mean evil race children? A child cannot become evil normally. Teaching them to do evil things would be the flaw of the adult teaching them. But evil races are races that are predisposed to committing evil even from birth, and in a way you could say they’re also protected: by being able to advance like that of a monster–early in their development. Unlike us, where our cores can be harmed by consuming essence too early.”

“So you mean…they could grow up more rapidly or become stronger by consuming essence?” Eirwen nodded at this, so he continued, “This leaves me with even more questions, so I’m worried about getting in trouble. I take it Major Evil is where I probably cause significant suffering or harm, such as death and dismemberment? But how do wars work, then?”

“That’s right. You’ll feel it, and sometimes even get a notification regarding it–the wrongness of your action. But yes, even stealing a loaf of bread can be an act of Major Evil, if you know that its theft could cause someone to starve to death when you yourself are in no danger. Regarding wars, the Ruler decides the action, and their alignment is affected the most. The alignment can influence the residents in a smaller way. If the ruler keeps committing acts of evil by initiating wars or attacks that aren’t justified by the Orion System, the onus is on the residents to fight back or leave, or their alignment will shift.”

“Okay. Well, I guess this was all good, but it could be a while before it matters to me, huh?”

Kaya shook her head. “No. It will likely be important in the Trial. If there is a settlement, it could have these Laws. Then, if we attack an intelligent being unprovoked anywhere within, it is a minimum of a minor evil.”

Nick frowned. “You mean, if some dude comes out of the bushes at us and I kill ‘em in self-defense before I work out what’s going on, I could get in trouble?”

Eirwen tapped her lip. “No, not really. Despite us saying you can’t rationalize out of it, a lot of the system functions off intentions and danger. Orion is dangerous, and it’s expected that you will fight or be ready to fight for survival in the wilds versus inside a governed city, protected by the Towers. Defending yourself is never evil, and another person in the wilderness especially can be a danger to you. It treats things differently if you are just protecting yourself, versus if you imagine what the boots the other guy is wearing will look like on your feet as you slay him.”

“Well, I feel like I’m lucky to have this soul sense, as I can kinda tell if someone is good or evil as I see them. I take it that it’s not evil to kill evil?”

Eirwen was shocked. “H-huh? W-Well, if you know they are evil, or have committed acts of major evil, or born of an Evil-aligned Race, then yes.”

Kaya added, her fork pointed at Nick, “But most people don’t know that for sure. Even Eirwen with her soul sense, she couldn’t be certain they committed a major evil or reached evil alignment, unless she personally witnessed it. Most have to use the authority of the law, or merely be defending themselves, to kill an evil person with no consequences.”

“Huh, but I can know for sure when I get near people. I knew for sure those bandits had committed terrible sins before I killed them. So, that means I can kill them with impunity?”

Eirwen was surprised, and looked thoughtful. “Me too now! Er, but I don’t think I’ll be doing that…unless I have to.”

“One more question. How do you think the pact prohibits the betrayals, or the acts of Major Evil? For all Pacters.”

Eirwen frowned. “I’m not entirely sure. The Orion System tends to make it obvious when your thoughts lead you towards an act of Major Evil. It will likely add a sort of punishment, or even prevent you from doing it completely. For the act of Major Evil, it might actually kill you or wound you heavily, Nick. Something as powerful as these Soul Pacts must have a detriment, and restricting your freedom is a pretty big one.”

A powerful sense of purpose flooded Nick. Archaens appeared to be the ultimate upholder of the law, the punisher of evil. Even those that hide among the good, he could find them, and he could slay them using Judgement.