Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

For as much as Evian was able to deliver, she was happy to receive.

Up until well past midnight, they kept going at it, and at the end of it all, when she was about to slip into the deep sleep that should rightly follow such an intense session, she held on to Evian tight and fell asleep with her head on his chest.

At dawn, before the sun started to peek through the morning clouds, Evian opened his eyes. Ember remained passed out and by the looks of it, would remain that way for many more hours to come.

With a peck to her forehead, Evian carefully pulled her arms off his body and had her roll over so he could get up, put on his clothes, and leave the room just as he had come in; With Wraithic Phasing.

He walked the corridors leading to the Guest room he shared with Daria, waving at the workers he met along the way with a signature charming smile. The way a majority of them looked at him, and whispered among themselves once he was feet away from them, told Evian that the tales of his sexual exploits were quickly spreading.

He had no idea if the news was about his time with Daria or his time with Ember but in all honesty, he did not care. He took every look of awe, admiration, and envy as badges of honor until he walked into his assigned Guest room and shut the door behind himself.

Daria was cross-legged on the bed, her eyes closed and dressed just as she had been the night before.

"Have you been like that all night?" Evian asked her.

"I meditate to clear my mind," Daria told him, her eyes still closed, "So did you have fun?"

"What do you think?" Evian asked her as he walked forward and flopped back on the bed.

Daria just shook her head while making a series of disapproving sounds with her tongue against the roof of her mouth,

"That poor girl. Ravaged all night by an insatiable being like yourself."

\'I didn\'t get any complaints,\' Evian thought with his hands now behind his head but he did not say it out loud.

"Do you do this often?" he asked instead.

"Do what?"

"Sacrifice sleep to cultivate?" Evian clarified. Despite her calling it \'meditation\', he could clearly feel as her body guzzled Spiritual energy from the atmosphere.

"It\'s not a sacrifice. The further you get as an Arcanist or a Knight for that matter, the more sleep is a choice. You can revitalize your body to peak condition by an infusion of Spiritual energy." Daria explained.

"I see," Evian said.

I guess, you wouldn\'t understand that, seeing as you are not like the rest of us." Daria said with a smirk.

"No, no I\'m not," Evian said with a chuckle.

He could go without sleep as well and while he hardly paid attention to that part of his life now, he could tell his time awake was getting longer with every progression of his Decadence. That said, sleep was an aspect of his past as a human he still did not mind keeping. Particularly after satisfying his urges.

"Have you decided?" he eventually asked after a few seconds of silence.

There was no need to clarify. The Witch knew what he was referring to.

"Let me see the manuscripts again," Daria said while holding out her hand.

"Here," Evian said while placing them on her hand only for her to start sifting through them.

"*Sigh* It\'s not all spells you know," she said and held one up, "This is an Arcane Cultivation Technique titled the Arahant Scripture or more accurately, this is the essence of the Scripture crudely copied onto a blank manuscript to be illegally smuggled.

Could maybe be useful to get over my bottleneck." Daria said.

"Then use it," Evian said with a shrug.

"You- you don\'t understand the severity of being found guilty of theft by the Arcane Church. Not many, if any, are as lucky as Koln was." Daria said, sounding conflicted.

Evian let out a sigh.

"I understand."

"You do?" Daria asked with a raised brow.

Evian nodded,

"I do," he said before letting out a sigh, "You don\'t have to use it."

Evian felt it was insensitive to push her to do something he did not fully understand. He had no real knowledge of the ways of the Arcane Church and if she insisted the consequences outweighed the rewards, then he might as well be understanding and take back the Manuscripts.

Daria didn\'t give them back.

When Evian went silent, so did she.

She looked through them all for Fifteen minutes, her legs still crossed and her breathing still steady in meditative bliss.

She announced her decision to Evian by a felt increase in the intensity of her Spiritual energy guzzling courtesy of her newly-studied cultivation Manuscript.

"I can\'t believe you talked me into this," she mumbled with a smile as he took the Manuscripts back from her for safekeeping in his Spatial Ring.

As she enjoyed the benefits of the illegal document, Daria wondered if Koln had used the Arahant Scripture or if he just kept it with himself to sell in the future.

\'Oh, who cares,\' she thought with an ecstatic feeling that stemmed from the joy of rule-breaking, \'It\'s with me now. And this is only scratching the surface!\'

There was much more knowledge ingrained within the information she had assimilated, blocked from her understanding until she reached a certain Arcane threshold.

It was amazing how the promise of future achievements was washing away Daria\'s conflictions. The high of being a Rule-Breaker spurred her on.

-

When the sun started to shine brighter above the Lockheart Mansion, Erik Lockheart had a worker inform Evian and Daria that it would soon be time to depart for the Renan Estate, and in a bid to prepare himself for such an important meeting, Evian forgone every thought of a nap and took off his robes to head into the bath.

Daria, satisfied with her recent progress, decided she was well due a break and joined him only to eventually get sidetracked from the main task of getting clean at the sight of his body.

Evian complied and an hour later, they both exited and got dressed. Evian in his usual \'noble\' attire and Daria in a usual cleavage-revealing gown in the familiar black.

They left the room and walked to the courtyard together where Erik Lockheart awaited them standing beside an elegant carriage. As he saw Evian and Daria approach, he frowned but of course, the animosity was not for the Arcane Beauty but targeted at the Grey-haired brat by her side.

"Morning!" Erik said brightly making a point to have his eyes on Daria so it was clear the greeting was meant for her and her alone.

"Morning," Daria replied simply right before Erik took her hand and planted a polite kiss on the back of it.

The Merchant had changed out of yesterday\'s dinner robes and into a set that did not look all that different or simpler. He still gave off the extravagant look of a pompous businessman.

"Morning," Evian greeted with a hand raised.

"Well, let\'s be off," Erik said acting like he had not heard as he turned towards the Carriage and gave instructions to the coachman.

Evian\'s lips twitched as black lines formed on his forehead, a tad confused by the cold reception. Even after all three of them had boarded the Carriage, Erik still made a point to snub him, focussing his attention on Daria instead.

"So Miss Daria, how was your stay?"

"It was fine," Daria said knowing that was just a preamble to the more probing questions Erik was about to start dishing out. She quickly looked to Evian to get her out of it.

"Again," Evian said, deciding to chime in, "We thank you for your hospitality."

"Don\'t talk to me!" Erik snapped.

Chastised, Evian smiled uncomfortably,

"Why not?" he asked as the Carriage pulled out of the Mansion and started on its way to the Renan Estate.

Seeing Evian act so oblivious, almost innocent, got Erik\'s blood boiling,

"You- I heard you, you lustful scum... I heard what you were doing to my daughter!"

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