Schemes

Next day at the barn

Under the shining sun, Lance sat together with Ember and Asher on a stack of hay, telling them his plans on having the biggest orgy ever recorded in the kingdom when he turned 18.

That was when the priestess appeared on the horizon, walking towards them with a bored look on her face. She had regained her nonchalant Demeanor after failing to recruit Lance.

"Good morning, your holiness!!"

As soon as Arian got into a close enough distance, Lance stood up, bowed, and greeted her.

"Hm?"

This startled Arian. She had known Lance for a while now, and although he was quite respectful after she began teaching him, he had never bowed his head to her or shown any sign of weakness. At first she was planning to break him down, so he would be respectful, but then there was the matter of his talent that made her think otherwise.

"Good morning Lance?"

She replied with a curious look on her face, then her eyes trailed until they landed on Ember and Asher.

"You want something?"

Coming to a realization, Arian asked lance what all this was about. Her night was quite strange, and she didn't know how to feel about it.

On one had she was relieved having blown off some steam, but on the other she was annoyed because of how it happened. Until now, she couldn't place her hand on what exactly happened, so she was in no mood for games.

"Well, it's just…."

Lance struggled to say it, after all, he was aware that Arian was in a state of bewilderment after what happened the night before. But he summed up the courage and finally…..

"I would like to request that you teach my friends a thing or two about magic, or at least test their talent."

Lance bowed his head when making this request. She was the one doing the favor, no matter how proud Lance was, he had to be humble in this scenario.

"Ohhh"

Arian looked over at Ember and Asher, who had strange smiles on their faces. They, too, had never seen Lance like this. He really treated them like family to lower himself this much.

" I can do that…..both of you come with me"

Arian didnt hesitate before turning around and heading to the middle of the field of grasses. Normally, she wouldn't bother herself with such, but, she still harbored hope that Lance would reconsider his stance on joining the church.

She would do some favors here and there, maybe she could use them to guilt-trip him later on.

"Phew!!"

Seeing Arian and the rest walking away, Lance sighed in relief. He was afraid that she would be in a bad mood because of what happened that night.

"Don't slack off, continue your training"

While Lance was in a state of thought, Arian's voice resounded, causing him to snap out of it. He immediately got back to practicing the Water blast spell.

Meanwhile, Arian tested Ember and Asher's talent in the middle of the field.

It took a while, but Arian eventually came back with both Ember and Asher. However, this time her expression was no longer cold and unfeeling, the expression on her face had changed to one Lance was very familiar with.

It Was one of warmth and care

"How did it go?"

Lance immediately inquired, even though he was familiar with the look on Arian's face, he just wanted to confirm.

"They are exceptionally talented"

Arian responded with a glow in her eyes, she wasn't focusing on Lance, even though he was the one who asked the question. Her eyes remained glued on Ember and Asher.

She was stunned to her very core. It was one thing for Lance to be exceptionally talented. After all, he was the son of a noble and a powerful magic user, But these guys too? If she could remember correctly, these two were bastards born from lowly non-magic users.

How on earth did they have so much talent? She was shaken to her very core. In truth, at that moment, a tinge of jealousy was beginning to bloom in her heart.

She didn't have this kind of talent when she was their age. And, she was very proud of herself, but in front of these guys what could she say?

"Maybe they would be a better fit"

Even though she was a bit jealous It took but a few seconds for her to put that behind her and begin plotting. It was too hard to recruit Lance to the side of the church because of his status.

But Ember and Asher were different, they had no statuses. As a matter of fact, the situation of their parents made it even better, even if they were dumb and didn't want to go, she would just convince the parents.

She knew that no parent would want their children to remain servants forever. All she had to do was convince them of the prospects of joining the powerful church and that would be the end of that.

And so it began

"Come let me prepare you for Mana manipulation"

Arian spoke with a caring tone, she was going to teach them and let them understand that she was a better option than Lance's family.

"Hmp!!"

To the side, Lance noticed every single change in Arian's expression, and couldn't help but shake his head. She was at it again. She didn't for one minute think that she needed to speak to lance, even though he was the who brought them, she wanted to poach them without his consent.

But this time Lance was fully prepared

Ember and Asher were his very loyal friends, he had told them what Arian would do, so they were prepared. She would Try, but she would ultimately fail because all this was part of Lance's plans.