Don't Flatter Yourself.

The Castle was on full alert, rows after rows of red knights rushed through the castle walls and into the Palace itself.

A kill on sight order was issued for Alexander, and the sacrifice lady was asked to be retrieved, alive if possible.

But the queen herself knew the likelihood of that happening was below the number zero, whatever that was.

Meanwhile, after hours of trial and error, Alexander finally learnt how to channel his essence from his soul sea, but for some reason unknown.

Whenever he directed it out of his soul sea and into the rest of his body, it suddenly disperses, like a gas cylinder with a hole in it.

Alexander could still feel the burns from the pattern the sacrifice lady used within his body, was it his veins?

Alexander wasn't sure, sometimes it felt like she was pulling the essence through a pathway that was well hidden within his body.

Except those pathways were opened forcefully, just like his soul sea, then by common logic, he should be able to channel his essence through the opened pathways.

"What are my doing wrong?".

Alexander was starting to get frustrated, that was when the sacrifice lady finally spoke up.

"You can't keep pushing like that, essence isn't a stream, it's a river, there's no foothold, you can't position yourself behind it and expect to successfully push it out...

I suggest you start pulling instead, clear up your pathways and let it flow out of you, that's why it's called channeling essence, if not, I don't see a future where you can be a sorcerer of any kind.

Alexander opened his eyes, what the lady said sounded basic, but Alexander knew that she was only trying to make things easy for him.

She was assisting him even though they shared no personal connection with one another.

"Thank you".

Alexander was a cautious man, but he still knew gratitude.

The sacrifice lady nodded stifly, it seemed like she failed in whatever it was she was doing.

"Alex, before you go back to learning how to channel essence, come over here for a sec".

Alexander was dismayed, but he still stood up and walked up to her, she was still on the table.

So even while standing, he could face her without the need to bend down or look up, she was perfectly on his level.

"Give me your hand...".

Alexander didn't know what she was doing, but after a moments hesitation, he gave it to her.

"Both of them". She added.

Alexander rigidly handed over his other hand, she held the palm of his hands, Alexander felt his heart fluttering.

It was a new sensation, and as far he was concerned, her skin felt softer than a soaked dumpling in warm water.

she was dressed in torn brown slave gown, and yet she smelled like orchids and cherry blossoms, Alexander didn't even know how that was possible.

It must be another sort of sorcery, he concluded.

"Brace yourself, I'm about use your essence again".

Alexander didn't even bother asking her what it is that she was about to do, too blinded by her figure to care.

"Alright, that should do it".

Before Alexander could react, he felt as if a hole has been punched through his head, the pain flared uncontrollably.

He tried to scream but the sacrifice lady quickly closed his mouth with her hand.

The next moment, his body collapsed to the ground, Alexander wasn't out for long.

He groaned, the pounding in his skull felt like a gong struck by a titan. His eyes fluttered open to find himself lying on the stone floor, the sacrifice lady leaning over him with a faint, unreadable smile.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," she said ominously.

Alexander sat up with effort, wincing."what did you do to me?."

He glanced down at his right wrist. A golden bracelet that stretches from his wrist to his elbow encircled it, faint symbols glowing along its length. He turned to her, sure enough, a matching one graced her left wrist.

"A soul contract," he muttered, realization dawning.

She nodded. "The soul slave pact. We agreed to it earlier, remember?"

"Yeah, we did... but we already survived the monarchs, with your power there is no need for you to bind yourself to someone that can't even channel."

The sacrifice lady was silent for a moment.

"Don't flatter yourself Alex, there's a seal on my soul sea, and the only way to freely draw upon your essence is to bind our souls... sure yes it's a slave contract, but they're are no defined conditions set between us, either you are the slave or me, we never decided that...

In the end its just a binding spell, nothing more".

Alexander massaged his temple, then paused, eyes narrowing.

"There's something that's been bothering me," he said. "Back when we fought the Monarchs... they felt weaker than I expected."

"Weaker?" she raised an eyebrow, genuinely confused. "They're Monarchs. What more do you want?"

Alexander stared at the floor, thoughts spinning. "No… I mean, they're powerful, yes, but something was off. They used sorcery, sure, but not at the scale I imagined. Like they've hit a ceiling."

He looked up.

"They're strong, but not transcendent. That level… they haven't reached it."

The sacrifice lady's expression shifted. "Transcendence...?"

Alexander didn't answer immediately. His gaze was distant, his mind churning. Whatever the true peak of power was, the Monarchs hadn't touched it. Which meant…

"We have a chance."

That thought sobered him up, even the fact that the sacrifice lady toyed with his intelligence wasn't enough to bring him down.

He rose to his feet and looked around the dimly lit storage room.

"We need to leave."

She glanced over. "Why? Do you have a plan?"

"Sort of." Alexander's eyes landed on the rows of armor stacked along the walls. 

"They most definitely have all exist closed, well except for one I happen to come across, so we simply dress like them, find the unusual flight of stairs that seem like they were built to prove how scary the queen can be, and then jump to safety from there, you can use my essence to conjure sorcery to break our fall".

Moments later, the sacrifice lady was outfitted in ill-fitting crimson armor, her face hidden beneath visors, she armed herself with a sword.

Alexander also picked up a new helmet and spear.

They left the storage room and moved cautiously through the corridors, mimicking the stiff stride of the Red Knights. 

No one questioned them at first, the chaos in the castle worked in their favor.

But as they approached a corridor leading to an open courtyard, their luck ran out.

"Halt," a commanding voice barked.