I shuddered, rinsing my hands and chest of the splattered blood and brain matter with my blood manipulation. It hadn't been my intention of making such a gory mess of things, but I had severely overestimated the endurance and resilience of the Arachnid's frail body. Behind all his powerful magic and tricks, he really was nothing more than a bug to be swatted.

 

Reaching down, I brushed against the reflective armbands which showed my glowing red eyes back at me from the now headless corpse. Like the beastkin's heirloom, this one also reverted into its rounded ingot shape, its splendor still to be gleamed even in the darkness of the web-infested cavern.

 

 

I didn't hesitate and accepted the prompt, eliciting another.

 

-Yes!-

 

With a light stretch that had my back and shoulders give a satisfying pop as I've basically made a tradition of doing after each difficult fight, I couldn't help but let slip a smirk.

 

"I'm sorry Xavier, but I have no other choice." A small voice said suddenly with both a note of melancholy and determined resolution.

 

A rush of mana surged towards me, the seeds planted within my mind erupting with such mental force it would've left most braindead if they were not at least D+ rank. However, instead of the clearly anticipated cry of pain or collapse of an unconscious body, I didn't even flinch.

 

Rather, it was a surprised yelp from behind me that sounded out in the cavern, distinctly feminine and obvious to whom was the source.

 

I turned around to see the short woman staring wide-eyed at me, a dark shadow behind her with a clawed hand around her neck, claws ready to tear out her throat if she were to resist.

 

"Well, that would be my line, isn't it?" I smirked.

 

"B-but, wait - how?!" She protested.

 

"How isn't important," I gave a shrug. "But for goodwill, let's just go with that I have a really strong will."

 

I closed in and crouched before her.

 

Body tensing, she tried her best to stare defiantly at me but failing miserably. It was obvious that deep in her heart, she was meek of nature - not surprising given her that she was the Lady of Ardour.

 

"We both knew that it would ultimately come down to this in the end," I said.

 

"Fine! Then get it over with!" She yelled.

 

Giving a rueful shake of my head, I reached out for her neck. She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to fight her fate but showing a sudden pang of fear. But instead of the pain that she had been expecting as my fingers would've torn into her flesh, her eyes went wide open as my hand dug in and under the neck of her dress.

 

Gearing up for a barrage of obscenities at what I was doing, she didn't manage to utter a word before I pulled out my hand. But this time it wasn't empty, rather, it was clasped around her necklace that had been hidden underneath.

 

She choked on her protests against my crude actions, watching as I closed my eyes and focused intently.

 

It didn't take long before exactly what I hoped could be an option happened.

 

A prompt filled my vision.

 

 

I let out a sigh, accepting the prompt and sending the offer with a brief moment of consideration.

 

Maeve's gaze turned to look into the distance, reading the prompts that had just been presented to her, eyes and brows going wider and higher with each passing moment.

 

"Sorry, but it would appear that I only have two choices to propose, and I doubt you need to hear of the second one to understand both - right?" I said as her gaze went back to mine.

 

"But- why?" She asked, disbelief written all over her face and her posture showing as much. "I know you're not someone to grant mercy of an opponent just out of the sheer kindness of your heart."

 

"You'd be surprised," I chuckled. "But I digress. My intentions are indeed not all that magnanimous. I have reason to believe that we could work out a much more productive and beneficial agreement if we were to work together. Outside the trials that is. So yes, it's not entirely out of the kindness of my heart."

 

"Entirely," She emphasized.

 

"Well, you would've done the same for me, given the opportunity that is," I threw her a sideways glance. "Wouldn't you?"

 

She blushed, looking away.

 

"Fine! I'll agree to your damned offer," She grumped, cheeks burning. "Not like I have much of a choice..."

 

I ignored her antics in favor of watching the new prompt filling my mind with their information.

 

 

"Vassal - huh..." I thought with an internal shrug. "No idea what that entails, but I doubt it's only in name and title if the previous actions of the System were anything to go by."

 

Instead of accepting the heirloom immediately, I put the prompt aside for later and pocketed the necklace that had already turned into its ingot-y shape.

 

"You're not going to absorb it?" Maeve asked curiously, seemingly not that upset anymore that I had just taken such a powerful item that was moments before her sole possession.

 

"No, I have something to do first, and I think this stage will end the moment I do convert it," I answered. "But besides, aren't you angry that I took it from you?"

 

"Well..." She hesitated. "It's not like I ever asked to be a Sanctioned Lady, it was just forced unto me and all the responsibilities with it."

 

"Between giving up my candidacy and my heirloom, and death, This would actually be the first time I truly had a choice since then." She sighed, a lifetime of hardship in that one heavy breath.

 

I looked around the still dark cavern. The fighting had already seized outside with the fall of the lord.

 

Drawing all of Asethh's troops out while I snuck into what he must've thought was an impenetrable fortress of darkness had really been a wise decision, something that allowed for me swift and decisive victory.

 

 

"Shit - of course, the System wouldn't make it that convenient..." I muttered to myself. "Alright then, time for you to go. Things to do, foes to murder, and trials to win."

 

I pulled out a large jug almost half a gallon from my [Ring of Holding] and without any further fanfare tore a large gash in my wrist to summarily fill it.

 

Maeve looked positively disgusted and shocked at what was casually happening right in front of her, but before she had time to voice any of her many, many questions, I sealed the wound and threw her the jug. She barely managed to catch it, seemingly torn between letting the container full of my blood just fall to the ground and actually catching it.

 

"Drink all of that - chop-chop," I waved her away with the shooing motion of my hands.

 

"I- wha-what?" She sputtered.

 

"Get out of here, I have things to take care of," I said, turning around.

 

"But this, I can't-" She was cut off by a yelp as the forgotten captain puppet began to suddenly drag her away with the jug clutched in her small embrace.

 

I let out a contented sigh as Maeve's ramblings and protests disappeared into the tunnels.

 

"Time to reap the benefits of my troubles."