My anger finally dissipated after I wrecked the entire front wall of the headquarters' lobby. The room filled with mutilated corpses was now exposed to the outside for the world to see, but I cared not. I will be leaving this place soon.

My rampage had been a good way to vent my fury, but it was also a good way to vent my mana uselessly. I was now sitting with just a bit more than half of my mana pool, and my headache was getting stronger. The occasional annoyance that was the puny voice in my head was now a constant whisper.

Wake up… wake up… wake up…

I ignored the voice and separated Taloress from Mr. Marion's body. She stood in front of me with a hint of tiredness.

“Both of you have done well,” I said to my puppets. Taloress and Mr. Marion radiated gratitude, reverence, and joy. Just as they should.

My head pounded.

There was one more thing that I was angry with aside from my prey escaping, and that was the state of my puppets. They were completely drenched in blood and bits of flesh. The only saving grace was that their bodies were mostly colored black, hiding the worst of it. But I could still feel the blood on them, like a disgusting, icky sensation.

“Taloress, fetch the little man hiding in the kitchen's oven and bring him here.”

“Yes, Master.”

I nodded in satisfaction at Taloress' improving speech. A servant is a representation of their Master, and I will not have Taloress keep on stuttering like a broken record.

My head pounded.

“You shall practice your speech as well, Mr. Marion. Not now, but when you are no longer carrying me.”

Yes, Master.

Taloress soon returned carrying the little man by the collar of his shirt. She dropped the nervous man in front of me, his clothes dirty with soot and crumbs of bread.

“W-What happened here?” Kane asked with a pale face as he saw the corpses and offal littering the ground like confetti at a party. “Did we win?”

I chuckled at his naivety. “No, little man. I won. The Blackhood's undead minions are permanently dead while I had your treacherous leader and his lover taken care of. His men had been completely wiped out in the attack as well. We are the only survivors in the headquarters right now.”

“You killed Fang?!” Kane asked incredulously.

“Don't raise your voice at me, little man,” I warned. “Your pitiful excuse of a leader sought to kill me after he made use of my strength, so he died. The only reason you're not dead yet is that the deal is not yet complete. I've already accomplished my half of the deal. Now, you will accomplish yours.”

“Me?” Kane stuttered, his eyes rapidly moving around in a vain attempt to search for an escape. “But I was just one of Fang's thugs! I don't have the power to give you your territory anymore!”

“You think me stupid? Don't lie to me,” I growled, making Kane take a step back. “You're not just a thug. I saw your name in the papers inside the Purplehood's office. You were the manager of Dagula's, the place where we met, and I'm willing to bet that Rella was the one who put you there after she replaced your position as Wildpost's traveling merchant, not knowing you worked as a spy for Fang. When your faction's coup began, you were the one sent to recruit me, a mage that could help them succeed in their goals. A lowly thug is not given those kinds of heavy responsibility.”

Kane licked his lips nervously. “B-Be that as it may, I wasn't lying when I said I have no power to give you your territory. The territories in the city were supposed to be split up among the gangs if the coup succeeded, and Fang was the only one who could have given you your territory.”

“Then are you telling me that you are useless to me now?”

Kane gulped. “W-Wait! I have an idea! You see, without Fang's leadership, the rebelling gangs would eventually fracture. Their unity only held until now because of Fang's influence. But with him dead, they'll soon go into disarray. The Hooded Man's influence in Halros is also weakened because of the gangs' coup, while the Governor is probably going to die once the rebels make it to his palace.”

“What's your point?”

“What I mean to say is that there will soon be a power vacuum in the city,” Kane said as he eyed me with hesitation. “The gangs will be in disarray, the Hoods is weakened, and the Governor is going to be overthrown, probably the nobles as well. Aside from the leaders of the rebellion, nobody else will be in charge of the city after the revolution, Mr. Marion. Power and territory are ripe for the taking, and you can be one of the first ones to it. Why settle for a slice of the pie when you can have it all?”

My mind wandered to the possibility of having power over an entire city. If weaklings like Fang and that Blackhood necromancer can take control of a city with their measly power, then that means it should be easier for me. I could accumulate power and influence in the city until nobody could touch me easily. Wasn't that my goal in the first place? To become rich and powerful enough until nobody dared attack me even if I was an Ascendant.

I expected the puny voice to rail against my mind, but it had turned quiet. It seems I'm not the only one tempted by absolute power—

My head pounded.

No, the puny voice was not tempted by the power to control people. It was tempted by the power to change things for the better.

Hah! How ridiculous and naive. But at least we were on the same page. We both covet power.

“And how do you propose we do this, little man?” I asked.

Emboldened by my interest, Kane quickly replied. “There was supposed to be a gathering of the gang bosses after the coup so they could decide on how the territories would be split upon their victory. Even if they were defeated, I'm confident they'll still try to make the gathering happen. Once the Hooded Man makes his next move, they'll try to keep the alliance going to face the threat together, and the gathering is a good place for the gang bosses to speak with each other.”

“And you know where this meeting is going to take place?”

Kane smiled for the first time. “Better. I know when and where. The gathering will take place at the Laughing Mink, a tavern in the outer city, at dusk today.”

I already knew what Kane was going to propose. The corners of my mouth slowly rose into a smile, but I still asked. “And what do you plan to do?”

For a moment, Kane hesitated. His smile waned and his eyes wavered, but he clenched his fists and his expression turned resolute. “The gathering would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of all the gang bosses at once.”

I chuckled at him. “And here I thought you had some sympathy left for your fellow gang members.”

“To be honest, I lost sympathy for them a long time ago,” Kane admitted. “I joined a gang in my youth 'cause it sounded cool. Turned out to be one of my biggest regrets. I intended to leave, you know? But after Rella took an interest in you, I got a promotion instead.”

“You're welcome. Now to our next move. You will attend this gathering of gang bosses you speak of and pretend that you represent Fang. It doesn't matter what you tell them. Just buy time until every person of import arrives, then give Taloress the signal. She'll take care of the rest.”

Kane stole a glance at Taloress, who stared back at him with her smiling mask splattered with blood. Kane shivered.

“What do we do after that?” Kane asked.

“You wait for me,” I said. “Time is wasting, so you—”

A familiar set of clothes entered the radius of my fabric sense, and I smiled. “Hold that thought. Kane, you stay here and keep watch on the rooftops over there. If you spot someone, wave them over and pretend you're the last survivor of the attack in the headquarters.”

I separated a small ball of fabric from Mr. Marion's body with my Authority and placed it on Kane's collar, disguising it as a bowtie.

“What? What do you mean? And who's coming?!” Kane asked in confusion as he stared at his new bowtie.

I ignored the little man's questions and hid inside the lobby with Taloress. I updated my puppets on the situation and they radiated excitement as well.

We didn't have to wait long. After a minute of watching Kane awkwardly fidget in front of the building, my target finally arrived. She was covered in the same black attire that the necromancer wore, but this time, I knew who was hiding beneath the hood.

Rella was here.

With the entire street completely deserted, Kane immediately spotted the distant figure and waved his short arms as he jumped up and down. I applauded his desperate and terrified act.

I expected Rella to take her time to assess the situation first before she approached. Even I, as powerful as I am, would take a moment to observe a building surrounded by dozens of corpses. But Rella did not. Once she spotted Kane's pathetic figure, she jumped down the rooftop and rushed across the plaza.

Kane, who didn't know the approaching figure was Rella, hesitated as he realized the incoming person was an augmenter. I could tell he wanted to run, with the threat of my anger the only thing rooting him in place. As pathetic as he looked, Kane had good senses.

When Rella finally stopped before Kane, she dropped her hood, revealing her identity. “You. What happened here?!”

“Blackhood Rella?!” Kane squealed with pure terror. He had good acting skills. “I… I…”

“Spit it out!” Rella shouted, her beautiful face marred with fury.

“I-It was Fang!” Kane exclaimed. “He betrayed us! He took his men and assaulted the Headquarters! Once he took over, he held me hostage and interrogated me, but I swear I didn't say anything!”

“I don't care, tell me what happened next,” Rella said. “Razar was supposed to come here to retake the Headquarters. What happened to him? And a masked mage was supposed to be here as well. Where the hell is everyone?”

“I-I don't know any Razar, but Fang did have a masked mage with him,” Kane said nervously. “Fang and the masked mage overwhelmed the guards and took over the headquarters. But I didn't get to learn much about the traitors before the Headquarters was attacked a second time by undead, and during the chaos, I hid in the kitchen's oven. By the time I came out, everyone was gone…”

“You pathetic fool,” Rella said before wincing. “Help me inside. I'm wounded and someone's chasing after me. I need to hide.”

“R-Right this way, Blackhood Rella,” Kane said as he moved to support her, but he suddenly exclaimed. “Your arm!”

“Shut it, midget. I don't wanna hear it,” Rella spat as she limped through the lobby assisted by Kane. She didn't get far before Kane's bowtie morphed into a small spike that flew for her neck.

Despite the almost-point-blank range between the spike and its target, Rella still somehow managed to sense the attack and tried to dodge it, but by then, it was already too late. Instead of hitting her neck, it pierced her in the chest instead, puncturing her left lung. Rella fell with a pained gasp.

Kane gave a shocked yelp right when his bowtie moved by itself, and by the time Rella was looking for him with rage-filled eyes, the little man was already gunning for the kitchen, probably to hide in the oven again.

“You fucking traitor!” Rella shouted furiously as she tried to get up, but failed. “I'm going to skin you alive!”

“Now now, Miss Rella. Nobody's skinning anyone,” I said as I moved away from the rubble, revealing myself to her.

“You bastard,” Rella growled. “You were the one behind that attack. I know Kane. He's a coward. He'll never try to lay his hands on me by himself.”

“As much as I'd like to agree with you on that one, I believe you're underestimating the little man too much, Miss Rella. Coward as he is, Kane was an important element in Fang's coup. Did you know that he was the one assigned for recruiting me? Let me tell you, he had a far better offer than you.”

Rella's glare could melt through steel. She doesn't speak, but the sound of her gritting teeth was enough to let me know of her feelings.

“You realized it too, didn't you? Kane was a pivotal factor that led to your Headquarter's fall and the Hoods' defeat. Without me, that imbecile named Fang wouldn't have been able to defeat the Blackhood necromancer by himself. Without me, the necromancer would have retaken your Headquarters and could have assisted you when you came in wounded. Sadly for you, Kane managed to bring me here, and more than that, he managed to bring me to you.”

“Don't feel so full of yourself, you narcissistic fuck,” Rella said between gritted teeth. Blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth. “You're just a frog inside a well, Mr. Marion. Do you think yourself powerful? We're in a backward kingdom, you fool. The strongest mages here are just average everywhere else. I take interest in you and you already think you're one of the strongest around. But once the Empire's armies arrive, you'll learn that you're not such a big fish after all.”

“Are you sure?” I asked with amusement. “Tell me, Miss Rella. Are Ascendants that common in the Empire that they're not considered big fishes?”

Rella froze, and my smile turned into a grin. “You're a…”

“Yes, Miss Rella. I'm an Ascendant, and you made me very unhappy.”

I expected Rella to cower, to cry, to beg for my mercy. Instead, the bitch started to laugh. Her laughs eventually turned into wet coughs as blood dripped from her mouth, but she continued to laugh.

“You think it's funny?” I growled with annoyance. She was supposed to beg for my mercy. She was supposed to grovel.

“Kill me then, Mr. Marion. Take your revenge. You want it, right?”

“Oh, I will,” I spat as I controlled the spike embedded in her chest. The spike split into numerous sharp tendrils that slowly burrowed into her organs like how worms burrowed in the soil.

Rella groaned as I did my work, but she didn't scream from pain. She stared at me with resolute eyes as she shook from the pain, a sight that angered me more. What was the point of killing her slowly if I don't get to hear her scream?

“I never stood a chance against you,” Rella whispered as the shadows of death started creeping on her face. “But I know of one other person who could take care of you for me.”

“Unless your ‘Hooded Man’ is an Ascendant as well, nobody will be able to avenge you,” I whispered into her ear. “You will die a worthless death, thinking somebody else will honor your passing and remember you. No one will remember you, Rella. You are just an extra in the grand stage that is the world. One of many background actors whose bland destinies are set, and I am the one who pulls the strings. I get to decide everyone's fate, and you will go down in history as nothing more than a stupid criminal who sought to control a puppetmaster.”

Even until her last breath, Rella stared right into my eyes. There was no whimper or drops of tears. Rella died without fear, even when I laid bare her insignificance.

It was infuriating. Killing her was supposed to be gratifying. Revenge was supposed to be sweet. I would have felt more satisfied if she didn't arrive wounded so I could have at least toyed with her for longer.

The constant headache strengthened once more and I briefly lost control over Mr. Marion. The puny voice was getting louder.

Wake up… wake up… wake up…

“Master, are you alright?” Taloress asked behind me.

“I am fine, servant,” I spat. “Take the little man and go to the gathering of the big bosses. I still have to find Belka and that naive adopted daughter of hers.”

“Yes, Master…”

I closed my eyes for a moment to try and keep the headache at bay. I don't know how much time passed. I felt Taloress and Kane leave the area with my fabric sense, but everything after that turned into a blur. All I felt was the pounding headache, the whispers of the puny voice, and Mr. Marion's worry.

Wake up… wake up… wake up…

Shut up!

Wake up… wake up… wake up…

I said shut up! This is my body! Get out of my head!

WAKE UP

Something arrived in the lobby. Something dark and empty. I couldn't sense it with my fabric sense, but even with my eyes closed, I still felt its presence clearly. It felt extremely familiar. It felt like me, but different. I opened my eyes.

Standing before me was a woman clad in the darkest shadows I'd ever seen. Pure black shadows writhed around her that looked like tears in space that led to lightless voids. Her face was concealed with a hood and mask, revealing only her dark eyes.

She spoke with a neutral voice. “You're an Ascendant.”

“Just like you,” I replied. For some reason, I instinctively knew the woman before me was an Ascendant. Other outward signs revealed she was an Ascendant, but I didn't base my conclusion on those signs. I just knew.

Just like the necromancer told me about my mana, I could feel the woman's mana inside the shadows but it did not follow any organized pattern prevalent in normal spellcasting. Normal spellcasting involved forcefully molding mana into a certain shape to get the desired result, but our Authorities didn't require shaping mana. When we used our Authorities, our mana moved according to our will without requiring any more effort. Our mana wants to be moved, and only now do I realize its glaring difference with normal spellcasting now that I was able to see another Ascendant in the flesh.

“Who are you?” the woman asked, her eyes boring into me. “Your Authority is unfamiliar. You are not of this continent.”

“That seems to be a large leap in logic. What made you say I am not from this continent?”

“All nations in this continent are informed of every existing Ascendant. All of us are accounted for and monitored. You are not on the list. Who are you?”

“Asking for my name seems rude when you won't even tell me yours,” I said.

“I have no obligation to tell you mine,” the woman replied. “But you have an obligation to tell me yours.”

“And why is that?” I asked, my temper slowly rising. “Why should I tell you who I am? So you could detain me? So you can put a leash on me and make me a slave? I don't think so, Miss Darkness. I'm happy to be anonymous so I can remain free.”

The woman stared at me silently for a few moments before speaking again. “You're newly Awakened, probably from some remote town or village.”

I bristled at the accusation. “What makes you say that?”

“You don't know who I am and you still have delusions of being free,” the woman replied. “There is no such thing as an independent Ascendant. You are either affiliated with a faction or you are a rogue.”

“Consider me a rogue, then,” I said.

“That statement further proves you're new,” the woman said, her voice tinged with sympathy. “Rogue Ascendants are hunted down ruthlessly. When the governments learn of you, they'll drop all hostilities and work together to bring you down. Old enemies would forget their feud while you're alive. Only a fool would want to be designated a rogue.”

“Who are you to call me a fool?!” I shouted in fury. “I don't care if the entire world considers me an enemy! I will not grovel and let them put a slave's collar on me! Tell me, which of the two of us is a fool? Me who desires freedom and will fight for it, or you who lets herself be put on a leash like a good dog and wags her tail at her master?”

“I am nobody's dog,” the woman said darkly.

“I bet you tell that to yourself before you sleep every night,” I sneered.

Instead of getting angry, the woman sighed. She slowly took off her hood and removed her mask, revealing dark hair that fell to her shoulders and a flawless face. “My name is Esta. May I know yours?”

“Don't play nice with me, woman. We both know you're going to hunt me down when I reject your offer to join you as a slave.”

“Please reconsider,” Esta pleaded. “I know how it feels to Awaken and have one's life turned upside down. I know the struggle of having to blend in with society, fearful of being exposed just because we're different. But there's no point in hiding forever. I may hold power over darkness, but even I wouldn't want to live in the shadows forever. Come with me and I promise you you won't have to live in the shadows again. I will help you live a life among people who accept us. Please, just let me help you.”

Esta offered her hand to me. Her hand may be clad in shadows, but it represented an opportunity for me to live in the light. But at what cost?

My head pounded as the puny voice came back in full force. It railed against my mind.

Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

I gripped my head with both hands and staggered. The headache this time was different. I could feel it. The puny voice was taking back control, and it was waking up.

“Are you alright?” Esta asked with worry as she approached.

“Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up! Get out of my fucking head!” I screamed as I punched my head again and again. The voice won't stop. “SHUT UP!”

●●●

Esta felt her heart thrum nervously as she watched the Ascendant before her shout and scream. He was losing control.

Esta wasn't nervous about her well-being. She was nervous about the masked man. He was the first newly-Awakened person she's ever met in her entire life, and she couldn't help seeing herself in him. The confusion and anger in his eyes reminded her of the time when she just Awakened. Back then, nobody helped her and she had to toil through all the hardships alone. She knew how it felt, and she didn't want the same thing to happen to the man in front of her.

But the situation was unusual. Esta knew all about the urges that came along with an Authority. If one succumbed to it, they would turn into an entirely different person, their personality shifting into something their Authority embodied.

The masked man in front of her definitely looked like he was succumbing to his urges, but he was supposed to be newly-Awakened. The urges were supposed to be weak.

“This is your fault,” the man growled. “If it wasn't for you, the puny voice wouldn't have gotten this audacious!”

Esta felt her heart skip a beat. The puny voice was probably the original personality. She had to bring him back. “Listen to me. It's not too late to seek help. Take my hand and I promise you you'll never have to face all of this alone ever again.”

“Shut up!” the man screamed before he swung his arm at her proffered hand. His hand morphed into a blade midway, aiming to cut off her arm.

Esta immediately backed away and attempted to restrain the man. Tendrils of shadows slithered across the floor toward the man to hold him down, but he saw them coming and moved away with inhuman speed.

Esta deployed more shadows, aiming to corner the man, but spider legs suddenly sprouted from his back and he used the long limbs to maneuver around the shadows and escape into one of the hallways. “Shit!”

Esta quickly focused on her shadow sense. Her mind immediately picked up on all the shadows inside the building, and she instantly sensed the masked man's shadow moving. He was going for the rear exit.

Esta sank into her own shadow and emerged from a shadow near the rear exit, just as the masked man arrived. Before he could lash out, Esta channeled a large amount of mana into the shadows of the room. The shadows rose into dark tendrils that wrapped around the masked man's limbs, binding him.

“Get away from me!”

The tips of the masked man's spider legs transformed into sharp blades and started cutting down the shadows as if they were paper. The sight shocked Esta, who was used to her shadows being immune to physical attacks, but she realized that it wasn't immune from another Ascendant's attacks.

Esta channeled more mana into the shadows in the room and more dark tendrils formed, wrapping around the masked man until all even his spider legs were restrained.

“Let go of me!” the man screamed. He changed the shape of his spider legs so they could escape from their restraints, but Esta was one step ahead and adjusted the shadows accordingly to make sure he couldn't escape.

“This is my body!” the masked man scream as he struggled with all his might. “Mine! Mine! You cannot be trusted to run this body! You are weak and naive! I will not let you squander our power!”

It took Esta a few more moments to realize the masked man wasn't talking to her. He was talking to himself, and he was trying to banish the influence of the Authority's urges from his mind.

“Remember who you are,” Esta said, recalling the times when she had to struggle against her own urges. “Your Authority is a part of you, but it doesn't mean you should let it control you. Accept the urges but keep them in control. Only you should control your destiny.”

“Shut up, bitch!” the man shouted, then he cried out in agony. “My head! It fucking hurts! It huuurrttssAAARRGGH!”

The masked man suddenly went limp. His head lolled to the side, and if it wasn't for the shadows holding him up, he would have fallen on the floor.

The room was still and silent as Esta waited for the man to regain consciousness. Several minutes passed, and when the man finally raised his head once again, Esta held her breath. Ascendants were known to occasionally lose themselves in their urges. They often regained their senses, but when they didn't, they were always put down. Esta hoped that the masked man was back to his former self as she readied her shadows to squeeze the man's body into pulp in case the urges finally took over him.

The man looked around in confusion, although his smiling mask made it seem as if he was laughing at the situation. After a moment, he breathed out a nervous but relieved sigh. He examined the shadows binding him before his gaze finally fell on Esta.

“I'm done for, aren't I?” he asked. If his voice sounded imperious and arrogant earlier, this time, it sounded soft and resigned.

“What's your name?” Esta asked.

The man hesitated before answering despondently. “Mr. Marion. The name's Mr. Marion, Clothes Master and Aficionado.”

Esta felt like his introduction would have been way more catchy if he said it with more bravado.

“That sounds very much like a pseudonym, Mr. Marion.”

“Yeah,” Mr. Marion chuckled. “I guess you're here to arrest me?”

“That depends, Mr. Marion. Aside from the fact that you're an unaffiliated Ascendant, I don't have any other reason to arrest you. We can easily solve your problem by having your existence reported. This kingdom could use another Ascendant to get it together.”

“You're not going to arrest me for killing a bunch of people?” Mr. Marion asked. “I killed a lot of people from the Hoods, you know?”

“As far as I know, everyone you killed was an outlaw, Mr. Marion. They are not protected by the law, therefore, you're not guilty of killing them.”

“I'm guilty, just not from the standard of your laws,” Mr. Marion muttered. “But I'm still arrested, right? For being an Ascendant.”

“Ascendants aren't arrested, Mr. Marion. We're recruited.”

Mr. Marion snorted.

“I know it sounds funny, but I'm serious. They wouldn't arrest us because our abilities would make breaking out of jail easy. Instead, they recruit us and give us a job.”

“The job description must be wonderful if they have to put out bounties for applicants.”

“I know it looks bad, but the normal people have no choice, Mr. Marion. Our power scares them. You're lucky you awakened in Edria. Other countries burn Ascendants at the stake.”

“Just because the situation here is less awful doesn't mean it isn't awful, Miss Esta.”

Esta chuckled. “‘Miss Esta?’ You're the first one to call me that.”

“I like to give people the respect they deserve unless they prove otherwise.”

“Then I'll give you the respect you deserve as well, Mr. Marion. I promise you we'll get you set on your new life as a newly-Awakened Ascendant. I'm sure everything must be a bit hectic and confusing with how your life just suddenly turned around because of your Awakening, but you'll have to abandon your previous life now that you're an Ascendant.”

Mr. Marion chuckled. “Yes, my life's been turning around, going sideways, and taking a lot of U-turns lately. But I'm afraid I'll have to politely decline your offer, Ms. Esta.”

Esta paused. “I'm sorry, what?”

“I decline, Ms. Esta. I don't want to do whatever Ascendants do when the government gets their hands on them.”

“I'm sure you're just intimidated by all the new changes, Mr. Marion, but I promise you it's not as bad as it seems,” Esta said. “Sure, we end up becoming indentured to serve the kingdom, but I don't see that as a bad thing. Surely you don't want our country to fall to our enemies, do you? You can use your power to help our countrymen. You don't know how bad things would become if we end up getting taken over by the Empire.”

“I'm sure things would be bad if that happened,” Mr. Marion said. “But my answer is still no, Ms. Esta. I don't want to become a servant. You just said it yourself earlier. I am the only one who should control my destiny.”

Esta wanted to stab herself in the knee when her words got turned against her. “It's not like you can't control your destiny when you get in my position.”

“Yes, but it will be a lot harder to do it, don't you think?”

“You don't get it, Mr. Marion,” Esta said more seriously. “You either come with me willingly or the entire continent hunts you down. Nobody wants a rogue Ascendant.”

“Resorting to threats now, are we?”

“I'm not trying to threaten you. I'm trying to get you to see reason.”

“What's your goal in life, Ms. Esta?” Mr. Marion suddenly asked out of the blue.

It was an abrupt change of topic and a bit personal too. But if it meant having a chance to change Mr. Marion's mind, she would gladly answer it. “My goal is to protect this kingdom with my life. I love my country, and I will use every ounce of my power to defend it from those who wish to harm it.”

“Was that your goal before you Awakened?” Mr. Marion asked. “When you still had no powers and was just a normal girl, did you have the same goal in mind then?”

Esta frowned. “Of course not, but that's irrelevant. Our goals change when we experience life-changing events. My only goal when I was still a normal girl was to be able to eat every day, but that was because I had limited capabilities at the time. When I gained my powers, my goal grew along with my capabilities.”

“Was it easy changing your goals? When you Awakened and got turned in by your own countrymen for a bag of gold, did you suddenly go ‘Oh! I need to protect my country with all my might!’”

Esta snorted. “Of course not. I had to do a lot of self-reflection to come up with that one.”

“And what if the Empire suddenly decided to invade us with all their might?” Mr. Marion asked. “I'm not aware how strong we are militarily, but I'm sure we don't stand a chance against a giant like that, and you know it too. Our defeat would be absolute. If you knew we'll inevitably be defeated, would you still risk your life to protect this kingdom?”

“Of course,” Esta said without hesitation. “Just because defeat is absolute doesn't mean I'll abandon my goal because it's inconvenient. If defeat is inevitable, then I sure won't be welcoming it with open arms.”

“Exactly,” Mr. Marion said.

“Exactly what?”

“Why I won't accept your offer, even with the threat of being hunted down,” Mr. Marion said. “I already have my goals, Ms. Esta, and even the threat of death won't change my mind.”

Esta felt her temper slowly rising. “You think you're being brave? Do you think we hunt rogue Ascendants by posting wanted posters on billboards? You're taking being a rogue Ascendant lightly, Mr. Marion. When a rogue Ascendant is reported, all nations in the continent along with their Ascendants drop their hostilities and join hands to hunt the rogue down. They'll find you faster than you can say Hallelujah and they won't be merciful. You can use your power for the benefit of the people, Mr. Marion. Don't throw away your life.”

Mr. Marion scoffed. “I don't owe the people shit, Ms. Esta. If I owed anybody, it would be my dead mother and the friends I left behind. If I throw away my life, it's none of your business because it's my life. And I will not live my life being used in politics as an attack dog.”

Esta tightened the hold of her shadows on Mr. Marion. “You seem to forget that I have you in my grasp. If you don't accept my offer, I'll have to kill you. I don't want to do it, but I'll have to. Don't force me, Mr. Marion.”

“You seem to forget that I'm an Ascendant as well, Ms. Esta,” Mr. Marion said. “I can fight back.”

“You can't do anything in your sorry state,” Esta said, but she kept her senses extra alert anyway. Nothing seemed to be out of place.

“You don't even know the full extent of my capabilities,” Mr. Marion said.

“I know you can control fabrics, but judging by how you haven't done it when you were out of your mind, you can't control mine. Which means you can only control those that you own or that have no owner.”

“You're very sharp,” Mr. Marion complimented. “But who said I only have my Authority to rely on?”

Esta quickly turned around when she felt mana accumulating on the ground behind her. There were two glowing magic circles made of thread. They were not there when she entered the room earlier, and she should've sensed their moving shadows when they were put there. He must've kept the conversation going to distract me while he slowly moved the threads in place to keep me from noticing.

Esta had no extra time to admire Mr. Marion's ingenuity before the magic circles activated and exploded with massive force. She surrounded herself with shadows to provide some measure of protection, but her Authority never specialized in defense in the first place. The shadows were quickly torn apart and her body was sent flying, slamming hard against the distant wall.

The world seemed to spin around her as Esta tried to get her bearings. Her entire body was screaming in pain from all the broken bones, so she gave up on the idea of trying to stand up. Instead, she focused on the scene before her and felt a small measure of relief when she found out Mr. Marion was still bound with her shadows, although he would soon be able to free himself. He had managed to free one of his spider limbs and was cutting through the shadows to free himself.

Esta's relief immediately turned to regret when she realized that he had to die. Mr. Marion was not a bad man, she could tell, but the risk of a rogue Ascendant was too high. He had to go. If only she managed to convince him, things wouldn't have gone to shit, but she failed.

“I'm sorry,” Esta whispered.

The explosion had torn a large hole in the wall, letting the sunlight in. It banished a major portion of the shadows in the room, but Esta still had enough to work with.

Ten spears made of shadow emerged from the ground. With a small nudge of her will, all ten spears flew toward the struggling Mr. Marion and skewered him. His body shuddered as he looked down on the spear butts jutting from his torso, then looked at her.

“I'm sorry,” Esta whispered again.

“I know,” Mr. Marion said. But the voice didn't come from his body.

Esta jerked her head to the side, to the gaping hole in the wall. A child was peeking from the corner. His face was pale and he had long messy hair. There were stitches running from both corners of his mouth up to his ears, making it seem as if he was smiling. His eyes looked sad.

Her concussion must've been pretty bad to not notice him earlier. The situation was bad. She couldn't move, and with the boy standing in the sunlight outside, she had no shadows to use to kill him.

The situation turned for the worse when the fake Mr. Marion, the one she impaled, quivered. It morphed its body so it could slip through the restraints, dropping to the ground and looking good as new. It started approaching her but stopped when the boy raised his hand.

“Are you going to kill me?” Esta asked. She wanted to laugh at how the entire situation seemed to completely turn around. She had been the one in power earlier. Now, she was under the boy's mercy.

“It's alright, Ms. Esta. I'm not holding this against you. You were just doing your job,” the boy said.

“Are you… actually Mr. Marion? Or is it the masked… thing over there?”

“The masked man is Mr. Marion. I'm Brogen,” the boy said shyly. Despite the pain she was currently in, Esta almost laughed at how timid the boy was, but then she remembered that she was at his mercy.

“You're so young… It's not too late to accept my offer, Brogen. Please. It's for your own good. I admire your dedication to your go, but you don't know how things work yet. You're new to all this.”

“I'm not new to this,” Brogen muttered. “I've been an Ascendant for ten years already.”

“What?” Esta asked incredulously. “How old are you, Brogen?”

“I'm thirteen.”

Esta wondered if her concussion was making her hallucinate. “You Awakened when you were three?”

“Um, yeah,” Brogen said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head, as if he told her a harmless and embarrassing secret.

“How?” Esta asked before coughing hard. Blood dripped from her mouth.

“Oh, that's bad,” Brogen said with worry. “You have internal bleeding.”

“I'm sure you didn't mean to, Brogen, but I'm going to die if I don't get any help soon,” Esta said. “And there's this damn revolution going on, so the healers are probably holing up inside the Governor's Palace. I can't believe I'm going to die because of something I planned.”

“Oh,” Brogen muttered.

“It's alright, Brogen. It's not your fault,” Esta said softly. She didn't know why she was concerned about hurting his feelings when she decided to kill him just a few minutes ago. Maybe because he was a child. She could only imagine what he could have gone through if he Awakened that young. He practically lived his entire life hiding. That also meant that there had been a rogue Ascendant in Edria for a decade and nobody was none the wiser. Esta shivered.

“It's my fault,” Brogen said. “If I knew my Force Bomb had become more powerful, I would have only used one.”

“I don't think one less siege spell would have done any better, Brogen.”

“I can't let you just die here. You're nice. Promise me you won't try to capture me for today, Miss Esta.”

“Are you going to try and save my life?”

“Just promise me.”

Esta almost laughed at Brogen's naive request. Just because she promised doesn't mean she would keep it. But she decided to honor it this time. Brogen at least deserved that much.

“Alright, I promise.”

“Great,” Brogen said before he formed another magic circle made of thread floating right on top of her chest. “That's the same Force Bomb I used earlier. If you break your promise, I'll blow you up.”

Alright, not as naive as I thought, Esta thought as Brogen started forming more magic circles above her. They started glowing a radiant yellow light, and when they activated, she felt her flesh starting to knit itself back together.

“You can do Life magic?”

“Shush.”

As the magic healed her body, Mr. Marion kneeled beside her and set her bones in the right position as her body healed. It was excruciating, but it was better than having her flesh reform around her broken bones.

When her bones were all set in the correct position, Mr. Marion stepped away and joined Brogen outside. The healing continued for a few moments longer before stopping abruptly.

“I think you cut the magic short there, little guy,” Esta said. Her body was in better condition, but she was still wounded.

“I stopped the healing midway on purpose. I'm not healing you completely just so you can chase after me right after this,” Brogen said. “And don't call me little.”

“I guess you have a point there,” Esta admitted. If Brogen healed her completely, she would have been free to chase him down. Not like she would've done it. She made a promise. “But this doesn't change anything, you know? I still have to report you as a rogue, Brogen.”

“I know,” Brogen replied.

“Please. Just accept my offer. You don't deserve what's coming for you.”

“I can't, Ms. Esta. I don't want to turn into someone's pawn on the chessboard.”

“You won't become a pawn,” Esta said. “You'll be a queen, at the very least. Well, not literally.”

“I know,” Brogen chuckled. “But even if I become the king, a king is still a chess piece. I want to be the player.”

“A player without chess pieces,” Esta said.

Brogen smiled. “Who said I didn't have chess pieces?”

That statement made Esta's stomach queasy.

“I have to go, Ms. Esta. I still have somewhere else to be. Make sure not to move too much for the next few days, alright?”

“Go,” Esta said. “And make sure not to rely on your Authority too much. Use your Authority too much and you'll succumb to your urges much more easily. I don't think you'd want a repeat of today's events.”

Brogen turned serious. “Yeah, I guess I don't. Goodbye, Ms. Esta.”

“Just Esta. And I'll give you two days, Brogen. Two days to get as far away from here as possible and hide in the deepest hole you can find because once I report you, everyone and their mothers would start looking for you.”

“Thank you, Esta. This is probably the last time we'll see each other again,” Brogen said. Mr. Marion's back opened and he climbed inside. And then they were off.

“I doubt it,” Esta murmured to herself as she waited for her body to recover enough until she could move. She remembered Brogen's words when he was under the influence of his urges. He called himself ‘weak and naive.’ After speaking with the true Brogen, Esta didn't believe it for a second.