Xatali stretched lazily and then turned around to reach for her discarded clothes. She was feeling rather good about her meeting with her goddess and was very thankful to Dewari for arranging this meeting. Arlie was going to help her, and in exchange, she was going to help Arlie. To her, this felt like a mutually beneficial arrangement. She received quite a bit from this little agreement, and most importantly she regained her freedom from this deal. Something she knew Zemoria would have given her precious little of. What she was most excited about was that after she had received her mark Arlie had even offered to teach her more advanced magics after she passed her current class. That offer was quite precious to her. The lessons would not be free, but neither were her current ones. What mattered was that Arlie seemed to be the perfect teacher for catapulting her to heights her race had never achieved before, and her price was something she could afford.

Her thoughts ground to a halt, and she froze in place when she noticed the two familiar figures in the doorway. The young Liritian felt her ears droop, she didn’t really want anyone to see her naked here, but alas that was not to be. Worse, the pair that caught her naked in the shrine were people she knew well. One of them had an evil grin on their face while the other looked puzzled. This was going to be awkward, she just knew it. A part of her was already wishing she could just disappear.

She had the strangest feeling that with access to Arlie’s mana like she now had, she could do just that. Disappear from sight, and hide from the world. Spells were largely a matter of intent. It was your will bending reality to achieve an effect, but the amount of energy required to achieve that effect was dependent on your affinities and your understanding of what you were trying to do. Anything was possible, but some things could not be done by just one mage alone. The further from reality the desired effect, the greater the cost. Having the right affinities, and understanding could lower the cost, but even with perfect affinities and understanding of a certain effect, achieving it could remain out of reach. It was why the mana pool of a mage was so important. Arlie allowed her a small portion of mana that she could channel that could be used for any spell with the highest affinity. That made it the envy of every mage, yet another benefit of this choice. Although one day she wished she could transform her own into the same type of mana.

Xatali was tempted to do just that, but she knew that doing it would just be avoiding the inevitable. They knew her and would likely just ambush her later when her guard was down, and it would be worse then. She cursed her luck. Maybe there was a spell that would give her better luck? She made a mental note to ask Arlie about that.

One of them finally spoke up, “So, um, Xatali. What did you do that made you feel the need to come before the goddess naked?”

The other however was staring at her chest, and asked, “What is that symbol on your chest?”

She sighed, the one question was just awkward. That was something she was not comfortable answering. The other gave her a surge of joy. She puffed up a bit, and said, “Goddess Dewari helped me find my Patron. I accepted a mark from my goddess, I’m a priestess now, an extension of her will.”

Silence met her for a moment. “Good for you, I guess?”

The other twin gave her a look, “I guess you aren’t comfortable with my question, but that’s okay. You can tell us when you are ready.”

Xatali noticed the tone, she had evaded that question, but only for now. She started to dress. Just as she had reseated her panties, she was asked, “You know I didn’t expect you of all people to choose a local god and become a priestess.”

She glanced at the speaker, and asked, “Wondering why I did?” At the same moment a thought occurred to her. Xatalie really wanted to try casting a spell by channeling. That mana she was allowed was just begging to be used. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who thought so, Arlie spoke directly into her mind, “That is a good idea, and you should practice channeling regularly. You will need the experience, and maybe you will learn something.”

The speaker nodded, and she decided to demonstrate by casting a simple spell of an element she had no affinity for. Using her own mana it was impossible for her to cast spells of the ice element for example. In fact her high affinity for fire and lack of ice affinity complicated any attempt to cast an ice spell, even though she perfectly understood the simple spells she had tried Besides the half-truth she was about to tell would let her avoid the uncomfortable bit for a while.

In her hand ice magic gathered and formed into a simple sphere. Producing a ball of ice floating above her palm, as she spoke, “I did it for several reasons. When the goddess offered me her mark, I just couldn’t pass it up. Not after I learned what benefits it offers.”

Their eyes widened, both knew she couldn’t even cast ice magic, and yet here was a ball of ice floating her palm. Produced by magic. She elaborated before they could ask, “My goddess allows me to channel up to twice my mana pool of her mana. Mana that is divinely perfect, the envy of all mages; Omni-elemental mana. It can be used to cast any spell that I have the requisite understanding for.”

‘Knowing you, I can see exactly why you jumped for it, if that was on the table. Although I am curious, why were you looking for a patron in the first place?”

That was something she was hoping they wouldn’t ask, but alas they had. Now she needed to come up with a response or just break down and tell them everything. Some part of her had a feeling they would coax it out of her eventually though.

In the end, she was proved right. They did coax things out of her, by the time she was dressed and leaving the temple. They knew everything, even the things she had not been comfortable admitting to. Like the way she had messed up so badly, that she needed to ask for help. The kind of help her friends could not give her, and she knew they couldn’t.

At the moment the three of them were walking down the street, and she had recently let slip Arlie’s offer. Although she rather wanted to get away, she had someone to meet, and help. Before they did something stupid, or fell into one of Zemoria’s traps.

One of the twins finally said, “I think it’s great that you managed to secure an offer for teaching from a Solean, but it sounds like you have a problem now.”

“Yeah, not sure the others would appreciate the conflict of loyalties.”

“Hey! It’s not all that different from you two. You went and converted to the worship of a local goddess. You have your responsibilities to her now, in addition to the union.”

The twins just gave her a look, “Maybe so, but Goddess Dewari isn’t a member of a vast interstellar empire the Union happens to be at war with.”

“I know, but Arlie isn’t the Empire. Actually she is rather inclined to help the Union. She says that without her help, the Union is destined to lose the war, and after what she told me, I am inclined to agree.”

The twin’s faces changed, “What did she tell you?”

“I’m not even sure where to begin, but if we are to stand any chance, we will need mages of our own. That is why she shared this world with us. Even with mages of our own, we may still lose the war, but at least we will stand a chance.”

“Isn’t that part of why we are here? To learn about this ‘magic’, and how to protect ourselves from it?”

“Yes, but this world can only teach us to a point. Arlie can teach me further.”

“And she is willing to teach you and help us? Any idea why?”

She nodded, “Goddess Arlie showed me why. It is not my place to reveal it though. It is hers to reveal, and hers alone.”

They nodded, and then one said, “I can respect that.”

The other said, “I think we need to leave it here. We have somewhere to be soon, remember?”

The first nodded, “I remember. Sorry to cut things short. We can continue this later.”

Xatali said her part, and watched them go. Inwardly quite glad that they had somewhere to be. She had someone to find herself, and soon.

Around the same time on an island not far from the forbidden continent’s coast, a young-looking winged woman stretched in the evening sun. It was time to prepare dinner, and camp. She glanced over at the other younger winged woman who was looking rather bored.

“Done sunbathing? Why are we even on this island anyway?”

She gave the young one a look, “No real reason. It was merely a convenient place to land. Dewari had arranged a special meeting between me, and a potential priestess. One Dewari felt I would best be able to help. In fact, the young lady was in desperate need of my help. I’ve already done a little for her in fact, but I now need to have a conversation with a certain dragon.”

“If I may ask, how have you helped her?”

Arlie gave her a special smile, “I did a little something to help her with a little toy, and more importantly I offered her my mark.”

“Your mark? How is that a help?”

“Are you familiar with a Dragon’s Mark?”

Ovi’ta gave her a sad look, and nodded glumly, “I am. It’s a weird version of the Slaver’s Brand. Why? Did you enslave this poor girl?”

Arlie shook her head, “That’s only partially true. A Dragon’s Mark is no slave brand, but it acts like one if the mark was forced upon the recipient by the master. My mark is called a Skylord’s mark and is fundamentally similar in function. The marks are actually intended as a form of a Master-Servant pact. The usual form is that the servant agrees to further the agendas of the master, and in exchange, they receive a portion of the master’s power. Typically this comes in the form of a few stat boosts, and more importantly the ability to channel a small portion of the master’s mana each day.”

“Interesting. I see the advantages, but why does it act differently if the master forces it upon the recipient. Should it not have failed or something instead?”

Arlie smiled, “That is a very good question, but not one easy to answer. I am afraid it’s beyond your current understanding. Well mostly. In simplest terms, it has to do with how the spell interacts with the soul and the mind. When the mark is placed, it burns not just into the flesh but the soul, and mind as well. What this means is that when the mark is being forcibly burned it either fails or the recipient submits at the most fundamental level, in their soul.”

Ovi’ta’s face paled significantly, “That is worse than slavery. That is vile...”

Her words trailed off, but Arlie could tell she was trying to express how repulsed she was by that. When she seemed calmer Arlie said, “I know. That is why I always offer my mark and never force it. I prefer it when my servants enter this kind of pact willingly. It is the morally superior option, not to mention, willing servants are better than forced ones anyway.”

Ovi’ta’s color came back. “What do you mean by that?”

“I just said, that a forced servant has submitted at the fundamental level yes? That actually hobbles them a bit, they become afraid to stray beyond the letter of any orders they are given. Willing servants can, and often will. They tend to be more loyal, more effective, and more creative.”

That Ovi’ta understood.  She nodded, “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. If you order them to do something, but things don’t go to plan. A forced Servant would prove inflexible, wouldn’t they? While the willing one could adapt, and find a way to achieve the objective?

Arlie nodded, “yes, that is the main advantage. The other is that the mark is formed stronger in a willing subject, meaning a willing servant will be able to channel more power and have a higher stat boost from the very start.”

“So what do you plan to do with this girl, anyway?”

“I plan to forge her into the most powerful mage her race has ever seen, and then use her to establish a new Mage Order, the first of its kind among her people. It is something that fits into my overall vision for her people.”

Ovi’ta gave a wry laugh, “Of course you do. I hope you aren’t going to do anything strange to her.”

Arlie shook her head, then changed the subject completely. Asking the young half-celestial what she wanted to eat. They had several options after all.