Svinna POV 

I sit down by the fire, giving the two women a glare, meant to cow them into obedience. While my mother went around the camp to gather up all their supplies, and burn the bodies of the slain, I go over my new stats and skill options.

[Health:  100/200]

[Stamina: 1/200]

[Mana: 0/200]

[STR] 17

[DEX] 21

[AGI] 16

[VIG] 20

[END] 20

[CON] 28

[WILL] 52

[INT] 20

All my resource points, that is my health Stamina and Mana, have doubled. Already I can feel my body surging with its new capabilities, my mind sharper than ever before. I inspect my body, and sure enough, I had grown taller, my muscles more noticeable in both bulk and definition. 

I smirk to myself, feeling over my biceps and seeing striation in my forearms. 

Is it bad to be attracted to yourself?

Ah, I've gotten distracted. I pull myself away from self-admiration and go back to my skills, looking over the pros and cons of each skill. 

Ironclad Resolve: As it stands, I'm not all that sure about how common such mental attacks are, but this skill augments my already high Willpower stat, which supposedly makes it easier for Mr to shrug off these attacks. As it has been said countlessly, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Tactical Mastery: I'm not too fond of having my mind altered, but being able to fight in large scale group battles more efficiently is great. Only, I don't have any groups.

Siegebreaker's Fury: Now hear me out: being a living siege weapon is such a killer idea. It would put me at the forefront of any seige battle, but that sorta danger is kinda fun! For now, I'm not ready to go head on against any sort of settlement, yet. 

Imperial Dominion: Well this would be supremely useful down the line, but as I have no subjects, soldiers or holdings, this won't help me in the immediate sense. 

Conquer the Mind: Now this is making me kick myself. I wish I'd left a few more alive to use this on. My staggering willpower vs someone else's? This is how I start my army, right here. I'm already level three so my aura has quadrupled in size and potency already. The only downside is that the two girls aren't combatants. Not that I had any such intentions for them anyways.

I accept Iron Clad Resolve and Conquer the Mind, as they'll bring me the most benefits in the immediate sense, as well as in the future. Hell, I might not even need Tactical Mastery since Dominant Aura would just make everyone I fight against worse while making everyone I fight with better, negating battlefield tactics by a large margin. 

In the face of overwhelming power, all manner of tricks are useless. 

And by the time I get into actual wars, I'll most likely have my own strategists and tacticians. 

But that's in the future. Let's go back to the now. 

I turn to the duo of women and I couldn't help the grin that spreads across my face. 

The younger woman shivers, partly because I had not allowed her to get dressed yet, partly because I had not been anything less than apparent about my covetousness over her. 

I grab the young girl by her neck, earning a scream from both her and the older woman, activating Conquer the Mind. The battle for her mind didn't last very long. 

Eira POV

The bandit had defeated us all. Fajr fought with honor and he will feast with his ancestors tonight, but that leaves me alone, with Hilgrun to protect me. Sweet Hilgrun. The kindly widow was holding me to keep me warm. The bandit wouldn't allow me to get dressed.

Many times have I considered making a run for it, but even if I managed to escape, classless that I am, I would not make it far. The sheer cold would kill me if animals or other bandits didn't. 

Then, she grabbed me. 

And I felt a shroud of horror descend upon my consciousness as my mind was invaded. It was as though my thoughts were being torn apart, and my very self was under assault. The sensation was a living nightmare, a violation of my autonomy that struck terror into my heart. 

My willpower faltered, crumbling under the relentless force that sought to dominate me. It was an excruciating mental battle, a struggle for control that seemed impossible to win. My thoughts screamed in protest as they were pushed aside, my identity threatened by an intruder.

And then, suddenly, the horror gave way to something else entirely. A profound sense of bliss washed over me, like a warm embrace that welcomed me into a new reality. The fear that had gripped me was replaced by a frenzied obsession, an unyielding devotion to the one who had taken command of my mind.

I found myself overwhelmed by an insatiable desire to please, to serve, to obey without question. My thoughts were no longer my own, but rather a reflection of the one who now held sway over me. Every action, every word, was dictated by the irresistible compulsion to fulfill their desires.

In that moment, I experienced a twisted ecstasy in my newfound subservience, a pleasure derived from surrendering my autonomy. The horror that had initially consumed me had transformed into a euphoria of absolute devotion, and I embraced it with an ardor that bordered on madness.

The shift from terror to bliss was a stark and unsettling transformation, one that left me trapped in a relentless cycle of obedience and obsession, my sense of self forever altered by the overpowering force that now controlled my every thought and action. 

I knew what had happened to me. I just couldn't bring myself to care. No, not after a single tear slid down my cheek, the last remains of the woman I was and could have been.