"So what now?" Aldred asked.
"Now I am your slave," Sophia replied.
"What can you do?"
"I am a Gold Rank magician. I don't have any remarkable affinity with certain elements, but I'm good at non-elemental spells." Sophia waved her hand. Particles of crimson rippled around her slender white fingers. They then turned to black and red butterflies that fluttered around Aldred.
"Nice. So you can accompany us fighting against the bandit?"
Sophia shook her head. "Only Pharder can order Gold Rank to do something. Although I am your slave, you still need his permission if you want to bring me outside the fort. Of course, I will obey your command no matter what, but that is considered treason because you break the rules."
"Which mean he will have the reason to kill me?"
"Yes."
"Politics protect me, but it also restricts me."
Sophia nodded. "Without the rules and hierarchy in order, you'd be dead in his hands by now, master."
"I understand that. But now that you failed to enslave me, and be enslaved by me instead, what will Pharder do to you?"
Mary interrupted before Sophia could reply: "Sophia should be executed. Enslavement spell is actually forbidden in this empire, and only the Royal Magicians are allowed to learn them. She not only knows how to cast it, but she has also tried to enslave a fellow soldier within the same brigade."
"Enslavement spell sounds terrible," Aldred said.
"It is. Many subordinates within the nobles and royal families were secretly enslaved and told to convey information to their opposition. This made it hard for them to know which side to trust. And that is how this rule came to be."
Aldred considered his option. "I don't think killing her will do any good for us. Since she failed and become my slave, we might as well use her capabilities for our benefit."
Mary looked at the boy. Since when did Aldred become so calculative? Usually, the boy would get mad and do something reckless like what he did to Pharder the first time they met. She glanced back at Sophia who was still kneeling on the floor. "She is a Gold Rank magician. It will be too bad to kill her."
"What can you do exactly?" Aldred asked again.
"I am a non-elemental magician specialized in giving buff and debuff to a target."
"Interesting. What buff can you give me?"
"Speed, strength, mana power, instinct, reaction speed, and many more. I can also give illusions to a single target or many people at once."
"Try to give me a buff."
Sophia nodded. She waved her hand and pointed at him with her index finger. Immediately, Aldred's body jolted in power and energy. He felt like he could fly with his physical power alone. And then his pants bulged and ripped before his dong pierced through the ceiling.
"…"
"…"
"That was the wrong spell." Sophia waved her hand again which turned the size of his dong to normal.
Aldred cleared his throat like that never happened. "So… anything else?"
"I can control the basic element, but not as efficient and effective as elemental magicians. In frontal battle, I am not much of a match against them."
"But you must have something to handle them right?"
Sophia nodded. "My illusion spell is incredibly potent. If I do it correctly, I can break their will to fight."
In essence, Sophia's power specialized in the psychology of the target. That was a tough power to deal with. Unlike elemental magicians which Aldred could dodge or block, a mental attack seemed much more complicated. If Aldred could bring her to the battlefield, the enemy would be disoriented, letting Bartrem and the others fought them much easier.
Sadly, that could not be done.
Aldred sighed. "I am going to think about it later. Let us continue our sleep. What about you? Where will you be sleeping?"
"Wherever you command me to sleep, I will sleep there, master."
"Ohh… really?"
"Yes."
And there he was, sleeping with three beauties in his bed. Aldred slept on top of Sophia as she wrapped her hands around Aldred's head and she sunk his face into her boobs. Mary hugged him from the side. Mira was sleeping without knowing anything. Oh, and Pongo was on the floor.
Aldred accidentally kicked him earlier.
The next morning, Bartrem opened the door loudly and was about to shout before he saw Sophia on Aldred's bed. He was shocked. Why the hell was she here? Bartrem shook his head and shouted for his men to wake up.
The soldiers immediately woke up and don their armor.
Aldred and the girls woke up as well.
"Beautiful morning, Aldred," Mira said with a smile before she was surprised by the sight of Sophia. "Hello,"
"Hello," Sophia said with a smile.
"May I know who you are?"
She then explained everything that happened last night.
"Oh my." Mira looked at the boy who was changing his pants, wondering if he was protected by a god. How could he luckily trigger a backlash that earn him a Gold Rank slave? Now, he had two Gold Rank women protecting him.
Did Zalous, the God of Hope, protect him? Maybe he saw something within the boy that might change the world.
Pongo woke up on the floor. He lazily looked around wondering how did he end up here? He then looked up and Aldred accidentally stepped on his back.
"Squeak!"
"Sorry. I didn't see you there, buddy."
"Pongo pongo!"
"Hey, it's not my fault that you are so tiny."
"Pongo!"
"Whatever."
Aldred looked to the side and noticed Bartrem was looking at him.
"Any news on the bandit, Bartrem?"
"Yeah. The bandit settled down on the east as expected. But more importantly, why is Sophia on your bed?"
"She tried to enslave me, but receive a backlash instead."
Bartrem nodded. "So that's what happened. It seems like Pharder realized your talent. He's been watching you without any of us knowing."
"How could he not," Mary said. "All the people here are his subordinates. Only the people sent by the empress are not under his control."
"I heard the empress is sending more of her men," Bartrem said.
"That is true. We can recruit them to our platoon and filled up the ranks."
"That is good to hear. Come on, Aldred. We will talk more about this later."
"Are we attacking the bandit now?"
"Yes. If we let them go, they'd be too far from us."
Aldred was about to exit the barrack until Mary pulled his hand. "Be careful out there Aldred. Pharder might try to kill you outside the fort. If such a thing happens, you can crush your crystal and use it to fuel your magic."
"I can do that?"
"Yes. Use it to escape and run to the capital. With your flame jet spell, I am sure you can do it."
Aldred nodded. The thought of Pharder ambushing him made his bone turn cold. The man was a Diamond Rank. Just one step away from Adamantite Rank. And although he wasn't as strong as the Commander of Knights, their rank was the same.
It was kind of weird for Aldred. He thought that all Diamond Rank could become the Commander of Knights, but apparently, there was a wide gap of strength between Diamond Rank.
Putting the thought away, the boy kissed Mary and said goodbye to her. Unexpectedly, Sophia asked for a kiss as well. Aldred was not going to let the chance go, so he kissed her lips.
Mira looking at this simply shrugged. She experienced a lot of culture shock lately.
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