Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

***

That Evening,

When the duo of Carleine and Ember made their inevitable entries into his room, Evan surprised them with a Gift he had had in his mind to give for a good while.

"This is—" Carleine started and Ember naturally stepped in to complete the sentence,

"This is this Stygian Family's cultivation technique!" the redhead exclaimed.

"You're giving this to us?" Carleine asked, sounding incredulous.

"Of course," Evian said with a shrug, "I don't need and you'll make better use of it than I ever could."

The Royal Family was the strongest in the Verlice Kingdom and as a family and power only two or three countable steps below that power, the Stygians had access to some of the best knowledge and resources to fine-tune a technique they would come to be known for centuries.

The only other families who had such access were the Larnaks, the Renans as well as all other Territorial Lords and despite a passably close relationship with the Renan Lordess, not even Ember had access to such a technique.

Receiving the Stygian Family's technique was no doubt a big deal and Evian went a step forward by handing them the cultivation resources as well as the gold he had received as a reward for their recent task. Again, the two would find better use of it, and that included the gold which they were likely going to use to get even more resources.

Following the session of gift-giving by Evian was a passionate session with all three ladies bringing their all because they believed Evian deserved to be absolutely worn out. Alas, they failed. Whatever techniques they had developed were all conquered by Evian's sheer ability.

When they woke up, neither of the two was surprised to find Evian was no longer in bed with them because somewhere between the throes of orgasmic yells the night before, Evan had cued them in on his plans for the day.

After a bath to rinse themselves of the wondrous grime of their activities with Evian, the two crossed their legs on the bed in solidarity and began to properly digest the information within the technique.

Once that part was done, they began retrieving resources from their pouches little by little to supply their attempts to draw in Spiritual energy from the atmosphere and aim for a breakthrough that had long alluded them.

…

Meanwhile…

Evan found his slow way past the City's civilized grounds and through the fairly barren land of more than ten miles to separate the City walls from the forest boundary and give the City a chance to quickly react to a potential beast tide.

With his senses having been further sharpened after his advancement into being a Wraith Noble, Evian was able to better observe the fact that he was not the only person to approach the Forest. It also helped him watch out for traps and get further into the forest while keening his ears for the arrival of any Beasts that might be getting too close for Comfort.

Even before the path towards the outside was completely shrouded by the thicket of trees, Evian felt himself being watched- almost stalked.

With a flick of his wrist, he retrieved his Spear from his Spatial ring and let his pace slow. With his senses keened, he could tell exactly what strength the approaching beast possessed and he could also tell that the Beast had no idea of his and despite careful stalking would still leap out carelessly.

"Rarrrrrr!"

Sure enough, with a mighty roar that sent sound waves slamming into Evian with the intent of striking fear into his heart, the Beast showed itself.

A jaguar with a much more densely populated collection of spots that looked hardened enough to appear as scales, the Beast was fearsome. Its fangs were sharp and glinting with saliva and its eyes sharp with an intent to sink said fangs into the flesh of its juicy prey.

At the Third Order -the very peak with a potential for a breakthrough- the Beast was fast but Evian still met it with a smile.

Phasing was not necessary.

He waited and right when the Beast's claws got close enough to sink into his body, he sidestepped with such speed, that he caught the Jaguar by surprise when his Spear stabbed through its side with such power, that it came out the other side with blood spilling out in a dense quantity.

The Beast fell on its side and its essence -taking an Ethereal form akin to a true soul- showed itself for Evian'a absorption.

[You have acquired 100 Soul Points]

"That's exactly what I would have gotten from a human also at the Third Order… Absolutely perfect."

Despite whatever suspicions Zayda had for Evian's motives and how much she had stayed away from him in recent times which had even stopped her from sitting in on his pleasuring of other ladies, she still wanted to keep him close i.e in her relatively brand new Squad and to keep him there, she needed him alive so, of course, she gave as many tips as she could for his sojourn into the Forest.

It was through her that Evian knew that meeting a Martial Beast of the Third Order not too deep into the Forest was a sign of how bad things were being and just how soon he was likely to meet a herd of Beasts who could all individually take him on and out.

The stronger the Beast he met on the edges of the Forest was, the stronger the one at the heart of the Forest would be. If he was to go by Zayda's deduction, the Beast currently reigning over the Forest was likely at the Sixth Order.

Of course, why would Evian let that stop him? This was his chance and he would seek out as many Beasts as he could just to rack up his Soul Points. Also, for him, such a plan was not reckless but calculated because he still had his trusted Wraithic Phasing to get him free should things get crazier than he could handle…

"Hey, keep the formation!" a voice yelled out suddenly over to the west of where Evian was standing.

"Lorient, Will you shut up? You got us into this mess!" yelled another voice.

"And I'm trying to get you out of it- Ahhhh!"

At this point, Evian was already walking toward the sound of the yell and he found a group of five dressed in the uniforms of the Eastern Sect, all armed with weapons and trying their best to ward off the Wolves that had encircled them.

"Ahhhhhhh—-" the one called Lorient was on the ground gripping his arm that was marred by the claws of a wolf, "It got me. The damn mutt got me!"

Even as Lorient yelled, he still swung his word with his uninjured arm and managed to strike back the head of a Wolf that made to finish the job.

Evan saw the reason the five were in a predicament almost immediately;

The Eastern Sect Disciples ans the Wolves were all at the Third Order but the Disciples were outnumbered two to one ans lacked the viciousness and raw strength to remotely contend with their beastly opponents.

"This makes no sense," said one of the five, "I heard from the Seniors and Beasts at the edge of the Forest are not supposed to be this strong."

"Oh by the gods, how will we get out of this?"

Evan did a quick count and ascertained that he stood the chance to get himself a thousand Soul Points and it took barely a second of further thought for him to convince himself to come to the aid of the Disciples.

He had no care if they lost their lives but he also saw no merit in watching them get killed when there was nothing he stood to gain. He might be better off killing the Disciples himself and reaping their souls for himself but, of course, that was a thought for later.

He moved fast, his speed dazzling the Third Order Beasts/people on the scene and with quick action without giving the Beast about to gobble up Lorient a chance to react, Evian stabbed his spear through the Beast's head.

The death was instant and the absorption of Essence quickly followed.

[You have acquired 100 Soul Points]

"Huh?" Lorient let out. His shock caused his pain to temporarily cease but Evian was already gone from his immediate sight.

With his Grey eyes moving so fast to mark the position of his targets, Evian went after the next. He evaded a claw strike and stabbed his spear upward right through the bottom of a Wolf's maw and out the top of its head. He went a step further pulling until he ripped it apart.

[You have acquired 100 Soul Points]

At the point, with two of their fellows down, the Wolves reacted toward Evian. Two leaped at him but with Wraithic Phasing, he caused a massive collision and swiftly took advantage.

[You have acquired 100 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 100 Soul Points]

Watching such an impressive feat, there was a similar thought in the minds of the Five Eastern Sect Disciples,

"Who the Fuck is this?!"