CHAPTER 35: FROM WITHIN

Haldon nodded.

"Well, sometimes, things happen fast and won’t wait for you. You better hurry." His playful smile was yet to return.

"So. That’s a no on the magic?"

The Hadrian vessels let out a sigh and his eyes darted to the old lady while one of his other pairs of eyes studied the bearded man.

"No." Hadrian said, "I’d like to know what you did to me."

Apart from the effect of grasping raw essence, this was the first magic, or rather sorcery affected him in such a manner.

Haldon’s eyebrows rose.

"Smart man." he said and patiently waited. Seeing the man not speak he gestured with his hands.

"You can affect the soul, can’t you dear?" It was the old lady that spoke up first. "Dangerous, hehe."

"I could say the same."

The old lady shook her head with that toothless grin of hers. "Maybe. But I feel you have something far more sinister going on."

She got closer to him, her walking looking like a struggle. "Sorcery, like pretty hair over here said, is mostly delving into things we don’t understand. Most of the traps we set for you or even trying to locate you had been ineffective."

Her face turned to the mage Hadrian had just attacked.

"One’s soul core is a rather dangerous place to let intruders in. Apart from sorcery, I don’t think there is a method to."

She laughed, turning back to face the Hadrian vessel. "Through persuasion, of course, I was allowed to set a trap for you on some of the.... Disposables."

"Enough." Haldon cut in gently, "it’s his turn."

The Hadrian’s vessels eyes went between the old grinning lady and the now frowning Haldon. Hadrian could see the impatience growing on his face.

He smiled.

"Sorry to disappoint. I can affect the soul, I’m not sure how, but it does agitate my targets and make them weaker."

The granny grin widened for a moment.

Can she tell I’m lying?

"what about the rats, and the regular path magic?" The groper mage asked.

Hadrian’s lips remained shut. Haldon rubbed his temples.

"It seems there isn’t much of an exchange going on here." He said.

"The mind, soul and body are more connected than you think." Hadrian said, "the state of one determines the state of the others."

"Yes." Haldon’s head shook as he spoke. "Even children can understand that."

"I’m bored of this. And it seems you don’t intend to share anything clearly. You.... " he gestured to one of the two new female faces he’d seen in the room, "tell Bagdona we’ve caught some of them. And that we’re Holding them in a witch’s machinations."

The woman nodded and walked off and up the creaking wooden stairs. Peering into her soul, Hadrian saw she was a regular human.

Haldon walked up close and grabbed one of the vessel’s chin, twisting his head left and right.

"i have to admit, no ounce of fear at all is rather impressive."

He did the same with the other two.

"Of course, for this hunt, we have two agreements to resolve. First is the witch and her.... " his hand lingered on the bearded man to introduce himself. He didn’t.

Haldon gave up. "And him." He gestured to the groper mage Hadrian had attacked. "They can do as they please to gain whatever info they want from you, while the last one will belong to Magloire Mob."

"Witch, do you think you can make them sleepy for longer?"

"In this controlled environment? Yes."

"Good, because we’ll need to move."

One of Hadrian’s vessels was focused on bearded man.

I had truly let you go, but since you’ve brought yourself to me, I remember you were also there when they tied me up to a tree.

Hadrian attempted to channel essence but realized he couldn’t.

More of those magic suppressors?

Peering into bearded man’s essence sea, He called at his essence.

These magic suppressors, however they were made, didn’t seem to affect his authority. The magic abilities of his vessels were affected, though.

The moment he made contact with bearded man’s tendrils, he felt the emotions of anger mixed in with fear.

Bearded man’s facial muscles twitched and he spoke up for the first time. "He’s doing that thing to me."

Everyone’s attention went to him.

"Is there any way you can observe this?" Haldon questioned the old lady.

"If I knew more, there’s always a way."

"So, a no."

The old lady’s grin widened at Haldon’s response.

When bearded man explained to them how he felt, it was the same as how the mage described feeling when the Hadrian vessels were passed out.

As time moved on and Haldon insisted on observing the changes, bearded man’s emotions flared and his agitation was growing to dangerous levels.

Squeezing his fists, he attacked the Hadrian vessel. Stopped by the mage, he let out quick breaths. "I have to." he said.

The mage nodded in understanding to Haldon.

Haldon looked at the old lady. "If that’s how you wish to resolve your issues, I won’t stop him any further."

The old lady took her time. "No, not yet." She finally said.

"Get him out of here." Haldon commanded.

The groper mage, who was a force path mage, was more than enough to handle the human. He had a smaller frame than bearded man, but he still carried him around like a doll.

The stairs creaked beneath them. The bearded man had been getting more restless, but the mage did as told, ignoring him.

Thrown out the main door, dust flew up as he hit the ground.

For a moment, the agitation feeling disappeared, but then it came from a new direction.

Bearded man tensed up.

"Let me get back inside." He tried rushing past the mage. Naturally, the mage easily prevented him.

After a few moments of struggling, he calmed down, took a step back and straightened his clothing.

"It’s fine. I’ll wait." Smiling, he said to the mage.

The mage looked at him with a suspicious look but then he felt a familiar feeling of intrusion to his very self coming from a specific direction.