CHAPTER 306: DON’T CORRUPT HER TOO MUCH

Arya gasped, dropping the journal in her hands to the ground. "Extracting... souls? That’s... that’s necromancy, isn’t it?"

Ellora shook her head slowly, her tone grave. "Not quite. Necromancy is crude in comparison. This isn’t just about animating corpses or stealing spirits. Soulbrew alchemy is about distilling the essence of a soul into a reagent, preserving its memory, power, even affinities, and its identity, and then using that as a foundational catalyst."

Damon nodded. "You should be correct. That crazy guy had created a weird mix of chimera, which should have been impossible to put together unless he did some shenanigans with their souls."

"I... I cannot do something like that. How... I cannot." Arya started stammering.

Damon immediately stopped her before she spiraled further. "Relax. You do not need to create some sort of abomination for me. All I need is a way to increase soul strength or increase soul integrity, or something that could help with soul cultivation. That sort of thing."

He picked up the journal she had dropped onto the ground and handed it back to her. "Think about it. Soul strength is very important right now. Not just to me, but also for you. There should be many limitations on what you can and cannot do at the moment, just based on your soul strength. Don’t you think reading this could help you?"

Arya began hesitating. It was clear that the girl was still nervous and did not want to go anywhere near the evil thing, but a part of her wanted to understand. To read everything. To know everything.

Damon smiled. He knew he had the girl. "Come on. All knowledge is necessary knowledge. You can simply learn and understand things without ever having to use them in your entire life. Worse, if someone else is dabbling in these things, then you would have the perfect weapon to stop them."

Arya nodded as she also saw no reason in disagreeing with Damon’s practical words. It was simply way too tempting for someone like her.

"I..." she whispered, clutching the journal close again. "If it’s just research... and if no one’s soul is being harmed... I suppose there’s no harm in learning more, right?"

Ellora simply smiled. The little girl might be naive, but she could clearly see how the lord was manipulating her by pressing all the right buttons. Ellora didn’t interrupt. She would never ruin her lord’s plan, and she also approved of this.

Arya, for all her innocence, needed this push. The world they were in now wasn’t kind to gentle prodigies. It devoured them, or worse, warped them under pressure. A bit of guided corruption, she thought dryly, was probably healthier than the blind kind.

Damon didn’t press further. Instead, he let the silence stretch as Arya flipped the journal open again, her eyes already darting across the page. The fear in her expression had given way to something else. Curiosity. Determination. Even a little fire.

After a while, she nodded. "Ok, I will do it. Once again, you have done me a great favor, Blood God. This kind of knowledge is not easy to come by. Thank you. I will not disappoint you."

Damon awkwardly laughed. "Don’t worry. You are helping me as much as I am helping you. Ellora here will be with you for the next few days. You should take her help with whatever you need. She is a very capable fighter and also an experienced alchemist."

"Ah... her?" Arya once again became a little nervous.

Ellora smirked. "I don’t bite, little genius. Not unless the Lord requests it." She added with a wink. The joke completely went over Arya’s head, making Ellora shake her head helplessly. The next few days were going to be tiresome.

Arya offered a hesitant smile, clearly unsure how to respond. "Right... thank you. I’ll, um, try not to get in your way." She bowed slightly.

Damon watched the exchange with a faint smile. "Good. Then I’ll leave you two to it. I’ve got other preparations to handle."

"Ah, wait," Arya called after him. She then handed over to him about twenty ice affinity potions. "I am sorry. I was only able to make so many of them since I am still working on the formula. The next time we meet, I will definitely have more for you. I promise. I did not waste any pearls."

Damon patted the girl. "These are more than enough. You’ve exceeded expectations already, Arya."

Ellora watched the brief exchange with an amused glint in her eyes, arms folded as Damon accepted the potions. The girl was trying so hard to be dependable, and somehow, that raw eagerness made her more endearing than annoying.

Damon carefully stored the potions. "Thank you for this. I trust you. Take your time and do whatever you can." Then he turned toward Ellora. "Make sure she rests. I don’t want her collapsing face-first into soul magic."

"Don’t worry," Ellora said with a mock salute. "I’ll take good care of your precious alchemist."

Damon shook his head helplessly. "Please don’t corrupt her too much. She is a very young, inexperienced girl."

"Ummm... I am 21 years old."

Ellora raised an eyebrow, then burst into laughter. "Oh gods, even better! That’s prime age for corruption." She winked again, more dramatically this time, just to see Arya squirm, which she did, magnificently. The poor girl flushed to the tips of her ears, unsure whether to feel offended or complimented.

Damon stifled a laugh and gave Ellora a look that was half warning, half amused indulgence. "Don’t push her too much and don’t make her uncomfortable."

Arya looked at him, grateful for these words. But Damon knew that these were not really going to help that much. Ellora was a mischievous vixen, and spending several days with someone like that was not going to do a lot of good for this naive, innocent soul.

"I’ll behave," Ellora promised, though the gleam in her eye made it sound more like a lie than a vow. "On my honor."

Damon wanted to say that she had none, but he gave her one last narrowed glance, then turned back to Arya and spoke more softly. "Good luck. If you need anything or if anyone is bothering you, feel free to message me or call me anytime."

"Okay." Arya nodded with a blush, not used to anyone giving her so much importance and consideration.

Damon gave her a final, reassuring smile before turning away and walking back to the city.

Ellora stretched her arms behind her head, eyeing Arya like a cat sizing up a particularly delicate bird. "Sooo... little genius, looks like we’re stuck with each other."

Arya blinked.

Ellora flipped through the journal in her hand again. "Soul magic, huh? Looks like we’ve got ourselves a taboo project. Excited yet?"

Arya clutched the journal tighter, her voice small. "More terrified than excited, actually."

"Shall we get started?"

"Okay."

The next second, Arya gasped as she watched Ellora weave her blood magic, creating a teleportation portal almost instantly.

"Wow, you are strong."

Ellora grinned. "That I am." Her seductive and sinful figure then turned into something plain and aged. The sexy bombshell all of a sudden became a plain old hag wearing just a rag.

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