Chapter 35 The Control

Evernya trotted toward the woman standing in front of a door labeled testing room three a dozen meters down the hall. The woman waved Evernya in without saying a word. Inside, Evernya found herself in a room of similar size to the private training room, minus the dense mana. The only furniture in the room was a table with two chairs, one of which occupied by a sharply dressed man.

“Ah, Evernya, thank you for coming. Please sit down. Amanda, you may go. Feel free to take a break. I will call you when I next need of you.” Commanded the man sitting on the chair in a friendly but firm tone without looking up from his paperwork. The serious woman bowed her head in acknowledgment before leaving.

Meanwhile, Evernya sat down on the chair opposite the man. Evernya examined the man, causing alarms to go off in her head, slightly puffing her tail. The man looked to be around forty but had a feeling of being much older. The man well wore an expensive looking black suit with a dark blue tie showing off his well-built body underneath. Evernya caught a faint whiff of his mana aura, finding him stronger than both Meira and Thomas, increasing her discomfort.

The man turned his attention to Evernya, repuffing her tail, forcing her to hide it behind her back, despite the discomfort of jamming her tail against the backrest. She tried her best to keep her reaction off her face, but seemed to have failed from his arrogant smirk. Suddenly the alarm bells go silent. Still, Evernya kept her guard up despite knowing she had no chance against the man.

“Nice to meet you, Evernya. My name is Arthur Elliott.” The man greeted in a polite, carefully calculated tone.

Arthur materialized some paper on the table in front of him from a storage ring. After skimming through it for a few seconds, he returned his attention back to Evernya. “You are quite a talented young lady. No wonder you caught the attention of both Meira and Thomas.” Arthur commented as if he had just learned about her from the pieces of paper.

“Sir, what do you want? I came here for my ID, not this.” Evernya prodded, wanting to escape the room as soon as possible.

“What I want is what those two omitted from this report. You appear to be a black-haired catkin, but that is not the case. Even if you were, there is no way a full-blooded black haired catkin without a bloodline can achieve these numbers. Then we get to your magic classes, which are rare and also impossible for a full-blooded black haired catkin. What is this report missing?” Questioned Arthur in a severe tone, showing he meant business.

“I don’t know what’s in the report, but as far as I know, all I am is a feline shifter,” Evernya replied, with a calm and controlled tone while keeping her face as blank as possible hoping her other genes aren’t on the report.

“We have records from many types of feline shifters, and none of them are as talented as you at your age. Most of our records go back to before we could record exact numbers on a mage’s capabilities, but none of the shifters exceeded Awakened grade four at your age or had any particularly rare magic classes.” Arthur informed, driving his point home.

“How can you be so sure those records are accurate? What if my breed didn’t show themselves to humans?” Evernya refuted, driven into a corner with each word from the powerful man.

“Are you a pure-blooded shifter?” Arthur inquired in a fierce tone, causing the alarm bells in her head to ring louder than ever and her tail, which had just recovered to puff again.

While trying to keep herself from panicking, Evernya forced an answer out, “Yes.”

“hmm partial truth. You see, I casted a truth spell the moment you entered the room. You are hard to read, but that was clearly a partial truth.” Arthur revealed.

“Now, tell me the truth!” Arthur commanded, increasing the force on Evernya.

An intense pressure descended on Evernya’s mind, giving her a slight compulsion to blurt out what he wanted. She fought against it, crushing the compulsion effortlessly. Arthur increased the pressure yet again. This time, the pressure was almost unbearable for Evernya.

Under the pressure, Evernya’s alpha side flared up. How dare he try to force me to tell him anything! I refuse to allow anyone to force me to do anything ever again!

Evernya’s eyes glowed brighter as a growl rumbled in her throat, losing control of her anger. “How dare you! Begone!” Evernya roared, instantly snapping the pressure.

Caught off guard, Arthur received a jolt of backlash, blowing him off of his chair. Evernya closed her eyes as she tried her best to calm down before she did anything else.

Arthur pulled himself off the floor and stared at Evernya with astonishment. He righted his chair and sat on while watching Evernya with increased curiosity. A couple minutes later, Evernya reopened her eyes, which returned to their normal, slightly glowing state.

After Evernya seemed to be ready to talk again, Arthur continued, “Well, that answers my question. You are most certainly not a normal shifter. No one below my mana grade has ever resisted my truth inducement, not even telepaths. On top of that, I have never heard of any shifter breed with glowing eyes. Their eyes reflect light in the dark, causing them to look like they are glowing, but never are their eyes glowing. If I had to guess, you have some vampiric ancestry backed up by your pale skin, but that does not explain how you could resist me.” Arthur theorized while staring at Evernya as if she was a fascinating puzzle.

Evernya remained silent, staring back with a blank expression in response. “I see. I went about this in the wrong way. I am sorry about that. We will move on then. I will learn what I want, eventually.” Arthur stated, sure of himself.

Arthur paused for a moment before continuing. “Now, since you have magic on the controlled list, you have three options to choose from before we go forward. I am sure they have warned you about these options, so I won’t bother to explain. Your options are to have your telepathy permanently stunted, pledging yourself to the mage’s council for life or exile. We cannot allow a telepath to roam freely through human civilization, as it is too dangerous. Unfortunately, I am sure I have soured your opinion on the mage’s council, which is a shame. We would love to have someone as talented as you to join our ranks.”

He’s not trying to sell me on pledging myself to the mage’s council? He is right, though. I would never pledge myself to the mage’s council or anyone else. But I expected him to at least try to change my mind. Still, I don’t want to make an enemy out of him, at least not until I know I can fight back. Something tells me he could crush my resistance if he wanted to.

“Even if I wanted to pledge myself to the mage’s council, I can’t. I have already made a commitment to enroll at DIOM in the fall. So I choose to have my telepathy stunted.” Evernya revealed.

With fake disappointment, Arthur stated, “That’s a shame we could have worked with your commitment and delayed you joining us until after you finish with college. If that’s your final decision, I will call in the enchanter to administer the seals.”

“It is.” Evernya reaffirmed.

Arthur materialized a cell phone and sent a brief text. A few seconds later, the enchanter walked in. Evernya turned to get a look at the new arrival, but she immediately regretted it.

What the hell! What is he doing here? I thought he got fired! He should be in jail for what he did!

Outwardly, Evernya tried her best to appear calm, but her eyes betrayed her with their steadily increasing glow. Not to mention, her ears flattened to her head so tightly that she could almost pass as a human if you ignore her tail tightly coiled around her waist like a belt.

Arthur leaned back in his chair with a smirk plastered on his face, enjoying the show.

“Hello again, little animal, I am here to neuter your telepathy so please be a good girl and listen to what I say.” The enchanter sneered.

Evernya entire body shook as she slowly lost control over her temper. The enchanter took this reaction as fear, causing a smile to widen. “Don’t worry, the process is mostly painless. We cannot have animals like you running around freely with such a dangerous ability. Think about when you are in heat. You could rape poor defenseless human mages with your mind. Now stand up and present yourself to me so I can properly perform the procedure.” The enchanter ordered with a cocky smile.

Evernya shot to her feet with enough force to the metal chair to groan. She stomped toward the enchanter, unable to hide her anger any longer. Her puffed tail violently whipped back and forth behind her as she walked. The look in her brightly shining eyes promised an excruciatingly painful death for her target. She stopped right in front of the enchanter, who was still oblivious of the bomb he armed. Since he was almost a foot taller than her and had at least fifty pounds of muscle on her, he felt entirely at ease.

“Good girl, now please stand still with your hands at your side like a properly trained animal.” The stupid enchanter commanded.

He pulled out a small wand-like device out of his pocket before speaking. “Since I don’t trust an animal like you to not resist the brands, I will have to take advantage of your collar. It’s so convenient someone did a good job and collared you. Too bad you were a bad girl and escape them. This little device will bypass the seals that pesky elf put on your collar. Lift your head so I can get a better look at your collar.” The enchanter ordered with a smirk.

I thought Meira said I am safe from someone taking advantage of this damn slave band! Will my mana core still be able to reject the rune? Either way, I refuse to give this racist ass hole the satisfaction of seeing me scared. If he tries to sneak any other runes in, I will kill him! Damn the consequences, this world would be better off without him!

Evernya followed the stupid enchanter’s order while staring directly into his eyes, causing him to take an involuntary step back from the sheer malice displayed in her beautiful sapphire eyes. Evernya’s mouth rolled up in a smile of satisfaction before she closed her eyes and waited for him to get the branding over with.

After a second, the stupid racist enchanter recovered from Evernya’s glare and pressed the wand-like device to Evernya’s slave band. He channeled his desired runes through the wand into Evernya’s body. Evernya felt a foreign mana travel from her neck down in mana vein along her spine she didn’t notice before. Like Meira warned her, she couldn’t push mana through this mana vein.

Alarm bells returned with force as the foreign mana reached her mana core. She pictured her mana core in her mind, just as runes reading ‘obey and control’ branded themselves onto her mana core. She stared at her mana core in horror, helpless to stop the runes from branding themselves.

After a few seconds, the brand solidified itself on her mana core. Evernya’s eyes sprung open with a look of surprise, which soon turned into red hot fury. The air while fluctuated as Evernya was preparing to release a massive wave of force directed at the racist enchanter.

“Freeze,” commanded the racist enchanter.

Immediately the air calmed as Evernya’s body froze stiff, cutting off the control of her own body. “Now that is not how you treat your new master, slave! From now on, I forbid you from using your magic without my permission or hurting me in any way.” Commanded the racist enchanter.

As soon as he issued the command, Evernya felt an irresistible compulsion to obey them to the letter. Outwardly, Evernya’s body remained still, with a blank expression, like there was no one home. However, internally, she was anything but calm. Instead, she was on the verge of a full mental breakdown.

No! Not again! I promised myself I wouldn’t allow anyone to control me ever again, but I failed! I can’t move my body at all! My mana won’t even respond to my commands! If I even think about hurting him, my mind freezes up! I thought Meira said I had strong mental defenses, so why can’t I fight this!?

“Kneel before your master, slave!” ordered the racist enchanter.

Evernya’s body immediately dropped to her knees against her will, staring up at the enchanter with the same expressionless look. “You should be happy you have such a good-looking and smart master, now smile!” Ordered the racist enchanter with a giant smile spread across his face.

Evernya’s face lit up with a beautiful smile against her will. However, Evernya was unaware of all this as she directed all her focus inward. She pictured her mana core and focused intently on the offending runes branded on it. It is all your fault. Why won’t you just disappear!? All I want is to be free! Why do people keep trying to control me! I JUST WANT TO BE FREE! Evernya screamed in her mind.

Sluggishly, her mana core responded to her wish, beginning a slow process of chipping away at the brands preventing her freedom. At a barely perceivable pace, the ‘obey and control’ runes began to fade as her mana core ate away at the brands. As they fade, Evernya felt her body become more responsive, but she refrained from wrestling control back just yet.

“Good girl, now say you love your new master!” Continued the racist enchanter, enjoying his victory, unaware of Evernya slowly winning her body back.

“I love you, master,” stated Evernya in an emotionless, monotone voice.

“No! Not like that, say it like you mean it, with more enthusiasm!” ordered the enchanter, displeased by his slave’s lack of gratitude toward him.

“I love you, master!” Exclaimed Evernya’s body while looking up at the enchanter with an expression of adoration.

“Good girl!"

Evernya returned her awareness to the outside, sickened by the orders forced upon her body. Fucking bastard! I will kill him! But I have to wait until I regain full control. I think I can resist commands, but I doubt I have enough control to resist multiple commands at once. At least the command preventing me from thinking about hurting him unraveled, so let’s focus on my torture plan. Evernya thought as she imagined hundreds of different ways to torment the bastard controlling her, each worse than the last.

Finally the brands disintigrated allowing her to reclaim control. Evernya's hands shot up and grabbed the enchanters wrists which were reaching toward her and crushed them.

“What are you doing to your master!? I command you to stop this now!” ordered the racist enchanter before he screamed in agony as his body registered his crushed wrists.

“I do not have nor will ever have a master, especially not a despicable human like you!” Roared Evernya, letting go of his wrists before immobilizing and levitating him with her telekinesis.

She positioned his body into a spread-eagle in midair before taunting with a sneer full of hatred. “How does it feel to be incapable of controlling your own body? Now imagine how I felt being sexually assaulted by you! Unfortunately for you, I will not subject you to that because you will probably enjoy it.”

Evernya played with his body with her telekinesis, forcing him into various positions, each more painful than the last. After several minutes of contorting his body, the enchanter recovered his shock and fought against her control, but found he could not break free. Out of desperation, he released the full force of his mid-seven awakened stage mana aura, causing Evernya’s telekinetic hold on him to falter.

He fell to the floor with a thud, cradling his crushed wrists. Evernya’s face reddened as a growl rumbled in her throat. She stared down at her escaped prey as she released her mana aura, but to her rage her aura failed to overpower his. She roared out in a fury, releasing her much more potent ancient aura, freezing the enchanter stiff with fear.

Unable to hold back any longer, Evernya fully gave in to her bubbling rage, lifting the enchanter back into the air with her telekinesis before attempting to crush his body. The enchanter let out a bloodcurdling scream as his body compressed under the pressure, but it fell on deaf ears. Evernya could not stop herself even if she wanted to in her enraged state. Cracking sounds of the enchanter’s bones breaking resonated through the room.

Within seconds, the enchanter’s screams silenced as he passed out from the pain. However, Evernya continued to apply pressure, showing no sign of stopping.

“That is enough!” Commanded Arthur, but Evernya was too far gone to listen.

Abruptly, Evernya’s telekinesis stopped working, causing the enchanter’s unconscious and broken body to fall to the floor with a splat. Evernya commanded her telekinesis to pick up her prey, but it refused to respond. “It is no use your Magic will not work until I allowed it to.” Arthur announced.

With her magic unresponsive, Evernya regained her senses, causing her to drop to her knees, crying. The previous events played on repeated through her mind, causing her to curl into a tiny ball on the hard floor, closing herself off to the outside world.

After ten minutes, her tears dried up, leaving only anger and depression in its wake. She stood up and fixed her clothes before turning toward Arthur, who was still leisurely sitting on his chair.

“I want my ID now! I refuse to allow another human enchanter to touch me!” Demanded Evernya.

“As you wish, I learned what I wanted to know anyhow. No one currently available could apply a seal strong enough to control you for long, aside from maybe Meira. In the next room to the right, you will find someone to print your ID. Try to stay out of trouble. Otherwise, I will punish you even with your connections.” Arthur smirked, seemingly at ease by what transpired.

Evernya spun on her heels and rushed toward the door, stepping on the still unconscious enchanter on the floor in her haste. “Oh, don’t mind him. I will have him take care of. I will let you off with a warning, but next time I find out you assaulted a fellow mage, I will not be so lenient.” Threatened Arthur as Evernya slammed the door to the room shut so hard it cracked the doorframe.

Evernya went next door and found a nice older lady waiting for her. She had her body scanned by the old lady, who then handed her a newly printed Sespina ID with her information on it. Evernya thanked the old lady and, in a daze, left the room, wandering back to Meira, who had been waiting impatiently by the doorway to the hall the entire time.

As soon as she spotted Evernya, she rushing over but stopped when she took in the state of her kitten. Evernya’s previous anger had long since dissipated, leaving a mentally and physically exhausted girl in its wake. Her tail was almost dragging on the floor, ears drooping, and her eyes were missing their natural glow.

“Evernya, are you okay, what happened?” Asked Meira, her earlier enthusiasm replaced with worry.

Evernya peered up at Meira with a pleading expression. “No, I am not. I just want to get out of here. Please take me away from this place.”

Meira glanced down at the card clutched in Evernya’s right hand. “Okay, we will talk when you are ready. For now, let’s return home. Did you receive your Sespina ID?” Meira inquired.

Evernya flashed her new ID to Meira before she walked toward the exit. Within minutes, they were back in Meira’s truck, driving toward the wall to exit. Evernya soon fell asleep clutching her new ID in her hands, too exhausted to stay awake any longer.

Evernya next awakened when Meira pulled into her driveway. She laid limp on the seat, unable to muster the energy to move yet. When Meira parked in her garage, Evernya dragged herself out of the passenger seat and into the house. She zombie walked herself up to her bedroom, collapsing on the bed out cold.