*Mmm-mmgh* Lord Hammon cleared his throat, his eyes wide with obvious fear.

He's scared of me, William immediately caught on. Living in the slums around the Strethon keep proper William had encountered many a terrified individual. Monsters raids or even the simple concept of starving to death over a lost position were ever present worries for the type of folks that lived outside the sturdy castle walls, and what he saw on the Lord's face was even greater than that.

Elianne was glancing quickly back and forth between William and Lord Hammon. "Mmm. Yes sir. It's quite astounding!", she provided, trying to fill the silence.

"Quite so! Quite so indeed.", he replied nervously while looking over to his guards. "Will those awakeners that awakened with an Ancient skill please step forward and follow my attendent here to the banquet hall for the dinner we have prepared for you." He made a small motion with his hand toward his attendant, then to his guards, and then turned back to face William more directly, while the attendent escorted Brusk, Oru, and Sonia out of the room, and a guard exited shortly after them.

"So William-", William immediately noticed a shift in the lords tone to something much more reverant, "do you know what it means to have a God tier Soul Skill?" Lord Hammon questioned.

"No sir not really. I've only ever heard of Soul Skills going into the range of Ancient.", William answered carefully, trying not to seem too uninformed.

"Yes. That's good. That's what most people are supposed to know of. God tier skills are the stuff of legends. They are often accompanied with abilities powerful enough to shake the world itself. They are often quite wide in their scope, but also usually come with an unusual lack of power upon first awakening.", the Lord explained carefully to William making sure he understood the extents of what was being said. "May I ask Willliam, do you know the extents of your current power, what it does perhaps, what it may be able to do?" Hammon questioned.

"Well Lord. I don't know much about it. It seems to be able to grant me additional Soul Skills. I haven't been able to nail it down completely, but I'm quite a bit stronger than I was-", William was cut off as the sounds of several boots hitting the stone floor grew louder and louder, culminating in the doors to the chamber bursting open revealing a large group of guards numbering from 15 to 20.

"The emergency sign was given Lord!?" the lead guard to burst through the door asked, clearly on high alert looking for a threat in the room.

"Yes Captain. Apprehend this young awakener!" Lord Hammon announced.

Suddenly they were all upon him, William feeling like he had been dumped into a tub of ice cold water.

"Why Lord!? WHAT HAVE I DONE?" William found himself shouting.

"I'm sorry William but God tier skills are monitored and regulated with extreme predjudice. Individuals with the magnitude of power that accompanies such a skill cannot be allowed to walk free except under very specific circumstances.", Lord Hammon explained clearly. "Trust me when I say. We have your best interests in mind.", Lord Hammon continued, this time sounding much different to William's ears.

Status Effect Resisted

Due to the Skill 'System's Influence' the mind altering status

effect triggered by the skill 'Voice of Reason' has been resisted

Instantly William grit his teeth. This bastard is trying to mess with my head now!? he thought as rage blazed through his heart. That was his last thought before he felt something strike the back of his head and the world went blank.

Elianne watched as the group of guards dragged William out of the Lord's hall and toward the dungeons. A small bit of bile rising in her stomach at the seeming injustice of it.

"Was that really necessary Lord?" she couldn't help but question it.

"Yes Elianne. Unfortunately it is. You know the Divine Emperor's edicts. They're part of your induction ceremony. Those of a specific tier cannot be allowed to roam freely, especially those legendary God tier individuals. To think that I would actually see one in my lifetime.", he finished, talking more to himself than to her.

"Think of what he could bring the war effort Lord!" Captain Elianne pressed despite her full knowledge of the Oaths she was bound to.

"Mmm yes indeed what he could do to the Harang. But what of what he could do to you or I? Or even the Empire itself. Godskilled individuals are not usually very complacent in whatever power structure they are brought up in. It was decided within the Empire long ago that they would not be allowed to grow or prosper. The status quo and Peace must be upheld.", Lord Hammon responded to Elianne's pleas with more of the Oathsworn's binding contract.

She would be forced to apprehend and maintain capture of William should Lord Hammon ask her to do so, for if she didn't, she would be at risk of the Oath that snaked through her soul ripping it apart. Oaths were a magical construct weaved through the soul by awakeners with the soul skill known as Oath Striker between two willing individuals. She had taken Oaths to protect and serve the Empire, to uphold Peace, only there were some stipulations that she never thought would arise, but here she was.

"Yes Lord", she mumbled gravely, her eyes going distant.

William awoke to musty, stagnant smell and a bit of moisture dripping down his face. He opened his eyes to find himself in a dark, hot cell. He stood up to look around. It was made of stone, and had no windows or furniture, only a dark wrought iron door leading to a barely lit hallway with more cells running down it.

The next this he noticed was a somber tone, singing in another cell.

"And through this land you shalt not find, another man of such a kind~", the voice paused. "Hey buddy you awake over there?" The deep, sultry voice asked him.

"Mmm. Yeah.", was all William could think to respond. "Where is here?" he asked.

"In the dungeons. Above ground though so more of a prison I'd say. Proper dungeons should be below ground, to avoid the heat you know.", the voice chuckled at its own quips and waited for a response.

"Why am I here?" William questioned mostly to himself, and was surprised to get an answer.

"Well. Probably the reason everyone ends up here. They're afraid of you.", the voice replied somberly.

"Why?! What have I done to deserve this!" William felt the anger bubbling back up like before he was knocked out. He hadn't done anything in retaliation because he didn't want to hurt anyone.

"Well. It probably has to do with your awakening I imagine. Most people with awakenings they can't control end up here, or they murder somone, or rob someone. You haven't done any murdering or robbing at your age right, you sound pretty young kid?", the voice questioned lightly.

"No. It's definetly my skill. They said as much I guess.", William responded, depressed.

"Well. That's tough luck. That means your up for the chopping block. They can't do nothin' about an uncontrollable skill. A murder or robber they can 're-educate', but folks like us, they just got axe. My name 's Vesper by the way. Got popped for having the Too Slick to Kill skill. Let's me talk real well and get out of, and into, very difficult situations. Unfortunately its got the side effect of making me immune to compulsion, and, well, the Empire doesn't like that.", Vesper said sadly. "You'll probably be executed right along side me. Not public either. They'll do everything they can to make us just disappear. For you it'll probably be attributed to monsters. Which, honestly, is pretty damn accurate.", he finished chuckling to himself again.

"Do you know how long ago from now that is?", William asked, terror at the thought of death seeping into his bones, but quickly being sapped back out by the System's Influence skill.

"Mmm around 5 days. It's hard to keep track of time in here. But they said 7 more days about two good sleeps ago. Anyways, here's to us.", Vesper said, the lack of hope clear in his voice, and began to sing to himself again.