Tichaona could hear her screams at a distance; the pain of defeat and horror that came from the new recruit was all surmised by her loud weeping. The dark figure’s violence had been extended to another individual other than him and he hoped that she would fare better than he did. As he finished his meal, he couldn’t help but wince at the crying.

He wondered what had happened, but soon enough, the dark figure came to the living quarters, carrying the bruised and battered body of Isabella. Tichaona figured that the girl tried to get physical with the dark figure and paid with her body being marred with fists. However, without girl number 2 appearing, he began to think that she was terminated by the goddess. Isabella was placed in the infirmary to be treated just like he was and he watched, vacantly like a child who could not intervene as he witnessed despicable acts happen before him.

As the dark figure dealt with the girl, Tichaona returned to the training room, where he practiced his ability. There he created shield lights, but ones that were translucent. The shield which were spherical in nature, acted as a vacuum, singling out specific gases like nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Barrier to Entry, from what Tichaona had figured out, could be mentally programmed to filter and allow things to pass through.

Tichaona even went past having to filter natural gases and tried objects. Tichaona visualized a steel contraption that looked like a fuel cell, which he found dislodged in the control room and made it so that it wouldn’t be able to pass a barrier, but anything else could. Hurling the item, as hard as he could, the device collided with the external spherical barrier he created and broke apart instantly. The young man then threw a stone, but it phased through the barrier and crossed the other side of the sphere. This was fascinating to him and as he marveled at the technicalities of his ability, the dark figure suddenly showed up, wearing her military regalia.

“You’re managing by yourself? It seems like I don’t have to monitor you like a child, I am pleased, warrior in the making Tichaona.” she said, as she observed him in session.

“I am just putting a creative spin to how I execute my ability, so…” he paused, now thinking about Isabella, “so, the girl, is she alright?”

“She has a foolish fire in her that I like as well as despise. If it weren’t for you differences in complexion, I would assume that you were both brother and sister. She will recover as you did. Pain, for a warrior, is mostly temporary, and I will mould her into the sharpest tool that will aid my ambitions.” she said, looking gallant as she walked towards him.

“Okay then. Are you going somewhere goddess?” he asked.

“We are actually to go outside to bury the corpse of the other girl.”

“So you killed her?” he asked, sounding ambivalent.

“I repurposed her. I must say that your reaction seemed indifferent, as if it didn’t bother you at all. Not that I care, but I have killed her and turned her into a soul stone.” she said, with her facial expressions dramatically changing into a wicked smile.

“I believe they were probably friends. The lady won’t be compliant with you after what you have done.” he said, looking at her with a doubtful expression.

“I sense a challenge in your choice of words. I am well equipped with the ability to break anyone. I broke you and you thought you could leverage your suicidal tendency against me. Even if vengeance fuels her heart, if she is incapable of carrying it out, she will succumb to my will eventually. Will alone without the power, will certainly disappear. You have nothing to worry about, she will comply.” she said, boldly with her face brimming in confidence. It was true that Tichaona had also capitulated to her, but he hadn’t completely given in to being her lackey. As soon as she was done with her discourse, she urged him to follow her outside, to where the body was.

Tichaona looked at the dead body of Alanza which had a glowing orb hovering above it. The light emitted by this spherical entity highlighted the huge gash on her chest and the paleness that had become her skin as insect, and worms slowly began to do their worst to her corpse.

Tichaona was cautious about not having to get ahold of her body because he knew, from experience, that if he touched the orb, he would assimilate the experience points left by the deceased. The dark figure was aware of his worry and then she alleviated his concerns by telling him, “Once I extract a soul from its vessel, the remnants of it are usually scarce. Besides, you are not going to use your hands to move the body. I want you to use your ability.”

“Oh, okay. So, if let’s say I did get a hold of this body’s experience points, I wouldn’t get a situation of me sharing another consciousness? Since you took out her soul and made it into a gem?” he asked, just to be sure.

“Yes, but like I stated, small trace amounts are left. They would probably do nothing. If you wish to assimilate the dead girl’s experience points then do so. You’d probably get a power boost that would make you reach level 6.” she said, emphasizing the part of the level increase.

“This is really tempting, but I don’t think I will.” he said, sounding poignant in tone.

“You don’t wish to get a power increase from her experience points? Why? Even after assuring you that it’s safe? Do you think I would tease you with falseness for the sake of entertainment? Your mental wellbeing is important.” she said, sounding slightly peeved and trying to figure out his thinking process.

“It’s neither of those reasons. I just, don’t want to claim it. It’s not my kill.” he said, brushing aside his true reasons.

“I didn’t expect to hear that from you, but I am pleased that you’re adopting my way of thinking, even though in my culture, the weaker Quendalion, happily takes the offer given to them by their superior. Regardless, I think I can tell you a bit of how my plan is going to work now, since the two pieces I need are both in my possession.” she said, patting him on the back in adoration.

“So how do you plan on using the both of us?” he asked.

“The power you have creates barriers and from what you managed to pull off today, it can also segment specific objects. The girl on the other hand, can direct anything she touches to the designated target and the best thing about it, is that she can do that with others abilities.” she said, as she moved her hands to explain.

“So she is a human homing beacon, but this doesn’t seem stellar at all?” wondered Tichaona, who still doubted the use of Isabella.

“My brother harbours many souls and many of them have subjugated to his will. During our many attempts to kill him, I noticed that he would shuffle his souls or switch his for another. Add the fact that he is a brute that makes close combat unbearable, made it hard for me and the others to pin him down. The goal is not to completely eradicate the thousands of souls in his body, but to get his out of his body. If we use her lock on, his soul would be directly attacked. If I had not made this clear to you, no one can defeat my brother, through brute strength. But not all battles can be won through sheer force. With the combined effort of your abilities, we will definitely take him by surprise.” she said, confidently as looked into the sky.

“A combined effort of our abilities to win, hmm. So I am guessing that for her to target exceptionally you want to train her and get her strong enough to be of use?”

“Yes, as she is now, going to face my brother would result in instant defeat.”

“What about your Quendalion comrades? Aren’t they coming along to help you?” he asked, worried about the gravity of the plan.

“They will not be with us. This mission is mine alone and those cowards who have distanced themselves will not be involved. They are not very good at being team players so it’s best that I work with you and the girl. My brother won’t anticipate what you two can do, so we will win through the element of surprise. By the way, I did not call you hear to stand as I tell you stories. You must dispose of this dead body.”

“Okay then, my apologies.” he said, noticing her frame change from one of delight to annoyance. Tichaona created a cylindrical shaped light shield which was large enough to take the shape of a coffin. He then moved it and lowered it down onto the girl’s body. The shield phased through and once it had her entire body inside, it became solid and he began to lift it up. The body was now in a hovering container and with his heightened sense of smell, it really reeked of death. The dark figure then implored him to bury it deep into the ground. Tichaona created another light shield which burnt through the ground and created a hole similar to a grave. It was a little over 6 feet under and then he placed Alanza’s corpse inside. The experience points orb followed the body into the grave, as if magnetized by it. Tichaona then darted at the dark figure and asked her, “Her experience points are latched onto the body, aren’t you going to absorb it?”

“It’s pointless for me to do so. A level 2 experience can hardly give me a 1% increase in a single stat. Once you have reached my level, high level battles with equals and personal energy bolstering training, are the only things that give you an increase. It’s harder to surpass your limits once you’re as strong as me. My brother managed to cannibalize the strong therefore, he became strong.” she said, chuckling in laughter at the idea of needing Alanza’s xp.

“If that’s the case, I just want to know. Considering you can remove souls from the bodies of those you kill, completely removing the negative side effect of the assimilation method, why haven’t you done the same as your brother to get strong?” he asked, curious and at the same time worried about what she would say.

“In essence, the issue is pride and ethics. No, using the term ethics would be a lie in my case. I only once used my comrade’s experience points when she was killed. She is the first soul stone I made and her ability is very useful, however it didn’t sit well with me that I relied on someone else to get to the top. I did avenge her, but my weakness that made me unable to stop her death gave me the passion to surpass my limits, without resorting to killing my own for power. This place, Goshem, has a way of making the wicked realize their true potential. Such is the case when you resettle on a planet that gives you fantastical gifts, especially if you can easily get those gifts by killing your own. Without a code of conduct, I would devolve into a power hungry beast like my brother who would do anything to get ahead.” she said, with her face now looking stern and poised.

“But yet you use the same wickedness you scoff at to get two captives to do your own bidding. You are definitely a woman who likes the sound of her own voice.” he said, unable to restrain his frustration over her personal contradictions.

“So you still have the nerve to challenge me. So I haven’t completely broken you, but I will tell you this, if I had resorted to my brother’s methods, I would have killed you and the other settlers on this planet from day one, but like I said, small fry don’t amount to much experience points growth. My sense of agency is a hard knuckled approach to getting things done, but once his dead, we won’t be doing this sort of thing anymore. Maybe you would even give me a child of my own. I would probably compensate you with pleasure for everything that I had put you through. That would be a reality if you thought about the big picture and waited patiently for the glorious rewards.” she said, giving him a sensual look to make him react to her advances. Tichaona was instead insulted.

“Well you’d probably use force at the end of the day. Not to make light of my situation, but you could easily rape me. I am a man who loves spending the night with a beautiful woman, but a woman such as yourself, goddess, is woman who believes in doing evil acts for the greater good or your so called personal goals. You tempt me with looks of lust, but even if I told you to fuck off you’d probably poison me or something. Stop saying that ‘I would probably warm up to you or fall for you in the end’. That’s not going to happen. Just say that when the time comes, I will force you to make me have children. I have no real say so stop pretending as if I do. I may have accepted my situation but don’t insult my intelligence.” he said, angrily.

“My my, have I gotten you into a foul mood. Listen here Tichaona, my brother is the most important thing right now that needs to be stopped and you and that girl are my trump cards. I will make sure to get you both into shape for our battle with him so deal with your current reality. Do you think I am going to feel sorry for you? You are weak and I told you that only the strong get to decide. I find you attractive and I believe your genes would work well with mine to make healthy and beautiful offspring. So you’re right, if I felt like it, I could dismantle you right here and force you to have sex with me. However, it’s not enjoyable if the other party isn’t active in the process of pleasure. I am not an animal that can’t control its urges, I have the decency of allowing the other person to take an interest in the act, and so if we kill my brother and you still find me revolting, then I won’t force myself on you. Though, I do think things will turn in my favour.” she said confidently.

“It must be nice, being as strong as you. Being able to force your will onto others without resistance and being at liberty to say whatever you like. I think I hate you and envy you.” he said, gritting his teeth.

“Well, if you have a problem with it, just surpass me and the tables will be turned.” she said, looking at him with a grin.

“It’s that simple. Hmm, okay then. I will do everything you ask me to and be a good soldier, since I am weak, but if I get stronger than you, I will kill you.”

“I am surprisingly stimulated by your challenge and at the same time find it funny. Well then, bury the body with dirt. We are heading back to awaken the female to commence her training. If you truly think you can become stronger than me, then I will gladly submit to you, once your surpass me. That is, if you can?” she said, bursting into laughter.

Tichaona kept his frustration inside and complied. He had noticed a buildup of mana on her and realized that if he disobeyed, she was going to poison him. Whipped by this obnoxious dominatrix, he declared to himself that he would free himself from this feeling. With Isabella added to the mix, he wondered how the group dynamics would work, considering he got her here. They were both captives, handicapped by weakness, but their desire to rid this common enemy would eventually bring them together. To fully realize a world in which the dark figure could be killed.