As Shun looked toward Catherin he started to amass his power, he didn’t go all out like before but the wave was still quite lethal

‘I need just the right amount of power to half shatter her soul, having her body enter a half shell mode would be enough, but if I kill her it would be pretty obvious who did it, hmm maybe I should go lower for this hit’

He lowered the power of the hit before he shot out a Soul Rend at the unsuspecting Catherin, unsurprisingly she got knocked out instantly, no resistance, no sound

‘Haah, damn I’m almost out of juice, these Soul Rends make quite the drain on the mind and soul’

He returned to his body and made his way up to her room a bit wobbly, his mind seemed to be quite tired from all the exertion

‘I can still hold on for a while’

Once he was at her door he extended his nails and started picking the door

…Well he tried but couldn’t do it, it seems it wasn’t as easy as he thought

‘Liars! All those movies and games make it out to be as easy as picking your teeth, dammit I blame Skyrim for this!’

With no other option he went into the other room which seemed to be an office, he climbed through the window and inched his way on the wall toward Catherin’s window, she had left it open to get some fresh air after she built up all that heat from pacing about

Once he got in, he grumbled about the risk of falling and made his way to Catherin, he lifted her up and put her on the couch while he sat on the chair next to her

‘Alright let’s see how good is her soul right now’

Going into Lucid search he saw only some faint cracks on her body, indicating that not much damage was made to her soul, thus he exited the search and splashed some water onto her face, right after he activated all his scary skills

“Cough Cough, Cough!”

Catherin coughed a bunch and looked around confused, seeing as she was still in her own room she calmed down considerable, but was still a bit panicky, her panic only rose as she heard a voice next to her ear

“Finely done with your happy nap? Shall we begin now?”

Turning around she saw Shun’s face just how it was in the forest, while said something similar to what she told him, but his smile with glowing yellow eyes had a much worse impact than her own

“I told you not to mess around and see what you have done, using your connection with the nobles to inform that old hag about me, what did you expect to gain out of this deal?”

He was referring to her letter, which she had addressed to some noble claiming to have found an infiltrator from the beast tribes, requesting an audience with some witch he presumed was the same one he was supposed to learn from

Catherin seemed to want to say something but she was hit with a fairly strong Soul Rend, almost fainting her again, Shun took a glimpse through his Lucid Search and saw her body was half filled with cracks after that wave, other than that it was still not broken

“Alright it seems its about time for your fate worse than death, I wonder what expression you will make as I eat both your flesh and soul at the same time”

He stood up saying that and flashed her a toothy grin, sending shivers down her spine

“N..No no…p-p-plea plea-please I-I-I-I will do what-t-t-tver you wa-want, please..”

She broke down into tears as she said this, her now pale face almost resembled that of a corps almost causing Shun to wince, he thought that he was going too far but soon pushed that line of thought away, he was here to be used as a war tool and she had almost sent him to the arena today, she didn’t treat him like she should a human and he wouldn’t give her that courtesy either

“I don’t need a traitor under my wing, I’d rather have a full stomach than a worried mind”

He approached her slowly, with each step weighing on her heart, with each step a subtle but effective Soul Rend further widening her soul’s cracks, then he leaned down ready to “bite” her

“No! no no no please please, I will do whatever, whatever you want I will be a loyal dog, yes I will be a dog that knows its master, I will never bite the hand that feeds me, please please let me be a dog under your feet, I, I… woof woof!”

Catherin pulled energy from god knows where and started groveling on the ground for mercy, she begged for her life, at the end of her words she even barked like a dog and licked Shun’s boots, no grace or honor could be spotted from the “viscous captain”

Her actions left him stunned, enough for it to show on his face, thankfully she didn’t seem to dare look up at this point, so he had enough time to compose himself

‘How shattered is her soul?’

He entered Lucid Search to take a peek

‘What… is this….’

It was a sight to behold, her body no longer looked normal as cracks filled its entirety, they seemed to be connected forming a weird structure, one that threatened to be toppled down with the slightest touch, but this mesmerizing sight seemed to awaken something inside Shun, something that slept deep within, he instinctively stretched out his hands toward the cracked soul, slowly, and once his hands touched the delicate structure

“!!!!!!!!”

Catherin’s body bent forward as she issued a silent scream, one that came from the very depth of her soul, her hands tightly gripped around Shun’s own outstretched hands, which had unknowingly mimicked his Lucid forms movements, her body vibrated with both extreme pain and extreme pleasure, while her eyes seem to have been lost staring into Shun’s own deep eyes

“??”

Shun woke up from the trance in his physical body, he was surprised to see Catherin holding his hand delicately, while her eyes seem to give off a lounging look

‘What the hell is wrong with her’

He couldn’t make heads or tails out of the situation, but he wasn’t given a chance as he saw Catherin kneel on one leg, she then brought his hand closer, and kissed the back of it respectfully, then she lowered her head and said to him

“Catherin Titeron Swears on her very soul that she would serve master for all eternity, striving to realize all his orders without fail”

She proceeded to just kneel there with her head lowered, waiting for his orders without making a sound

‘????’

Questions kept popping up all over the place but he forcibly calmed himself down, then he went into Lucid search again….

‘Wait how is this possible?’

He noticed that he couldn’t enter Lucid Search, because he was already in it, or more precisely he was seeing the spiritual world in his physical body, without having to consciously do so

This made even more question marks fill his crowded brain, but again he forcibly brought these thoughts down while he looked at Catherin

‘The cracks disappeared and she doesn’t seem to be suffering from any residual side effects whatsoever but…’

“Straighten up”

She immediately complied and lifted her upper body a bit, but still remained in a servile stance where she had her back slightly bent, that was enough though as Shun could see the red glowing crack by her heart, the crack resembled a flower that was about to bloom, but it was incomplete so he couldn’t tell what flower it was

‘This is definitely something she gained just now when I touched her, it must be the reason she became like this, further more’

He stretched out his hands to grab the flower…

“Mmmh master do you want me to serve you now? Please let me shower first I would not want to soil your perfect body”

Catherin’s moan reminded him that while the flower was near her heart what he would actually touch would be…

He hastily retracted his hand and coughed

“No that would not be necessary, I was just checking something, now get a new set of cloths on, we need to talk after that”

He had checked what he wanted when he touched her, for he felt that the flower was calling to him, and was delighted by his touch, spiritually and physically speaking, but he also knew that with one thought he could have the flower wilt, and with it Catherin’s life

“Yes master”

Catherin got up to take her clothes off-

“In the bath room!”

“Yes”

“Sigh, really how could someone change so much in but a few moments”

He sat down and poured himself some juice while he waited for her, organizing his thoughts as he did

‘First things first, Catherin is one hundred percent within my grasp now, I can feel it, this is no act, nor is it some impulse that would fade, she and I are connected now and her words about eternity were sincere, I could feel that her soul would follow me wherever I go when I sensed the flower, this is a big plus for me’

He looked toward the bathroom and saw right through the wall, then he shut his “eyes” instantly

‘Secondly it seems my skill have entered a peculiar state where I can use it without having to enter a semi sleep state, but I can’t seem to turn it off either, so while this is great it can also be quite… embarrassing, still if I use refrain I should be able to make great use of it’

Then he looked in the nearby mirror, in it he saw faint dark circles under his eyes, one could mistake them for lack of sleep but Shun instinctively knew it was the manifestation of his Therianthrope-Crow skill, heart grade

‘No there is something more to it, but I just can’t pin point it, man I wish I had something like a status screen right now’

“Master you look ravishing you need not look into the mirror”

He turned around to see Catherin with a new set of cloth, one that didn’t stick to her body from cold sweat like the last one, he told her to sit down so that they would talk

He sat on the chair while Catherin sat on the ground beside his feet

“…Sigh”

“What displeases you master”

“Nothing, now tell me Catherin, is there a way to check on your skills in this world?”

“Yes master a skill stone”

“Oh I see how regrettable, then how… wait there is?”

“Indeed master, would you like me to get one for your esteemed self”

“That would be great”

Catherin stood up and started gearing herself with armor and weapons

“What are you doing?”

“I’m preparing for combat, the only skill stone in this country is with the grand wizard of the court, I will steal it from him”

“Catherin”

“Yes master”

“Kneel down and apologies”

“I ask of your forgiveness master!”

Catherin kneeled in haste and looked anxious, she resembled a puppy who had pooped in the house and was pleading for mercy with its eyes

‘This is surprisingly fun, but I shouldn’t mess round too much, this is taking quite some time and I must head back to get some rest before Vince comes by’

“Don’t try to get the skill stone, for now I want you to pretend that you never met me, only when I allow it shall you speak to me as my slave, assume the personality you would to other when you meet me, furthermore I want you to provide me with a map of the city tomorrow, get it discreetly, oh and one more thing, I am going to take some of your sweets with me”

Shun got up and picked some sweets of the night stand, then after some thought he took the whole plate and went out, during the whole thing Catherin only nodded once and stayed on the ground all the way till he left

“Sigh man that was pretty tiring, pretending to be a master is some pretty hard work yo”

He laid on his bed and munched on some sweets he didn’t know, but they tasted much better than the plain food he was given the past few days, his mood was uplifted by that and he smiled as he drifted, into nice, happy dreams….