Sigurd Arcadium - Heir of Greed

⁜ Eva POV

The moment he spoke, the air became heavy and filled with magical pressure. His aura was so intense it caused the wolves to freeze and Eva's movements to slow. 

However, she didn't need time to focus on herself because the dark aura from Sigurd's body caused her to feel a strange ache in her chest. She felt excitement as her magic flickered, growing stronger.

'My magic is double the normal amount!?'

She watched in awe. The world seemed slower, but her movements remained at the same speed. Now able to attack, she stepped towards the wolf. She spent the past ten minutes fighting in a bitter deadlock, and her glaive held tight.

"Filthy inbred. Burn!"

Sigurd's handsome figure flicked his fingertip towards the sky before creating a huge pillar of black flames surrounding the wolf trapped by the black pillars.

'Sigurd?'

The explosive power of his magic caused the air to disperse, creating a vicious gust of wind that blew Eva a few steps back as it raged in a swirling spiral of death. The poor wolf cried out in pain as its flesh boiled.

"Awoo!!" howled the wolf, seeming to endure the pain.

Seeing it resisting, Eva knew this wolf could barely survive another strike before she moved stealthily, leaping once again, her ice shards forming a sharp blade along her glaive as she stabbed deep towards the wolf, her physical strength combined with the enhanced momentum from the leap pierced its brain.

"Wroooooaw!!" the wolf cried in despair as its life flickered.

She felt Sigurd's eyes watching her, feeling euphoria filling her chest as she bit down, pushing more power from the magic and tearing through the wolf with her spear, lunging forward as its blood and guts exploded across the forest as Eva spun once.

'Such raw magic strength. Is this the feeling of being an elf!?'

Despite being a person with the innate talents of her kind, such power and ferocity astounded and awed her. The bigger shock was killing a lesser Agmar; she planned to weaken it if possible and hoped to kill them with Sigurd's magic.

'Yet somehow I could use his excess magic like his mana is some kind of elixir to me.'

A voice sounded in her ears, words of praise causing her to tremble suddenly. It felt like he was stroking every one of her deep desires to be complimented and recognised. "Good job, Eva. Your beautiful movements almost captivated me."

"Grrrr!" 

The trapped wolf seemed to have survived the flames, but barely. Its fur was mottled, its body burned, and its face deformed, yet Sigurd seemed he didn't dash forward or chant a spell. 

"Explode." 

A single word, almost jovial, before the wolf expanded, its flesh rupturing before exploding into flesh. Blood and ashes spread through the air by the slight breeze.

"Collect," Sigurd whispered, causing the blood to swirl in the sky before forming a large ball along with the useful meat and hide that remained, even dismantling the wolf killed by Mai and preparing their goods to store.

The pair stood there, shocked and somewhat giddy at the feeling, a desire to explore this ability's origins increasing. Sigurd's soft cheeks were red from overexertion, and his sharp gaze and sexy voice caused Eva's rapid breathing. 

"Ugh..." Sigurd seemed to stumble to one knee before he looked back to Eva, his face a little shocked as a single trail of blood oozed down his nose, causing her to worry.

"Will you be ok!?" she rushed over, seeing his body full of small wounds and his leg grazed.

"I feel a little lightheaded and excited. But I am fine; it seems to be side effects from using that form for the first time."

His golden eyes peered deep into Eva's sapphires, and a pleasant aroma oozed from Sigurd's body, causing Eva to feel relieved as it healed their wounds slowly. 'He's so mysterious...'

"Anyway, shall we camp here? I wish to speak to you a little more over a meal. There are no longer signs of any monsters in over 2000 metres." Her hands held Sigurd's muscular biceps as she noticed his entire body sent out the sonar he used in the past as if it was now natural to him.

'His ears are a little pointed now, and those bumps on his forehead... I am worried, but we have our task. I will speak to mother when we return!' Eva's destiny may have changed forever after meeting Sigurd; from the moment he unleashed his incomplete true form, the rush of magic she felt an attraction to him might never fade even if she waited the entirety of her long Elven life.

"Ok, let's collect some twigs before building our tent."

"Eating this meat will help improve our constitution and magic density," Sigurd added, holding several enormous pieces of wolf meat that no longer smelt bad; the longer he held them, the more delicious they smelt to Eva.

'Is it a special talent?' Eva's eyes looked at Sigurd's figure deeply, noticing his silver locks fluttering in the breeze; Mammon and the scabbard remained by Sigurd's waist as if nothing special had happened. 'I offered to share tea with him, but... why do I feel this way?' Her hands pressed against her chest as the beating of her heart remained erratic.

****

The sizzling of fat and butter sounded in the dull black forest, which contrasted with the warm food prepared by Eva using Sigurd's emerald flames.

It was shocking that the meat didn't cook with normal flames or the special fire item her mother had given her, but the scent of the meat was too alluring for Eva to care.

"Sigurd, that form.... How long, or rather, can you use it again?"

Her timid sapphire eyes gazed up and down at Sigurd, dressed casually and bare-chested with his broadsword resting against his knee as he cleaned the blade. They made the food with various skills and knowledge that he learned with the church, using the Elven berries and fruits Eva used when camping.

A spit of butter flicked from the pan as Sigurd turned to face his partner; no longer seeming in pain, he gave a charming smile. "I can use it anytime, although it might have limits depending on how much magic I have... I need to learn more about how witches grade themselves to understand. " Sigurd sat down, checking the food was cooking, and gave Eva a cup of warm Elven Berry Juice.

She watched his muscles move and flex before biting down as the tasty wolf caused Eva's ears to perk and her throat to swallow. The juicy food was a lesser Agmar, and the number of people who ate this was likely just them.

'I am sure that documents are saying it is poisonous... Why is Sigurd so confident? Also, what is an heir of greed? I know of the Holder of Greed... Should I keep it a secret and wait for him to tell me?'

The pair had only spoken for close to a day, maybe longer, since Eva had wanted his body since the first meeting; despite his naïve personality and handsome figure, her curiosity overwhelmed the temptation to play with him.

'I will keep it a secret; that feeling is something only he can give me... and my amount of magic increased, only a little, but I can feel it!' She would take this secret to her grave because she felt something terrible would happen if she betrayed him.

"Can this meat improve our bodies? Isn't it poison?" She asked, worried.

"Yes, but I can't explain because I don't know why, just that my flame can purify the meat and keep the benefits alone," Sigurd said, looking up at the black trees. "There are too many mysterious things happening at once. Forgive me." His gaze was apologetic. He seemed to feel as if he was burdening Eva, and in her opinion, Sigurd spoke sense.

Their race revered purity as a necessity and abhorred poison. So much meat and items would certainly become forbidden, which meant eating meat that could taint them carried a grave punishment.

"Do I eat alone!?" Sigurd chimed, grabbing her shoulder as he nibbled on her juicy hunk of meat. 

Before she could react, his fingers placed a small chunk of the juicy meat in her mouth, and her lips opened, wrapping around his fingers. 'Delicious!? Sigurd is weird for being able to purify the meat... But it's so good!' Her teeth slowly chomped down on the savoury chunks while the pair enjoyed each other's company.

"There isn't much fat or bones; this Agmar evolved slightly from wolves, but Agmar will remove the inferior parts of each animal. The church said that greater Agmar becomes less like the base creature and evolves into something new."

"So the meat doesn't stink, isn't stringy and tastes good despite being a carnivore?" Eva wondered. She knew lots of survival advice from her mother that carnivores were not to be eaten normally.

"Ah, it seems they also remove the parasites and other illnesses from the monsters they evolve from."

'Cleaning meat seems to take considerable time or effort...' Despite Eva's understanding, this made the Agmar an even more vile and superior class monster; her heart and desires still wanted more.

Her legs dangled as her silky-white skirt swayed when Sigurd bit and ripped another piece of succulent meat.

Eva watched Sigurd's frame, taking the rare opportunity to inspect the unique markings on his body—yet, at some point, her eyes focused on his lips and chest, his aromas like the most expensive wine she had tried with her family or the most succulent sweets she devoured at social events with young elves, wanting more and more.

"Sigurd... May I feed you, too?"

Her body shivered in his presence, and she sat closer to his figure as the sparks from green flames flickered, creating a scene fitting for couples in her world.

"Sure, it's not bad to be fed by a pretty girl, right?"