Evil Spirit

A lonely soul, slowly walked up the tall narrow stairway, illuminated only by the faint moonlight seeping through the cracks in the tightly packed bricks.

'Kellan... I hope after I do this you'll let me go...' Evan muttered inwardly, touching his head and clenching his fingers tightly as if he had a parasite in his brain that he wished to get rid of but couldn't.

Evan had been too distracted before - first by the escape, then by the fight with Aron, but all the time, he felt something inside him trying to break free.

'I don't know if it's your soul or what, but I will avenge you, though... Fuck you, I will because I want to see the same grimace on her face as you had... as this body had.' Evan's eyes grew colder, like ancient glaciers with an unyielding will.

Step. Step. Step.

As they approached the door, hurried footsteps were heard from behind with an obvious puff of breath due to anxiety.

'I must report the riot...!' The Guard said to himself, rising with difficulty to the very top.

Then, he lifted his head only to meet the gaze of a tall silhouette in a black coat, looking at him like an insect.

"Agh...? Warden, I didn't realize you were already here..."

Without hesitation, two cold blades of a split sword stabbed into the guard's neck, pulling his head away from his body in a sharp movement.

A direct kick to the chest, sent the guard on his final, postmortem journey - dooming him to rolling down the long staircase until he reached the darkness.

"Tsk. Gotta hurry, there's sure to be another one coming soon." Evan snorted, approaching a tall iron door, tight and impregnable.

He knew who was behind that door, but he didn't know what.

However, he had made up his mind long ago, for if this prison was his starting point, he had to leave his name in this place forever.

Evan strived for power and true freedom because that was the only way to reach the top in a cruel world. A mere prison could not be a barrier for him.

With a loud rattle, the door moved, letting a dark silhouette inside and revealing a scene unlikely to be forgotten.

A black whip slashed across the back of a frail girl dressed in a maid's outfit. Each swing, ripped away a part of the black fabric, splitting the delicate skin, already scarred many times over.

"Stupid bitch! All you had to do was pour a glass of wine! But you couldn't even manage that!"

'Now that's a meeting... Quite fitting...' Evan pondered, looking at the one who had toppled Kellan to the third level.

A tall girl with short white hair and snow-white skin that could only be possessed by aristocrats or mages - in her case both - was consumed with rage over the innocent misbehavior of one of her two maids. 

They were twins, very similar to each other, and their only difference was the color of their hair one had black and the other silver. 

The silver twin, with eyes filled with fear, watched her sister's torment, unable to do anything. Commoners, especially serving mages, hardly had any rights.

Astrid Einrich, head warden and the only mage in the prison, was clearly enjoying the maid's punishment, which was more due to her sadistic nature.

"Mrs. Astrid... Please forgive me! I'm sorry for my behavior, it won't happen again!" The black twin pleaded, looking into Astrid's merciless blue eyes.

However, there was no hint of mercy in her gaze, it seemed that the maid's pleas were nothing to her.

"Knock, knock..." Evan muttered, ironically knocking on the already open door.

Astrid immediately turned around as her eyes went wide at the face she knew well.

"Kellan... You came." Astrid smiled caustically, but the next moment her pupils narrowed, traveling down Kellan's body clad in warden coat and onto the sword that only Aron wielded.

Step. Step. Another Step.

A muffled sound echoed from each of Evan's steps, in his unhurried but pressuring stride.

"Who are you?!" Astrid exclaimed, jumping back and picking up from the wall a long rapier with a round purple crystal encrusted in the guard.

Purple electrical discharges ran down the rapier, as wary and ready for battle as the owner of the catalyst.

Astrid gave off a distinct pressure or aura that made the twins fearfully cower in the farthest corner, lest they accidentally fall under the magician's wrath.

Evan tilted his head, a sly smirk spreading across his face, creating a creepy grimace with narrowed eyes.

"It's me Kellan, your favorite, didn't you recognize me?" Evan uttered, pressing his palm to his chest.

In response, Astrid's aura intensified as purple flames spread around.

"Don't be ridiculous. Kellan had a sweet face, but he was a weak and pathetic soul who was kicked out of his own family. His only option was to become my servant, but he was too stupid to accept my generous offer."

Astrid swung her rapier, "It doesn't matter who you are, an evil spirit occupying his body or a shapeshifter, it's still a commoner body!"

True, magicians compared to commoners were superior beings - the best proof of that was the twins, who even found it hard to breathe because of the pressure coming from Astrid.

Evan was no exception, he felt the same, as well as the chill down his back that was his body's natural reaction to the surpassing threat.

"Evil spirit... right? Well, to some extent you're right. It's something to work with." Evan shrugged before darting forward like a shadow approaching Astrid.

In no time, their weapons clashed, throwing out a cascade of sparks flying before their eyes, focused only on their opponent.

"You're definitely not Kellan..." Astrid uttered, glaring at Evan's sword, "How did you defeat Aron? Judging from your aura, you're hardly a mage, and your physical stats aren't up to Knight level. The evil spirit seems to have some tricks up its sleeve, doesn't it?"

Evan shrugged, "Nah, just experience."

Then, he took a sharp step to the side, allowing Astrid's rapier to whizz right by him. Evan clenched his fist tightly, immediately bringing it down directly on Astrid's face.

It didn't matter if she was a magician or anyone else, and no matter how weak his body was, a direct fist strike to the face was an effective method to stun an opponent.

"Agh...?" Evan's gasped, staring at his fist, which didn't even make Astrid wince.

"Hahahahahahaha!!!" Astrid laughed heartily, unable to contain her emotions.

"Idiot!!! Do you really think that a direct blow from a weak commoner like Kellan can harm a magician who awakened its talent at the age of 17?! That's ridiculous!"

At the same moment, Astrid shifted to the side, and now, her fist in a flash, bearing down on Evan's stunned face.

Bam.

Streams of blood gushed from Evan's already broken nose, but that was only the beginning, since Astrid kicked him in the stomach, throwing him aside.

"Argh!" Evan's back collided with a solid wall, sending waves of pain through his body.

Astrid had the right to be arrogant even among the nobility, for she was considered a promising mage because she had awakened her talent at 17.

Among the three options, the age of 18 was the worst, such mages were called - delayed, and on average, their potential and future achievements were less than those who awakened their talent at 17.

The age of 16 was the rarest variant, and such mages were often called geniuses, as it showed that their affinity with magic was higher than that of all others who awakened the talent much later.

'Fuck... The difference is so great that her skin is like steel to my feeble fists. Well, I need to fix this body as soon as possible.' Evan shook his head before he was attracted by a violet light that shone brightly then dimmed.

"It's a shame that this body is now under the control of an evil spirit, but that's okay. Kellan wasn't going to survive anyway, so I'll turn this body to ash right now." Astrid said, thrusting forward her rapier.

Purple lightning, cruel as a dragon and wild as a beast at great speed moved towards Evan like a flash of death, its harbinger and executor of a fate that could not be avoided.