The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Four Souls Chosen by the Eclipse

By then, Vhan and Vince had already become capable of handling most of the monsters living around the outer parts of the mountain, so I decided that their training should move to a different stage.

Rather than remaining in the same area, I had them begin exploring deeper into the surrounding wilderness, where stronger monsters and more unusual beasts could be found. It was also a better place to keep the existence of the Eclipse Order hidden, since very few people ventured that far from the town.

Their assignment was fairly simple. They were to hunt monsters, gather anything useful, and sell whatever could be brought back to the town. The money would become part of our growing funds, while the monsters themselves provided excellent training.

It was during one of those expeditions that they encountered the first of the four.

She was a girl from the slums, and when Vhan and Vince found her, she was being beaten by a group of criminals who had been using her to earn money for them. She had clearly been living that way for years, yet despite her condition, the mana surrounding her body was unusually dense.

Vhan noticed it first.

There was something strange about her potential.

So instead of simply passing by, the two intervened.

The criminals didn’t last long.

Afterward, they offered the girl a choice: continue living under the people who had been exploiting her, or leave everything behind and follow them toward a new life.

She hesitated.

Of course she did.

They were strangers, after all.

But when there was nowhere else to go, accepting the hand extended toward her was probably better than returning to the life she had known.

The second girl was found somewhere completely different.

She had once been the daughter of a minor noble family, but her house had collapsed after the deaths and disappearances of several members of her family. Whatever protection her name had once provided disappeared with it, and she eventually ended up being sold as a slave.

When Vhan and Vince encountered her, she was being treated particularly harshly by her owner.

They sensed her potential almost immediately.

It wasn’t simply her mana. There was something about the way her power responded to the Eclipse that caught their attention.

After dealing with the slave owner, they offered her the same choice.

A new life.

A chance to become something other than a possession.

She didn’t answer immediately.

But after everything she had lost, there was little reason for her to remain where she was.

She accepted.

The third girl was different again.

She had been abandoned by her family when they could no longer afford to care for her, and by the time Vhan and Vince found her, she was barely surviving on her own. She had been discovered in an abandoned shelter, weak enough that she could hardly stand.

Yet even in that condition, her mana hadn’t disappeared.

If anything, it was unusually powerful.

The fourth had come from an ordinary family and had suffered a severe illness that her family eventually decided could no longer be treated. Believing that she had no future, they abandoned her.

Vhan and Vince found her in a miserable condition, but once again, the same thing caught their attention.

Potential.

Four girls.

Four different lives.

Four different reasons for falling into despair.

And yet all four possessed something that made them compatible with the Eclipse.

Vhan and Vince didn’t force any of them to follow.

They explained what they had been offered themselves, told them about the Eclipse Order, and explained that the power they would receive could completely change their lives, but that it would also come with responsibilities.

Only after they agreed did they bring them to me.

When I finally saw the four girls standing before me, I understood immediately why the two had chosen them.

The first possessed long, smooth light-blue hair and clear blue eyes.

The second had light-violet hair and matching violet eyes.

The third had long silver-white hair and striking red eyes.

The fourth had soft light-green hair and equally green eyes.

They were all young, yet their expressions were far from those of ordinary children their age.

I looked toward Vhan and Vince.

"Tell me what happened."

Vhan bowed his head.

"Yes, we encountered them during our expeditions. Each one possesses considerable potential, and each has accepted our offer willingly."

Vince continued the explanation, telling me about their circumstances one by one.

I listened without interrupting.

When he finished, I turned toward the four girls.

They stood together in front of me, looking completely different from the elegant figures they would eventually become. Their clothes were old, worn, and covered with traces of dirt from the places they had been forced to live in, while their hair, despite its natural beauty, was somewhat unkempt. None of them looked like someone who had been given a second chance at life yet.

Still, there was something I couldn’t ignore.

I carefully examined their mana.

At first, I had thought they simply possessed unusual potential, but the longer I looked, the more ridiculous that assumption became.

This isn’t just ordinary talent.

Their mana wasn’t merely large. Each of them possessed a completely different quality, and every one of those qualities showed an extraordinary compatibility with the Eclipse.

Finding even one person like this should already be difficult, yet there are four of them standing in front of me.

I couldn’t help but feel satisfied.

Perhaps Vhan and Vince had made the right choice.

The four girls remained silent, seemingly unsure of what they were supposed to do. Their expressions were cautious, and there was still a trace of fear in their eyes.

Naturally.

They had only just arrived here, and now they were standing before the person who was supposedly going to change their lives.

I didn’t expect them to immediately act with confidence.

"Raise your heads."

They hesitated before slowly looking at me.

"You have already heard from Vhan and Vince about the Eclipse Order. What you have not yet received is the power that comes with becoming one of its members."

The four listened carefully.

"I will not force you to accept it. If you decide that this isn’t the life you want, you may leave."

I paused for a moment before continuing.

"But if you accept the Eclipse, then there is no turning back. You will swear your loyalty to the organization, and to me as the one who created it. In return, I will give you power that can completely change the lives you have been forced to live."

Their expressions changed.

They had been abandoned.

And treated as though their lives had no value.

Now I was offering them something they had probably never been given before.

"Do you understand?"

The blue-haired girl swallowed nervously before lowering her head.

"Yes... Master."

Her voice was quiet.

The other three followed soon after.

"We understand, Master."

Their voices were still uncertain, but there was something else mixed into them now.

Hope.

I raised my hand.

"Then swear your loyalty."

The four girls looked at each other before kneeling.

"We swear our loyalty to the Eclipse Order."

The blue-haired girl spoke first, her voice trembling slightly.

"We shall never betray our Master."

The others followed, each making the same vow in their own words.

I watched them quietly.

Good.

A vow meant nothing if the person making it had no power to uphold it.

That was why I was going to give them the means to do so.

"Eclipse."

The moment I released my power, the air around us changed.

Dark energy began gathering around my hand, but unlike the destructive force I had used against monsters, this power was controlled and precise. It moved toward the four girls in thin streams, entering their bodies and merging with the mana that already existed within them.

Their eyes widened.

The four different types of mana inside them began responding almost simultaneously.

I could see it clearly now.

The Eclipse wasn’t simply increasing their strength.

It was awakening something that had been dormant within them.

The first girl’s mana twisted around her body as the air itself seemed to become heavier.

The second’s power spread outward in countless thin strands.

The third’s mana formed countless shapes resembling weapons before dissolving again.

The fourth’s power reflected the surroundings for a brief moment, creating a strange mirror-like distortion.

Their talents had finally begun to reveal themselves.

And they were far beyond what I had expected.

The power eventually settled within them.

For a moment, none of the girls moved.

Then the blue-haired girl looked down at her hands.

Tears began falling from her eyes.

"Master..."

She tried to speak, but her voice broke.

The violet-haired girl covered her mouth as tears followed.

The silver-haired girl lowered her head, her shoulders trembling.

Even the green-haired girl, who had remained quiet from the beginning, couldn’t hold herself together any longer.

They cried. Not because they were afraid.

They cried because, for the first time in their lives, someone had given them something they had never believed they could have.

A future.

"Thank you..."

The words came out quietly.

"Thank you, Master."

I looked at the four of them.

Well, this is getting rather emotional.

I had expected them to be grateful, but I hadn’t anticipated this much crying.

Still, I suppose I could understand.

Their lives had been decided by other people for as long as they could remember.

Now they had the power to decide their own fate.

"Stand."

They slowly rose to their feet.

"From this moment onward, you are no longer slaves, abandoned children, or people without a future."

I looked at each of them.

"You are members of the Eclipse Order."

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