Ard's Oath 6 Story Thus Far

Last time, on Ard's Oath 5: Merchants of Rebellion

Ard and company overcame the battle at Chillwind Pass. However, in doing so, Ard put himself in ever more danger, this time from his own kingdom.

To protect him, General Trevis sent him behind enemy lines to disrupt the Garrish forces from within. Under the tutelage of Uncle Valken and Eva, Ard posed as a merchant and began to incite chaos, funding and supporting a group of bandits who desperately needed his support. 

Garrish's magical forces were evolving past Avente, his home nation, that emphasized scholarly magic. Garrish magic was taking a twisted turn, meddling in magic better left alone, modifying people’s souls. Corrupted-like creatures who thirst for the mana within mages' bodies were unleashed.

Ard and his team were able to destroy the Corrupted, as well as a giant, fleshy abomination, shattering the fort and allowing Ard’s group and the rebels to carry off with their rewards.

However, the bandits were a little more than just simple bandits. It turned out they were led by rebel forces, including the Duchess of Fargo. Thus, Ard's fomenting rebellion led him to Fargo to usurp the ruler there, only to uncover just how far Garrish had fallen.

Mages and anchors were becoming rarer by the day, collected and sent to the capital, and none ever returned. Ard’s final push to topple Fargo and give it back to the hands of the Duchess was underway only to get a nasty surprise. 

Carmilla, a scheming Avente princess Ard had defeated once, returned from the dead as King Martin's first working prototype of a higher being. Though Ard was able to defeat her, he’d been forced to push himself beyond what he had ever done with magic. 

He had mixed his soul with his existing four spheres and eight elements of magic. Ard fundamentally changed his elements into soul magic variants and used those to topple Carmilla, whose changes included allowing her to more freely draw on soul magic to dangerous effectiveness. 

After the implosion that was the result of Fargo, Ard ventured north where he waited impatiently for Eva.

She arrived after being waylaid with tragedy on the road, and the two of them finally cemented their connection into something more physical. Eva, as a princess of Zenovia, gave Ard his first courting gift.

It was something deeply personal and beloved by Ard: a book of his father's spy exploits, as well as encrypted instructions on how to break common spy codes. Eva barely managed to pull Ard away from the book and into bed. 

And with that, Ard is left with a precarious situation in Garrish territory. Kings of two countries wanted him dead. And now Ard must figure out how to continue his mission or escape.