Episode 9 – Soulbound (1/2)
”That's a good thing As the bond gains power, so e Growth isn't so that is dangerous You wouldn't want that to happen”
”I see, it is a state indicator Useful” Kiel inspected his mark It didn't look bad at all It reseet one of those His true persona did, the false one disagreed A tattoo wasn't appropriate for the i to uphold
”Why don't you have one? You weaved the spell with your right hand, but you have no mark there” Kiel asked ”Is it because you already have elibu s on your left side?”
Elaru nodded ”Yeah My elibu s became my mark of the bond Now they serve the sa power,power, your row”
Ah, so that's how it is Her row
”Willfroed
Kiel suddenly felt a sense of dread He had
”Wait… define 'dangerous'! What will happen if the ? And didn't you say that the spell was symmetrical, why are there differences between us?” His eyes narrowed in suspicion
”I don't knoould happen if the bond started shrinking, but I arned that I should avoid it” She shrugged again
Kiel stared at her What could possibly happen? Would they gradually lose the powers granted to the far worse?
”You previously claimed that the contract was harmless! How could you… ” Elaru interrupted Kiel mid sentence
”Actually, I said that signing the contract was har would be” She smirked ”I don't know the effects of the bond that well There ht not be any harmful effects”
Kiel gaped in shock She tricked him!
Her eyes twinkled and she added:
”It is symmetrical The manifestation of the mark is the only difference between us, it isn't an issue of the spell but rather racial differences”
So the spell does the sa, but their bodies respond differently?
He had asked her about a catch, and she didn'tNow he understood why Kiel almost face-pal him that there were none wouldn't have been a lie! Why was she so eager to get into soht her to be smarter than that!
Kiel sighed in annoyance This won't do He needed to find out exactly what Aetherneal Bond was and what it did to hi about it, Elaru didn't seem to know muchabout it either
All Kiel kneas that it was an Aetherneal spell of grand proportions that penetrated through the core of what nition It had engraved itself deep inside of him, he could feel it in his every breath, in his every heartbeat
Kiel couldn't rely on what Elaru thought she knew nor could he be sure that she wouldn't twist the truth and deceive hiain
For all he knew, it could be a life draining spell or a curse It ht have been a forbidden spell that would eventually turn hi his cycle of reincarnation
Kiel knew better than anyone that everything in this world cae And he needed to find out exactly what he was offering to it
He needed to find out as much as he could about it, discretely His best bet was to search for it in the library of Ashar University of Magic It was the largest vault of e in the entire land of Halnea
He sighed again, this tination He should hope for the best and tackle one thing at a tied to beco about it now
Kiel looked at histo decide what to do about it
”You'll have to hide your s don't attract attention because I a person sees yours You should get a pair of gloves or arm protectors” Elaru spoke solemnly
Kiel nodded in agreeree with the false ie of himself he tried to uphold
”Should we hide our ability to use pure ht about it before, but even that fact would be suspicious Hiding it would be si that could be 'felt'
There weren't many ways to deterhtforward: weave one augmentation type mana If weaved transmutation spell activates instead, then you have transmutation typeas he used only augic, no one would ever know that he possessed pure mana
”We could hide it, but… ” She paused shortly ” all this soul binding business is ained”
Kiel wouldn't ic for the rest of his life – for a non- However, he couldn't wholeheartedly disagree with her Saying that he had no desire to be able to cast transic would be a lie
”Don't worry It's fine if people know that we have pureas they don't connect it to the Aetherneal bond” She continued
”Wouldn't that family make the connection from the start?” Kiel softly frowned
”No Neither you nor I have a relation to the fro as there is a perfectly siical explanation for it”
”Which would be?” Kiel questioned
”Mana purifying artifact” She smirked
Mana purifying artifacts were ancient artifacts left behind by Gods with the ability to purify mana They were considered rare, but since they were indestructible, all noble faed to collect a few in the past millennia In fact, the last time he checked, his family was in possession of 7 such artifacts She had a point, to outsiders, it wouldn't be strange if a noble possessed such an artifact The only ones that would question his possession of it would be his own family
Kiel laughed a quiet, bittersweet laugh So that's why she chose him A coeous, a noble on the other hand… not strange at all Her calculation went even beyond that, he was a noble that felt no loyalty towards his own family A person who could easily hide a secret which could bring much prosperity to his family for his own benefit, a person that would be ready to lie and deceive everyone – because that's what he had been doing all his life
Everything had been a well thought out move!
Elaru Wayvin ht seem reckless and impulsive, but that was just athe calculating ood reason to enact this bond without fully knowing of its effects
”You est I explain all this to my family? If they believed me to have such an artifact, they would surely take it away froive it soh position in my family”
Elaru'smischievously
”You just need to tell two different stories One story for your family members, and the other for everyone else To your family, you can say that your latent potential has finally awakened Since every argel has the ability to activate the bond, using pure mana is a latent potential It just needs to be activated with the bond That way, even if they forced an oath of truth upon you, you could still claim it to be true”
Kiel raised his eyebrow
”I've never heard of anyone'sout of the blue That doesn't happen My grandfather isn't that naïve, even if I am under the oath of truth, he would still not believe it” He sighed again in exasperation He expected her to co better