No wonder there was no mention of sockets when I bought the bow… Cain thought as he walked down the steps and outside the inn. The party was outside waiting for him. “No one forgot anything, right?” Victoria asked the group. Apart from a few yawns, no response was given. “I assume that’s a no. Let’s head out then!” Victoria led the way outside the military outpost.

Jared greeted the guards and informed them they were leaving the outpost. One of the guards called a servant that was on standby to grab their horses and hook it up to the carriage. The servant ran off into the direction of the stables; the party waited outside the gates for their carriage to come.

Now that I think about it… it seems like a valet service… Cain pondered the relationship between the valet service at high class restaurants and the system the guards were using at the military outpost to prevent the carriages from crowding the limited space. Not a word was spoken during the party’s wait, the only thing breaking the silence of the morning dew were soft yawns.

—Dms: Cain and Bob— (35ms)

Cain: What’s the difference between our contract and the one I made with Athena?

Bob: The form or the contents?

Cain: The form.

Bob: The physical contract is easier to break and form, and can be done without any repercussions unless some are stated.

Bob: We talked about the repercussions from breaking off a contract with a spirit without the proper procedures about 6 days ago. The summary is that it damages the soul in some way.

Bob: The physical contract is only an addition to the contractor’s power with no mutations, while the soul contract will mutate the soul, and thus the ability or power of the contractor, in some way.

Cain: So the physical contract is basically borrowed power and the soul contract eventually makes the power your own?

Bob: Basically.

Cain: Has anyone lived long enough for the effects of the soul contract to be complete? I remember you saying it usually took a few decades.

Bob: Not many have. They either die due to their lifespan or get picked off.

Bob: The ones who have though, are able to use a portion of the spirit’s powers freely. How much they can use depends on the spirit they contracted with and how much of their soul is mutated.

Cain: Sweet.

--------------------------

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (47ms)

Cain: What do you guys think: Should I let the king know I formed a contract with the bow or Jessica Rapidclaw?

Cain: Tomorrow is the day I’m supposed to give proof of the contract.

Rex: ..who’s the second person?

Cain: She’s the “employee” I met when I bought the bow about 6 days ago. She impersonated the original employee there (whose name also happened to be Jessica) for some reason.

Rex: …when did you figure this out?

Cain: Just now when I looked at her tag.

Cain: Her real name was always on the tag after I programmed it to skim memories for a name. I just never bothered to check.

Rex: Huh… yeah, maybe I’ll understand later.

Dresil: :pfft:

Dresil: Is Jessica even awake?

Cain: Ye, at least the tag says so.

Bob: Since the establishment that sells the spirit weapons is also managed by the Rapidclaw family and you had some contact with her, it should be acceptable to notify her.

Bob: At least this way you won’t be placing more pressure on the king and thus add needless tension to the relationship.

Cain: Ye… I think I’ve bothered him enough lately.

Cain: Rex, want to send her a fire message?

Rex: Hell yeah. What are the contents?

Dresil: Oooh, Rex used a fancy word.

Rex: :hehe:

Cain: “I’ve made a contract with the spirit bow I bought 6 days ago. I’ll entrust the rest of the formalities to you.” Then include my symbol at the end.

Rex: Got it.

--------------------------

The servant that ran off earlier drove the party’s carriage to the front of the gates a moment later, positioning it on the path so they could leave with ease. He hopped down from the coach driver’s bench and unclipped the copper tags from the horses’ reins. The party boarded the carriage while the servant unclipped the tags; Jared took the reins of the horses and waited for the servant’s signal.

The servant double checked the hitch and the horses’ harnesses, then gave Jared a thumbs up and ran back to the gates. Thus, the party set off to the ruins.

—

In a once neat office, now littered by stacks of books and papers, a young woman moved a stack of papers from the top of the desk to the floor then laid her head on the free real estate. “Young Miss! How many times do I need to tell you to stop moving the papers aside to take a nap!” The personal maid of the young woman walked in with assorted fruits to see her mistress trying to steal a nap.

“But Rebeccaaaaaaaaaaaah… There’s just so much work to do and the sun rose hardly an hour ago!” The young woman complained as she lazily brought her head up. “Young Miss, the family head is just now publicly accepting the idea that women heirs are more than just tools for marriage relationships.

“Young Miss needs to do some of this work to at least prove to the elders that that idea is true.” Rebecca lectures her mistress while navigating the field of books and papers to set the plate of fruit down where the young woman once laid her head. “I know, I know… With all this is just seems like those geezers are still treating me like a slave though.” The young woman complained while stress eating.

“If only something interesting were to happen again…” “Again? Did the young miss do something she wasn’t supposed to?” The maid admonished her mistress once again, leaning closer to put some pressure. “W-well you see… 6 days ago I may have sneaked… what’s that?” The young miss started to confess but stopped midway when a bunch of fire appeared, floating and dancing in the air.

“No, no. You’re not getting out of this. Go on with what you were saying.” The maid refused to believe her mistress, suspecting it was another one of her tricks to avoid the confession. “N-no. Seriously. Oh my…” The young woman stared at the flames licking the air. Occasionally some would whisk by the corners of papers, yet none of it would catch on fire.

The maid slowly followed the young woman’s gaze to words written with flames in the air. “Oh my…” She also breathed out when she read its contents. “Haha! Finally something interesting! I’ll see you at lunch Rebecca!” Jessica leaped over her desk, through the words made from fire. She knocked down a few stacks of books and papers during her escape from responsibilities; the words of fire vanished when she emerged through them unscathed.

“Young Miss!” The maid shouted after her mistress, but it proved a futile effort since she was long out of hearing distance. The maid sighed and started to clean up the stacks that had fallen over. “At least be more careful…”