In a mage tower somewhere in a city, a man sat silently on a bed. He was a servant, but his real working hours would begin only after fully recovering.

His life was already turned upside down after someone bought him as a slave, and it only got more complicated.

Now he has to deal with a parasite that tries to fight him to gain control over his body.

The development of his parasites was a curse and a blessing at the same time. The five parasites in his mana core were trying to communicate with him around the clock. Luz was constantly being told via telepathy that he should eat more or increase his mana absorption.

Imagine trying to cast a spell while five children in your head complain that they are hungry. That would drive everyone crazy sooner or later.

' I had a discussion with Simon and Jodoc yesterday about how I should proceed. The two of them recommended that I impose a soul contract on the five parasites,' Luz thought as he picked up a pen.

' The five have only a certain degree of intelligence, but their intelligence is only equal to that of a four-year-old...heh heh went through Luz's head while he wrote some notes.

On the paper were a few clauses for a soul contract:

{The host must do his best to ensure the survival of the five parasites.}

{Either party to the contract can demand peace from the other}.

{The parasite has no right to enter the host's brain without the host's permission}.

{The host must do its best to provide its symbiote with biological matter and mana}.

{The parasite must donate a portion of its purified mana to the host}.

{The parasite would only be allowed to take control of the host in an emergency to ensure their survival}.

"Jodoooc, come here. I need your help," Luz called loudly, and a parrot landed on his shoulder.

"Yes, what is it?" asked the parrot that glanced at the contract.

"Looks pretty good actually but wait...," squawked the bird while going through its feathers with its beak.

"Add something like you get to decide how it should develop," Jodoc remarked while nipping Luz's ear.

"Thank you, Jodoc," Luz replied before adding the clause:

{The host has a right to decide on the future development of the parasites}.

'Ok, time to go to Simon and finally get it done.'

Luz stood up with Jodoc on his shoulder and left the guest room of the magic tower. The tower had a radius of 15 meters and had several floors for different matters.

According to Jodoc, most of the master mages are around a hundred years old and specialize in several sciences as well as magic disciplines.

After the two arrived at the fourth floor, they silently watched Simon continue to analyze the graphs of Luz and take readings from Luz's blood and cell samples.

Jodoc, noticing that Luz did not dare to disturb his current master, cleared his throat loudly. Simon put his monocular magnifier aside as he smiled at the two of them.

"Have you finished formulating your clauses for the soul contract?" asked Simon as he cleared space on his table.

"Yes, I did, but I'd like to ask you again what I have to worry about," Luz replied as he slowly strolled into the room.

"You're welcome. The biggest problem is that the parasite will never allow you to stop it from evolving, but you can try to delay it as much as possible," Simon replied as he paused for a moment to put his thoughts into words.

"You two are fighting for control of your body, and there can only be one winner. Your goal is to transform it from hot war to a cold war or," asked Simon.

"What do you mean by cold war?" asked Luz.

"In a cold war, there is no active battle over your body. Both of you will continue to sharpen your weapons, but it will be a race this time as to who can evolve or advance faster...." Simon explained to Luz while using magic to visualize Luz's situation.

In front of Luz, a picture emerged that symbolized a tug-of-war between Luz and a parasite pile with five kings at the top.

"I see..." replied Luz while lightly stroking his chin.

Simon just nodded as he continued his narration, "The one who advances first will tear up the soul contract and fight for control, and if the difference between the two is severe, then that individual will impose a new soul contract with new conditions..." Simon narrated as the image changed.

The visualization changed, and one could see the miniature Luz, being devoured by parasites and ending up like a marionette.

"If you manage to dominate the parasite, you will achieve powers like no other before," Simon commented, to motivate Luz a bit.

"I will support you completely because after all, you are my guinea pig ehm I mean, after all, I have to take care of you," Simon told Luz.

The visualization ended abruptly, and his master took out a white paper and a pen.

"I'm going to show you how to write a soul contract before you have to write your own," Simon told Luz while handing him a feather.

"I hope your mana control is good because without a delicate control you won't be able to focus your mana gently on the tip of the quill. Only after that, you can start writing the contract with mana," Simon commented while a feather floated in the air and wrote a contract.

The paper seemed to change color whenever mana touched it.

"But I thought Mana wouldn't leave any marks?" questioned Luz, puzzled.

Simon just shook his head before sighing, "You lack a lot of general knowledge. But mana leaves traces everywhere. It's just not visible to low-level mages. Some material absorbs mana, and the traces of it stick."

Luz just nodded and tried to direct his mana onto the tip of the feather with fine control. He slowly placed his hand on the sheet and lightly pressed the quill onto the paper.

What he didn't realize was that his whole hand was also wrapped in mana and there was a handprint on the paper.

Jodoc only bit Luz's ear in response. "Argh, why," Luz cursed, raising his hand to scare Jodoc away.

But when he tried to focus on his paper again, he saw the problem. "Sorry," Luz gave meekly before continuing to write on the sheet.

It didn't take him two minutes to fill the sheet.

"Ok, what now?" asked Luz while holding the contract in his hand.

"Place your hand on it and accept it. That way, you can mentally secure the contract and force it on the parasites," Simon muttered as he poured a cup of tea for himself and Luz.

Luz followed Simon's words, and he managed to see the contract with his eyes closed.

'Hey, you five, I got something for you,' and immediately, Luz heard the five parasites talking in confusion.

'STOOOP, IT OR THERE WILL BE NO FOOD,' Luz voiced his thoughts loudly to the five parasites who turned quiet.