“There you go. Just a small dose of your blood should be more than enough finish this contract.”

  The man/advisor said as he handed over to Thita a small yet well-decorated knife. Picking it up, Thita pointed its tip towards his other hand and pressed it against it before making a small yet precise cut. After that, he let the blood from the wound that he inflicted on himself fall into a well-decorated bowl.

  “Well done, this should be more than enough. Most people struggle during that part, but as I can see, you, sir, were prepared much better than most. Truly astonishing!”

  The advisor said as he picked up the bowl and gave it to his assistant, who then used it to begin the contract.

  The contract involved a series of steps that had to be carried out in the right order, with no room for error, or else the contract would fail and they would need to repeat the process from the start, which was extremely time-consuming.

  The steps for the contract required fresh blood from the one who was going to become the owner of the slave, and a person who had experience with carving magic marks. That person then needed to carve a marking in a random part of the body of the one who was going to be enslaved using the blood that he received. The marking didn’t need to be carved somewhere specific, but it was usually preferred to be somewhere visible to show the others that the person belonged to someone else.

  The last step came after the marking was carved, and it required the owner to channel his magic into the marking to bind the slave and make him a part of himself.

  Thita was mostly curious about the last part and what it meant, but after asking the advisor, he understood that it wasn’t something that couldn’t be undone in the future, which was enough for now.

  After the contract was done, the enslaved fully belonged to their contractor and were unable to disobey or act against them. In other words, they completely belonged to their contracted master, and what they could do depended entirely on them. Hence, the term that they become a part of their master.

  ‘This turned out to be much more complicated than I originally imagined. I can’t stand being responsible for making someone else suffer such a cruel fate. Still, I can’t just tell them to sell her to me without a contract, since that’s somehow prohibited by their policy. The only thing I can do at this point is make sure that I free her from that contract in the near future. Yes, at least this must be done.’

  Thita thought to himself, unable to let someone suffer such a fate without deserving it. There was no way she deserved it after all. At least that was what he thought.

  Meanwhile, the assistant sat next to the girl who had he limbs bound to a chair with the previous weird shackles still attached to her arms. She kept her head lowered as if preparing for the inevitable. The assistant picked up an elegant needle and, after dipping it in Thita’s blood, he began carving on the girl’s hand.

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  The girl couldn’t help but hold back tears, and a pained expression took over her face. She was in pain. After all, the carving could be described as a primitive form of tattooing, so it was in no way painless. It was at least endurable enough.

  With the assistant continuing his work, Thita couldn’t help but look at the carving as it was slowly taking shape, looking more and more like a strange tattoo.

  “Interested in the marking, I see. Well, no wonder such a symbol took decades to be invented, and even now, centuries after it was first invented, it’s still being used all around the planet.”

  The advisor said with a wise tone.

  “I see. I just don’t quite understand the whole concept behind it.” Thita said.

  “That’s to be expected, after all, even I don’t quite get the whole process. It is said that markings such as these are used to help us channel our mana in a specific way and pattern to achieve a specific result, such as, in this case, the enslavement of someone. Without them, no one could ever achieve such a result, and even if one could, through some means, be able to channel his mana in such a specific pattern and also fulfill the conditions, such as using his blood, it would be way too complicated and would require a ton of time and energy.”

  “Then how could anyone invent such a symbol?”

  “That is a question that will probably never be answered any time soon. I swear, whoever came up with this knows stuff that we, ordinary humans, will never understand.”

  “I see…”

  ‘So much new stuff to process. I can’t imagine getting used to this world and its mysteries any time soon.’

  “Oh, just in time! Looks like we are done waiting.”

  The advisor said as the assistant picked up his tools and distanced himself from the girl, who was on the brink of shedding tears, probably due to the pain that came with the carving. The mark had also taken shape and color right below a layer of her skin. It was colored red, probably due to the mixture of her blood and Thita’s.

  “Now all you need to do is place your hand right above the marking and channel your mana into it. If everything is done correctly, you should feel your mana taking a form around you two.”

  After nodding at the advisor, Thita took a few steps towards the girl who still looked at the ground, gritting her teeth as if in defeat. Placing his hand just a small distance above the marking in her hand, Thita started trying to move the so-called mana that was all around his body, towards the marking.

  As is sensing the mana, the symbol started glowing red more and more brightly. At the same time, Thita started to feel the mana he was pouring taking shape. It seemed like strings being tied around them, but Thita couldn’t see them. It was as if he knew they were there, all around them in space unfamiliar to him. As if they existed in another dimension.

  As he continued, the light started becoming weaker until it reached a low glow and remained like that even after Thita stopped.

  “How magnificent! Everything seems to have gone as it should have. Now, just to make sure, try to order her something. Be it with words or thoughts.”

  Hearing his words and looking at the girl, Thita spoke in a soft voice.

  “Tell me, what is your name?”

  Hearing his question, the girl slowly looked up to him and spoke in a low voice.

  “Astell. Just… Astell.”