As the blue light seeped into his body, the data panel in Luosen's retina flickered continuously.
[Soul Link Error!]
[Soul Link Error!]
[Soul Link Terminated - Not Host's Will!]
Unaware of the prompts in Luosen's vision, Carol suddenly burst into maniacal laughter: "Hahaha! You can't even read basic continental magic script! I merely switched the master and servant signature areas, and you actually dripped your spiritual blood in the servant section!"
His face twisted grotesquely as he continued, "A mere beast in human form, thinking you could contract the great Shadow Demon Lord with brute strength alone? Preposterous!"
"Speak! What kind of magical beast are you?" Carol ranted, "Let me guess... Saint Star Dragon? Yes, it must be! Otherwise how could you... possibly..."
His voice trailed off abruptly, complexion turning deathly pale. Because—he felt absolutely no feedback or enhancement from the supposed contract.
As the contract failure became apparent, terror flooded his entire being.
*SMACK!* A resounding slap sent Carol flying.
Without emotion, Luosen stated flatly: "Do it again."
Carol's lips trembled under Luosen's icy gaze. He knew with absolute clarity: one more unnecessary word, one second's delay, and his soul would be extinguished immediately.
Dragging his weakened body up silently, he summoned the contract parchment once more.
When the blue light reappeared and merged into Carol's body—or rather, soul—a peculiar sensation blossomed in Luosen's mind. He could now perceive Carol's location and thoughts with perfect clarity.
"Greetings, Master!" Carol knelt respectfully. The master-servant contract's constraints eliminated any thought of disobedience.
Luosen, who had originally intended to punish him thoroughly, now found it unnecessary: "Don't worry, I won't enslave you forever. You'll have your freedom in ten years."
This was Luosen's habitual reassurance, though he didn't yet fully comprehend the contract's true power.
Hearing this, Carol's expression eased slightly. While the contract influenced his thoughts, his core consciousness remained intact. He knew perfectly well his loyalty stemmed entirely from magical compulsion.
"Thank you, Master," he murmured.
...
The black pillar stretched hundreds of meters into the clouds, its smooth surface offering no handholds or stairs.
At its summit stood a luxuriously appointed pavilion—one of Carol's architectural spells that could conjure dwellings anywhere.
Resting inside, Luosen gazed into the distance from the high vantage point: "A month's travel, and we still can't see the edge."
"Crossing the Endless Sea Forest on foot?" Carol, still recovering, twitched at the notion. "Master, this is one of Roland Continent's largest forests—over 100,000 kilometers north to south, nearly a million east to west. On foot would take decades. Even summoning a Shadow Saint Dragon would require over a month's continuous flight."
Luosen finally understood why it was called the Endless Sea Forest—this woodland dwarfed even Earth's Pacific Ocean by several dozen times.
Carol shook his head wryly: "Unfortunately, my remaining magic is insufficient to summon even the dragon."
His initial 300 mana points had dwindled to 100 after constructing this aerial residence—all because Luosen casually asked if shelter could be arranged. Now, even basic shadow teleportation was beyond him, leaving them vulnerable to low-tier magical beasts.
Hence the hundred-meter-high perch with concealment spells and anti-climbing measures.
"By the way, can you teach me magic now?" Luosen asked.
Carol looked embarrassed: "Master... I cannot."
Luosen frowned: "You claimed earlier you were the only one who could teach me."
"My deepest apologies for that deception. You... lack mana channels. Magic is fundamentally impossible for you."
"No alternatives at all?"
Carol's silent negation transmitted through their mental link.
After a pause, he added: "Perhaps the Starfolk could help. Their cosmic magic operates on universal laws. But they dwell in the elusive Star Realm—I've only visited once. That drifting dimension requires stellar guidance to enter."
Luosen stretched with a sigh: "Very well, we'll consider it after leaving the forest. How long for your recovery?"
Somewhat abashed, Carol admitted: "Ten to twenty years... Unless... Master might spare... a drop of your essence blood. Then perhaps a month."
"You should've said so earlier!"
Following Carol's instructions, Luosen extracted a golden droplet of vital essence into a special vessel—an action that, curiously, didn't affect his status panel at all.
Just as Luosen marveled at this, violent tremors shook the ground below. Trees toppled in succession as an enormous serpentine creature pursued what appeared to be... humans.
"Carol, find me after recovering." With that, Luosen leapt from the several-hundred-meter height.
From his aerial view, a familiar silhouette emerged—a giant, arrow-riddled serpent he'd encountered multiple times before. This cold-blooded magical beast attacked any living thing on sight, its regenerative abilities tied to a core hidden within its head. Luosen already carried six such cores; he'd stopped collecting more when forest creatures began avoiding him proactively.
"Hssss!" The serpent's maw gaped before a red-haired woman in platinum armor, her face ashen with terror as she stared into the abyssal throat—nowhere left to run.
Her companions lay dead or wounded, none capable of penetrating the beast's nigh-indestructible, rapidly regenerating scales.
At her moment of despair, a figure plummeted from the sky, hammering the serpent's head deep into the earth with crushing force.
The newcomer—a man wearing a white tiger pelt kilt, bare-chested with powerfully defined musculature, his straight black hair framing strikingly handsome features—held a shimmering violet crystal in one hand while extending the other: "You... alright?"
[Name: Luna E. Crimson]
[Strength: 700/1000]
[Health: 1397/2000]
[Phys. Resist: 1301/2000]
[Magic Resist: 871/1000]
[Stamina: 1102/2000]
[Speed: 591/2000]
[Spirit: 121/200]
[Mana: 129/200]
Luosen's heartbeat accelerated at the sight of the beautiful woman, his words stumbling slightly as he anticipated her hand in his.
Though his voice trembled, to the red-haired warrior it sounded impossibly alluring—the slight quaver transformed into magnetic resonance that seemed to pull at her very soul.