After confirming what kind of spiritual creature Ferrin had formed a contract, with, Kain busied himself going through the data from the monitoring equipment around them.
He activated one machine that was quite hard to get, even via the university, that would allow Kain to visualize the changes to Ferrin''s star space.
The holographic projection flickered to life, revealing the lone star in Ferrin''s star space.
Kain''s brow furrowed as he studied the projection, surprised at the appearance it had taken on.
"It''s not tailored," Kain muttered under his breath, leaning closer to the disy.
Unlike most star spaces tailored to the specific needs of their contracted spiritual creature, Ferrin''s was different. It was a vibrant and lush forest exactly like the ones on Pangaea.
One would expect, that since Ferrin''s contract is of the dark-attribute, it would take on the most suitable environment for his affinity, rather than a generic forest setting.
"What do you mean?" Serena asked, turning her attention from Ferrin and the fox.
"Since most star spaces are customized environments, designed by the contractor''s affinity to perfectly amodate their spiritual creature and Ferrin doesn''t have an affinity, I think his star space was unable to form a more suitable environment." Kain gestured toward the hologram. "It''s like it took a snapshot of the area in Pang-…ahem in the relic where the contract was formed and copied it. That''s why it''s full of forests."
Gabriel cut in, upon hearing their conversation, looking slightly disappointed that the contract method he would likely have to use in the future was considered inferior. "So the star spaces formed using this method aren''t as good? It can''t provide the perfect environment for the contracted creature?"
"In a way, yes," Kain said. "A tailored environment would have exactly what the fox needs to thrive. This is more generalized—it''s enough, but it''s not optimal."
Ferrin, overhearing the conversation, turned his attention away from the fox for a moment. "It might not be as good as a star space created by those with an affinity, but..." He nced back at the ck fox, which was now cautiously sniffing his hand. A tentative smile spread across his face. "...I''m notining. I have a spiritual creature. I''m... a beast-tamer now, right?"
Kain and Serena exchanged a nce.
"You are," Kain confirmed, his tone carrying a mixture of satisfaction and relief.
The fox hesitated for a moment longer before nudging Ferrin''s hand with its nose. The man''s face lit up, his earlier nervousness melting away into pure joy as he gently stroked the fox''s fur.
"Thank you," Ferrin said, his voice thick with emotion. "I don''t know how you made this possible, but... thank you."
Kain readily epted the thanks, before awkwardly shifting the topic of conversation, "So… we didn''t bring this up prior to the experiment because of the possibility you''d explode—"
"I''m sorry what?! You said I could die, not explode!"
Kain continued as though he''d heard nothing, "We chose not to bring this up. However, now that the experiment has been proven to be a sess, we''re going to need you to sign a little contract…"
Kain finished with an awkward smile while pulling out a thick stack of papers from his star space, under the stunned gaze of Ferrin.
Thankfully, Ferrin was in a great mood as one of his greatest dreams which he''d thought was impossible—bing a beast-tamer—hade true. So he agreed to sign the contract without harping on the whole ''exploding'' possibility Kain had neglected to mention previously.
Ferrin skimmed through the dense stack of documents in his hands, his expression ranging from awe to suspicion and back to bewilderment. "This is... extensive," he muttered.
Serena crossed her arms and leaned against the workbench, her gaze fixed on Ferrin with mild amusement. "You did just survive an experimental process that should''ve been impossible. We can''t have you running off and spilling secrets that bring unnecessary attention to us all—or worse, someone dissecting you to figure out how this happened."
Ferrin paled visibly. "D-Dissecting?"
Kain waved a hand dismissively, his tone casual but firm. "It''s a precaution, Ferrin. The details of how this was done are sensitive, and there are people out there who would do far worse to you for that knowledge." He tapped the contract with his finger. "Think of it as insurance—for you and for us."
The contract was not a normal one written by awyer, rather it was an extremely expensive contract written by someone with a rare gift that made breaking of the contract have much more harsh consequences than just legal trouble…
"''use One:''" Ferrin nced at the first use, mumbling as he read aloud. "''The sigil and process used to create the spiritual contract shall remain strictly confidential under penalty of... death by star space explosion?''"
Indeed, if Ferrin were to break any of the uses in the contract, it would spell his immediate doom.
Some of the additional uses in the contract included: Your journey continues on empire
use Two: Returning to Kain periodically so that he could monitor any changes in his condition.N?v(el)B\\jnn
Technically, since this contract was the first of its kind, they really couldn''t be sure that there wouldn''t be any adverse effects to Ferrin.
use Three: Not attempting to recreate the sigils or array used to form the contract from memory.
use Four: Not concealing unusual changes to his or the fox''s condition from Kain.
And there were also additional minor uses, but the gist of the very thick document was simple:
"Okay, so basically shut up and show up…" Ferrin sighed, running a hand through his hair and signing his name on the dotted line and handing the thick stack of papers to Kain.
He felt as though he was signing his life away but…
Petting the small ck fluff ball lying on hisp, and thinking about how his incurable illness should be resolved as his body strengthens due to bing a beast-tamer, he felt as though everything was worth it.