As her lips touch mine I suddenly feel the heat, and it moves from her into me. It feels like my entire body is on fire, burning from the inside out. I was expecting it to hurt, but not this much, I am in total agony, so much that I can't even scream.

The pain feels like it lasts forever, but even with that I can feel something inside me being burned away. When the kiss ends so does the pain, but I have this vague feeling that something is missing. I am assuming that it is the contract that is missing, after all that was the point of this.

Once she breaks the kiss Ruby steps away from me, but I am gasping for air after the pain leaves. By the time I have regained my senses Ruby is back on the other side of the table sitting next to Isabella. They are both sitting there watching me like nothing at all happened.

Ruby says "Now, I am fully contracted to Isabella."

"Did it have any effect on you Isabella?"

Isabella says "Yeah, my class upgraded from Summoner to Grand Summoner!"

"That sounds cool! What benefits did you get?"

Isabella says "It strengthens all my summons and allows me to have more!"

"So, given time you will be a one woman army!"

Isabella says "Pretty much!"

"Justin and the others will be jealous!"

Isabella says "Speaking of, do you know what happened to them? I heard they visited Illium for a day but I was at the tower and missed them."

"The last time I saw them was when we retook the kingdom's capital. They were all fine then, but I haven't seen them since. They may have stayed to help with the rebuilding."

Isabella says "That sounds like something Justin would do. Maybe I can go for a visit?"

"Sure, the portal should still be open. You can go anytime you want. Your summons may be useful in the rebuilding."

Isabella says "I would like that. I miss those guys."

"Well, nothing should be happening here for a few days, why don't you go see if they are there."

Isabella says "Thank you!"

Ruby says "Are you going to need me or can I go with her?"

"You can go, I don't plan on leaving anytime soon. The most I am going to do is visit the tower."

Isabella says "Okay, I'm not interested in politics anyway. That's probably all you will be doing for the next few days."

"Yeah, unfortunately."

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Isabella says "We may as well leave now, the guildmasters should be here soon."

"Yeah, say hi for me. Oh, and if you see Mercy tell her I'm sorry for missing her ceremony."

Isabella says "Alright, I will tell her."

As the two of them get up and leave they don't seem happy with me, but they don't seem mad at me either. It isn't much but it is an improvement and I will take it. This was the first time Ruby and I were able to have a conversation without fighting since the amulet was fixed.

We still have things to work out and talk about but it now seems possible. Although, it is probably a good idea to give it some time before we head to the temple of fire. I plan to fly to the temple and being alone with Ruby right now would probably be stressful.

Not that I am in any rush to head to the temple, other than I want the items for Kechara and Asuna. Which I don't really need until I start planning another random adventure. Not that I really plan my adventures, they just seem to keep happening.

For now I need to spend some time working on other things, like becoming the Beast King. Then I will need to start dealing with the other kingdoms and make them recognize our nation. Making the empire see the beastmen as a nation is going to be the hardest part.

My greatest worry at the moment is that we are going to end up at war with the empire. While I have no doubt that we can win, the cost is the part that worries me. Also, I don't want to unify the tribes only to lead them straight into a war.

They will need time to get used to being unified as a nation before doing anything else. Whatever happens, I want the beastmen to continue as a nation once I am gone. That means I need to build them really sturdy foundations for their nation.

It also means I need to find an heir to be the ruler after I am gone and hold everything together. Pol is qualified but he is probably too old, it needs to be someone younger. It is too soon to decide just yet, I haven't even met all the clan leaders.

Unifying the tribes might not even be the hard part, keeping them from fighting each other might be. After all this time I imagine there is a lot of built up animosity between some of the tribes. My thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of Borrik who immediately rushes over and hugs me.

Borrik says "You did it! You got rid of Pine! You are my most favorite person ever!!"

"Alright, alright! Get off of me! I knew you hated Pine, but I didn't think it was this much!"

Borrik says "You have no idea how much I hate that man! But you should be wary of Ambrose!"

"Why is that?"

Borrik says "Without Pine messing everything up, since he has been gone things have run smooth. Ambrose has gotten so much accomplished lately that he may just kiss you when he sees you!"

"Thanks for the warning, he should be here soon."

Borrik says "Roddick is probably a little bit calmer than Ambrose, but not by much."

"I didn't think Roddick hated Pine that much?"

Borrik says "Oh, he didn't. But he completely dotes on his new daughter, which you saved from the empire."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense."

Borrik says "You are basically everyone's hero, if for different reasons."

"They better not be thinking of saddling me with more titles!"

Borrik says "If you are not careful they might just name you king of Illium!!"

"No way! I will be king of the beastmen, nothing else!"

Borrik says "I'm just warning you. You have made yourself really popular around here!"

"You will vote against making me king, right?"

Borrik doesn't say anything, he just takes a seat with a smile on his face. The next ones to show up end up being Pelos and Scott, who greet me normally before sitting down. Next to arrive is Roddick, who walks up and hugs me with tears in his eyes.

Roddick says "Thank you, Ash! Thank you!"

"You should thank Zamart, he is the one who thought of bringing Rat to you."

Roddick says "I already did, but you are the one who saved her!"

"I just happened to spot her, it was a coincidence. Call it fate if you want, but I had little to do with it."

Roddick says "You could have just left her there, it was your decision to pick her up and bring her out of the empire."

Ambrose walks up and says "Is Roddick being all mushy again?"

Borrik says "Yeah, he even cried!"

Roddick says "Both of you shut up!"