Those in Deathless eventually awoke from their slumber.

They then heard a voice communicating to them directly into their consciousness.

"Return back to the stronghold!"

They used their return rings and appeared in the portal room.

Death was confused.

"Weren't you guys suppose to search for a week?"

"You didn't hear the order?"

That's right! Since they were connected to The Deathless Network. It was possible to communicate through their souls.

Obviously, Death was the only one left out...

They soon found a system like interface that John had created through formations in the soulverse they were connected to.

It had various functions.

One of those was communication.

They could talk to one another telepathically now.

John walked up to Death.

"Your soul is a bit special. Would you like to remove your bloodline shackles?"

Death soon noticed the anomaly.

"You have all become mortals!"

Guardian spoke in disbelief.

"What nonsense are you ta-"

Pride then spoke:

"I can't feel my passive spell!"

Soon Life, Vitality, Intuition, Knowledge, Fate, Curse, Mystery, Calamity, Boon, Pride, Purpose, Inspiration, Guardian, Dowager, Golem, Sloth, Wrath and Envy all realized something quite shocking.

"I can't feel access to magic at all!?"

They looked to John.

He spoke:

"This is intentional. I have removed the bloodline shackles from you."

They stared at him in confusion.

Knowledge spoke:

"It's impossible to remove the bloodline shackles!"

John sneered.

"Nothing is impossible! Since you have all decided to follow me. Naturally, I won't treat you badly. How could I let you be restricted by a mere contract?"

Knowledge started to breath heavily.

"You mean!?"

"Yes. You can all practice magic. Remember how regular mages are an extreme rarity? Well, now you can all become an anomaly!"

Death was frowning.

He regretted deeply suggesting to stay back. But then he realized what happened to their souls. He instead was glad he didn't go!

He couldn't help but think:

"How was he able to break the shackles? Just what happened in that other world!?"

Death didn't feel like being left out.

"Can you also break my shackles?"

John frowned.

"I will need time to understand the composition of your soul. You are special."

"Special?"

"You are a reincarnator!"

Death gasped. His deep secret had been seen through!

John continued to talk.

"All of you were slaves due to your limit being rank 1. But your bloodline in your last life allowed you to become a rank 4. The contract is embedded more deeply then these former rank 1's. I would have to completely destroy your soul to remove the contract. Not to mention, you have two contracts over your soul. Each from two different bloodlines. I can remove the shackles from this life, but the connection you have with your bloodline originator from your last life is too deep. I would also have to beat a rank 8 again."

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Everyone was surprised once again.

"Again!?"

"It's just a small matter. I doubt the bloodline shackles you have from this life will show up if I remove them. You are merely rank 1 after all. If I remove it. You can progress back to rank 4. Although that will be your limit."

Death didn't expect John to know so much about him.

John then looked at Death and squinted his eyes.

"I would need your full cooperation though. You'll need to remove the barrier around your soul!"

Death once again was surprised at John's knowledge.

"You know of the chaos realm?"

"I am from the chaos realm. I can open up a portal if you would like to take a look!"

Death felt a chill down his spine.

"I never survived my exploration of it... I wouldn't dare go back in. That was how I originally died."

"It burned through my life force too quickly. Although now... with my special existence from being a member of Deathless. It could be explored!"

John chuckled.

"You're too weak right now. The entities in that space would easily destroy you!"

Death then spoke:

"Is it possible for me to keep the barrier on my soul?"

John wondered the reason.

"Is there a reason why?"

"It is deeply personal."

"I suppose it is possible. I'll need you to lower your defenses though. If you wish to be connected to The Deathless Network."

Death didn't wish for his soul to be exposed.

"Is it alright if I don't connect to this 'network'?"

John laughed.

"It would've been if you had ran away when given the chance."

"You know too much now... I'll have to kill you."

Death didn't back down.

"What if I signed a contract? From my theories... What you did to the other members. It is a bit reckless and scary!"

"How so?"

"You moved their souls out of the Otz Room!"

Everyone was confused. What was an Otz room?

"They may be slaves in this life. But reincarnation is always an option. What you have done... it is extremely taboo! You have made them slaves to yourself for eternity. Even in death, you can continue to control their souls... This is a fate worse then death."

John understood Death's point.

"You are mistaken."

"Mistaken?"

"I did indeed take their souls out of the Otz Room. I also am indeed in control of their afterlife. But their soul isn't in a worse situation."

Death started to get slightly angry.

"Worse situation! Their main soul is now located in god knows where. How is it safe? It is exposed to any random entity."

John was getting slightly annoyed.

"Their soul is in a far safer place then the Otz Room. Surely, you know souls there can easily get sealed. I put them in a special place that cannot be tracked."

Death's eyes opened wide.

"You're rank 8!?"

"In the future, you can expect me to surpass this! I told you once before. I do not operate in the bounds of the ranks. I use an entirely different system."

John looked around at everyone.

"Am I the one mistaken here? You all had the chance to become free. Do you regret it? Those in Deathless will serve for eternity. I won't even allow you to rest in peace upon death! Isn't that scary? Death has more knowledge then you all, this is why he doesn't wish to join you!"

Life spoke:

"I knew what I was getting into. I will serve Deathless for eternity! Who cares about freedom? It is all illusory, it can be taken away easily. You have given me immortality!"

Boon then cut in with his pledge as he bowed.

"I will also serve! I thought I would be shackled by my bloodline for my entire life. You have shattered these shackles!"

Soon everyone started to pledge themselves to Deathless.

Inspiration tried to convince Death.

"Death... you don't understand. You are missing a great opportunity here... if you let it slip away, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

Guardian chimed in as well.

"We can all communicate through our souls now! There are various functions we have unlocked. This includes access to accumulated spell models. It is empty now, but in the future. There are so many possibilities for the future. We can all go beyond rank 1!"

Death spoke:

"I'm not like you guys... he won't remove the higher level shackles. I'll be limited to rank 4."

John then spoke:

"I can't remove them now. Are you looking down on me? Do you think I will stay at this level of power forever? This is just the beginning!"

This line seemed to almost convince Death.

Finally, Death made his decision.

"I can't accept it! I don't trust you! I'm willing to work for Deathless. I have nowhere else to go. But I am not willing to have my soul, the one precious thing I have left, to be handled by someone I just met. Perhaps, in the future I will change my mind. Perhaps, I will come to regret this decision."

"But... You're going to have to kill me!"

John started to laugh as the tension ramped up in the air.

Everyone thought John was about to kill Death!

"I like your resolve! I have no reason to trust you either. You're a warlock. You are familiar with contracts. But I use methods foreign to this world. I see potential in you. So no, I will not kill you."

Death's expression showed slight confusion

"I will instead teach you! Since you wish to remain shackled to your bloodline for now. I'll instead impart into you a mental magic system. I need someone capable of conjuring mid grade magic stones. I also need someone in charge of creating the uniforms for our organization."

Death then spoke.

"Mental magic system?"

Life, Mystery, and Dowager seemed a little jealous.

They couldn't help but think:

"Death doesn't even trust you! Yet you're willing to teach him something so precious?"

John saw their looks and understood their thoughts.

"You all have infinite potential. The same cannot be said for Death. I also, with not the best intentions did an experiment on him. He is immortal in a different sense, I used Undead Transformation on him. His core is likely to become unusable in the future.

"What?"

John shrugged his shoulders.

"I plan to have them have what I call 'phantom' magic cores. I will store these with their souls in the Infinite Maze. Then have their magic cores soul bound."

"Your magic core isn't designed by me. You are just a warlock. Once your brain rots, your magic core will probably be completely useless. It is the target of my spell though. So it will be what keeps you alive. Make sure to keep it somewhere safe!"

"I see... my path forward is completely cut off... unless."

"Unless you learn my unique magic system. Mental magic! Creating a source in your consciousness. Casting spells using mental energy. It is a path quite legendary!"

"So... are you interested?"