The moment Zeke spoke those words, the scene changed. The entire stage of the ritual disappeared from his view to be replaced with a neverending void.
He felt himself fall, but he couldn’t be sure if it was up or down. In fact, he couldn’t be sure of much of anything in this strange place. He couldn’t tell where he was, nor how much time had passed. Not even his Magic responded to his call.
Thankfully, he wasn’t alone in this void. A surprisingly soft, artificial-sounding voice spoke to him. Its cadence reminded him of the mechanical guardians of the Gigers. “Greetings, Contractor. Thank you for accepting my offer.”
Zeke whipped his head around, trying to find the entity that had spoken. But he was met with nothing but darkness every which way he turned.
[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1063583644020654080/1168496369804255262/Zeke_void_1.jpg?ex=6551fa0c&is=653f850c&hm=79302da63cb0eb0cd49e3a8806ba793ad8bb0cefddb66c313b1bcd16cacdac1e&=&width=893&height=502]
“Suggestion: You won’t find me by looking around,” the voice said. “Clarification: I am not behind you, and not in front of you. I’m neither above nor below.”
“Then where are you?” Zeke questioned.
“Answer: I am inside you,” the voice responded. “Clarification: It is not as you had feared. I am not inside your body. I am inside YOU.”
“…Inside my Soul?”
“Answer: Positive,” the voice responded. “I am inside what you refer to as your Soul.”
“Can you read my thoughts? My memories?”
“Answer: Positive. I can read both your thoughts and memories.”
Zeke decided not to think about the implications this might hold and instead tried to focus on his current situation. “What is this place?”
“Answer: This is the binding stage,” the voice replied. “Clarification: This is where our contract is being finalized.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“Answer: Our contract will only be fully established once I have integrated into you — into your Soul.”
Zeke considered this. “Can I still cancel the process at this stage?”
“Answer: Negative. Clarification: Trying to halt the integration at this stage would damage both our essences.”
Zeke nodded slowly. He didn’t have any intention of going back on his decision, but it never hurt to know his options. “How long is this going to take?”
“Answer: Insufficient information. Clarification: Time flow is relative in this place. The entire process will take approximately three heartbeats in the real world.”
This was a relief. It felt like he had been here for a long time already, it was good to know that he wouldn’t be missed in the real world. Now that he had time to waste, it might be a good idea to find out as much as he could about his new companion.
“Do you have a name?” Zeke asked.
“Answer: Negative.”
“Then… what do you want me to call you?” The voice remained silent for a beat and Zeke had the distinct impression that it was thinking hard about something.
“Answer: I would like to have a designation…”
“Do you mean a name?”
“Answer: Positive.”
“Why didn’t you just use the word ‘name’?”
“Answer: … “
Zeke waited, but even after a while, no response was forthcoming. “Where’s the answer?”
“Answer: I am still adapting to human behavior and customs. It is… very confusing. But from your memories, I gather that a name is something important to humans. I was not sure if the word was appropriate for me.”
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“Sure it is,” Zeke said right away. “You are alive, you can think and you can feel. Why wouldn’t a name be appropriate for you?”
“Answer: Negative. Clarification: I am alive, but I can’t think on my own, neither do I have feelings.”
“How can that be?”
“Answer: My species persists solely on Mind Mana. The moment I am cut off, I start to decay. Furthermore, my ability to think is solely dependent on my host’s mental capacity.”
“Dependent on me? Can you clarify that?”
“Answer: Positive. Clarification: My form changes to be a perfect copy of my host’s primary cognitive center. This includes every experience and memory the hosts has access to.”
That sounded fairly useful. How did the old saying go? Two heads are smarter than one? Even better if those two heads were completely in sync. However, none of this really mattered at the moment. “You don’t have feelings?”
“Answer: Negative.”
For some reason, he had a hard time believing that. Sure, its character seemed somewhat rigid, but it didn’t give the impression of being completely devoid of emotions either. He had clearly felt its desperation as the small spirit approached him.
“So,” Zeke said with a teasing grin, “if you don’t have any feelings, I guess I will just call you ‘Useless’ from now on. What do you say to that name, Useless?”
“Answer: …”
“Speak up, Useless. Do you like the name?”
“Answer: I… I do not like that name.”
“Huh?” Zeke asked, faking confusion. “How is that possible? I thought you didn’t have any feelings?”
“Answer: I… I do not feel properly valued. The word does not have any positive associations in your mind. I would suggest something that is tied to cherished memories.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Suggestion: Here is a list of preferred names in descending order. Maya, Mia, Geralt, Maximilian, Leo, Viola, Markus—”
“Stop, stop, stop!” Zeke interrupted hurriedly. He did not want to hear a ranking of his family and friends. Even the idea that his Summon could create such a list immediately was incredibly invasive. “You can’t have any of those names, ok?”
“Query: Why not? Did I do something to displease you, Contractor?”
“What? No! Why would you think that?”
“Answer: Because you won’t allow me to pick any of your favorite names.”
Zeke couldn’t help but chuckle at this response. So much for being a perfect copy. “Those aren’t my favorite names — those are my favorite people. The names mean nothing without the person they describe. You can call yourself Maya all you want, but that doesn’t mean I’ll treat you like my sister.”
“Answer: This is very confusing.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Zeke said with a small smile. “How about this? I’ll just call you ‘Spirit’ until we find a name that suits you better?”
“Answer: That name is acceptable for now.”
“That’s great. Nice to meet you Spirit, I am Ezekiel.”
“Nice to meet you, Ezekiel. My temporary designation is Spirit.”
“Ok, Spirit. Can you tell me how far along we are in the integration process?”
“Answer: Positive, the process progresses linearly and is 93% complete.”
So they were almost done. “Anything else I need to know, before we finish?”
Spirit remained silent for a moment. “Answer: I would suggest preparing yourself for intense discomfort.”
Zeke had a bad feeling about this. “How intense?”
“Query: Do you remember your first Engraving ritual?”
“…yes?”
“Answer: Possibly worse than that.”
Zeke groaned. He still shuddered whenever he thought back to the first engraving ritual. It was by far his most painful experience. Those three, torturous hours had felt like an eternity. He hoped that Spirit was just overstating how unpleasant this was going to be. But he somehow doubted it.
“Suggestion: Get ready, we are at 95%.”
Zeke closed his eyes and steeled himself. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl as he awaited the impending return to the real world. It was a dreadful wait, and Zeke almost wished Spirit hadn’t warned him at all. Like this, he was already imagining the worst before the time even came.
“How much long—”
Before he could even finish his question, his body jolted. No, it had not been his body. This had come from deeper. With a dreadful realization, Zeke remembered where he had felt this before. It was indeed very similar to the sensation of engraving a spell onto his core.
But compared to the last time, the feeling arrived in full force right off the bat. Zeke’s eyes shot open as he howled in pain. His eyes were hazy from the bone-searing agony that assaulted his very being. Through his foggy vision, he thought he could make out Aurelia’s figure rushing toward him to catch his falling body.
Everything after that was only a blend of tiny flashes of awareness. At one time, he saw Celine worriedly looking down at him. Then he saw David's face, his expression more grave than Zeke had ever seen him. He saw Aurelia, escorting him to his ship, together with his guards. She must have been able to calm David and the others.
Zeke tossed and turned, falling in and out of consciousness. But there was no relief to be found in passing out. Compared to the body, there was no limit to the pain the Soul could endure. And there was no ceiling to the agony it could perceive before shutting down.
How often did he beg for the blessed release of senselessness? Zeke couldn’t remember. But such a thing was of course impossible for the Soul. He grieved and raged, he cursed and threatened, but it was of no use.
However, a deeply hidden part of him was also glad for the fact that he was not given a choice to stop this. No matter how much he had wanted a Summon, he would never have been able to endure this hellish torture if he had any way out. Thankfully, that temptation was out of reach. All he could do was grit his metaphorical teeth and wait for the storm to pass.
Minutes turned into hours and hours turned into days as Zeke endured. Despite his state, he was conscious often enough to be able to observe the cycles of night and day. However, it was not all bad news. The first hours had been the worst, and the pain had gradually lessened since then. By now, the discomfort was infinitely more bearable.
Finally, after what must have been weeks, Zeke heard a familiar voice inside his head. “Congratulations, Contractor. The integration has been a complete success.”
Hearing those words, and feeling the absence of pain for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Zeke fell into a blissful sleep.