Finn was slightly unsatisfied when Loki declared that they wouldn't ask any further questions, but when he saw the rare gentle smile on her face, he threw those thoughts away, 'That expression of huge relief... When was the last time I saw this? A few decades ago?'
The room was covered in a veil of silence until Ais finally opened her eyes after almost a quarter of an hour, only to see everyone looking at her with a variety of soft expressions. Ais became embarrassed after realizing this and immediately apologized for no reason, "I'm sorry..."
"Instead of us, go apologize to the little one. Although unsuccessfully, you still tried to hurt it.", reminded Kisuke.
Ais instantly recalled what she did earlier and became extremely guilty. Tightening her hug on the Dragon, she whispered to it, "I'm sorry."
In response, the Dragon further snuggled in her bosom and purred like a cat.
While laughing softly, Kisuke suddenly stood up and approached the two of them, "Now that it seems that you'll be able to take care of it properly, let's immediately set up a contract between you two."
Ais looked up to him and tilted her head in confusion, "Contract?" An image of her and the Dragon both signing a paper came into her mind. She was surprised to know that the little one knew how to write, but didn't know how signing a contract would be useful.
Kisuke guessed what she was thinking and knocked on her head, "You idiot. What use would that be?"
Ais hurriedly nursed the top of her with one hand and thought, 'That's what I want to know...'
Without saying any word, Kisuke put forward his right hand and a green magic circle suddenly emerged on the floor under the three of them. "Kisuke... What are you doing?", asked Riveria immediately out of concern.
Ignoring her, Kisuke explained and asked Ais, "Contract Magic. If the Dragon agrees to be your familiar, you'll be able to feel each other's existence and condition at all times. You'll also be able to summon it to your side no matter how far apart the two of you are, of course, if there are no special conditions that prevent that. Would you like to do it?"
Just hearing the first 'feature' already got Ais sold and instantly nodded with enthusiasm, "I'll do it! Please let me do it!"
"Alright. Since you don't know how to use Contract Magic, I'm going to do it for you. However, you can't resist any changes it brings forth because that may cause some undesirable effects which may or may not endanger both of you. Am I clear?"
Ais stood up obediently nodding at his instructions, "I'm ready."
The light from the Magic Circle below them increased in intensity as Kisuke started the spell. Although it looked like the Magic that the Devils used to sign a contract with their familiars, Kisuke modified it to connect not just the two's Magic Sources, but their Souls too.
Doing it this way stabilizes and strengthens the connection between the master and the familiar, allowing them to feel each other's conditions far clearer than the Devil's Magic. On top of that, if one of them gets stronger, it has a small effect on the other, strengthening them, too, to some extent. In regards to recovery, each other's recovery would also be stimulated by the other's, bringing it to another level.
Of course, all of these boons have a downside too. For starters, this was the first time that Kisuke had performed this after devising this method some time ago. So it never left the experimental stage, albeit, he added various safety protocols that would protect the two sides in case something bad happens. Secondly, if one of them were to die, the other side would receive a huge backlash which normally just breaks the contract for either the master or the familiar.
As for the reason that he couldn't do any tests with this method? It was because of the issue of compatibility. Until now, it was only Ais and the Dragon who'd met the minimum requirements for this, despite always being on the lookout.
With him finishing the final touches of the contract, Kisuke thought, 'And theoretically, it's possible for the master to use their familiar's abilities and vice-versa, though I'm not sure if they will ever reach that point. In any case, I should secretly add a monitoring spell since it'll be my responsibility if something were to happen to them thanks to this experimental spell.'
The moment the Magic started, both Ais and the Dragon closed their eyes to calm themselves. Although both of them could clearly feel the changes that were happening, they were not sure what they actually were. However, they completely trusted Kisuke and tried their best not to interfere with it.
Finally, after two whole minutes of stillness, Kisuke said, "To finalize the contract, give it a name."
"Name?", muttered Ais as she looked down on the Dragon who was looking up at her, too. After a few seconds of contemplation, Ais was able to think of a name immediately, "Lysa... From now on, your name shall be Lysa."
Hearing that, Riveria's eyes widened as she recollected the time when Ais was just starting to open up to her.
["Riveria Ljos Alf... What does it mean?"]
["Hmm? Let's see... Although my given name doesn't particularly mean anything special, Alf is a very old word for Elf while Ljos means 'light'. In other words, Ljos Alf, my surname, means 'Light Elf'. Just being able to use Alf as my surname meant that my lineage was one of the oldest ones among the Elves."]
["Ljos... So that's why you're so bright, Riveria."]
["Fufufu, I don't know what you mean and how you came to a conclusion like that. That reminds me. If Ljos means 'light', Lysa means 'to shine' or 'to emit light'. Though it's fine if you forget about that since that's not part of your studies."]
["Lysa..."]
'It was only a quick and nondescript conversation while taking a break. I never thought that she'd still remember that...', Riveria couldn't help but smile at Ais, 'So you've found the source of your light, huh? That's great... Really great.'
On the one hand, while happy at this development, Riveria was also worried about the future 'Knowing Ais, she might just depend on this 'source of light' too much... No, that would certainly happen if nothing is done. All this time, I couldn't help her, but maybe now, it'll be my chance to give her guidance.'
The Magic Circle disappeared and Kisuke declared, "Contract completed. Now the two of you are master and familiar. Make sure to treat each other well, alright?"