"Maso! Maso!" Tobias had been running around the dormitory trying to find out where he was, because they were leaving so early.
"Patricia, have you seen Maso anywhere? He's not in his room and I need to tell him about the trip." Patricia had been surprisingly accepting of Tobias' request, probably because of Tobias and Maso's contracts. Contracts were not exceedingly rare but they were often hard to form contracts with, being stubborn or just not liking someone. If you made it pass out, through any means, you could contract it that way but it was frowned upon all over Estia. Recently, the capitol had imposed a death sentance for all who did so, stating that it was inhumane to contract via force when they were meant to be companions not slaves. Meaning being, it was not common for a contract to accept someone as their partner until the end of time.
"I think he was doing some repairs at the workshop." Still? Tobias didn't think he would stay back so late. Normally he was one of the first people back.
Tobias took off at a light jog his feet tapping beneath him on the cobbled paths his town used. Jauna was a small town, but still quite large when compared to some of the other towns in Estia.
As the oiled doors slid open he could see that his father was having a talk with Maso where he appeared to be explaining something to his friend. As Tobias came closer his father noticed that he had come in.
"Tobias! Glad your here, I'm explainin some things that'll help you on your way to the city"
"What kinds of things?" He had already been briefed on making it a short trip, so what could it be?
"Because contracts are used more commonly in the city, I felt like I should explain all of the aspects that your contracts can influence and change." Tobias raised his eyebors in shock. Normally this was something revealed at the end of a long ritual after their 18th birthday. He had heard rumours about what contracts could do, but never knew fact from fiction.
"There are a few main abilities I'll tell you about. First is transformation. You can conceal your Contract as a piece of equipment, relative to it's abilities. Gord would most likely be a blunt weapon or a defensive piece of equipment. Suzie would be a sharp weapon or a ranged weapon, as with most fire types. I'll show you." Bryce held up a hammer with perculiar patterns over it.
"This is my contract, a Gray Stone Gargoyle. Release!" The hammer slowly melted and then reformed into a gargoyle half the size of Tobias.
"The reason contract weapons are so effective is because their power is condensed and more finely harnessed. You will also gain a boost to your own abilities. Gamora, Return!" And just like that, Gamora was once again a hammer.
"Gamora's weapon form isn't of much use to me, but I still keep it around me at all times. Now you go and try it out." Maso was the first to retrieve Suzie from his shoulder and place her down on a desk.
"What do I say to make her... weaponize?" Despite his eagerness, Maso actually had no idea of what he was supposed to do.
"You can say anything, as long as you have the intent to transform them into a weapon. Try 'Transform' as a beginner command." Tobias could see Maso concentrate as much as possible, his eyes effectively boring into Suzies amber eyes.
"Transform!" Suzie transformed into a golden liquid, and then slowly reformed into a golden bow. It was the same length as Tobias' torso, and looked as though it was forged by the best smiths in Estia.
"Holy shit..." Tobias was amazed at how elegant it looked, and noticed the same pattern he saw on Gamora's hammer form.
"Why does Suzie have the same pattern as a Gargoyle?" Tobias looked to the only one who knew anything about this.
"We don't know. People in the city may know, but we certainly don't." Tobias grabbed gord from behind his leg and placed him in front of the table.
"Transform!" Once again, that similar liquid formed, this time black and gray, shrinking into a small puddle, and then shrinking even more, until it formed a small ring, carved out of what looked like a piece of Gord's pebbles. A different pattern was inscribed along the edge, this one seeming more like a language then an image.
"A ring?" Bryce looked down at the black object, and suggested that Tobias put it on.
"Rings are the rarest item for contracts to transform into, and they can do any number of things. So put it on, outside in case it's dangerous." So Bryce led them outside, back towards the storage area they had setup outside.
"C'mon Tobias!" cheered Maso,"Let's see what this thing does!" Holding his breath, Tobias slid the ring onto his finger, fearful of the numerous possibilities, when he felt a cold situation start growing from his right index finger, and saw a growing stone patch, not unlike Gord's skin, covering his own.
"No way... You have a sick ring dude!" Maso came over to where the bewildered stone boy stood, clapping his stony back as he too looked at the ring.
"You're not going to be able to wear that when your on the road, so i suggest keeping it in a secure pouch. You don't want anybody to know that your contracted. I also advise you to keep an eye out for more contractable monsters, because even if they don't like you, there's still something else you can do, which I'm about to show you."
"Tobias, remember when you saw my Stone Gargoyle? Originally, he was a pebble gargoyle like your golem. But he absorbed the energy of fifty other contractable monsters and morphed. There is no known limit to how many times a contract can morph, but it gets exceedingly harder to do so as time goes on."
"So we can make them stronger!?" Maso was almost too excited by this prospect, as he held out his bow and bounced up and down.
"Yes. But there is one more thing I have to tell you about your contracts."