Cyrus stood next to Roland's protective barrier bowing as he had introduced himself to the lord of the castle. Waiting for the moment that Cyrus could inspect Roland's condition while he healed himself with one good final heal. He managed to heal himself back up to full as all his stats were doubled at the time and all his CEP costs were halved. So healing at that moment was better to recover himself. The green chains wrapped around his body and slowly vanished as they had recovered his wounds. He then summoned Grimm who had the ability to use the Regenerations Spell to possibly heal Roland's missing arm.
When Roland saw Grimm he blinked as the barrier had finally broken, the waft blood filled Cyrus' nose as his senses were incredibly sharp. Roland looked up at Grimm as the book turned to look at him, "My old friend, I see..." He coughed up some blood, "I see you have found a suitable companion to follow." Grimm blinked then began to cast a Regeneration Spell on Roland. His body slowly recovering from the damage he had sustained. Slumping back into his chair, Roland smiled and looked to an arm that was tossed aside and nearly dissolved by the shadows. But with Grimm's spell he figured it could be recovered.
Cyrus walked over and picked up the arm and saw that the bone was exposed and flesh was missing. He could not detect any trace of the shadows anywhere in the room or even within Roland himself. Which for him and the ones that cared about Roland was a good thing. For Chase, Thomas, and Godfrey wouldn't lose their father and friend tonight or any time soon. Walking back over and holding his lost arm to the stump that had partially healed. Allowing the spell to take effect and reconnect the arm and begin growing the muscles and skin back to the limb. Cyrus watched Grimm work as Roland looked at him, examining him like he was being put under a microscope.
"Child of the Reinhard family, Cyrus Reinhard, you have my gratitude and my personal respect and thanks for saving my life from the shadows." He said, siting upright slowly, not wanting to accidently mess up the healing process. "You have climbed all this way, faced many obstacles, fought many creatures of the shadows, and even defeated my servant Thane in combat." He closed his eyes, "May he rest in peace and return to us soon." Cyrus felt a twinge in his heart as he heard Thane's name. He was a little confused as to why he claimed he would return soon.
"Sir, I don't know if Thane will ever return." Cyrus said plainly, his heart feeling heavy again then steeled himself. "He... He didn't wish to be saved because he wanted to die still serving you. He was thankful for all of us to be there when it happened though." Roland looked at Cyrus, sensing his mind growing sad. Nodding Roland closed his eyes and rested his head on his right arm.
"He shall return one day, Aspects never truly die they just take time to return to the world. Thane has died countless times," however, he had a smile on his face, "I am just glad he got to die this time not with hatred in his soul." He looked to Cyrus, "Do you happen to have anything that belonged to him?" Cyrus opened his inventory and summoned Thane's Scythe and the Reaper's Cloth. The items materializing in his hands. Roland's eyes widened and then relaxed, "Good, then you can summon him back to life now that the door is also opened." Cyrus was confused for a moment then looked down at the Scythe's information.
[Thane's Scythe has the power over death, using its power can bring back the dead with the souls that have been reaped from within the scythe. If Thane has perished and the holder of this scythe chooses, they may revive Thane as part of a ritual.]
[Possible Summon available!]
[Complete the ritual to summon Thane from the plane of Death and Lost Souls.]
Cyrus looked at Roland and smiled, "how do we get him back?" Roland became happy that a human would even ask how to bring back a being of Chaos after defeating them. But he wondered if Thane would come back knowing he was being reborn not by himself. The ritual allowed Thane's soul to return to the world of the living as long as someone knew how to do it. If there was anything Roland could reward the human who saved his life, Thane was an excellent choice. Roland looked to his arm as the skin was mostly healed and the arm was reconnected but not strong enough to move on its own yet.
"You will need to draw an incantation circle, a drop of your blood, his scythe, his cloth, and finally the blood of the previous owner." Cyrus looked at Roland before looking for anything to write with. However, Roland snapped his fingers and a magic circle had formed on the ground. "I can conjure the circle but you must do the next stages on your own. Follow my words and commands to return him to us." Cyrus nodded and was listening intently to everything Roland was about to say. His eyes gleaming with hope that he could bring him back from death and see the faces of the brothers all happy to see someone they knew returned to them.
"Place the cloth in the center, then draw your finger across the blade and drop some of your blood on the cloth." Cyrus did as instructed, placing the cloth scrap in the center and then holding his finger along the blade. He had never intentionally cut himself before, but he would to save someone. Drawing his finger across the blade he got a notification immediately after dropping blood on the cloth.
[Thane's Scythe ritual initiated]
[Warning! Currently owned summon, need permission from current owner]
Cyrus looked to Roland which gave him the cue to stand and walk over to the circle. Pricking his finger using his finger nails which grew to a long length as if controlled to do so. Then the blood of Roland dropped on the cloth.
[Ritual for transfer of Thane to Cyrus Reinhard from Roland Galihath]
"Repeat after me," Roland said, as he saw Cyrus about to interject about something. But was silenced as he nodded, "I Cyrus Reinhard, wish to make a contract with the Aspect of Death. Owned by Roland Galihath, would Thane return to the living world and become my servant as bequeathed to me by your previous owner." He repeated the words, at first nothing happened. This was because Cyrus looked at the notification that had given him the choice to accept the transfer. He looked up at Roland and with a gentle smile from Roland, decided to accept the transfer.
Cyrus felt as if his blood went cold as he suddenly felt a black barbed chain stab him in the chest piercing his heart. The cloth had released the barbed chains from itself as one had also attached itself to Roland as well. Then he could see the chain inside Roland begin to pull out an energy from within him and transfer it to the cloth. That is when purple energy swirled around and began to reform skeletal feet and robes. It continued to grow and travel up and reform the upper torso and head of Thane, the Aspect of Death.
Not believing his eyes as he saw Thane now returned to life, though Thane was looking at Roland when he did return. His lit eyes looked down seeing the cloth and blood on it. Returning to Roland then to Cyrus he spoke, "Is this what you wish for Master?" Roland smiled and nodded to his old friend.
"He saved my life and saved your soul from a long path of hatred that I had felt and transferred to you as my connected partner." Roland closed his eyes briefly, "You have suffered as I have suffered from my grief and hatred. So I wish to free you from it and hope you'll do me one last request as my friend. Become the Reinhard's new contracted Guardian and see the human world with him Protect the one who saved our whole world from the Dark Ones." Thane looked down at Cyrus who was holding his chest and squinting in pain. Then slowly nodding, his then began to turn into a purple stream of energy that flowed back into the cloth.
As the last tail end of the energy entered the cloth it then traveled up the chain that connected to Cyrus' body and flowed into him. Cyrus could feel the energy enter his body and not just that, but his soul as well. Like a outer layer of his soul was being covered by a shroud of cold, but also life. It began to subside as the chain dissolved returned to the cloth and giving him a moment to breathe. Seeing Cyrus make it out okay and his soul accepted Thane as a contracted summon Roland went back to the chair and sat down. Cyrus slowly stood as he watched the items he acquired from Thane return to his inventory as a new tab appeared.
[CONTRACTS (1/3) unlocked]
[1. Aspect of Death, Thane: Reaper Type]
[Find more Shackles to unlock more Contracts!]
That is what also drew Cyrus' attention as he was starting to see a pattern. If he acquired another shackle, he would gain more power and push his limits further beyond than what he currently locked at. Looking at Thane in his Contracts list he saw he could actually equip him with weapons and different gear as he had his own slots. He felt it was right to return the scythe back to Thane as he would never use that kind of weapon at the moment. Plus the cloth actually could be given to Thane to increase his "Connection" to Cyrus. He didn't understand what that would do at the moment so he decided to leave that out for the moment.
As the ritual had completed he had gotten the notification form his system that the Chaos Tear had begun to return to normal. That is when Chase, Thomas, and Godfrey came through the portal and saw everyone was okay and Roland was alive. The two brothers embraced their father who gave them gentle pats and reassured them that he was fine. While Godfrey gave Cyrus a heavy pat on the back that nearly knocked him to the ground.
"Good job Cyrus, I knew you could do it." Godfrey gave him a big smile and walked over to the family of the Galihaths. Cyrus smiled and rubbed his back as he watched them all happy to see one another. He then looked down before turning to walk away, but hearing Roland speak to him stopped him in his tracks.
"Cyrus Reinhard, you are the first human who has show us mercy and respect that is of the Reinhard family. If you ever require our aid or need something from me personally, please don't hesitate to get in contact with us." Cyrus then smiled and bowed to the lord.
"I believe Victoria Ravencrest will be my contact to speak to you directly sir, please speak to her as she has pledged herself to me if I saved you. I hope you can do what you can to help support her and through her, me. Thank you, and I will be in touch." Cyrus then turned and walked back through the portal. Seeing Yuri carrying Samantha in his arms and waiting for the worlds to separate. When seeing Cyrus who quickly had Vexxitiz cover his head in the shadowy cowl gave him a nod. Cyrus walked over and told Yuri all that Marcus had told him and his superiors blushed as he nearly let go of Samantha. Who just scolded him for almost doing so which made the whole situation better.
As the worlds were returning to normal he got his final notification for the rewards of surviving the castle, saving the Lord Roland Galihath, defeating Marcus and the shadows, and surviving his first Chaos Tear. He had gained a lot of items and Chaos Meter for completing the quest. It was finally time to return home and get some rest.