Viktor's bats brought Ray near to their hiding spot behind the boulder, Ast focused on his hand and the nails on his hands became sharp and huge. Before Ray could arrive Ast had asked Luna to hide in his summoner's space.
Summoner's space was a special space unique to each individual and was present even within the weakest of humans. It was a place where all the pets of an individual could reside and exist, the vastness and quality of this place varied from individual to individual and was considered a truly mystic place.
Luna was Ast's first pet so he had no idea how his own summoner's space looked, as only one's pets could enter this space.
Luna vanished and a coloured tattoo appeared on the left side of Ast's chest. Ast could still hear Luna's voice in his head.
"Wooooooowwww, Ast you won't believe what I am seeing here, you have a unique summoner's space," said Luna in a very surprised tone.
"Luna we will discuss this later, our guest has arrived," said Ast with a smirk.
Ray was brought behind the huge boulder and the bats dropped him from some height, Ray screamed in pain when he was thrown to the ground. Ray was treated like a sack of cheap goods and this infuriated him.
As soon as Ray opened his eyes and became aware of his surrounding, he saw someone standing behind him with a sharp object pointed at his neck.
Ray tried to wiggle his way out of this situation but he was scared shitless when he saw that the man holding him was too powerful and all his attempts were futile in front of overwhelming power. Ray wasn't able to move an inch and on careful observation, he saw that the sharp object at his neck was not a weapon but simply a nail of the man holding him.
"Now listen carefully or you might lose your life. Your pet is running towards here, make it quietly sit over there in a corner, if it attacks, you are dead" said Ast in a threatening tone.
Zeta the flame lion quickly arrived and saw its master captured. Before Zeta could try and free its master Ray shouted and ordered it to sit in a corner and not move until he orders it to.
Zeta complied and sat in a corner, but it was still vigilant towards the strangers. Zeta noticed the gaze of Anna who was looking at Zeta with pity and curiosity. Zeta was surprised by the pity in Anna's gaze.
Zeta was captured by the Nero family when it was in an egg and it had no knowledge about its real family. Zeta didn't care much about Ray and only follows his command due to the pact that it had with Ray.
Ast knew he can't wait for Ray to follow all his commands so he simply activated one of his skills for the first time. A red insignia appeared on his index finger which he pressed on Ray's forehead.
Slowly Ray was engulfed by the red mist which appeared out of nowhere. When Ray opened his eyes, his pupils were red, his skin has a pale colour to it and his teeth were becoming sharper by the second. Ray was trying to catch his breath as his body was going through a transformation.
Ray was now becoming a ghoul, an undead with great physical prowess and a hunger for raw flesh. Ghouls have the highest pain resistance among the undead (yes even the undead feel pain) and were known for their never-ending stamina.
After his transformation, Ray's pupils were blood red his skin pale and his teeth sharper than a blade. Ray kneeled toward Ast and said, "Your servant awaits your orders master".
" Good, can you retain your previous appearance, your position in your kingdom will be useful to me, " asked Ast
Ray nodded his head and changed back to how he used to look as a human, but he told Ast that while in a fight to be able to use his powers he would have to remove his disguise.
"That's fine for now, now remove your pact with your pet," said Ast
"Master my family in the kingdom would become suspicious if I do that"
"Don't worry about that just tell them that your pet was injured in this attack by strangers and died and tell them that we came at the last minute to save you, so we will become your saviours and just ask them to give you another powerful pet"
On hearing Ast's command Ray closed his eye and focused on his pact with Zeta. The tattoo on Ray's hand suddenly started disappearing and Zeta was not bound to Ray anymore.
Zeta also observed the changes and was happy that after such a long time it was finally free. Before Zeta could run away Ast appeared in front of it and punched Zeta. Zeta crashed on the boulder behind it and howled in pain.
Zeta was angry and wanted to blast Ast away with his flame attack but before it could do so it noticed a white flame on Ast's hand. Zeta was terrified seeing this flame as it could feel its life threatened by this ordinary-looking flame.
Zeta lowered its head and kneeled in submission urging Ast not to attack. Ast was shocked seeing Zeta so submissive and threatened to see his 'soul flame'. A beast like Zeta who has learned to wield the fire element was aware of the dangers of 'soul flame'.
Ast brought out a soul contract and placed it in front of Zeta. Although it was near impossible to tame an adult beast, a soul contract was a loophole as it would simply bind the beast to someone, making forming a pact unnecessary.
But usually, a beast would prefer to die rather than be a slave to someone but Zeta was an exception as it had spent all its life as someone else's pet so Zeta upon seeing the contract simply put his paw on it and the soul contract dispersed in golden light.
But the strange thing was that it was not Ast to whom the contract was attached, but Anna. The soul contract dispersed into golden particles some of which entered Zeta and the rest attached to Anna. Anna was also surprised by the turn of events and looked at Ast.
"Anna it is your pet from now on, it would always prioritize your safety and would obey all your commands so grow stronger with it," Ast said with a smile on his face. Ast did this to make Anna stronger and also as an apology towards Anna whom he had scolded for the first time earlier. Ast really did have a soft spot for kids.
Anna was surprised and happy, and again tears started to well up inside her eyes but somehow she managed not to cry. She understood Ast's motive and was touched by how much he cared for her. She also felt guilty for questioning him again and again.
She walked towards Ast and simply hugged him. Ast noticed that Anna was crying he heard her small voice "Thank you, big brother, I will listen to you from now on I promise"
Ast stroked her head calmy and a warm smile appeared on his face. He too understood what Anna might be going through and decided to go easy on her from now on.