"I am her." Rosalyn answered, placing her hand on her chest, smiling mischievously, "Why is such a cutie asking for little 'ol me?"
"I need help from the best physician-scientist in the world." Sam sighed, shivering inwardly while maintaining a resolute façade.
"Oho!" The young girl exclaimed as she started kicking her legs as she smiled down at the young man. The dark fishnet stockings masked the porcelain skin of her legs.
She jumped from the railing, the ribbons and her curled pigtails fluttered behind her as she stuck her arms out and landed on the stairs before she smoothed the large black and white frills of her dress.
"What can Rosa do for the cutie?" She asked, smiling and tilting her head as she held her hand out, expecting a kiss.
"I have a proposition for you." Sam answered, reaching out and shaking her hand as a window appeared in front of him, and he quickly dismissed it.
╔══The Target's Ability [Fountain of Youth] is immune to the effects of Soul Thief.══╝
"Hmph." Rosalyn huffed, pouting as she crossed her arms over her chest, "The cutie is not the gentleman Rosa believed he was."
"Is this your office?" Sam asked, ignoring her antics as he walked past her toward the only door on the floor, "Can we speak for a moment?"
"Of course, the top floor is Rosa's office!" She exclaimed, her face beaming as she ran past him and grabbed the door handle, opening it.
"Hu hu hu!" Rosalyn exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand, revealing a humongous space with expensive furniture laid out in various locations.
Sam entered, admiring the beautiful artwork on the walls and the lush ferns decorating the space. Through a glass panel led to an open-air zen garden on a large balcony with marble benches.
Rosalyn skipped past him and around the corner, past a pristine marble kitchenette and down a hallway to her desk. She hopped in the oversized leather chair and spun around, facing her back toward the entrance.
Sam slowly followed her, admiring the space before walking down the hall after the young girl. As he entered the office and grabbed one of the armchairs, she spun around, placing her elbows on the desk and cradling her head with her hands.
"Can we cut the theatrics?" Sam sighed, sitting down in the chair across the desk from her.
"Boo! You're no fun!" Rosalyn exclaimed, rolling her eyes before she stuck her tongue out. She rolled her head and stretched her hand toward him, "What's the proposition?"
Sam smirked as he held out his own hand, and a black paged scroll materialized from a thin blue flame between his fingers. Words started to burn on the scroll as soft, glowing blue ink spelled out the terms of the contract.
"Take your time and carefully read the terms and conditions." The young man grinned as Rosalyn snatched the scroll from his hand and started reading it, "I'm sure you'll find them acceptable."
This was his new skill [Soul Pledge]. He created it when he awakened the last group of people and used [Soul Thief] to copy a man's [Binding Oath] Ability, merging it with [Soul Ties].
[Soul Pledge]
[Rank: EX]
[Page 1 - This Ability has numerous effects. Active Effect 1: The User can select a target that will become bound to the User as a {Soul Tie} or create a contract to form a {Soul Contractor}. Active Effect 2: Temporarily increase the influence the User has over a Target.]
[Page 2 - Passive Effect 1: The User will have increased influence over those bound. Passive Effect 2: A portion of those bound's power will be transferred to the User. Passive Effect 3: The User can locate those bound to them and will receive additional information on them. Limitations: {Soul Ties} 2/2 - {Soul Contractors} 0/2. As the intimacy of those bound increases, additional slots will become available.]
Rosalyn slid the contract across the desk, "Only a blind man would agree to this."
"Everything listed is fair." Sam countered, placing his hand on the other end of the contract and sliding it back.
"Indeed..." Rosalyn nodded, "The problem is there's no way for Rosa to confirm what the cute one is offering is real."
"I can provide evidence if you don't believe me." The young man closed his eyes, shrugging his shoulders. He turned around and reached into his bag, pulling out a Beast Core and a bottle of water.
"If the cute one can do it, why is Rosa required?" She asked, leaning forward as she stared at the crystal curiously.
"I can't." Sam sighed, shaking his head before reaching into his bag once more and bringing out a bowl, placing it on the desk. He put the crystal in it and poured water until it was filled halfway.
"Use your Ability." Sam instructed, extending his hand toward the bowl, "You need to dissolve the crystal."
"How-" Rosalyn started to ask but was cut off by the young man, dismissing the question and telling her to start as it wasn't important.
She rolled her eyes, leaning forward in her chair, inching closer as she held her hands out over the bowl and closed her eyes. Her Ability gave her absolute control over water molecules.
Her eyes shot open as she felt a foreign liquid within the Beast Core and stared at Samael incredulously before the water started to swirl in the bowl.
A thin layer of steam rose from the center of the bowl as the Beast Core slowly shrunk, a small stream of silvery liquid following the flow around the bowl from the miniature whirlpool.
After a moment, the crystal had vanished entirely, and the liquid was thoroughly combined with the water, leaving a small pool of shimmering silver water.
The young man reached into his coat, pulled out a small knife, and leaned forward, holding his hand over the bowl. He slashed across his palm, pouring his blood into the mixture.
"Continue." Sam said, pulling out a rag and holding it against his palm as he leaned back into his chair.
Rosalyn narrowed her eyes as she stared at him before staring intently at the contents of the bowl. She held her palm over the bowl momentarily before her eyes widened in shock again, quickly closing them.
Suddenly, the blood in the silvery liquid started to snake its way around the surface before another whirlpool appeared in the bowl. Steam formed again as the liquid began to lightly boil.
More steam was produced as the blood was blended into the liquid, dying it crimson. The young man leaned forward, taking a large swig from the water bottle.
He checked how much remained before taking another drink and slowly poured the remaining water into the center of the whirlpool. The boiling vanished along with the steam as the rotation slowed, coming to a stop.
Rosa slowly opened her eyes and stared down at the dull glow emanating from the bowl curiously before staring at the young man as he removed the cloth to reveal his slightly bleeding wound.
"Congratulations, Dr. Garcia." Sam said monotonously, leaning forward and picking up the bowl, filling the water bottle with it, and putting the cap on before he slid it across the desk.
"You just created the world's first Health Potion." He added, raising the bowl to his lips.