Chapter 4 The Hellhounds Just when the hat's soul merged with Kailey's, a bloodthirsty and scorching aura filled the laboratory, breaking the silence with howls of ferocious hellhounds. The hellhounds howled with rage, seemingly enraged by their failure to capture the lost soul that was here previously. They began emerging from a crack in space that suddenly appeared in the middle of the laboratory. The pack's leader barked orders as they ran out of the gate like a drill sergeant. They unleashed their innate flames while exiting the crack in space, which created a blaze that scorched everything in its path. The fire even spread to some adjacent rooms, burning the contents inside. Kailey felt the intense heat and quickly crouched on the floor to hide from the wolves and not inhale the smoke. Typically, a person's body would melt under such conditions, causing severe and irreversible disfigurement. However, as an apprentice witch, Kailey had natural protection through the development of her mana. By manipulating the mana within her, she could make her protection denser by focusing it through the mana circuits in her body. Manipulating it this way allowed her to withstand the heat from the fire, which only managed to melt some of her skin. However, as a precaution, she cast an element-based barrier spell to encase herself if the situation worsened. The hellhounds sensed the activation of a spell and prepared to attack the magic caster. However, when they saw that it was a little girl, they stopped their aggression. They continued their search, scouring every nook and cranny, finding nothing. Despite not finding anything, they solemnly retreated into the crack in space, aware they would face punishment from their superior for not catching the loose soul. When Kailey confirmed the hellhounds had vanished, she cast a wind spell to clear the ashes and smoke left behind from the paper, furniture, and lab equipment. After transferring all the debris out of the ruins through the air, Kailey noticed that the witch hat on the ground was somehow unharmed, bearing only some scorch marks. With the area's safety now confirmed, the soul that had merged with Kailey came out from her body with a contract stating, [The one who signs this contract is the sole owner of this object's soul until the day the initiator of the contract soul is destroyed and is unable to come back with reincarnation, in addition, any knowledge and abilities held within the object will only be given to the initiator of the contract if the contracted soul wishes to divulge the knowledge and or skills it has within itself].