What, free skills!? Sign me up. Upon hearing that, I snap my head over to meet her gaze, and she seems…excited…mischievous…both? Something else is going on here.
"M-maybe, could you tell me exactly how that would work?" (Mizuki)
Seeing my interest, she nods excitedly. Yeah, I smell fish.
"Essentially, you'd form a kind of contract with me! It'd be like me giving you a piece of my magic or essence and your body will incorporate it into your own. It goes the other way, too. Afterwards, both people usually get stronger, learn new skills, and form a deeper connection." (Nina)
That doesn't sound necessarily concerning…yet. But I've seen enough anime to know that this is how you end up with a dragon slave, or in some kind of weird, erotic soul bond. Not on my watch!
"I say it's only possible that you'll get the 'thought communication' because this is normally done between Elder Dragons. They both already have thought communication in those cases, so they just get more magic power, gain a bit of affinity with the other dragon's core element, and gain the ability to sense one another's locations and emotions." (Nina)
Hmm…a few concerns are arising in my head. She's also very obviously trying to put a positive spin on this without lying. She's looking at me patiently.
"What do you think will happen to me if we do this contract? Also, why do you seem so excited for it?" (Mizuki)
She hesitates for a few moments before answering.
"I think you'll probably gain some power, the ability to use thought communication, and you might get better at earth type spells. It won't turn you into a dragon if that's what you're worried about. You'll still look and feel like you, just with extra abilities and more of a connection with me." (Nina)
Okay, none of that is problematic in my opinion. I'd like some elaboration on this deeper connection thing, though. Nina continues explaining, but she starts watching how I react more carefully.
"As for why I'm willing to do it…I think I benefit in a couple of ways. The first is that I'm the weakest of the four Elder Dragons here. You're way stronger than me, and you are probably even stronger than Cerilia, the greatest of us Elder Dragons. So, I'm sure I'll become much more powerful, and I won't be the weakest of the Elder Dragons anymore. The other reason…" (Nina)
She looks at me hesitantly, obviously afraid of how I'll react to the following information. Jeez…she is really behaving differently these past few minutes.
Also, she's the weakest of them!? That's nuts! I was scared for my life, and I don't even think I saw all her power. She seems to think I could take her and the others in a full-on fight, but I'm not so sure. Not that I have any intention of finding out. I want to ask about the other Elder Dragons, but now doesn't seem like the time.
I nod for her to continue.
"…well, I said that you and I will have a deeper connection. That will include us being able to sense one another's location, and to some degree our emotions, and to talk to each other by thought communication without limits. So…I kind of thought it'd be nice if I could talk to someone who'd know how I feel and visit you anytime I wanted. B-but, I swear, I won't just come bothering you without asking!" (Nina)
She is staring at the ground through most of this admission, but after she mentions being able to talk to me and locate me whenever she wants, she looks up at me frantically while she tries to reassure me it won't be a problem. I feel kind of bad for her…she is obviously lonely.
I sigh deeply and think it over. Honestly, if the only downside is her being able to find me whenever she wants…while it's not something to take lightly, I don't think it's a dealbreaker either. She seems sincere about not abusing it. Also, I can already do the same to her, and I just showed up unannounced and disrupted her life. So, it'd make me a huge hypocrite if I rejected the idea based on that alone.
"Okay, Nina, I have one last question before I decide." (Mizuki)
Hearing that I didn't outright reject the idea, she starts smiling and nodding at me to ask my question.
"Can you think of any other downsides for either of us with this contract? Is it going to do anything weird like make it so that one of us can't disobey the other, or anything else really controlling? I want both our free wills intact. Also, can this connection between us be exploited by others? Like if I were to die, would you die too, or if you were to get a status effect of some kind, could it be transmitted to me through this connection?" (Mizuki)
Nina thinks it over silently for over a minute. Well, I'm glad she's at least taking my concerns seriously. After a moment more, she nods to herself before answering me.
"Nobody could exploit the connection – it's not physical or even magical. It's just like sharing a part of ourselves with each other makes us more in tune. As for our free will, you have no reason to worry. This is nothing like a slave contract, and you could even still kill me afterwards. However, it will make us more familiar and empathetic…we'll probably grow very fond of one another's company, but only by circumstance of understanding one another so well." (Nina)
None of that is bad news in my opinion.
"There is one potential downside, though. If we do this, neither of us would be able to form another contract with the other Elder Dragons." (Nina)
After saying this, she looks at me expectantly, as though it might change my mind. I don't care to do this more than once. I also guess it make sense that it's a one-off, otherwise you could go around getting power ups with all the dragons here. So, this isn't information that changes things for me.
What about Nina, though? She knows all the other dragons.
"Eh…I'm fine with that honestly. What about you though? Wouldn't you rather do this with one of your own kind than with a human?" (Mizuki)
Nina immediately shakes her head, and her face is vaguely annoyed.
"No, everyone except Cerilia has picked on me for being weaker. You've been more fun and kinder to me in the past hour than they ever have. I don't want this connection with any of them, so I won't regret it." (Nina)
Alright, well, that sounds final. She looks serious, and I have no reason to doubt her. I guess we're doing this!
I take a deep breath and prepare myself. Then, I smile warmly at Nina and give her my decision.
"Alright, Nina, I'm on board with this contract then. How do we do it?" (Mizuki)