"You're being a nuisance…"
Ash did not hold back in the harshness of his words and the tone he used to utter them.
He paid no regard to the magnificent entity that stood before him, instead maintaining a deadpan expression as his white hair danced with the wind. His crimson eyes, narrow in their gaze, trapped the reflection of the golden entity as he regarded it with no reverence.
This puzzled the Golden Phoenix greatly.
~I will grant you power beyond what—
"It doesn't matter what you can grant me." Ash removed his eyes from the Golden Phoenix and looked into the forest around him.
He was sure the other Spirits were hiding around.
"I can find a Lesser Spirit if I look around, so please stop disturbing me." Ash muttered, slowly rising to his feet.
'In the Novel, Ashfelt contracts with a Lesser Wind Spirit and ends up dropping out of the Academy. That makes him an Extra who was only slightly relevant for a brief period in the novel—only appearing later during the Succession Event.'
If he wanted to adhere to the plot of the novel, Ash had to follow the path of the story.
He needed a Lesser Spirit for that.
~You're making a big mistake! I'm being frank with you here!~
Ash shrugged nonchalantly and left the Golden Phoenix as he walked towards the cluster of trees that were closest to him.
~C-come back here right this instant!~
He kept walking forward.
~I won't make this offer again!~
Finally reaching the edge of the forest, he found the Spirits—from Lesser to Higher—all hiding in flowers, or various parts of the lush green and multicolored layer of trees.
With the quality of his Soul—the one that came from Earth—he could have any of them.
But he desired only one.
"You." He called for a tiny green dot among the many others that lay suspended in the air.
"Come here."
The Spirit obeyed, shivering as it approached Ash.
For a moment, it glanced in the direction of the Golden Spirit that was clearly watching the whole thing in disapproval, but Ash urged the nervous Spirit.
"Don't mind that one… you're dealing with me." He called the Spirit closer. "No Spirit can hurt you once we leave this place… not even that jerk."
~ME? JERK? HEYYYY!!!~
Ash invited the small green Spirit into the palm of his hand, and was about to begin the binding ritual when the golden Spirit reached the limits of its patience.
WHOOOSH!!!
It rushed towards Ash, its bright light creating a trail of shockwaves that echoed throughout the space around them. The green Spirit scampered off in fright, completely overwhelmed by the presence of its superior.
~Fine! You win! Tell me whatever your conditions are!~
"Hm?"
~I'll accept whatever condition you make! As long as I become your Familiar, I don't care!~
Ash paused for a moment.
He calmly looked at the Phoenix and gave a discontent sigh.
"I guess it can't be helped…" With an annoyed tone, he laid out his conditions. "Enter an Unbreakable and Submissive Contract with me."
~Oh? You want to be my Submissive? You should have said that from the star—
"No. You'll be the Submissive, and I'll be your Master."
~....~
"Do you accept it or not?"
The look on Ash's face told the golden Spirit that he was serious, and the topic of discussion was certainly not something to joke about.
A normal contract made the Spirit and Host equal partners.
The contract was also voidable, as long as both parties agreed to the dissolution.
However, an Unbreakable Contract made it so that the Host and Familiar could never contract with another entity and would always be bound to each other. Adding a Submissive element to the contract meant one of the two parties would be the subordinate of the other.
In essence, a Master-Servant relationship.
These weren't unprecedented Contracts, as they had occurred in the past before. However, in the case of Supreme Grade Spirits, they were usually the ones to enforce the Contract and would often make their Hosts subordinates.
But—
~Do you realize what you're asking of me? You're telling me to become your Slave?!~
"Yes."
Ash did not bother sugarcoating his words.
His requirement for cooperation was impossible enough as it was, so there was no need trying to explain any further. Both parties knew exactly what the terms involved, and since it was Unbreakable, there was no room for re-negotiation in the eventual future.
This was the Status Quo that would exist until either or both of them perished.
"Do you accept it?" Ash asked.
In the Novel "Legend of the Lost Prince", Ashfelt Zephyr ended up contracting with a Lesser Spirit.
The difficulty of his conditions was guaranteed to chase off the Familiar before him and let him follow the original route set before him.
However…
~I-I accept.~
… Ash had no intention of following the original storyline.
He never did.
'Success!' He beamed internally. 'It looks like my pretense paid off.'
By pretending to be disinterested in the Supreme Grade Spirit, showing more interest in the Lesser Grade—however absurd it was—Ash ended up fueling the desperation of the Golden Phoenix and obtaining it as his Subordinate Familiar.
'I was surprised to see the Phoenix, but this makes it even more perfect!'
His original plan involved reeling in a Higher Grade Familiar, but he could never have expected his Otherworldly Soul to be so valuable to the Spirits.
'With this, I'll be able to achieve my ultimate objective.'
With a smile on his face, he stretched out his hand and reached for the Golden Spirit who reached for his hand as well.
As they touched, a brilliant burst of energy covered the entire space.
FSHUUUU
Once the explosive power dissipated, replaced by the soft hissing of smoke and dust, Ash was standing on his feet, with the Golden Phoenix—a Supreme Grade Spirit—as his Familiar.
"Now then…" He turned his attention towards the cluster of trees, once again spotting the green Spirit that was clearly drowning in the regret of running away.
Rather than ignoring it and leaving The Garden, Ash called for it to get closer.
~H-hey, what are you doing?!~
"...."
He said nothing and brought the green Spirit closer to his hand.
~We had a deal, didn't we?!~
"Be quiet, Nyx." Ash finally spoke, revealing something that was hidden within him all of this time.
~W-what? This is… how? Impossible!!!~
Hidden within his body—right next to the Otherworldly Soul that Nyx resided in—was another Soul.
"Contract with me, Lesser Wind Spirit."
The green Spirit instantly obliged, causing a small spark of energy to radiate within The Garden.
Once the light faded, the Spirit was gone.
It was now a resident of his unimpressive Soul—the Soul belonging to the original owner of the body that a 21st Century man from Earth occupied.
'And with that, I've accomplished my secondary objective.' Ash grinned widely, much to the exasperation of the Supreme Grade Familiar within him.
~You… what exactly are you?~
A silent chuckle escaped from his lips the moment he heard the question.
"Just someone who wants to change the original storyline of this world… starting from this point."
How exactly he would do that remained unclear—even to him. However, Ash could not ignore the message that was embedded in his mind ever since he arrived in the Novel that brought him his greatest joy and worst regret when he was on Earth.
[Want to Return Home? Change The World And Reach The Perfect Ending!]
'To do that, I need to gather as much power and resources as I can while using my knowledge of the original storyline.'
The problem was that in order to use his knowledge, he had to have a minimal effect on the storyline, since that would alter what he already knew—making his task more difficult than he needed it to be.
In essence, Ash needed to be strong enough to influence the story, while only influencing it at critical junctures in order to arrive at the perfect ending.
'So far… so good.'
And now, it was time for his final objective here.
"Listen carefully, Nyx, I'll need you to hide your presence once we leave this place. The Academy should only be aware of my Lesser Grade Spirit."
~Okay… whatever.~
"Also, I need you to do something else for me."
~What's that?~
Ash smirked at the question.
"You'll see…"