Chapter 866 – Soon to be contracted
With Aiko calmed down, she was quite happy about the outcome, but it now all depended on how the Ancestral Beast would now feel.
'I hope she feels better... and is convinced about joining me.' With such a beauty by her side, there would naturally be fewer eyes on her. That would allow her to make plans and do things she would normally be unable to do.
'And I quite like looking at beauty, I also wonder how Mei and others would react to her.' Was Aiko plotting something? Perhaps, but it was fortunately not something bad... Hopefully.
"Uncle." Aiko called out her Uncle, wondering if he was still around.
"Yes?" Her Uncle appeared out of nowhere with quite the ecstatic expression.
"Did something happen?" Aiko tilted her head.
"Perhaps." Her Uncle was vague, but she could feel he was quite happy about something.
"What do you think?" Aiko was asking not only about her 'work', but also how her Soul was holding up.
"I would say it calmed down. We would have bigger issues if her Soul kept the previous 'state', but I think it would be wise to visit her again." The Uncle suggested that, mostly because he knew about their conversation, and it was always better to know the outcome of what you have done.
"Okay." Aiko didn't hesitate and immediately trotted over.
...
"I'm back~" Aiko yelled out, since the island was quite big, but now it had quite a different air.
Sure, it was still the forest she remembered from reality, a bit gloomy, very poisonous and hostile, but it was an improvement when it came to the 'feeling' over what she experienced before in this place.
"I'm here." A voice lured her over and Aiko was more than happy to oblige.
"How are you doing?" Aiko walked over, only to walk into a garden of beautiful flowers. She knew those flowers as those were the same that the Ancestral Beast had around her when Aiko first visited.
They had beautiful vibrant colours, but all of them were very toxic to anyone who touched them, and while she didn't need to worry about that, others should be warned just in case.
Most of the colours were white, yellow, red and blue, but there were also some purple, pink and shades.
It was rare to see a colour like black, grey or green when it came to the flowers themselves, but that just made them that much more appealing.
"Tending to my garden." The Ancestral Beast smiled at her gently.
"Can't you do it in reality?" Aiko tilted her head.
"Since I will be leaving soon, I won't be able to see my garden again." The Ancestral Beast shook her head.
"... Ah!" It took a moment for Aiko to realise what was just said, but she was overjoyed how smoothly everything went! She was also able to beat up that guy, so she was very happy how everything turned out.
"So I get: buy one, get one for free~" Aiko hummed before the Ancestral Beast pinched her cheeks.
"We are not items." The Ancestral Beast seemed like she was scolding her, but that was not the case.
Something as simple as that wouldn't make her angry and wouldn't make her want to correct Aiko. She just wanted to see if her Soul was still there.
The feeling was a bit foreign, so it seemed like her Soul was either too bloated or damaged, but the former was more likely as she was still like a watermelon.
"Of course not. You are too juicy and squishy for that." Aiko nodded her head seriously.
The Ancestral Beast stared at her as if asking her, 'are you serious?'.
And Aiko was definitely serious, a bit too serious since she was really beautiful.
'Wait, if both of them are that beautiful wouldn't Mei protest?' Aiko tilted her head. 'Nonono, Mei wouldn't be like that, right?' She was convinced there would be no issue over this!
"I'm glad you have decided to stick with me." Aiko smiled at her again.
"..." The Ancestral Beast didn't say anything. "Come visit me again, and we can do the Contract at that time."
"I will~" Aiko hummed, waving before leaving this place.
...
"She agreed, so what now?" Since Uncle was over, she didn't need to ask the system.
"Now we wait for a bit. Since the 'connection' was cut, we don't need to worry about her Soul getting bigger, but since it's now very stable, it might be a better idea to wait and see if her Soul would be able to consume some of that bloat." Uncle gestured towards the Soul that no longer quivered from the slightest touch.
"To make her stronger?" Aiko guessed the reason, and she was actually quite close.
"En, but you also have to keep in mind that your Contract is special." The Uncle smiled at her, patting her head.
"How special are we talking?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"It was one of the most polished techniques when Humans and Beast were just getting to know each other. It had many flaws, but the biggest benefit was clear. A reset of the Cultivation Stage, without the demerits of having your cultivation robbed or shattered." Her Uncle gestured as he conjured a few images.
"As you can see, if your cultivation gets shattered, all benefits from your hard work are voided. That means you will immediately age to the 'appropriate' age or just turn into dust if your actual age is higher than your expected age." The Uncle shifted the images. "Meanwhile, having your cultivation robbed, your vitality would be lowered, your pathways would be damaged or shattered. One could say it is fate worse than having your cultivation shattered, since at least in that case you would die almost immediately."
"However, in this case you would suffer until you ran out of lifespan or until they allowed you to die. As such you should die rather than wait for your cultivation to be robbed." The Uncle coughed. There would be no need for their Princess to know this, since she would never be in danger with them around, but sharing this knowledge might help her understand the circumstances better.
"Hmmmm... That kind of doesn't fit the punishment I would do." Aiko sighed softly.
"Well, we can talk about that later. Now, since you understand how you can achieve 'no-cultivation', you have to also understand the Contract side." The Uncle smiled.
"Let's start with what it does. It will null your Cultivation, returning you to the Animal Stage. It will null any damage you have gathered over your long journey and fix any severe damage, except for Soul. Furthermore, it can patch up the Soul, but not completely heal them if they are too powerful. Well, it also depends on their affinity and such, but it's better to assume that it won't heal them." The Uncle explained.
"Okay." Aiko nodded her head attentively.
"Now, let's talk about the benefits. You will remember every technique, without any negative effects. You will keep your wits, unless they were damaged by Fiendish Cultivation. Your body will be able to 'remember' what it practised over time if you practise the same techniques- Well, you understand right?" The Uncle chuckled.
"I understand. This was a technique used to lure Beasts to the Humans side, since it would allow them to grow stronger than what they were able to do alone. Moreover, it also doesn't kill them when the owner dies, so the Beasts would be able to live on even when the Cultivator reached the end of his lifespan." Aiko nodded her head. She quite liked how her Technique was shaped, but she couldn't use it on her companions, it simply felt wrong.
"You do still have to pay a price." The Uncle warned her.
"Oh?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"You have limited 'slots'. You can't trade the Beasts. And you also need sufficient enough Providence to make it happen." The Uncle explained, as it was important for Aiko to understand that it was not perfect technique.
"That doesn't sound too bad, since when my Soul gets stronger, I will be able to do more." Aiko smacked her lips. As for the other two. She didn't care about trading her cuties and her Providence...
[Providence: 10,000,000 (Suppressed by ####)(Capped by Mortal World)]
'Capped, so I don't care at all.' Aiko nodded her head seriously.
"Well, you still should be concerned about the 'slot' limit, but with your growth, it should be fine." The Uncle nodded his head.
"You should also keep in mind that those 'slots' do not increase in 'size'. The Beast will grow bigger over time so the 'slot's' size will not increase due to that. And if you can't keep up, the Beast will use more slots instead." The Uncle gestured.
"How about if I don't have enough 'slots'?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"The Contract will become loose and the benefits for both sides will lessen, so it's in both of their interests to make sure it will work out." The Uncle smiled, but he was slowly fading away. "Seems like my time is up. I have already helped you plenty, so I will have to leave before they throw a fit."
"That's fine, thank you for answering my question and explaining my curiosity." Aiko smiled at him.
"We are looking forward to meeting you, Princess." The Uncle was overjoyed that Aiko was not like the old Aiko, she was more cheerful and careful right now, both of which were important if one wanted to solve complex things and rule over others.
Depressed tyrants were sometimes the worst rulers...
...
Aiko blinked her eyes. She was back in reality, in front of her was a sleeping Ancestral Beast. She was as beautiful as before, but her complexion was not as bad as before.
"How did it go?" The Nightmare Owl stared at the Fox.
"It went well. I was also able to let off some steam, so I'm quite happy." Witch Aiko smiled, licking her lips. She was so happy for beating that bastard that she would even go for another round!
"..." The Nightmare Owl paused. "You didn't bully my sister, right?"
"Why would I bully your sister?" Witch Aiko rolled her eyes. Bully her and without bed? Never!
"By the way..." Witch Aiko looked around. "Where are the puppets?"
"Most of them disappeared, but the last of them are holding the perimeter." The Nightmare Owl gestured.
"Now that reminds me. How many are there?" Witch Aiko was curious about how many she was keeping around.
No, to begin with, those puppets were just extension of her-
'Ohhhh, is that why she was able to endure until now?' Witch Aiko didn't expect that such technique would help reinforce her Soul in such an unexpected way.
"Well, there were around 50 thousand inside our Clan and when you count the outside spies, around 200+ thousands?" The Nightmare Owl slowly nodded his head, like he was still counting.
Witch Aiko stared at him speechlessly. She felt something rising in her throat as a single trickle of blood left her lips.
'I can't believe she is a one-man-army girl...' Witch Aiko was pretty much outclassed when it came to this.
"I also heard from sis that they are around half her strength." The Nightmare Owl added, making Aiko almost faint.
"Wait, wait, wait a damned moment! Are you saying that she pretty much had an army that could easily bully all the Clans in this place?" Witch Aiko's lips kept twitching like crazy.
