Zeke roamed the Archmage's Soul without a clear path, contemplating the most probable location of the Slave contracts. As with any Archmage, the man's Soul had assumed a humanoid form, and the contracts had to be stored somewhere within.
Was there any further significance to the shape?
Zeke couldn't help but wonder if the vital spots of the human body corresponded to significant areas for the Soul. Of course, there wouldn't be an anatomical necessity for it, but he thought it possible nonetheless. After all, one's beliefs shaped the Soul in various ways.
Zeke wouldn't be surprised to learn that the head was made of memories revolving around strategy and planning. Even if he was wrong, it was as good a place to start as any. Following this line of thinking, where would somebody keep a prisoner?
The heart? The brain? The ribs? Well, they certainly looked like prison bars.
With a clear destination in mind, Zeke moved. He started with the head and continued to the heart without encountering anything like what he was looking for. From there, he made his way to the ribs and continued into the stomach. Despite the lack of tangible results in his search, the endeavor wasn't without merit. His ability to move within this realm of the Soul improved, and doing so granted him continuous insights into the intricate workings of a Soul.
One such lesson was to avoid the core of the Soul unless absolutely essential. While he navigated the outer layers with ease, his progress encountered significant impediments as he neared the core. Most importantly, his movement slowed to a crawl because he needed to proceed with extreme caution.
Zeke abandoned his strategy after inspecting all the vital organs. Either his theory had been wrong, or the Archmage didn't value the Slaves enough to hold them in a special place. From what Zeke had seen of the man's memories, he believed that the second option was likely.
With a sigh, he began to wander aimlessly, circling the body without a clear destination in mind. Instead of searching directly, he focused on his senses, trying to detect the faint presence of different Souls. Even though they were only tiny pieces, there had to be hundreds of them. Something of this scale wasn't easily hidden from his senses.
In his Soul form, he didn't have eyes and couldn't actually see. Rather, he was instinctively able to perceive an area in a small radius around him. If he had to describe the sensation, Zeke would say it was a very precise sense of hearing in a world where everything emitted a sound just by existing. It was an imperfect analogy but the closest Zeke could think of.
He circled the legs and arms, the neck, and finally, the torso. It was here that he finally discovered something. While hovering near the spinal column, he was struck by a feeling of incongruousness. It was faint at first, but the more he focused on it, the stronger the sensation grew.
He came to a halt, sensing the environment attentively. This was it. There were strange growths along the spine. They almost appeared like cancerous tumors, but he picked up the alien presence of a foreign Soul from within each one of them.
Contrary to what Zeke had expected, the Soul Contract hadn't manifested in the shape of a leash. Instead, tiny sparks of the foreign Souls were trapped here, like imprisoned children yearning for their homes.
This… this was not what he had expected, and the implications were horrifying.
If his guess was right, then a Soul fragment could stay connected to the Soul it originated from. As proven by the Slave Contract, this connection could then be used to influence the main Soul if certain conditions were met — even to destroy it.
Zeke remained frozen in place, contemplating what he had just learned. However, he soon had to stop this train of thought as his emotions grew turbulent. This wasn't the time. He would be discovered in moments if he lost control here. To get his mind back on track, Zeke forced himself to focus on his main objective.
Traveling along the spine, Zeke examined all the fragments. He somehow felt like he was back in his hometown, wandering the endless fields of Feldstadt, inspecting crops. It was a strange, weirdly reminiscent activity for him.
He had expected it to be difficult to differentiate the fragments from one another, but it wasn't. They each gave off a very distinct—smell, maybe? Or perhaps a taste? It was hard to describe, yet just as nobody would mistake a lemon for a potato, Zeke could easily tell the Souls apart. He wandered the fields, checking each spark until he finally found what he was looking for. He came to a halt in front of a tiny mound.
From within, Zeke sensed a presence that was both foreign and familiar at the same time. He was absolutely certain that he had never felt, tasted, smelled, or otherwise come across this sensation before. Yet, he also knew with absolute certainty that this was Soria.
What a weird phenomenon. It was almost as if Souls could recognize each other instinctively. Was this how slaves recognized their Master?
Zeke remained motionless, thinking about his next course of action. Now that he had actually managed to find her Soul fragment…. what should he do?
During his search, Zeke had closely inspected this setup, attempting to discern its operational mechanism. From what he could tell, there weren't any complex regulatory functions at work. Presumably, the Soul fragments confined within would be left without shelter upon the Master's death. Unable to subsist without a body, they perished. This, in turn, must somehow activate a self-destruct mechanism within the Slaves.
This was rather good news, as such a crude system was relatively easy to fool. However, the discovery left Zeke torn, unsure as to how to feel. On the one hand, this meant that he would most likely be able to save some of the slaves by sheltering them within his own Soul when the Archmage died. On the other hand…
Zeke remembered the endless fields. How many were there? It wasn't only hundreds, was it? For once, he was glad that Akasha wasn't with him; otherwise, she might have told him the exact number. But even without her, he was certain that it had to be at least a thousand.
A Thousand Souls.
And he could save how many? A handful? Somehow, this made him feel a lot worse. In his mind, their deaths had transformed from a necessary sacrifice to something else. Their deaths were no longer inevitable but would only occur because he wasn't strong or fast enough to save them. Even if the end result became a bit better, his perception had changed for the worse.
No. Zeke shook off those distracting thoughts and refocused his mind.
Now that he had found the fragment, he was certain he would be able to infiltrate Soria's Soul. However, he hesitated. Was this really the best way to go about this?
His original plan had been to infiltrate her Soul and consume her memories. Afterward, he was going to send her back to fight it out with the other Slaves.
It wasn't a great plan by any means.
For one, she could rediscover his location using the same method she had used the first time. Also, he felt rather guilty about sending her back now that he had gotten to know her. Even so, the plan had been his best option. But what about now? Now that Zeke knew how primitive the Slave contract was, he had another option.
The main reason he needed to destroy Soria's memories and send her away was because he couldn't trust her. As a Slave contracted to another Master, she couldn't keep his secrets, even if she wanted to. However, what if she wasn't contracted to another Master anymore?
Zeke's attention returned to the fragment buried in front of him. If his guess was right, her contract with the Archmage would end the moment he removed this fragment. After all, this was the same procedure that made the transfer Ritual possible. Afterward, all he needed to do was keep the Soul fragment from dispersing while he retrieved it.
This course of action could lead to the best possible outcome. However, it wasn't without risks. For one, he could not afford to be discovered. If he lost his tether while carrying Soria's Soul fragment, she would die. Also, he couldn't yet be sure if he was even capable of doing it.
Even so, Zeke wanted to try. He couldn't let the fear of failure deter him at this critical juncture. Also, if he didn't dare to do anything, the girl was as good as dead. With a new sense of determination, Zeke got to work.
The first step was to envelop the Soul fragment in a protective layer. It was of utmost importance that he kept it from dispersing after excavating it. His movements were slow but deliberate. He would not rush this, no matter how long it took. Soria's life depended on him.
After what felt like an eternity, Zeke finally managed to extract the Soul fragment. With a tired sigh, he inspected his work. The end of his Soul tether had formed something that looked like a cacoon, fully encircling the tiny fragment. This reminded him of the first time he had practiced his [Teleportation], trying to form a shroud around his body.
Zeke smiled. He had actually managed it. Even though he still needed to escape this place, the most critical part was now behind him. All that remained was to leave without being detected. Still, Zeke didn't dare drop his focus for even a moment. It would be a real tragedy if he were discovered at the very last moment.
As it turned out, traversing the Soul with baggage was many times harder than expected. His speed could not even be called a crawl. Often, Zeke was forced to take two steps back only to take a single one forward. Even so, he remained undeterred as he made his way back.
By the time he left the Archmage's Soul, a sense of profound tiredness assaulted him. Zeke couldn't tell how much time had actually passed, but it felt like days. This was not a level of focus a human being should retain for such a long time. Nonetheless, it had all been worth it.
Focusing on the bead at the end of his tether, Zeke's tired mind rejoiced. He had done it! He had managed to liberate Soria from her contract with the Archmage! Now, all he needed to do was to store her Soul fragment into his own—
All of a sudden, his thoughts cut off.
Wait a moment. Was that really the best course of action? Should he really store her fragment in his own Soul? As a result of that, she would become his Slave. However, wouldn't it be better if he returned the Soul fragment to her instead? After all, she had been tricked and had never agreed to become his Slave. Hers was different from Ash's situation, who had willingly agreed to join the Lion's Den in order to become stronger.
On top of that, Zeke was incredibly curious to learn what would happen if a Slave regained control of their Soul fragment. Would their contract disappear? Would they become their own Master? There were so many potential outcomes that it was impossible for Zeke to know for sure. However, he was eager to find out. With his mind made up, Zeke changed course. Instead of returning to his own Soul, he approached Soria.
Just as he was considering ways to return the fragment, something magical happened. The unassailable fortress that was her Soul opened up. Or was it more accurate to say that it came to greet him? It seemed as if her Soul instinctively sensed the presence of the fragment within his tether and eagerly awaited its return.
Under normal circumstances, Zeke would have been excited to study this phenomenon. Now, however, he was too tired to do anything of the sort. Instead, he opened up the end of his tether and released the fragment inside Soria's Soul.
This was the last thing he remembered before everything turned to black.