Eugene approached Aldwynn slowly. It wasn't until he stood before him did he speak. "What do I need to do?" he asked in a low voice. "Things such as making contracts with spirits are unheard of. How did you learn of this method?"
"That's a secret," Aldwynn replied promptly. It was impossible for Aldwynn to divulge this information. After all, the method doesn't exist in this world at all. If he said he created it, when they got outside they might hear news about the original son of Duke Valshier. By then, how can he answer Eugene?
"For now, all I need you to do is..." Aldwynn raised up his hand. "Hold my hand."
Eugene stared at the hand before he looked back at Aldwynn with a questioning look. "In case you've forgotten, I am a ghost."
"Your point?"
"A ghost can't touch-"
"Right now, all of you are currently in the realm of living, not the spirit realm. Of course you can touch me," Aldwynn explained and as if wanting to prove his point, he reached out and grabbed Eugene's hand. "See?"
Eyes widening is surprise, Eugene tightened his grip. He could actually feel the warmth permeating from Aldwynn's hand, giving him a feeling of nostalgia. Then, he began to grope the hand experimentally, arousing the curiosity of the rest of the spirits. Aldwynn was amused by this so he simply allow Eugene to play to his heart's content.
Finally, one of the spirits could no longer hold his curiosity and took a step forward from the crowd. "Well, can you really touch him?" he asked as he reached out his hand, wanting to try and touch Aldwynn. It seems that he had expected to phase through because when he felt the resistance from Aldwynn and his hand actually touched something warm, his expression turned excited.
Seeing the spirit's face, the others also could not hold back their curiosity. One by one, they approached Aldwynn but before they could get within reach, Aldwynn told them to stop.
"Any closer and I will be frozen to death!" he exclaimed when he felt the temperature almost drop to a dangerous degree. "Stay at least 3 meters away from me. With my condition now, I can barely handle two of you," Aldwynn said out loud. "And if I kicked the bucket here, I can't help any of you! And worse, that would mean breaking my oath."
The spirits, though reluctant, listened to him and give him some distance. Aldwynn then looked over at the ghost that took the liberty to touch him. "You also go. What I'm going to say is for him alone," he said, gesturing to Eugene.
The ghost frowned and didn't want to listen so he grabbed Aldwynn's arm roughly, making him wince in pain.
Aldwynn's current condition was not the best. For one, his current physical body is weak and ladened with hidden injuries. Secondly, his soul is severely damaged. With these two issues, coupled with the frigid temperature due to the spirit's existence, even a light touch would send needles all over his body let alone being grabbed like how the ghost did.
"Before I send you to oblivion, let me go and move three meters away from me," Aldwynn said in a dangerous tone. Gone was his friendly expression and it was replaced with a cold, murderous look.
The spirit seems to sense some danger so he quickly let go and floats away as quickly as he can. If, he was still alive, he was sure that he would be sweating bucket by now if he didn't die from that gaze.
Now that only Eugene is close by, Aldwynn felt the temperature rise to a bearable degree.
"The existence of spirits make you feel cold?" Eugene suddenly asked.
"Yes. But don't worry. As long as they stay their distance, I'll be fine," Aldwynn replied. "Anyway, it's time for our contract. What I'm about to do next, I need your full trust and not reject whatever you feel later. Understand?"
"Is it dangerous?"
"Not at all," Aldwynn said in a relaxed tone. "At worse, the contract fails and your soul will go... poof!"
"... Is it too late to opt out?" Eugene asked. Then suddenly, he felt something warm invading his mimd and he saw the smirk on Aldwynn's face.
"It's too late."
Eugene heard Aldwynn's voice but he didn't see his lips moving. Based on what he experienced earlier, he could only assume that Aldwynn had entered his mind which actually took him by surprise. Usually, his first instinct would be to reject the intruder but remembering Aldwynn's word earlier, he relaxed his defense and let the other do as he wish.
'I'm already dead anyway, what else could happen?' he thought to himself.
As someone who had entered his mind, Aldwynn naturally heard Eugene's thought. But he decided not to comment on it. Plus, he is currently at a state where he must not be distracted. What he's trying to do now is to imprint his soul on the deepest part of Eugene's mind. And since his soul is damaged, he can't stay inside for a long time.
Soul Imprinting, if used on an item, would make that item belongs to you and you alone. Unless the person who did the soul imprinting is dead, it is almost impossible to steal the item and use it without permission. So what if you use this technique on a being with conscience?
It would simply mean that the being that is being imprinted will become that person's belonging, like a slave.
'Fortunately, this guy trust me enough to let his defense down but... I might have to disappoint him...' Aldwynn thought to himself. He felt a bit guilty for tricking Eugene like this, but it cannot be helped. Since his beloved disciple can betray him, he needs to take extreme measure as to avoid a repeat of such event.
What Aldwynn didn't expect was that this extreme method would one day backfire on him. But that would be a story for the future.
Almost a quarter of an hour passed and Aldwynn sighed in relief as he finally recalled his divine sense. He finished imprinting his soul into the deepest part of Eugene's mind and he also set three levels of restriction for the young spirit.
First level of restriction, Eugene cannot be too far from him. The furthest Eugene can be from him is 500 meters away.
Second level of restriction, Eugene can only listen to him. This is to say, if one day Eugene meet with someone who has authority over him when he was alive, unless Aldwynn allows it, Eugene will not be able to obey that person.
Finally, the third level of restriction, Eugene must never cause him any pain unless it is necessary to do so in order to save Aldwynn from an even worse situation.
If Eugene were to break these three sets of rule, he would be inflicted with a penalty. At first level, he would feel a heavy force pressing on him the further away he is from Aldwynn, until his whole beings will be crushed to smithereens. Then, he will have to work hard to regain his human form once again.
On the second level, Eugene would feel lightning shock coursing through him, making him uncomfortable everytime he goes against Aldwynn or listen to other people without Aldwynn's permission. The lightning shock would continue to increase in intensity until Eugene's conscience starts to dissipate. Once his conscience disappear completely, he will become nothing more than a soulless puppet without a will of his own.
As for breaking the third level of restriction... In the simplest form of explanation, he would disappear. Not dead, but disappear in a sense where his existence would be erased completely, as if he has never been born to this world.
Since the soul imprinting is complete, Aldwynn didn't bother to hide this fact from Eugene and simply tells him everything.
"This is the so called contract?" Eugene asked after he finished listening to Aldwynn.
"In a way, yes. Now that this thing is done, it's time for you to gain a corporeal body. As a Magnus, you should have access to mutant energy before, yes?"
To this question, Eugene nods his head.
"Can you use them now?" Aldwynn asked his question again.
"Of course not. Are you stupid?" one of the forgotten spirits answered Aldwynn's question. His tone was condescending, and his expression was as if looking at the most idiotic person he had ever laid eyes on. "Look, mutant energy is something a Magnus's body generate every day. Since he now has no body, how can he use mutant energy?"
"A mouth is attached to the body, since you now have no body, how can you still talk? Why don't you just shut up and fuck off!" Aldwynn retorted angrily.
"Bah! I bet you're just scamming people. We've waited here for a long time to see this contract thing of yours but you two are just holding hands, staring at each other affectionately with nothing actually happened! I bet you two are actually two fucking pairs of lover!"
