Soea looked up at me, one of her hands reached up and cupped my face, "My lord, if you wish to reapply the slave spell, please do so."

"I will trust you, there is no need for that."

"Are you sure, my Lord?" She looked worried.

I found myself smiling as I nodded to her.

The reason that she felt like this was probably because I had told her the words of a Hero from books on Earth, "The only people that can be completely trusted are (magic) slaves."

This had come up after we had sex and were just laying next to each other, relaxing and cuddling.

She seemed to have taken these words to heart.

It was my fault.

"Can you cast a spell that will allow you to feel absolutely sure that I won't betray you, that you can trust me?" She seemed to not be worried about me using any kind of slavery or restriction magic, for some reason, she seemed to want it.

"As you wish," it was easier to give in here, to allow her to feel secure. though if I were to be honest, after scanning her mind, I now trusted her. Though I had detected something strange, like her soul was much thicker than a normal person, but it also gave off an oddly nostalgic feeling.

The spell that I chose to apply to her had no forced slavery or effects like that, it was more of a deterrent. If she were to consider betraying me, or disobeying orders, not that I would give her any except in extreme situations, it would cause her to feel severe pain.

It wasn't that I wanted to hurt her, nor did I any longer think that she would betray me, but she had asked for insurance.

I definitely didn't wish to cast a spell that restricted her mind or will, or forced her to feel servitude towards me, I wanted her real feelings to stay as they were.

Smiling down at her I applied a spell that had been modified by Master, and cast on me by her as well. It seemed to be a tradition of mine, which started with Master casting it on me, but after hearing about it, the girls I loved and who loved me would apply it on themselves and then on me, mutually showing our trust.

When I mentioned this to Soea, she smiled gently and said that she, for some unknown reason, trusted me explicitly and didn't need it. I suggested that I give her a blood oath, that I wouldn't betray her, or leave her.

She agreed happily.

Reaching down, I drew the Sigils on her forehead, and then again on her chest above her heart.

Once the Sigils were drawn I slowly reached down and grabbed her right hand, holding it gently I entwined our fingers. Pulling our joint hands up to my mouth I first bit her index finger and extracted a single drop of blood, and while keeping the blood in my mouth I bit my own index finger.

Combining our blood in my mouth, I reach down with my free hand and carefully supported the back of her neck as I raised her head.

Leaning down, I kissed her.

As our lips met, she opened her mouth.

I pushed the mixed blood in, and upon feeling it, she swallowed.

This was the final part of the spell.

"I swear upon my blood that I will not betray you, I will not leave you without reason or throw you away." I spoke quietly, our faces only inches apart. While I spoke, swearing on my own blood, I activated a spell.

I could no longer betray her, leave her without reason or throw her away. If I did so, the spell would activate and cause severe side-effects.

Of course, I could have mixed our blood and applied it a myriad of ways, but I both felt that it suited the mood, and I just wanted to, to kiss her.

She ignored the heat and slight sting of the Sigils as she looked up at me for a second before reinitiating the kiss, to which I more than happily complied.

After what felt like a few seconds, but I guess that it was much longer by the feeling of a lack of oxygen, she broke the kiss reluctantly.

Her face was flushed and her breathing disordered.

"You didn't need to swear to me...thank you, my Lord," Her voice was quiet, "is the spell complete?"

At my nod, she smiled happily and then paused for a second, "Not that I would doubt my Lord, but can we test it?"

This question was valid, she had seen how hesitant I was to use the spell on her.

With a soft sigh, I nodded.

"A simple test, just try to disobey when I order you to raise your hand. It will hurt...a lot. Are you sure you wish to do this?"

With a happy look at my worry, she nodded resolutely.

"Raise your left hand!" I felt a tiny bit of Mana drain out of my body as I ordered her, and she didn't move.

The symbol on her chest started glowing and she spasmed, with a pained gasp she raised her left hand. Her taut muscles relaxed and she moaned in relief as the pain disappeared.

"Sorry," I apologized as I stroked her warm hair.

She just looked happy, "Now I know for sure that you applied the spell, and with your oath, I am your willing slave, my Lord, you can have confidence." She stroked my face, "But maybe I should call you master?"

Her voice had a trace of mischief as she lent forwards and whispered in my ear, her lips so close that I felt her warm breath and smelt her fragrance, one of her hands snuck down and grabbed my crotch.

"Masterrr..." She purred quietly, her warm, wet breath brushing my skin, she began to nibble on my earlobe.

She laughed as she saw the look in my eyes, and felt the slight stiffening in my body.

I had frozen, mainly because her calling me 'master' felt so wrong, but also because of her actions.

It was as though she was still a Succubus.

My hands clenched behind her back, digging slightly into her now toughened skin.

I am not sure why I reacted like that.

Of course I also had the normal reaction of a male, and since she was still naked, my eyes were drawn to dangerous areas.

"Ahh, my Lord still likes my body." She said, looking happy, but releasing me. With a gentle look in her eyes she just embraced me, helping me to relax, she buried her head in the crook of my neck.

"Why did you tense up like that when I called you 'Master', my Lord?" I could hear the curiosity in her voice, an innocent enough question.

"I have never been called 'Master' before, though I have called someone else that, the one who both saved my life and gave me a new one. My Master trained me, made me what I am now. But when an incredibly beautiful girl, one who said she is my willing slave, calls me that... It scares me."

Knowing that I could completely trust Soea, I opened up to her more, I explained my thoughts. Though in all honesty, I am not sure of the full reason why I reacted like that.

Though it was likely the fact that someone depended on me, that someone trusted me that much.

Every time someone depends on you, it can be guaranteed that you will fail them badly, it will be even worse if they trust you.

"Incredibly beautiful?" Soea muttered softly, her arms tensing and pulling me tighter against her, as though she was trying to merge our two bodies.

It seemed the fact that I found her good looking was the part that stood out to her the most.

After gathering myself, and coughing a few times to clear my throat, I spoke again, "It is also because I don't deserve your devotion and trust, since I was the one who captured you with magic and forced you to serve me..."

I spoke softly, but the bottled up feelings I had were contained within the words.

Why did I open up to her that much?

"...My Lord," Soea looked at me with a feeling that I couldn't identify, "I will show you that the feelings are real."

Since I didn't know how to respond, I looked at her.

After a few seconds of this awkward silence, I gently helped Soea to her feet.

I had used up almost all of the Dragon reagents Transforming Soea, so after grabbing some of the meat, and the little left over blood, I had nothing else to do here.

It was time to leave.

But I never left this labyrinth without first visiting The Room, a place that held indescribable agony for me, a place that I could never forget.

Leaving the lair, I followed the familiar, and slightly dreaded, twists and turns which lead to The Room.

I could hear Soea following me, judging by her aura, she was one step behind me and one to the left. I was incredibly curious as to where she got this habit, maybe it was a remainder from when she was a Priestess and went through ceremonies with special walking or something, did it have any meaning or was I over-thinking things like usual?

It seems that my mind was wandering again, I wasn't looking forward to visiting The Room...I never did.

 

In the center of a rather plain looking stone room was an elaborate grave, which was constructed from a magically summoned--and reinforced with myriad enchantments--midnight-black onyx.

Impaled deeply into the ground in front of the grave, as though a tombstone, was a sword.

The sword seemed simple, looking like a rather badly carved wooden training sword, made from a plain-looking deep brown wood.

But carved into the surface of the blade, and inlaid with a golden material, were two words in a language that I couldn't read.

These were the only strange things about the sword.

Tearing my eyes away from the sword, I knelt before the grave.

"Your disciple greets you, Master. May you rest well for now... Someday I shall find your reincarnation, no matter how many eons it may take." I spoke quietly as I ran my fingertips slowly over the ice-cold stone, the enchantments stung my fingers, but I ignored the pain.

 

I buried her here when she died, because she wished to be buried where her body fell, while she never explained the reason to her wishes, I followed them.

The sword stabbed halfway into the ground was her favourite sword when she was alive, it never left her side.

Master had lived an incredibly long life, having made many enemies and explored numerous very dangerous places, but what took her life was a simple sword.

It hadn't even been wielded by an enemy.

She had believed that the sword may have been a Divine artefact, but when I showed an interest in it, she made me vow not to touch it except in the most dangerous circumstances.

While she was fine sacrificing her own life, she believed that I had a lot left in mine.

Soea had knelt beside me, and when she heard my quiet words she also spoke in a whisper, "Please bless your disciple...Great Master."

She prayed to my Master, asking for help, for me.

In a world with real gods, ghosts, and reincarnation, it was still common to pray to dead people. This could actually have some effect some time, which had been demonstrated by Master at least once.

While my words where only showing respect and renewing my promise that was one of the driving forces to my life, just below that of thoroughly destroying that bastard god, Soea had prayed for me.

After a few more minutes I got up.

Now I had to decide, could this situation warrant the use of Master's special sword?

This wasn't the Divine sword, but it was still powerful, it would be very dangerous to overuse or to use badly.

Seeing my doubt and hesitation, Soea took a step forwards and placed a hand on my shoulder, "Go with your gut, my Lord."

She was trying to help me decide what to do, but it wasn't that helpful, I wasn't sure what my gut was telling me.

With a sigh and a shrug, I grabbed the handle of the sword.

A massive rush of power swelled through me, originating from my core. I looked like a Super Saiyan as my hair stood upright and fluttered as though in a windstorm.

My aura visibly manifested, surrounding my body in a crackling cloud of deep darkness streaked with crimson light.

This was only the second time that I held this sword, the effect of which was to unleash all of the power and hidden potential in the wielder's body. If it was used for too long without a break, however, it would start to burn the soul, increasing the wielder's power exponentially.

Burning the soul was incredibly dangerous, in the best-case scenario the user would require a few weeks to heal their damaged soul and would be unable to use most forms of Magic until healed.

Releasing my hand from the handle, all of the strange effects disappeared. Instead, I carefully held it by the blade, just by the shoulder, just below the guard.

When not held by the handle, or used offensively, or defensively, the sword was an average wooden sword, so it didn't even require a special sheath.

Though Master did make a sheath for it, which I had left laying on the ground next to the sword. It was a normal sheath that was worn on the belt, at the hip.

Even though Master had carved a few words into the sheath: "My disciple shall not touch this weapon", I had to take it now. The time to use this weapon, to fight with it was rapidly approaching. I had to disobey Master.

Attaching the sheathed blade to my waist, I bowed once more to Master's grave before turning away.

It was time to leave, to go back to my base.

When I left the labyrinth, I took the quickest route.

Unlike when we entered, it only took a few minutes to navigate the complex and winding passages.

Soea was humming behind me, seeming strangely cheerful.

We left through a different entrance, because I needed to get the Dragon Soul for Soea, so that she could get the Dragon's knowledge of how to use her form and how to fight properly.

 

We emerged on the other side of the mountain. Before us was a sheer cliff, halfway down was a glowing orb which emitted immense waves of pure fire Mana.

An annoying howling echoed through our heads as we looked down at the Dragon Soul. While it had lost any form of intelligence and was only a large bundle of instincts, it still felt hatred for me, its murderer.

This is what I needed to put into Soea.

"Stay here." I spoke quietly to Soea and continued walking forwards, stepping into air, off the edge of the cliff.

Falling at high speed, the rocks sped past my view, I enjoyed the feeling of the warm wind rushing past me, as well as the feeling of weightlessness.

However this feeling didn't last long, because as soon as I was just above the Dragon Soul, I flapped my wings a few times and stopped falling.

The crimson light rapidly turned darker as it detected me, its form beginning to rapidly expand and contract.

Coating my hand in Mana, I reached out and grabbed the intangible soul.

As I compressed it between my fingers, it flickered madly.

After a few seconds, the Soul became inert.

I sent a Mind Probe into the now dormant soul, I had to make sure that I had erased all of the remaining innate rage and bloodlust that had been building over the time that the Dragon had been dead.

I didn't want to shove something like that into the subconscious of my important companion.

It seems I have changed how I think about Soea.

It took an unexpectedly large amount of effort to eradicate the emotions, leaving only instincts, which is what I needed this Dragon Soul for. After completely preparing the Soul, I flapped my wings, dispelling my levitation magic and rapidly flying back up the cliff.

Soea was standing and waiting patiently.

When she saw the glowing ball of energy in my hand, she looked confused, and interested.

Walking over, I placed my hand against her head.

With a soft buzz, the light soaked into her forehead.

She twitched slightly, her eyes going blank as she began to fall forwards. Since I had expected this response I easily caught her and holding her in a princess carry, I jumped off the cliff.

I found that I really enjoyed the feeling of falling, the sense of weightlessness, the strange feeling in my stomach.

Of course, I was more careful because of the cargo I was carrying.

Opening my wings with a 'thump', I absorbed the falling force and flapped a few times, starting to fly towards the last destination before going home.

I half flew, half glided, through the rapidly fading flames.

This mountain range would no longer be known as the Flaming Mountains, since the source was gone.

I moved very close to the ground, zigging and zagging between Monsters and around rocks, allowing them to get close before dodging by a hair's breadth.

Soea was factored into my calculations.

Though it may sound bad, carrying an unconscious person while playing high-speed tag with Monsters and rocks, I had placed both an Anti-Force and Warding Rune on Soea. In my arms she was both stable and perfectly protected, it would even be a rather comfortable ride.