Threads of the Soul

Of course, it would be impossible for Seth to entirely take credit for the design of the bonding devices. He would begrudgingly admit that the basis of the design came from the soul searing collars that the Hemogoblins used to enslave their beast army.

But that was simply the basis of the idea, and the end result was so far removed from that barbaric device that it would be like comparing a LED light to a flaming stick, simply because they both produced light.

While their design focused on attacking the beasts soul, and simply torturing it through searing pain until the beast either obeyed or died, Seth's design was based on the most intrinsic part of any relationship. Consent. Well, so long as you ignored the part about some people beating their beasts into submission, but that was definitely just about earning their respect.

His design was worn by the human, not the beast, and would link the pair of souls in a sort of contract. There was nothing actually written of course, he had simply tried to recreate the bond he had with Omelette.

The type of connection in which both parties benefited each other. He hadn't quite got that down and had to settle for a connection that went one way. The person would trickle their energy into the beast and fuel its growth and strength, in exchange the beast would use that newfound strength to aid the person and provide them with new avenues to grow their strength.

It wasn't the best system in the world, but it was the best he could cobble together with his limited knowledge. According to his teachers journal, he was only barely out of the basic amateur level, like a child learning to read and write.

He would be embarrassed if even that basic knowledge didn't still allow him to do marvellous things. Although he was currently swamped with a multitude of projects and tinkering with new ideas, like a complete mad scientist who had a whole new realm opened up to him, the next chapter in his teachers journal intrigued him.

It was all about shields. The magical force field type, not the metallic hand held type. He had already covered the basics on those types of shields. It was interesting concepts, and could definitely help in the near future.

But he couldn't allow himself to become lost in those ideas until he finished the ones he was already working on, otherwise he would become inundated with countless half completed ideas. Just like the guitar sitting gathering dust, the one that you swear you are going to finish learning.

As the dazzling brawling match finally came to an end, silver and golden blood splattered cross the ground as well as staining fists and hooves alike, it seemed that the golden skinned man had claimed victory.

He stood above the diamond unicorn, the Regal Lions Bane, as his chest rose and fell with every laboured breath. The Unicorn looked at him with angered eyes, as silver blood trickled from its mouth, before reluctantly lowering its head to him.

The golden skinned man threw his hands in the air, causing the crowd to erupt into an explosion of cheers and screams of his name, while others cursed that same name as they realised they had bet on the wrong horse. Literally speaking.

"Midas! Midas! Midas!"

Seth let them have their cheers this time, not bothering to silence them as he stepped forward once again. He walked to the side, collecting one of the devices from the assortment he had in his booth, before stepping off the edge of the viewing box.

As he stepped off, the flowing cloak of wispy shadows quickly surged forward, wrapping around his foot so that when he stepped out into the air it was like she was stepping onto solid ground.

The rest of his body became wreathed in the shadowy smoke as he gently lowered himself through the air and down onto the ground, right next to the golden skinned Midas.

"I believe you will be needing this."

Seth had Corvus speak in his most friendly, and slightly paternal, tone of voice to make up for the lack of facial expressions. Although such a tone simply made him sound like a proud father, which really did not help the way these people viewed him, but at this point he simply stopped worrying about it.

He held out his hand, offering Midas a shining metallic bracelet engraved with intricate runic lettering that shone with a faint, pale blue light.

Midas took the bracelet with a bow, quickly slipping it over his hand and onto his wrist, a feat that was incredibly easy considering it seemed to be sized for someone twice his size, being more suitable for his bicep instead of his wrist.

Yet as soon as it settled into place, the bracelet immediately shrank until it was comfortably tight around his wrist. In mere moments it had become the perfect size, as if by magic. Imagine that, magic. How utterly unexpected.

This wasn't a feature Seth had designed into them, in fact it still confused him on how it worked, as it seemed to be a feature shared with all magic items, but only the useful ones. As soon as he gave an item a functional enchantment, it would gain this mystical ability.

It didn't matter what the enchantment in question was, whether it was to shoot lightning or something as simple as creating a gentle fart, the item would have this resizing property. Oddly enough, it seemed to have its own limits built in, but these limits in itself were strange and dictated by some unknown logic.

If young Midas had tried to wear it as a ring, it wouldn't work, the same if he tried to wear it as a circlet. Yet even something as large as Omelette, or even larger, could equip this bracelet and it would size correctly, even if it ended up being twice the size of a human worn circlet.

In truth Seth had initially wanted a ring version, for convenience, but his carving skills weren't at that point yet and anything big enough for him to carve could only be worn as a bracelet at the smallest. It truly baffled him how it worked.

However, whereas before he would simply brush it off, now he was eager to uncover the secrets of this mystical enigma.

As soon as Midas slipped on his newly sized bracelet, the symbols carved on its silver surface began to glow brighter, slowly changing from a pale blue to a pure white.

That same glow leaked from the inside of the bracelet, flowing over his palm like paint, until the entire underside of his hand was pure white, contrasting deeply against the dazzling gold of the other side of his hand.

"All you need to do is lay your hand upon the beast, and if it accepts the bond will be created."

Seth gestured towards the bowing, exhausted Unicorn and stayed where he was as Midas strolled forward, oozing confidence and eagerly basking in the glory of the moment. Yet even before he had reached the beast, Seth was shaking his head in his mind and let out a mental sigh.

'Better luck next time kid.'

Completely oblivious to the pessimistic thoughts of his dear Lord, Midas strolled forward with nothing but confidence in his heart. His chest puffed out and head held high as he basked in his victory.

If only he had bothered to look down, he might have noticed the conniving look in the beasts eyes as it watched him approach, slowly shifting its position as he grew closer.

When he finally was in touching distance of the Unicorn, and was in the process of reaching out to place his hand upon it, the Unicorn put its dastardly plan into action. With one last surge of strength, it burst forward, aiming to ram its horn through the cocky, golden boys chest.

BAM!

Just before its horn could pierce his expensive looking flesh, it was suddenly halted in its advance. The tip of the horn trembled in the air, barely an inch away from the boys skin before he recoiled in shock and fear.

A single hand, clad in black armour, held the beast at bay. Its grip squeezing the bones of its skull so tight that it could hear them creaking under the strain, the Unicorn unable to move unless it wanted to rip its own head off.

Seth stood between the pair, holding the conniving beast back as easily as holding a door open, it trembled and struggled, its hooves digging into the dirt as it tried desperately to free itself from his iron vice of a grip, yet it didn't budge him a single millimetre.

The Lord was like a dark pillar, rooted deep into the ground, with his arm binding the beast like an infernal chain.

Finally letting the Unicorn go, it fell backwards from the sudden lack of resistance to its effort, yet before it could regain its footing, Seth took a casual step forward and appeared in front of it in a blur. Although the movement to himself was casual, to others he was little more than a blur, appearing like a phantom before giving the national animal a back handed slap that echoed out like an explosion.

Leaving the unicorn seeing stars, Seth turned on his heels and strolled back over to Midas, holding out his hand for the bracelet, which could no longer be used for its purpose with such a defiant beast. Once it was back in his possession, he patted the dejected looking golden boy on his shoulder.

"Never downplay the will of a cornered beast. Do not assume victory until it is truly over. You may have won this battle, but the beast will not submit to you. You are welcome to try again in the future, but just remember.

If this were a real fight, you wouldn't be getting that chance."

With that said, the wispy shadows of his Wraith cloak swirled around his body once more before he took to the skies, flying back to his observation box and leaving Midas to dwell those kind words of encouragement.