"U-Umm... Oswald?" Lilith said as she floated above my head.
"Don't disturb me..." I said.
As soon as I came back to my room, I let my body fell on the bed.
I wasn't physically tired nor had I used too much mana. I as mentally tired.
Using a tier 10 spell after acting like a lazy and background character is just the worst. I was just lazing around but now I had to show a tier 10 spell due to some sympathy I felt for Nina. At times like this, I feel that I must have some emotionless skill.
"Atleast listen to me--"
"Nope. Just let me sleep." I cut her sentence mid-way.
"If you don't open your eyes, I will tell Leo to tell everyone about what you did." Lilith threatened.
"..."
I immediately sat back up. I don't want those extra problems and responsibilities that comes with power and fame.
Instead of bearing responsibility, I would rather get bored by some silly talks from a wandering soul.
"Are you thinking something bad about me?" That's the women intuition or maybe ghost intuition.
"No. Not at all." I lied with a straight face.
"I am feeling something wierd... Anyways, I want to ask a favour from you."
"First let me hear you out."
Lilith stared at me with a serious expression on her face.
After a moment of silence, she spoke in a slow but clear voice, "As you know, I require mana to keep my soul in shape. If the mana is not strong enough, I will die. If you form a contract with me and allow me to absorb your mana, I will be able to leave the academy and go wherever you go, even if you go into the Wilderness."
"A contract? With you?" I asked her as there was no need for me to contract her.
"Indeed. However, your mana will continuously be drained in order to keep my soul healthy."
"Mana is not a problem but why do I need you?"
"One who invokes this magic spell will become the master, so I am essentially your slave until you free me. This is also a big risk for me, but I trust you, and I am willing to risk my life to explore the outside world with you. After being stuck in this academy for hundreds of years, I am desperate to go out."
"I promise you that I will be the best support out there! Since people cannot see me, I can help you gather information with ease, and I can even warn you of dangers way before you can even detect them! If I have enough mana, I could even manifest my body and satisfy you s-sexual n-needs" Lilith tried to convince me to agree by giving me reasons why I should, something that most people would die to have.
After pondering for some time, I spoke, "I have one last question. What will happen if I decide to stop giving you mana?"
"In that case, I can just absorb the mana in the air until I convince you. Since the world is filled with mana, I don't have to worry about instantly dying the moment I don't get mana. However, I won't be able to last like that for long. Anyways, if wanted to you could just quickly kill me with some spell."
If I had to kill her, I would rather make her suffer and torture her, whatever.
"Fine. Show me this contract spell thingy."
"O-Okay! Here's the magic circle! Please take as long as you need to memorize it!"
I took a seat on the bed and took a short glance at the magic circle hovering above Lilith's hands.
<You have learned the Magic Spell: Soul Enslavement>
[Soul Enslavement]
[Affinity: Dark/Soul]
[Tier: 5]
[Mana: 10,000]
[Mastery Rank: F]
"Soul Enslavement? That's a pleasant-sounding spell for me!" I exclaimed after seeing what Lilith just taught me.
"I am also taking a very big risk, right? You're going to enslave my soul and then bind it to your body. It's the only way that I know of."
I asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? I won't bear any responsibility if anything happens to you."
She nodded with a serious expression on her face. "I am prepared. Do it."
"Alright…"
I lifted my arm and pointed my palm at Lilith, who was floating right in front of me.
I insta casted the spell.
A large red magic circle suddenly appeared on my palms, and it started to absorb Lilith the next moment.
Lilith did not resist and allowed the magic circle to absorb her until there was nothing left.
<You have enslaved the soul 'Lilith'>
The Magic System notified me.
<Would you like to destroy the soul 'Lilith'?>
The offer you gave is really very tempting but I deny.
<Acknowledged>
<The soul 'Lilith' is now bound to the host's body>
Ding!
<You have acquired a new Soul Slave>
<In order to sustain Soul Slave 'Lilith', you will lose 100 mana every second>
Once I successfully bounded Lilith to myself, I waited for her to reappear again.
A few seconds later, I watched as Lilith's head popped out from my chest, then the rest of her body.
"How do you feel?" I asked her.
"Pretty normal," she said in a calm voice.
"What about you?"
"Nothing special. Just feeling a little weird as I never expected a girl to enter me." I said jokingly.
"Looks like everything went well then. Once again, thank you for this, Oswald. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Save your words. I don't want any thanks because I had my own reasons," I said.
"Oh? What kind of reasons, if you don't mind me asking?" She looked at me with an intrigued gaze.
"I don't have a reason to answer you." I immediately refused.
"Don't be like that, Oswald. We are what most would call 'more than just friends' now! You can tell me anything— even your darkest secrets!"
"…" I was speechless.
'Did I just make a grave mistake?' I wondered if I would regret my decision later.
"Ah, I just remembered. Lilith, do you know where Leo is?" I asked as Leo would usually keep talking most of the time.
I perfectly understand why Leo and Lilith got together in the real novel. Afterall, both are talkative as hell.
"Leo? I am pretty sure he was sent to the infirmary due to him falling unconscious." Lilith answered.
"Is that so? Whatever. Don't disturb me as I want to sleep now."
"Wha-?! So soon? If you dared to sleep, I would stare at your face all night long."
"What does it have anything to do with my face?" I asked, confused.
"It would be a sin to not stare at such a beautiful face." Lilith answered.
"Do whatever you want just don't disturb me." I said before focusing on my sleep.
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Hey, author here,
There are a few things I would like to clear up about,
1) Even though this world is a magic world, only less than one percent of the population can use magic.
2) magic spells are a rarity in this world and the spells that could be useful to Oswald can be counted in one hand.
3) I am giving Oswald a lazy and side character-like feeling because I want to.