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Eldrian understood that his ability to manipulate his soul was queer, and how easily he could enter it was an anomaly. Hopefully, that would help him here and now. The fact that he could even think of constructing a soul would likely cause even the brightest to blanch. He knew this, and it meant he had the advantage here. As his thoughts were not constraint by common sense.

\'Since this is basically a self-bound contract you establish with yourself. Simply needing to come to an agreement with another and then both bind themselves. Intent will play a massive role. So I will have to make sure his intent cannot differ from what is written in the contract.\'

\'And...as this is a self-bound contract, in essence... Perhaps I can indeed trick it?\' Eldrian pondered, hoping to make use of the extra lifeforce he had stolen from the lich.

He had cleared it of all things pertaining to the lich, but he had not made it his own. This was why he had never gained XP or any benefits from it.

To him, it was just condensed space inside his mind. He knew its signature differed from his space, his lifeforce. Sadly, Eldrian had no way of confirming if Zaphreal would be able to pick up on this difference. If Zaphreal picked up on this, Eldrian knew he would be in an even worse situation.

Eldrian could not tell the precise differences himself. He was incapable of determining the signature of his own mind. It was simply his mind, his thoughts, how he thought. It was easy to notice something foreign, but to notice the nature of himself was not something he was capable of.

After being cleansed, the difference between the condensed space that used to be a lich\'s soul was far closer to his lifeforce than before. At the very least, noticing the difference shouldn\'t be easy. The unfamiliar feel he got from the space wasn\'t strong. Hopefully Zaphreal wouldn\'t notice. He shouldn\'t be familiar with Eldrian\'s will.

\'This is my best bet,\' Eldrian thought. He had no desire to sign the contract. Sadly, it seemed to be his best option. Though he couldn\'t even be sure of this fact. The penalty, however, was truly severe; death. Eldrian couldn\'t afford to make a mistake. If his assumptions were correct, then if he broke the contract, his lifeforce would dissipate.

Perhaps he could somehow fight the contract, but Eldrian did not know how it took form nor how strong it was. Ideally, if he signed with the lich\'s lifeforce, it would be sacrificed instead of his life if he failed to fight it.

\'This is all an assumption though...\'

Eldrian could not analyze it further without signing and observing what happens after. But he still waited, hoping for something to come to him, or someone. To help him out of his predicament. Praying for a reply or action from the AI.

\'Clearly this is something that can only be signed between dynamic magic users...\' Realizing this did not ease Eldrian\'s worries, as it clarified that the duel would not be as simple as he hoped. In fact, Eldrian felt that victory was out of his grasp.

With all the information that Miracle had, there was no way that Zaphreal\'s confidence was inflated. The man must clearly understand Eldrian and his limits.

Eldrian now regretted having shared the video of his duel against Levana with his friends. It certainly allowed Miracle to get a better grasp of his strength, and there was no telling what Jade had shared with them. Besides, he had just shown his grasp of his auras to the world.

\'Should I call for help?\' Eldrian pondered, thinking of Ceph and pondering if he should try to get the Alicorns to come to his aid. However, this would solve none of his problems. It might save Eldrian\'s avatar, but it did not matter what happened to it.

The problem was that Miracle had his family in their hands. And he could do nothing about it. Even if he had gone in person as his original plan to disrupt the tourney and showcase the devastating power of magic, it would not have changed this fact.

It would have simply made it easier for Miracle to paint him as a villain. And he seemed to have greatly undersold their magical talents.

He did not think of asking Jade for help. He doubted she had any true backing in Miracle. It made no sense that she was so clueless about controlling her aura if she had.

\'I guess there\'s no helping but signing it.\' Eldrian sighed. However, he still remembered to ensure that it was Zaphreal\'s will that the contract was written with. "I will sign. However—"

—

[What are they saying?]

[What\'s taking so long?]

[Aren\'t you guys surprised at how skewed the betting is? Why is everyone betting against Eldrian?]

[Are you dumb? Those guys before were clearly not players. This guy must be an admin or one of the game developers. There\'s no way a player can beat an admin!]

The hub bub of the players was far removed from the seriousness on the stage.

—

"Erik, what\'s going on?" Jen asked, watching the screen while clenching her fists.

"I\'m afraid things are going south real bad." Erik replied. Sighing as he did. Since Eldrian had failed to make the magical items, he had asked Erik to at least visit his sister just in case.

Erik, however, couldn\'t use magic outside of ANW. All he could offer was some physical protection and a connection between the two. Perhaps he could have learned, but Erik did not want to become a target for Miracle to focus on.

"He\'ll be alright, right?" Jen asked.

This was the first time she saw her brother in ages, and it did nothing to ease the worries that had been eating at her. Needless to say, focusing on her studies had been beyond her. The best she could manage was passing by the skin of her teeth, yet even that didn\'t seem plausible for long.

"Jen, I\'m sure he\'ll be fine." Marcy, Jen\'s best friend, mumbled. Taking Jen\'s hand and giving it an encouraging squeeze. Until recently, Marcy had thought that Eldrian had died—suicide. She still did not know what was going on, but clearly, things were extremely fishy.

—

"What\'s going on?" Elizabeth asked, looking at the stream with clear worry. It should have been simple: teleport in, kick the player\'s buts, and announce that magic might exist.

The first two steps had gone fine, but then those other people had arrived. Stalling things and now this guy.

"It seems they suspected Eldrian would try something." Ashliel commented, having been silent for a few minutes now. And having finished three cups of her tea.

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