Chương 18: Contract. - End

- Fufufu... Now you look like a boy your age, Arthur. - said Samantha with a smile on her face. Looking at her smile, Arthur felt that it didn't quite match her gentle voice. Although it was a beautiful smile, he didn't think it was one that anyone would use when trying to convey tender feelings to others. Instead, her smile reminded him of the smile that the children at the orphanage had when they played with each other, it looked like a somewhat... mischievous smile? Arthur continued watching her and comparing her to the children at the orphanage for a few more moments before deciding to keep this doubt to himself; after he decided to put Samantha's smile aside, he noticed something strange and asked. - How do you know my name? - He faced Samantha again, and there was a little fear in his voice, after all, he was sure he hadn't introduced himself.

- After you passed out, this space was unprotected... So, I accidentally saw a few things... - Samantha replied.

- Is this space unprotected? What do you want... - Arthur suddenly fell silent, he remembered something strange he had read some time ago in the library, so he faced Samantha and reluctantly asked. - Th... This space is... My soul? - Arthur asked, his voice a little shaky, because although he had already accepted that she wouldn't hurt him, if this space was his soul and there was someone here... Thinking about the possible consequences, Arthur panicked. As he looked panickily at Samantha, he was disconcerted by Samantha's laughter, which echoed in the room as she watched Arthur's face, which seemed increasingly to panic.

- You're a lovely child Arthur, you can rest easy, this space isn't your soul or anything. - Samantha replied while smiling.

Arthur was a little dismayed and looked at Samantha and asked a little awkwardly. - What is this place? - Arthur looked at the seemingly endless place filled with flames and didn't know what to think.

- Mmm! Well, that's a great question. This space exists and doesn't exist at the same time... - Samantha stopped talking and her expression changed from playful to serious. After a few seconds, her expression softened again, but she was still much more serious than before when she was laughing at the faces Arthur was involuntarily making. After thinking about it for several seconds, Samantha leaned her left elbow on the throne and tilted her head to the left, allowing her left cheek to rest on her hand, which was clenched into a fist, before she began to explain. - This space doesn't have a name, in fact it doesn't exist and is only created during this process of union... Arthur, can you tell me where the soul is? - Samantha said as she looked Arthur in the eye, and without waiting for him to reply, she answered his question herself. - The soul exists everywhere, our soul plays the role of always sustaining our existence since birth, but at the same time it is not within our reach; yet people use the soul to nourish themselves, grow, and ultimately affect reality, which are the special abilities, magic, and sorcery. - Samantha stopped talking at this point and closed her eyes for a moment, after a few seconds she reopened them and stared at all the space around her and Arthur with her crimson eyes, after staring at the space for a while she turned her eyes to Arthur again before speaking.- To be able to use the power of the soul we have to touch it and borrow the force that sustains us, but that's not possible because the soul is the very definition of something ethereal. -Samantha then smiled and spoke. - But it merges with us anyway, I can't explain that I don't know who was the first, or why he helped others to merge with the soul, but that doesn't matter anyway, the important thing is that we can start the merger; when we initiate it a space is created inside the body, this space is basically a channel, in this channel the soul will flow in and then gradually go to the body as long as it can stand it, this channel is in the human brain Arthur... So, when you lost consciousness, some repressed memories started to leak out... So, let's say I saw some pieces of your past. - After explaining what she knew about space, Samantha remained silent as she watched Arthur's reaction.

- But why are you here? - Arthur remained silent for a few moments trying to understand what Samantha had explained to him, he managed to understand a good part of what was explained to him, however, there were certain things like the canal that he still didn't understand and with time he decided to just put aside what he didn't understand for the moment and ask something else that he was curious about, and that's what he did.

- I'm your teacher, I need to be close to my student, right? - Samantha replied as she smiled at Arthur again.

- My teacher? - Arthur asked, perplexed.

- Yes, my name is Samantha Veneficus. - Samantha stood up and made a slight curtsy, which used to be used during feudal times. - Your new teacher. - Samantha said before returning to her throne and resting her head on her fist again, but this time on her right hand. After settling into her throne, she returned to watching Arthur with a gentle smile on her face.

- So, I did it? - Arthur was happy, and a smile appeared on his face as he looked at Samantha. - Almost, I've agreed to be your teacher, in fact I chose you for your element and the strength of your body, which will be able to perform the union a little faster, but we still must make the contract, you know, since being a teacher has always been a job, right? - Samantha replied with a normal, straightforward intonation, as if what she was saying was natural. However, a sarcastic smile stood out on her face as she stared at Arthur.

"This is already the second chapter where the last paragraph has disappeared when viewed on cell phones. To avoid this, I've decided to duplicate this message at the end of each chapter, hoping it will resolve the issue. If you're reading this, I apologize if it's intrusive, but it's a better solution than leaving the chapter incomplete."