“That’s its soul!?” Tesilim questioned loudly as he looked through the large ring and saw a circular undulating blob of cheese floating in an empty void.

  “Yes, Tesilim, that’s its soul.”

  “But how?”

  “That’s what I am trying to figure out. Most elementals and their souls are often made of the same thing, which is normal since they were created from that very conceptual mana. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out how exactly this elemental went from being a nature elemental to what it is now.”

  “Wait, so it's normal that it's made out of cheese then?”

  “Yes, and no. Yes, because, well, it’s a cheese elemental, but no, because it's food. As I said, it's very complicated, and many questions are unanswered.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like, what was in that pizza? Why did it react the way it did with the nature elemental’s soul? Was it a willing conversion or accidental? Is it replicable? Is it reversible? If the elemental reaches a high enough rank, would it be able to create an Inner Cheese Realm and make more of its kind?” The gnome answered, throwing a bunch of questions at Tesilim.

  “Okay. That sounds like a lot.” Tesilim replied, getting a flat stare from Alyx.

  “What do you want, Tesilim?”

  “Well, we came here to ask about the contract and mind-altering plans or, more importantly, to give you an update.” Hearing this, the gnome suddenly remembered there was more to life than research.

  “Ah shit, I forgot about that. I have made some plans, but it's still in the works, and I haven’t done much since we last spoke.”

  “That’s fine. Tesilim spoke with Jolly earlier, and there has been a change in plans anyway,” Lili answered as she continued to scratch under Drex’s chin. The two companions had been relaxing in the room while Alyx and Tesilim talked since neither of them were that interested in the cheese research.

  “Oh yeah, you mentioned that, so what exactly happened?” Alyx asked, looking at Tesilim to explain, and the elf did so.

  It didn’t take long for the elf to explain the whole situation to Alyx. And like Lili, the gnome agreed that it was the better way to do things, and he event admitted to being a little jealous of Lili.

  “Okay, so why are you here then? Just go down to Xitrix’s Temple for the contract. I was going to do it, but, as you can see, I have more important things to do.”

  “We just came to update you so you didn’t waste your time. Though I guess there wasn’t a point since you forgot about the whole thing.” Tesilim explained.

  “Yeaahh, sorry, not sorry. Anyways, I don’t want to be rude, but research calls, so unless there is anything else, I will see you tomorrow for some adventuring.”

  They left the gnome to his research, and they also ended up splitting ways with Drex; apparently, the drake was bored, and Tesilim let the drake roam around the city with the promise that he wouldn’t make trouble.

  The Temple of Xitrix gave Tesilim the feel of an ancient greek temple, made of marble as the temple was. Tesilim hadn’t wanted to believe that there was a temple basically dedicated to lawyers but it turned out to be true, and its look really set the tone for such a building with its orderly rigidity.

  Inside the temple and to Tesilim’s surprise, they were quickly taken to a bare room with a simple round stone table and wooden chairs. In the room, they met with a tan human woman with pure white hair who wore robes that reminded Tesilim of a judge from back on Earth. Except these robes were black and white, though the white had a hue of gold to it, making it look much more refined yet commanding. The woman had decent looks, and Tesilim figured she was a cleric, but wasn’t sure, and he was definitely not going to be rude and try to scan her.

  After they all sat down, Lili took the lead, explaining to the woman the general idea of what Tesilim wanted. Then, once that was explained, the real work started, and the cleric went into creating the contract. The contract itself was relatively straightforward, and at the speed the cleric wrote it, it was done in an hour or so, though they spent an extra hour changing a few details here and there.

  In an overview, the contract spoke of the things Tesilim and Jolly had discussed, like his donation and how it was meant to be used. Then, about him not being responsible for the ensuing children and how his rewards were supposed to be the magic item plus the dryad herself, at least in the sense they had spoken about. Tesilim also made sure to add Drex’s involvement and limit his fun time to only when they weren’t adventuring. Additionally, he also added Lili to the contract and her fun time with the dryad.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  As for what would happen if someone broke the contract, well, Tesilim wanted lots of gold and put a bunch of other dumb requests of the dryad if she broke it. Meanwhile, if he broke it, he said that he would make another donation to the dryad. The whole thing was dumb since the contract was rather simple, and breaking it would be very hard. See, there weren’t many clauses that made anyone do anything, and the main reason the contract was in effect was to make sure both parties got the main two things out of the deal.

  In this case, Tesilim his magic item, and the whole no responsible for kids bit, while the dryad wanted his children. And as long as those two things were met, the rest was in the grey area, where it wasn’t necessarily forcing certain things to occur.

  Additionally, Tesilim had added a few extra things. These new clauses basically made sure Jolly would stay quiet about Tesilim’s abilities and that the cleric herself didn’t go about talking about things either. Tesilim even made sure to add to the contract that it would be enforced by the World Crystal, which the cleric had questioned, saying it wasn’t a thing, at least not in the way Tesilim had established.

  Basically, Tesilim didn’t want to spend gold on having the contract enforced by an S Ranker or God, and though contracts were sort of enforced by the World Crystal, it didn’t really protect them. This meant his weak contract could be destroyed unless Tesilim involved someone powerful. Something he was going to do by tapping into his connection with the World Crystal, along with an additional surprise. So, after convincing the cleric to add in the clause of the World Crystal protecting the contract even if it wouldn’t actually do anything, at least not normally, Tesilim felt like the contract was good to go.

  After paying the 100 gold for the contract, or more like getting a loan from Lili because Tesilim was broke with only 28 gold to his name, the two of them left. Tesilim had complained about the cost but had quickly shut up when Lili explained that-that price was rather cheap. According to Lili, the price for the contract was relatively cheap because they only paid to have it made and not protected or enforced in any way. However, if they had gotten it backed by someone powerful, the cost would have been around 1000 to 2000 gold. An answer that had sent Tesilim on a coughing spree.

  They both walked to the Rusty Boar, where they had food and drinks before finally heading to Canopy’s Nest. Tesilim had wanted to go alone, but Lili had insisted on going. Apparently, she knew of Jolly but had never met the dryad and figured it was as good a time as any to meet her, so Tesilim had caved.

  They went inside the inn, and Lili had looked at him oddly when he vaulted over the front desk but eventually followed him as he walked through the wall. Surprisingly, Grover hadn’t been in the lobby; something Tesilim came to learn was because the satyr was inside of the dryads realm. And seeing him and Lili approaching the dryad, he gave them a wave and walked off the way they had come in.

  Jolly was still wearing the dress Tesilim had seen her in earlier and had also been sitting down on the tree trunk, but when she saw them approaching, she stood up, and a smile appeared on her face.

  “Tesilim! You’re back! A bit earlier than expected, but I am not complaining.” Jolly said, all the while eyeing Lili.

  “Yeah, turns out it's a lot less work if I am not planning to wipe my brain. Anyways, as you already know, though formally meeting for the first time, this is Lili.”

  “Nice to meet you, Lili, and I have to say, I was surprised when I heard Tesilim brought you into the fold.” The dryad said as she brought her hand out for Lili to shake.

  “Nice to meet you as well. I have heard of you as has anyone in the city, but it is great to finally meet you. Also, I was just as surprised that you agreed.” Lili replied as her hand met Jolly’s, and they had a quick light shake before parting.

  “There wasn’t any reason not to, as you know I can see all within my inn, and you are a treat to the eyes. So, might as well have some fun.”

  “Couldn’t agree more,” Lili replied, also eyeing the dryad, whose dress began to shrink as it absorbed itself until it matched Lili’s own summer dress.

  “AHEM!” Tesilim said, clearing his throat as he attempted to bring the conversation back on track.

  “Clearly, I am just getting in the way of you two, but I must remind you that we are here for this,” Tesilim said as he waved the contract in the air. He loathed to do it and had lost himself in the interaction, but it was important to move things along.

  “You’re right, Tesilim. I apologize, here let me see that.” The dryad replied while reaching for the contract, which Tesilim promptly handed over.

  “Alright, so how about I give you an hour or two to re-” Tesilim saw the paper blur as Jolly fanned through the pages before she looked up and gave him a smile.

  “Looks good to me. Though, I am interested in how you plan to enforce it.”

  “You read that? Just like that?”

  “Well, yeah, Tesilim, I think you forget about my rank sometimes.”

  “I-, uh, yeah, okay. So, you’re good with it, then?”

  “Yup. You still haven’t answered my question, though. This isn’t a contract yet; it's just some magic ink on good-quality paper. I am curious about how you plan to make it all work, especially after reading that World Crystal line.”

  “Well, I am going to use some of my special powers.”

  “Uhh, in that case, maybe it's best if we go outside. She should be doing this out there anyways,” Lili spoke up again after listening to the two. She had realized what Tesilim was trying to do and wasn’t sure about how it would go.

  “Yeah, true, especially if she doesn’t want something crazy happening in her realm.” Tesilim agreed.

  Jolly, knowing what Tesilim’s mana could do, decided to act with caution and agreed, quickly teleporting all three outside her inn but making sure there were no eyes on them.

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