God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

He was confused because he tried his hardest to figure out how the system could store something that was supposedly alive in some kind of internal storage unit. He had every much concluded that the rewards given by the system were exchanged from other beings scattered across the universe.

That meant that this {Amethyst Silkworm Embryo} came from someone, or something. It had then been held in transit, presumably for a long time, until the system had decided it would be a worthy reward for him...

\'I\'m not complaining though...\'

There was no way he could. After all, the creature nested within the abominable thing in his inventory was going to serve him well.

Now, he wouldn\'t have to worry about mining and excavating magic stones and metals by himself. Instead, he could just send the tiny grubber into the ground and let it do its thing.

\'Hehehe...\' Cain almost thanked the system. However, he knew things were far from over yet. There were still a few details he had to go over.

He quickly summoned the item from his inventory. A pure white egg with thick pulsating veins across its bleak surface appeared in his hands.

There was just a single magic circle etched onto a side of it. However, simply looking at the magic circle gave him the chills.

***

{Congratulations to the host... You have received the opportunity to create an Aether Contract}.

{Aether Contract}: Form a [body and soul] contract with a variant creature that possesses the mystical Aether energy. This contract allows the target Aether Beast and the host to forge a bond that is governed by the following set of rules;

{Condition 1}: The Aether Beast\'s and human\'s involvement in the [body and soul] contract shall be bound by the laws of magic as long as both parties may live.

{Condition 2}: This contract can be initiated by either one of the parties involved, but can only be concluded if and only if the other party fully agrees upon the conditions involved wholeheartedly.

{Condition 3}: The agreement is built upon the law of equivalent exchange. An exchange system deemed to be of equal proportions by the system must be established befor the contract can be enabled.

{Condition 4}: This contract is based upon the universal laws of mana, and cannot be broken.

{Does the host agree to all these conditions?}

***

Cain didn\'t hesitate for a singe second before accepting the terms of the contract...

Because of the {Threads of Bondage} skill attached to the {Amethyst Silkworm Embryo}, he didn\'t need to wait on the creature to agree to the contract.

The familiar procedures were once again established...

\'I agree...\'

The white egg trembled in response. The magic circle on its bleak surface emitted a rather captivating purple light.

{Processing response...}

{Response; Affirmative!}

The sound of flesh burning echoed in the silent darkness, as the imprint of a cocoon wrapped around a creature with three eyes, three horns, and three arms appeared on Cain\'s chest. It was rather unsettling...

Just like the faint imprint of the bear paw, as well as the dark eldritch eye on his chest, It once again didn\'t bring him any pain.

However, a strange sensation that was hard to describe coming from the marking on his chest and into his soul wrapped around his body

The voice of the system broke him out of his reverie once again...

***

[Body and Soul Contract]

Type: Aether Creature.

Details: Eternal bindings, in exchange for the opportunity to grow stronger. The Amethyst Silkworm seeks strength. Feed it precious stones, metals, and cores to strengthen the bond between master and slave.

The strength of the {Amethyst Silkworm} grows the more it consumes...

Note: This contract is eternal.

{Congratulations to the host... The contract has been completed}.

{Host has been granted a greater affinity for poison... }

{The skill, Poison Blood, has become more potent}.

{Amethyst Silkworm}: Tier 1, Level 100 (Special).

Strength: 5,000.

Agility: 5,000.

Defense: 4,000.

HP: 1,000,000.

MP: 200,000/200,000.

Spirit: 4,000/4,000.

Skills: Natural Harvester, Acid Spit, Almighty Consumption.

{Natural Harvester}: The Amethyst Silkworm has the ability to devour, store, absorb, and digest magic gems, stones, and metals it has excavated from the earth.

{Acid Spit}: Allows the Amethyst Silkworm to easily melt through all sorts of thick rock strata in search of magic gems, stones, and metals.

{Almighty Consumption}: This creature can absorb the properties of the things it has eaten.

***

Cain stared at the wriggling mass of flesh that had fallen to the ground the moment the eggshell had crumbled.

\'This...\' He had no idea how he was supposed to react.

He had initially though he would be extremely disgusted with whatever managed to crawl out of that thing. However, he was completely shocked when he discovered, that the {Amethyst Silkworm}...

... was rather cute.

The creature landed onto the ground with a soft plat. Its body was the same pink shade as its predecessor. However, there were a few differences. For one, this little guy actually had eyes. But they were very small. There was a total of three black, beady eyes on its face.

It looked up and stared at the motionless Cain for a while...

"Puuuuu..."

It suddenly made a cute noise. Cain felt his heart trembled over the sheer and utter cuteness.

\'Damn... How the hell did this happen?!\'

Cain simply didn\'t want to link the harrowing creature he had just slain to the small blob of pudding that was slowly inching its way over to him.

Now attached to his leg, the small blob of pink flesh looked at him once again.

"Puuuuu..."

With a sigh, Cain bent over to pick the little guy up. No matter how he looked at it, this thing was a giant bug. He didn\'t like bugs at all...

However, he wasn\'t disgusted for some reason, no matter how many times he told himself that there was a giant worm in his arms, staring at him cutely with three black, beady eyes.

"You... might one day grow up to become a fearsome beast. But for now, you shall be named Pudding!" Cain declared, causing the creature to wiggle its tailend rapidly.

Staring at its fingerless appendages, Cain wondered if it could walk...

Placing it back onto the ground, Cain sent it a mental command.

The moment it received it, Pudding acted immediately. The tree appendages attached to the soft mass of pink flesh tore through the hard rock beneath them like butter. Then, it opened its mouth that looked just as terrifying as the bigger {Amethyst Silkworm} spitting out a mouthful of acidic saliva that corroded the ground.

Worming his way into the hole that was made, Pudding disappeared form sight.

\'Wow... The power of that acid is terrifying.\'

Cain could only wonder how Stingè was able to bear the corrosion of the acidic poison mist the fully matured {Amethyst Silkworm} produced.

Then he remembered how Stingè\'s armor had melted down completely...

A shiver ran down his spine, \'Absolutely terrifying...\'

Looking around, he realized that his work here was done. He could leave now...

Most of the smoke had been dispelled by the steam produced from the remnant Flames of Darkness, and {Frost Temple}.

Walking out of the smoke, a wave of cool breeze washed over his body. A deep exhaustion finally sent in.

He was very tired...

\'If it wasn\'t dangerous, I would have fallen asleep here and now.\' Grumbling to himself, Cain prepared to activate {Spatial Jump}. He planned on getting away from here as soon as possible. Pudding had come back out from the ground, and had now attached itself firmly to the leg of his armor that he had not resummoned.

Because it had been terribly damaged in the battle with him, Hujter and Stingè, he had decided to leave it in his {Armament Armory} so it could repair itself.

Just as he was about to activate {Spatial Jump}, a strange energy flunctuation made him pause. His caution immediately melted away when he realized who it was...

Stepping out of the shadows of a shattered boulder a few meters away from him, Evangeline had a peculiar look on her face. Staring at Cain for a few seconds in silence, she couldn\'t help but blurt out,

"You look terrible."

A tired laugh came out of his lips. Taking a single step, he almost fell to the ground. Once everything was settled, the exhaustion finally hit him like a freight train, causing him to immediately lose balance.

Before he could reach the ground, a paur of soft arms embraced him from the sides.

Cain chuckled, "I feel even worse."

Evangeline let out a sigh. Looking around, she wore a dark look,

"What happened here? Where is Stingè?"

Cain grinned, "That guy? I chased him away. He ran with his tail tucked between his legs."

Evangeline stared into his eyes intently before laughing hoarsely,

"I\'m sure you did... Let\'s get you away from here."

A brief second later, both Evangeline and Cain sank into the shadows...

***

Shout out to Echelon_5 for sponsoring this extra chapter!!!