“Stay your anger young Voidlord, I am not here to gain anything from you, nor am I here to harm you or your friends, you have attained my Blood Letter, and I am here to see that it is bonded properly, legendary items from the Sanguine empire are blood bonded under my supervision,” Sanguine states.

  “So, what are the requirements for this blood bond?” Mateo asks.

  “You have provided your blood, that is all that you must provide, however, Blood Letter must prove to me that they are satiated by this offering before I can approve the bond,” Sanguine replies.

  Mateo stares at him unsure of what to think. Powerful items and skills seem to always be granted after a challenge. Was defeating Blanco not enough?

  Sanguine hums in a strange tone almost like the harmonizing low curdle of a banshee as the brush attunes itself to his symphony of sorrow. A flash of darkness snuffs out the color around them and Mateo appears in a small pocket realm outside of the realm of Gottes, one not unlike the realm Ryukaze brings him to. He stands on a cliff surrounded by a desolate mountain range, the sky alight with the three moons of Gottes. Before he can move a strange figure approaches him its face concealed under the hood of a ragged cloak.

  “You hold the soul of Anastasia, this is why I have appeared before you, I was drawn to her essence, I am Blood Letter, but I am also known as Y’tol the Blood Letter, I will blood bond with you on one condition,” the cloaked figure says in a demanding tone.

  Mateo steps forward but is overtaken by a heavy presence seeking to press him into the ground. He falls to one knee glaring up at Y’tol the Blood Letter.

  “If you’re asking for her soul, then you can’t have it,” Mateo replies.

  “So, you would keep it for yourself!” He beckons forcing Mateo to his hands and knees.

  Mateo looks up straining every muscle in his neck to overcome the massive pressure seeking to drive him beneath the dirt.

  “No, I want to free it.”

  The pressure lifts allowing Mateo to rise to his feet. Y’tol steps up to him and cuts his palm with a dagger offering it to Mateo.

  “If you will free her, then take this, cut your palm and bind your blood to mine, but know, that if you break your promise to free her soul, then I will poison your blood and you will boil from the inside out until you die screaming, this bond cannot be broken.”

  Mateo takes the dagger running it across his palm and grasps the hand of Y’tol. The realm disintegrates returning Mateo to a confused Jade.

  “Mateo, what happened, you just disappeared,” she says.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “It seems Anastasia has an admirer,” Mateo replies.

  “You mean the soul contained in your mini map, or rather, under the service of your soul?” Jade questions.

  “I’m not sure I know what that means,” Mateo responds confused.

  “Terror and Chrissima have been supplying me with many tomes, some recorded on our dragon tablets, though skill tomes cannot be absorbed in this way, I read an extensive philosophy on soul scrolls a few days ago, they are scrolls inscribed by demons using the souls of the damned, one of the many abilities they granted was an area map like what Anastasia provides you,” Jade replies.

  “Was there anymore information, is there a way to free the souls?” Mateo questions hurriedly.

  “I’ve come across no such information, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be the first to figure it out, but for now can I see your companion tome for Blood Letter?”

  Mateo summons the tome from his inventory handing it to Jade. It vibrates in her hand as if unsure of whether or not it wishes to be handled by her. She runs her goblin hand over it gently chanting in a strange language.

  “Ars Gratia Artis,” Jade chants folding her fingers into a fist as she removes her hand from the cover of the tome.

  A small latch on the tome unlocks and the cover lifts slowly revealing a nearly blank page except the three kanji resembling water, wind, and fire. She holds out her hand expectantly and Mateo places the brush in her palm.

  “Can you write in it?” Mateo asks.

  “Give me a moment, I’ve been practicing these symbols since we encountered the Yamato in the Astral, but they aren’t familiar to Gottes, likely something from your realm that caters to you and what little knowledge Natalia retains, a few realm walkers have written tomes about them detailing their meanings and the translations are rough,” Jade replies.

  The small goblin looks cute biting her lip as she concentrates on inscribing the kanji into the tome. It’s more than just creating a symbol as she must channel her mana into it and hope the tome accepts the script.

  After a few moments she removes the brush from the page revealing the kanji she has been working diligently to inscribe. The tome glows accepting the kanji and Jade hands Blood Letter and the tome back to Mateo.

  Iyasu has been added to Blood Letter. Draw Iyasu before you, and your vitality will heal the vitality of your companions. Iyasu can be used to recover health or heal afflictions from your target/targets. Be warned, if you cast this kanji on an enemy it may fail, but will still drain your vitality. The function of this spell and all spells written in Blood Letter are still subject to Blood Letter’s desires.

  Jade falls to one knee and Mateo moves to her helping her up. She smiles staring up into his bright blue eyes.

  “Serenity is going to be mad you slept with Beatrice it’s probably going to hurt her.”

  Mateo sighs.

  “Thanks for the spell, and making Serenity mad was kind of the point,” Mateo replies.

  “Why, don’t you love her, why would you want her to be mad at you?” Jade questions.

  “Because she made me mad,” Mateo replies.

  Jade twists her bare goblin foot in the dirt nervously.

  “If I make you mad, are you going to hurt me?” She asks avoiding eye contact.

  “Jade, it’s not like that, you wouldn’t understand,” Mateo replies.

  She peers up at him her bright jade goblin eyes peering into his mock blue eyes. A pain that Mateo couldn’t see before is now obvious. Jade feels like she is part of a family now, and Mateo is risking breaking that family apart by acting out in anger. Jade knows all too well how people treat each other when they act out in anger. So, she begins to sob and runs off.

  “Slick one tiger,” Beatrice says approaching out of nowhere.

  “Beatrice, we need to talk,” Mateo says.

  “Yes, we do,” she says with a seductive grin.

  “We’ll have plenty of time on the way to Heroldin,” Mateo replies.

  “You should take some time with the Kitten, you both have skills to attend too, but when you’re done, I want you alone,” Beatrice replies.