The Unwanted Tamer

"Now, would you like to just hand me my Master's belonging, or do I need to take it back?" The man named Patches asked.

"I am going to assume your 'Master' as you call him is the Eternal Lord. He left without this item according to the eyewitnesses who saw his return, so may I ask why you waited until now to attempt to retrieve it?" The King asked.

"He didn't want it back then, and now he does." Patches replied easily before continuing. "Now, will you return it, or will I need to take it?"

While this conversation was happening, the Duke had slit his hand and dropped blood on the artifact attempting to bind it to himself. Gaia only noticed because she heard him cursing quietly and asking himself "Why didn't it work?"

"I see your stalling tactic failed. The Eternal's Quill can only be used by someone with a connection to our Master. Now, return it to me and I will overlook your attempt at rebelling against your future ruler."

With those words, Gaia had a wonderfully horrible idea. If someone needed to be connected to Adam, or rather the Eternal Lord, to bind to the item, then couldn't she, do it? That would keep it from ending up in his hands and strengthening him further than he already was. So, she started running towards the artifact. An action that didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room. She wasn't fast, definitely not as quick or strong as the people around the ceremonial table. She just moved her bonds quickly following her lead and moving around her. Liv immediately activated and merged with Gaia's Living Silk Armor which wrapped around her dress and created two spider-like appendages that protruded from her shoulders. Malachite shrunk before growing and moving to protect her alongside Shadow who had already taken a protective position near her. Finally, Antonio was hidden underneath her armor in a protective layer that still allowed him to see.

No one else moved as the girl sprinted from the side towards the ceremonial table, aside from a singular person who was hidden in the crowd. They thrust their arm forward as Gaia got close to the table. She didn't see the item that the person flung as it raced forwards and cut straight through the black wolf's tail and cut a deep gash into the Turtle's shell, as they tried to block or redirect it, before embedding itself into the girls back. Gaia could feel her bonds pain along with her own. The blade, as she came to realize, was sticking out of her back and had been strong enough to cut into her bonds and make them bleed. Finally, it broke the two appendages Liv could create, before slicing into her and finally into Gaia. Antonio had moved to heal her while trying to remove the blade but only ended up cutting himself as well. Gaia moved her hand to her back where she felt the pain and ripped the blade out as she stumbled to the ceremony's location.

She could sense the artifact and only had one thought. Make sure Adam doesn't get it. So, she grabbed the item and smeared it across the blade that was covered in her and her bonds blood. She wasn't entirely sure if it would work but took her gamble on the possibility. She didn't like that she was connected to the Amalgamation or the Eternal Lord or whatever name he had, but if she could use it to keep him from gaining any more strength she would. As she smeared the mixture of blood over the artifact, she expected something to happen, but nothing did, at least not at first.

"Oh? We have a girl who tried to take something she can't have. If someone like this pathetic excuse of a Duke couldn't bind to it, what made you think-" Patches started before stopping as something began to happen.

The Artifact, the Eternal's Quill, started to glow. It rose up from Gaia's hands before spinning and shrunk to become the size of a sewing needle before stopping as it faced directly towards her. Then, faster than she could think or see, it shot into her chest, through her heart and out her back. She crumpled to the floor, writhing in pain as the needle did the same to her four bonds who had raced towards their mother after seeing what had occurred. Only after it had pierced all of them and a string of blackish-red magical thread tied them together, did Gaia see a screen appear.

The Artifact "Eternal's Quill" has bound with the entities known as "Gaia, Malachite, Liv, Shadow, and Antonio."

ErRoR. Artifact cannot bind to multiple beings.

Detected Spiritual bond. Determined bonded beings to be connected through a singular Spirit.

Bonding to entities.

Bonding successful.

Artifact changed.

Artifact – Cel's Bond. Sentient Artifact. Binding Growth Item. A needle that was once used for anything and everything by an individual for its own desires. Has become bound to a Spirit that is bound to multiple others and is selfless, changing its fundamental properties. It can create copies of itself equal to the number of spirits bound to the Spirit known as "Gaia." Copies will bind to the connected spirits. The copies forms can be different depending on the controlling/bound spirit. Most of its power has been sealed or lost. Indestructible, unless damaged by another artifact of equal or greater strength. Does not require physical contact to use. As it is sentient, it can refuse the wielder's orders. More forms will be unlocked as the artifact grows with the bound entities.

Form 1: A needle that can change it's size at will. Can be the size of a sewing needle or a stake. Creates unbreakable magic thread using the wielder's mana and attributes. Can create a permanent bond with other spirits by connecting their spirits with it's magical thread. Bonds will be considered subordinates unless personally bound to the spirit of entity "Gaia." Bonds created this way cannot be undone, only deepened.

Form 2: A Crystal that slowly but continuously grows. A shard can be broken off and used to increase a bond's strength for a short period. Shards can be used to temporarily bond with other creatures if they have been befriended by entity "Gaia" or other connected spirits. Grows at a rate of one shard per day. Has a maximum limit of ten shards.

The Spirit cannot handle more bound items.

Gaia saw these screens appear before she quickly used her transfer skill and pulled all of her bond's injuries to herself. Then, she promptly blacked out from the agony of the artifact's bonding being put solely on her, coupled with her taking her bond's injuries. Her bonds on the other hand were immediately up and in a protective stance around her. Her companions had already sprinted to her and were also surrounding her defensively. The rest of the ballroom was in complete and utter silence as they looked at the girl unconscious on the ground.

Patches mouth was agape. The girl had just sprinted in and bonded to his master's artifact. It was ridiculous, there was no way she was connected to his master and not on his side, right? But the girl had obviously done it in order to keep him from retrieving it. Now she had control over it and seemed to have changed it somehow. He didn't understand, but what he did know was that he'd lost his chance to obtain it. He'd been confident about taking it when no one was able to bind to it, but now if he wanted it he'd have to find a way to kill the girl and hope it didn't affect the item, or find a way to take her with him. Either way he wasn't going to be able to take her when the king and all of his nobles were moving to protect her. He was also extremely curious as to why she'd been able to take it for herself. It was just something to add to his tasks, but first he needed to report to his superiors about the situation.

"Well, I see I have been proven wrong. I will be back to retrieve what is ours, but for now, count yourselves lucky I was sent here alone. Enjoy your success while it lasts, for it won't last long. Oh I also hope you enjoy my parting gift. Have Fun!" Patches said before laughing and his form collapsed as bats flew back through the broken window in the hall's ceiling.

From the multitude of flying bats, a few stayed and transformed into humanoid beings. There were also screams from the crowd as people began to bite and slash at the uncoordinated group. The bats that had flown into the crowd had also transformed, only to try and kill anyone nearby. Gaia was unconscious on the floor near the center of the hall, her companions and bonds surrounding her. The Baron and the other members of their group had also gathered around her, along with the King and his entourage.

Fergus quickly picked Gaia up and jumped on Malachite as the vampires slaughtered and fought against the few guards and nobles that were trying to protect the others. These were the ones stationed near the children and had quickly moved them to safety by the King. Many were just panicking, however, and were running before the King shouted.

"Stop! Defend yourselves! You are nobles of the Kingdom and run from lowly bronze rank monsters? If you run, I will kill you myself!"

The screams quickly stopped and the nobles seemed to regain their wits. Many began coordinating and fighting together while others focused on supporting or healing any that were already injured or in dire straits. The Prince and Princess began fighting while helping to get people to regroup. It wasn't until the king started moving towards the door that they joined him. The Prince stayed a bit longer to lead the royal guards before running after his family.

A few of the vampires were already dead while there were still around thirty scattered throughout the hall. None of them were overly strong but they were difficult to kill. Most of them needed to either be beheaded or dealt magical or spiritual damage due to their undead nature. The issue with vampires, is that healing magic will actually heal them as opposed to hurting them, like it does for most other forms of undead.

The main issue with spiritual and magical damage needing to be dealt, is that few people have skills or abilities that deal those kinds of damage. That's not even considering that even if they did have them, they tend to require a lot of mana or time to enact. Luckily, Gaia's bonds could deal magical damage, and Malachite could deal Spiritual damage when he used his armor thanks to it being made from webs with Gaia's poison in them.

Liv had already merged back together with Gaia's armor and was slinging poison shots at the vampires when they were close enough. Antonio fired his spikes and stings at them and used his Neural Wave skill if they got close. Shadow was blocking any attacks she could to help people while slashing at the monsters with her claws. Malachite was using his water shot or bite skill when they got close to deal with them.

The King was able to enchant the nobles to allow them to deal small amounts of magical damage with each hit, but it would still take a while before the vampires were dealt with. As the central group ran with their unconscious companion, they helped wherever they could, but Gaia was still top priority for them. Even the King agreed since she'd been able to keep the artifact from being stolen. They reached the back door of the hall that led further into the royal palace and swiftly moved through it. Just as they exited the hall, more guards came rushing towards their location. The King ordered them to deal with the vampires and assist in healing the nobles or identifying the dead. He enchanted them before they rushed into the hall and the vampires were quickly slain. With the number of guards and nobles, the remaining vampires were dealt with in a few more minutes.

All in all, the entire situation from Patches' entrance to the remaining vampires being killed, had only taken about ten minutes. The king and their group, however, didn't stop even when they knew the fighting was finished. They didn't believe the self-proclaimed "Prince of Pride" was truly gone. Someone who claimed to be prideful wouldn't just leave after a failure like this. Thankfully, they reached an area they felt was safe, without incident, and they slowed. They moved towards a door and opened it to an extravagant room. There was a massive bed in the center of one of the walls, a group of chairs and sofas, a large wooden table, a window that took up almost an entire wall, and a doorway into what Fergus guessed was a bathroom.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Are we sure this is safe? I don't trust that window." He stated nervously.

"Yes, it is. The window isn't actually glass; it is magically infused dungeon stone. It looks thin but is thicker than most walls and sturdier than most other magical materials. The transparency is thanks to a dragon's techniques." The king explained.

"I didn't understand most of that, but it's safe?" He asked again.

"Yes. Worry not. You are in one of the safest rooms of the palace, along with five of the strongest hunters in the Kingdom. Speaking of it was nice to fight with you guys again. Good to know you guys haven't become lax since I last saw you." The king stated a bit happily.

"Oh hush. You're just a battle maniac, Harald. I don't know how you've lasted until now, oh wait, you haven't. You personally train the royal guards and spar with them whenever you can. Eivern has started to do the same. I'm just happy our daughter didn't turn out like that." The Queen Victoria replied.

"I won't deny he's a great fighter, so the guards might be benefitting from it. It was nice to fight with you guys again, almost like old times, although it was mainly just running this time." The Baron stated.

"What do you mean old times, dad?" Titania asked.

"What? You never told your kids about us? I'm hurt, Jack." The King stated with mock hurt.

"Well, your mother, myself, Duke Wilifred, Queen Victoria and King Harald were all part of the same party in the Hunter's League. It's been a long time since then, so I never brought it up. Also, Harald, they already call you two Uncle Harald and Aunt Victoria." The Baron stated.

This was news to Griff and Stephanie who were still surrounding Fergus who had Gaia in his arms. He quickly moved her to the bed and laid her down. Her bonds followed immediately and took up their usual guard positions around her. Griff and Stephanie stayed close as Fergus moved to discuss what was actually important at that moment.

"Now, I bet it's great to reminisce with Auntie Victoria, Uncle Harald and Uncle Wilifred, but we need to discuss what happened. Gaia is still unconscious, and I really don't like that. Can we get a healer in here to check on her? Then we can talk, but only after we're sure she'll be alright. Her bonds are just as worried as we are." Fergus interrupted.

"Oh, you're right. Sorry about that. I'll send for a healer just in case." The Queen replied.

With that Fergus returned to Gaia's side and they waited for the healer to arrive. This was also when they noticed her begin to writhe and scream, for a while, before curling up and crying.

While the rest of her party and friends fought and ran while protecting her, Gaia was in a weird place. She knew she was unconscious, but she was somewhere that wasn't just an expanse of nothingness, and also wasn't the small room that represented her Spirit. There was ground on which she stood and the area was large enough she couldn't sense it all. She started walking around the area and had come to discover a few things.

Firstly, the entire area was mana dense so she could sense everything. It was similar to the small room she'd been in a few times before in that she was able to sense everything the same way she had there. The only differences were that this area was much, much larger and seemed to be made of multiple different types of areas. The central area was a walled in hole, there were crystals randomly along the entirety of the walls and she could only guess that there was no roof. She could tell it was protected somehow but couldn't figure out how.

Then along the walls in what she guessed would be the four cardinal directions were tunnels. From each tunnel something was encroaching on the area, only it didn't seem negative. From the northern tunnel, that was set around thirty feet high in the wall, a small river flowed and became a waterfall that fell into a lake that encompassed a quarter of the area. From the east tunnel, webs stretched down creating a ladder up to the entrance and created a canopy that crossed over a section of the lake protecting the poisonous plants that grew underneath. The southern tunnel was covered in impenetrable darkness that seemed to shroud the area and allowed plants such as mosses and mushrooms to grow. The western tunnel looked to have been carved out as opposed to naturally formed like the others. It had packed earth all around it and had medicinal plants growing around it. They clearly led to her bond's spirits.

There was a fifth influence in the area that came from outside. It felt sinister and held something in its hold that was just within the barrier that protected the area. It felt malevolent and wanted control unlike the tunnels. They radiated compassion, selflessness, and love.

In the center of the clearing around forty feet up was a large crystalline stone that was broken and barely held together. There was a central crystal that was still somewhat intact and spherical, while there were four chunks that were broken off and only attached due to the force from the tunnels pushing them back. It seemed to pulse agonizingly slowly and with each one, cracks appeared along its already marred surface. Each time a crack appeared Gaia felt something inside her break, this was how she realized what this broken crystal was. It was her spirit. Each of the four tunnels slightly influenced the crystal, trying to hold it together, while having a single shard from it within them. As she took in the situation she heard an unfamiliar voice.

"You, my master, are breaking apart. I can already see the damage that's been done, and your irresponsible action in bonding to me, has only made the situation more dire. Had you waited till you ranked up, your spirit would have stabilized. And before you ask, no there is not a way to fix your broken spirit, only stabilize it. Even that will still cause it to break more." A woman stated as she appeared beside Gaia.

"Then is there anything I can do? Will it kill me if it breaks anymore?" Gaia asked.

"There are a few things you can do. Firstly, you can try and remove yourself from that thing's grip." She stated with contempt as she pointed towards the sky before continuing. "I doubt you'll be able to deal with it as you are now though. Secondly, you can use me to bind yourself further to your bonds, as their spirits and yours are already connected, much more than they should be. This will allow them to carry chunks of your spirit while not harming you, but this method has consequences. Finally, this method I hope you don't take, as it is to just give up and die." The woman stated sadly.

Gaia took a few moments to think before she asked a few questions. "What is the thing in the sky? Why does it have a shard of my spirit, and if you bind us closer will it be able to claim anymore of my spirit? Finally, what are the consequences to binding me and my bonds closer?"

"The thing in the sky is a part of my old master's spirit that has claimed a part of yours. I can only guess it claimed a shard of your spirit at some point without you knowing. If I bind you closer, it won't be able to affect you spirit as I will be blocking it. The consequences for binding yourself closer to your bonds though, there are a few." The woman explained.

"What are they? I don't really care what they are, but I feel like my bonds and companions would scold me for not asking. I am guessing there isn't much time before it breaks more, though, so please explain quickly." Gaia asked as the pain she felt worsened.

"The consequences, in short, will make you more dependent on them. Their spirits will nourish your broken one while also strengthening each other. You will lose strength if they aren't nearby, you will feel their pain without taking the actual damage, and finally if one of them were to die, you would lose all of the power that was contained within the part they carried. There are some upsides to this, though, the main one is that if you go to another world they will go with you and retain their strength. They'll also be able to gain classes and retain that power in any world you end up in." The woman explained quickly.

"Ok. So, they need to stay close to me, I will feel their pain if they get hurt, and if they die, I'll lose the strength they carried for me. The upsides are that they'll never lose levels, can gain classes, and retain all of these no matter what. As long as they don't die." Gaia clarified as the pain once again worsened. It felt like her body and spirit were being pulled apart like jelly.

"Essentially, yes." The woman replied.

"Then do it. Also, thanks in advance for helping me. What's your name?" Gaia asked while gritting her teeth through the pain.

"Cel. Let's begin." Cel replied.

This was when the woman, Cel, turned into a familiar needle and sped towards Gaia's spirit. It pierced through one of the chunks and raced down the corresponding tunnel as a thread of mana connected it to the chunk. Then she felt a prick in her heart as she sensed the needle return and sewed the chunk and shard together. Gaia felt something disconnect before immediately being reconnected only the pain she felt lessened. The needle did the same thing for the remaining three tunnels with Malachite's being last. The chunk he kept in place was the largest and took up nearly a third of the entire broken section. When his tunnel was connected Gaia's pain nearly disappeared, but Cel reappeared and warned her.

"Now's the painful part. Please survive the true fracturing of your spirit."

"Wha-" Gaia started before she was immersed in agony once again.

She felt something inside of her completely break. It felt like every part of her body was being beaten, broken, punctured, sliced, and all manners of other agony. Her spirit was fracturing, truly splitting apart. Before it had been precariously held together so it still functioned as a whole, aside from a shard that had been removed and reattached with her leg. The worst part was that she couldn't black out. She was already unconscious, at least bodily, in a space that she guessed represented her spirit's boundaries, she couldn't be rendered unconscious here. So, she was forced to be awake for the ensuing agony until it ended. It lasted for an eternity, at least that's what it felt like, but it eventually ended.

"Good, you're alive. I was worried there for a bit, but you managed to pull through. I hope you will take some time to recover before doing anything. Your spirit, although now stable, was fractured and has become more integrated into your body and your bonds. You will be in a lot of pain until your spirit completely adjusts to your situation. Now, you've been in here long enough. It's time for you to wake up, your companions have been waiting for you. We will speak again after you've recovered." Cel said when Gaia's pain stopped, before lifting Gaia up in her arms and moving her towards the center of the space. There a small hatch had appeared, which Cel opened and dropped Gaia into.

Gaia awoke groggily and in pain. She could barely move from exhaustion and her body was sore in every sense of the word. She was in what she could only assume was a bed as she had sheets covering her and was lying on something nice and soft. She eventually realized there were people around her, not just sitting and waiting, but talking and moving around. There was someone on one side of the bed that was leaning against the bed, who she realized was Fergus he seemed to be holding her hand and waiting for her wake up. There was another person on the other side that she guessed was a healer checking up on her, but she didn't care. Everything hurt, so she just laid there for a while listening to what was being said or happening around her.

"The vampires have been dealt with, your majesty. There were fifteen deaths among the nobles, most being from those that panicked and tried to flee. There are many wounded, but they are currently being treated by the palace's healers and the nobles with healing abilities. The leader of the monsters has not been spotted since fleeing." A man stated.

The King sighed before speaking. "Very well. Keep a watch for any other monsters, I don't believe he actually fled. We'll be staying here for a while until everything calms down. Thank you, Selliar. Thanks to your quick reaction fewer people were killed than I thought."

"Worry not, your majesty. We will continue to stay vigilant." The man Selliar replied with a salute before leaving the room.

"We should be able to deal with the vampire if he comes here. My only worry is that he'd go after the girl. It wouldn't be so bad if she awoke, but we don't know when that will happen. For now, we can only wait." Duke Wilifred stated.

"Yes. I'm starting to worry now. She's a strong girl so I don't know why she'd be unable to wake up. It's already been a few hours at the least. The screaming didn't help anything, either but at least she finally stopped a few minutes ago. I just hope she wakes up soon, for all our sakes." The Baron replied.

Gaia stopped paying attention to their conversation. She'd been out for a few hours? Then how long had she been in that odd space? Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Stephanie and Griff start talking to the healer.

"How's she doing, mom?" Stephanie asked.

"She's still asleep as far as I know, but she doesn't seem to be in any danger now. Thankfully the palace's healer was able to help her out of the worst part of whatever happened. Now, I'm just healing her to help her slowly recover." Fern replied.

This was also when Fern touched Gaia's arm jostling it and causing pain to shoot through her body. Gaia took a sharp breath in and groaned from the sudden pain. This made the room go silent. Everyone was suddenly looking at her, including her bonds.

"Mom! You're awake!" Her bonds squealed in unison as they quickly nuzzled and checked on her. This just caused her to have a headache, but she couldn't really notice with all of the other pain she felt.

"Gaia?!" Her companions called immediately after.

"I'm. Alive." She croaked out before coughing. Her throat was raw from the screaming and she was exhausted. This just caused more pain to wrack her body.

Fern quickly moved and got her water before helping her sip it. She could barely lean her head up enough to drink so she appreciated the help. Fergus was the first to hug her but immediately let go after hearing her yelp. Her friends and companions were all relieved she was alright, since it seemed that if anyone in their party got hurt, it was her. They would need to rectify this situation, though. As her companions started to relax, now that she was awake, she noticed a screen appear.

Title Updated.

Title – Fractured Spirit. The holders spirit has been fractured apart. The holder's spirit has further merged with the body. Holders body is half spiritual. Bound attributes affect the body, bound items, and the immediate area. Moderate resistance to physical damage. Slight resistance to spiritual damage. Spiritual bonds hold chunks of the spirit. Holder is reliant on those that carry a chunk of their Spirit. If any carriers of the holder's spirit are further than fifty feet from the holder's aura, the holder can not naturally heal and will be weakened until within range.

"Well, crap." Gaia stated.