Chapter 121: First Contract

Ignoring all of Oliver’s heavy drama, Terrence and Elissandra had left the estate to return directly to his beast shop. With the newly formed industry he had laid a strong foundation for, Terrence was fully expecting things would soon become extremely busy for him.

"I am selling this beast for fifteen million credits," Terrence said flatly as soon as they arrived back inside the store.

Elissandra’s eyes widened in complete surprise, her mouth opening slightly.

’Wait, just fifteen million credits? To commission an officially certified A-Rank Beast would at least cost fifty million! This is surely an insane jackpot!’ she thought to herself, her heart thumping against her ribs.

"No bargain," Terrence added immediately as soon as he noticed how silent Elissandra had suddenly become.

Elissandra quickly smiled and shrugged her tense expression off, smoothing down the front of her pastel tunic. "Of course, I won’t bargain at all. It’s already an amazingly good deal."

Terrence silently stared at her for a moment, inspecting her genuine reaction, then nodded with an accomplished expression. He officially had his very first client now with the newly built physical beast shop. Just her word of mouth among high-society circles would be good enough to rapidly expand his overall business.

"Okay, you just need to send the money directly to my registered account."

They spent the entire remaining afternoon focused on all of the formal business talks and technical exchanges. The entire transaction process lasted for several hours before Elissandra was fully set up and had officially formed a stable contract with the Mutated Hard Pink Sheep.

Thoroughly content and holding her new beast tightly, she finally left the shop with a bright, radiant smile.

When she was finally gone, Terrence let out a long, heavy breath and completely surrendered himself into his soft swivel chair behind the clean glass counter.

Finally, the whole experience felt completely new to him, but selling another high-tier beast for a personal fund that massive was deeply fulfilling. Although he wasn’t really blinded by raw money, he knew remarkably well that its structural purpose would benefit his ultimate goals tremendously.

Focusing his thoughts on the Gacha Shop’s endless wonder, he knew he could pull far more important artifacts and high-grade resources with its help. In order to explore its full wonder and draw high-tier items, he desperately needed continuous liquid money.

"Well, let’s check things over," he muttered under his breath.

Terrence had several unchecked System rewards lying around since he became overwhelmed with recent events. Despite all the difficult missions he had accomplished, he hadn’t yet had the proper opportunity to test and learn them in a quiet setting.

But now that he was actively planning on expanding his physical beast shop, he had to thoroughly know what every single reward did.

"Hm..."

He started mentally listing them out, starting directly with what he had originally earned during the crisis in Hanging City.

"Beast Taming Exclusive Talent." He deeply thought about the phrase, clearly recalling the exact memory of when he received the system notification after meeting all the required conditions for accomplishing that massive mission.

"If I want to be direct and look at it as completely self-explanatory, then... does this mean that I now officially possess an innate Talent for Beast Taming? I can actually contract beasts myself now?" Terrence thought, his smirk widening into a genuine grin.

He couldn’t help but clench his fists tightly until his knuckles turned stark pale. With how intense his rising emotions were, he leaned back in his chair and screamed out loud toward the ceiling with his head raised high and his eyes tightly closed.

Like any other normal human being when they hit an unbelievable jackpot, Terrence had his fair share of raw, uncontained joy as well.

"Yes! Yes! Is this really it?!"

Although his physical reaction to the System reward was several weeks delayed due to the constant chaos, at least he had his absolute focus locked onto it this time.

"Even though the notification says ’Exclusive,’ it still strictly means that I can now directly contract beasts on my own terms."

Wanting to immediately test this new theory in real time, he raised his hand and summoned Noir into the room.

Directly beside his swivel chair, a dark spatial blur materialized, and the pitch-black hound beast settled into a neat sitting position on the smooth floor. Its sleek head was raised high to look up at Terrence, tilting slightly to the side with a bit of natural confusion.

"So... here goes the theory," Terrence muttered softly as he raised his trembling hand, gently placing his palm right on top of Noir’s dark head.

With his eyes closed and his focus sharp, he reached out to sense the hidden connection between them. Terrence felt something fundamentally different from the usual cold sensation he experienced through the system’s basic administrative link with listed store beasts.

This time, it was a deeply warmful, resonant connection—like a small sphere of pure light surrounding his consciousness with profound, ancient meaning. He couldn’t explain it using any other similar sensation he had ever known, but it surely opened his total understanding about Noir’s inner essence.

"Master."

Terrence felt a sudden shock of mana jolt straight through his veins from that sharp surprise.

’You can actually talk? Wait, this deep sensation... this is the real state of a soul contract, right? So it truly means that I can now formally contract a beast myself.’

"Indeed, master. Finally," Noir’s voice resonated clearly inside Terrence’s mind, full of unwavering loyalty. "We can finally form a true contract. This is the exact moment I have been patiently waiting for."

’Really, buddy? Why?’ Terrence asked mentally through their rapidly forming soul connection, his expression softening slightly. ’I honestly thought that you were just following me around because the system forced you to obey.’

Terrence could vividly hear the true thoughts of the beast—what its core soul was actively thinking at this very moment during their forming bond.

Who would have ever thought that it was entirely possible for Terrence to awaken a genuine taming talent after everything he had been through? Before this moment, he had assumed that the System was already taking the place of a traditional talent, but having this new power proved that the existence of the System didn’t just end with being a simple substitute.

Hence, there had to be so much more to unlock about the System’s true nature.

"I am more than grateful to serve you," Noir responded, its dark tail giving a slow, heavy thump against the floor. "You are kind to me, and I can clearly see that you carry a good heart beneath it all. Everything that I understand about you is what your soul tells me directly. Because of that, I want to form a formal contract with you."

Terrence felt his chest tighten, a warm sensation stinging the corners of his eyes. Of course, he couldn’t physically break down while locked in a high-level soul connection with the Mutated Iron Shadow Hound, but it was easily one of the most heartwarming events of his entire life.

’Are you really sure about this, Noir?’ Terrence pressed, his tone turning serious within their shared mental space. ’You have seen how... well, desperate and miserable I am. I can’t bring myself to forgive my own family, so I am completely locked in a ruthless revenge mode against them. Because of that choice, I will be tangled in a dangerous fate forced onto me purely by my hatred.’

"Master, I understand entirely," Noir replied gently, its spirit radiating absolute calm. "All creatures have to feel that way at some point. Even if you technically have the peaceful choice to forgive them for your own comfort, you still choose to stand up and fight because this isn’t just about you and them anymore. It is about them and the entire world. You have a good heart, and you fight to protect other people. So please, accept this soul bond."

And as the invisible connection between their minds grew exponentially stronger, Terrence’s eyes widened in sheer shock at the final system feedback he received.

’This... this is a 100 percent absolute master-to-servant soul relationship!’

[You have successfully accepted the soul contract!]

[Congratulations! You are now the official master of the named Mutated Iron Shadow Hound: Noir. Please command him well!]

[Because of the passive effect of the Beast Taming Exclusive Talent, all soul contract binding thresholds have been permanently raised to a minimum of 60-40 up to a maximum of 100 percent. You also possess an unlimited soul contract capacity limit. Hence, how much your soul can hold will no longer depend on beast ranks, but only on the sheer number of individual souls contracted.]

[The Beast Supplier Stage 3 authority is now fully taking effect.]