Chapter 2051: Tank The Backlash

"Are we sure that everything is absolutely in order? We’re not going to tear my soul apart, wipe my mind, or kill me outright?" Dana asked hesitantly as she also failed to come up with a better alternative to the plan.

She knew that there was one, but with the rate the bond was deteriorating, she wasn’t sure that she could keep it together long enough to come up with one, or find a way that would stabilize it without giving up the last vestiges of her humanity.

That was the real catch.

She could keep the Soul Bond, or she could keep being at least somewhat human.

Because she was bonded to the Karl, both was no longer an option.

"Yes, everything checks out. We’ve got everyone but Remi here, and she’s on her way. They just postponed the emergency Elders meeting, and here she is. Welcome Remi. I think that we’ve got it all now." Karl insisted.

Dana wasn’t sure why they were going to need the whole team in the room for this, but Karl seemed confident, and it was somewhat comforting that everyone had come to support her during the hardest of times.

Remi had also been the one that made the pain medication that worked for her headaches, but the Naga hadn’t realized that they were caused by the bond.

Even now, Remi didn’t quite get it, as the only headaches that the bond caused her were from Thor yelling at her about experimenting on his kids. But she understood head pain, and if they said that this would fix it, she could research soul strengthening potions later, so that nobody else got caught in this position when they reached their limits.

The beast bond and the Soul Bond were different, but the beast bond also made you grow faster, so it might run into the same roadblock.

Dana took a deep breath and nodded, then Karl and Cara worked together to begin.

First, they had to completely sever the Soul Bond from Dana’s end, without leaving any remnant scraps or lingering traces that would cause backlash damage. That might interfere with the rest of the process, if the soul was unstable and didn’t want to bond with the new space.

The actual severance was much easier to form than Karl had expected. With the imbalance, he could just pulse power and shatter it. But carefully scraping it away would cause much less damage, and it only took a few minutes before both Karl and Cara were certain that they had it all.

Then began the casting.

The [Epic Pet Bond] settled over Dana without issue, but it couldn’t fully form while they were still linked. That was the sign to finish the Nullification, and the bond’s link to Dana simply dissipated, leaving the bond flailing in the air.

{Epic Pet Bond Invitation Sent} 11 points remaining.

Karl sighed in relief as he realized that he had completely forgotten about the points that he would need to actually use the skill.

[All is well that ends well.] Cara laughed as she poured mana into the Epic Pet Bond to help it form more quickly.

The lashing end of the Soul Bond was still free, and the badger could see that it would not be good if that backlash started before Karl had finished the new bond. If he lost focus before Dana made her choice, or before the space formed and let her in, it would definitely not be chaotic in the good way.

Two seconds later, Dana sighed and accepted the bond, then vanished as a new space began to form in Karl’s mind, next to the others.

{The Dana Space is HERE!} Hawk cheered as the mage slowly blinked at her new surroundings.

She was in an open field, long grass swaying around her ankles, and a rustic looking log cabin stood behind her. That was the basics of the Beast Space, until you added more to it.

But what Dana noticed first wasn’t the empty area, it was the crushing sense of pressure as the power of the beasts and Karl flowed in to balance the space with the others, and the intense need to make Karl happy that was filling her mind.

The Soul Bond had balanced them, helping them desire the same things, while keeping Karl from going off the deep end when the beasts got excited.

Now, she was one voice among equals, and the bond demanded absolute loyalty.

Not that she had planned to betray him to begin with, but she immediately noticed the change between the two bonds, even before she noticed that there was something else off about this situation.

The System hadn’t just put her in a space.

It was completely redefining her role within the system, and within reality.

Her name tag no longer showed the blue of a mage class system user, it was simple black, the same way that all the other beasts were. However, it still showed that she was a member of the Darklight Host, and beneath that was a permanent title.

{Karl’s Dana Mage}

Hawk bobbed his head in pleasure as he saw that title.

He had always known that the Dana mage was Karl’s property, and it was just silly that it had taken this long for her to get a space and join them. They had so many options for making spaces already, but none of them had actually done it.

Then, Dana sat down and began to meditate to balance herself with the space, and the blue in her name began to return, slowly at first, becoming a gradient of blue and black that reminded Hawk of his fire.

Or of Remi’s scales when she was younger.

No, he would not associate the Dana Mage with water. She was not another water sister, he would not allow it.

Dana laughed quietly as the power flowing through her began to balance. Everyone else was watching in silence, so they would be ready to react if something went wrong. But Hawk was only concerned about the quality of the new sister that he had received.