We just stood there like that. My mind was still reeling from the painful memory the system had dredged up. It had left a bitter taste in my mouth. The silence was getting heavy and awkward.
And Kaelen… he was still breathing heavily from fighting off his shadow transformation. His face was pale while his eyes looked a dangerous stormy gray. He looked like he'd been dragged backwards through a very sharp hedge.
"An hour," I finally managed, my voice a dry whisper. My throat felt scratchy. "Seriously. An hour of this?" I gestured vaguely with our joined hands, as if it were a particularly vile piece of art.
Kaelen didn't dignify that with a proper response. He just clenched his jaw, looking anywhere but at me. At the trees, at the faint glow of the distant city. Infact, anything to avoid looking at the rogue mage he was now magically stuck to. Yeah, what did I expect of a 'prince'?
"So, what's the plan, Prince?" I still asked, trying to put some of my usual carefree sarcasm into my voice, even though my insides felt like mashed potatoes.
"Are we just going to stand here like two statues reenacting 'reluctant high-fives' for the next fifty-nine minutes? Or do we, you know, do something productive? Like, figure out how to break this cursed bond?"
He finally turned his head, his eyes looking over me with an intensity that felt like a physical brush. "Breaking it would likely trigger the penalty again," he stated. His voice still rough, but regaining some of its usual tone. "And I have no intention of revisiting that… experience. My curse is unstable enough as it is."
"Oh, your curse," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Everything is always about your curse, isn't it? As if I enjoyed reliving the systematic destruction of my village!" The painful memory was still fresh in my mind.
"It was you who triggered the system!" he snapped, raising his voice. A flash of red returning to the edges of his eyes. The shadows around his hand seemed to pulse, a subtle thrumming passing through our joined hands. "Your reckless actions brought this upon us!"
"My 'reckless actions' freed a village from a Contract that was practically draining them dry!" I shot back, my own voice rising too.
"What were your 'actions,' Prince? Sitting on a golden throne, collecting tithes from starving people? Or perhaps hunting down anyone who dared to question the god-blessed order?"
He recoiled slightly at the mention of the tithes, a flicker of something crossing his face, defensiveness or shame? But it disappeared quickly, replaced by a cold glare. "I ensure order! This realm would descend into chaos without the Contracts!"
"Oh, yeah, because widespread starvation and fear is what you call 'order'," I muttered, giving his hand a sarcastic tug.
"Look, we can argue about the socio-political implications of your divine Contracts later. Right now, we're stuck in a literal magical bind. We have a whole hour to kill. How about we try not to spontaneously combust each other?"
He sighed, a long, drawn-out sound that was more tiredness than anger, but still laced with irritation. "We walk," he commanded, pulling me forward. "I need to ensure no Temple guards followed us. And I prefer to move than… stand around arguing."
And so began the world's most awkward forest stroll. His stride was long, accustomed to covering ground quickly. On the other hand, I was used to quick movements, not being dragged along by a grumpy royal.
"Can you slow down, for the love of all that's not actively trying to kill us?" I complained, nearly tripping over a root. Our arms brushed as we moved, and I could sense the low thrum of the bond between us.
He slowed down a little, but didn't respond, his gaze fixed ahead. He moved with the grace of someone used to navigating dangers. Even with a normal stride, his sheer height meant I was practically jogging to keep up. It was irritating and a little bit impressive. The guy clearly knew how to handle himself.
"So, tell me, Prince," I asked, trying to break the silence. "Does this 'Fated Bond System' come with a user manual? Or are we just supposed to figure out if it grants us magical powers or makes us share a single brain cell by trial and error?"
He let out a chuckle then, a surprisingly husky sound that could barely be described as amusement. "I doubt it comes with a manual. Most ancient magical systems prefer to be cryptic and painful."
"Oh, tell me about it," I muttered, thinking of my own cursed scars. We continued walking, our steps falling into a rhythm. The bond seemed to be pulling at my own energy, too. My scars, usually a constant source of low-level pain, seemed… muted. As if the bond was absorbing some of their chaotic magic.
But Kaelen was different.
His movements were becoming heavier. I could feel a subtle drain seeping through our joined hands, like a physical manifestation of exhaustion. It felt like his exhaustion. He was now looking pale beneath the dirt.
"What's happening?" I asked, a bit of concern overriding my usual cynicism. The cursed energy that had been writhing around him earlier was now completely gone, but it had left him completely spent.
He shook his head slightly, "the curse… it pulls," he said, his voice rough with fatigue. "When it's unstable, it draws energy. This bond… it's redirecting it. Stabilizing the surge. But the drain… it's still happening. From me. My mana… it's… low."
My mana. My power. I just felt a chill run down my spine. "So this is why the system wants us to hold hands," As the realization hit me with annoyance. "It's using our connection to stabilize your curse. Like a magical battery and a very temperamental fuse."
"A living conduit," he corrected, his gaze fixed on some point far beyond the trees. He clearly hated the thought. "And I'm the fuse."
"And I'm the battery," I finished, feeling a familiar wave of resentment. It was always me, always Zahara, the source of power to be drained. "Just great. So I'm stuck with the guy who's literally a walking magical disaster, and now I'm his personal energy source."
He sighed again, a long, drawn-out sound that was more of tiredness than anger. "I wouldn't have chosen this."
"Neither would I!" I snapped back, my voice rising. "My ideal partner is a nice, boring accountant who comes home on time to make me food and never thinks about magic! Not a brooding prince with an unstable curse who looks like he walked out of a particularly dark fantasy novel!"
He actually let out a short chuckle then, a surprisingly pleasant sound. "And I prefer… solitude," he countered, a hint of his earlier snarky returning. "Not a loud-mouthed rogue mage who detonates temples."
The corners of my lips twitched despite myself. We were still arguing, but there was a subtle shift. A shared acknowledgment of the absurdity of our situation. And maybe, just maybe, a tiny sliver of shared misery that was a kind of connection in its own way.
It was almost like the bond itself was quietly urging us to cooperate and find some common ground.
We kept walking, we argued, we fell silent, we glared. I noticed the way his shadow seemed to shift and dance around him, a restless energy, even when it was contained. He noted the way my scars glowed brighter when I got particularly agitated, the light reflecting in his dark eyes.
The thought hit me with a jolt: he could see my scars. Really see them. Most people just saw the marks and then looked away, uncomfortable. But he was looking at them, acknowledging them, almost analytically. It was… unsettling. In a perverse, infuriating way, almost… intimate.
The hour was almost up now. I could feel the slight shift in the bond's energy, a lessening of the insistent pull. Kaelen stiffened beside me, a tremor running through his body.
"It's ending," he said, his voice raw with exhaustion. The dark shadows under his eyes looked darker now. He looked genuinely drained, like someone had literally pulled the plug on his internal battery.
My own scars flared one last time before settling back into their familiar ache. The constant thrum of the bond quieted into a faint whisper. The forced connection did not break but loosened by a lot.
The golden text shimmered between us again, illuminating the dark forest.
____
[System Quest Complete: "Establish physical connection with Bond Partner."]
[Reward Granted: Bond Level 5 unlocked.]
[New System Feature Unlocked: Shared Mana Pool.]
____
"Shared Mana Pool?" I whispered, my eyes wide. I turned to Kaelen, who was now clutching my hand, his grip getting weak. He looked as if he was about to collapse.
Shared Mana Pool. That meant… my magic was now potentially his to draw upon. Or vice-versa. And his cursed energy could still affect mine. It was a terrifying thought. An ultimate violation of my independence.
But then I saw it. Kaelen's lips, pressed into a thin, weary line, his eyes struggling to stay open. He looked utterly spent, his power truly drained. The system had taken its toll, stabilizing his curse at the cost of his strength.
And just as I processed that, the bond, sent another unexpected surge. Not of magic this time, but… of exhaustion. His exhaustion. It hit me like a physical wave, making my own eyelids feel heavy.
His grip on my hand loosened more, his fingers were almost slipping away. His body slumped.
"Kaelen!" I cried, trying to steady him. But he was already falling.
My unwanted bonded partner, the brooding prince, collapsed right there in the forest, falling into my arms.
And then, just as the last of the golden system text faded, a single one flashed.
____
[Bond Level 5: Shared Mana Pool Activated.]
____
Oh my… Isn't this just great?