'Well, that was eventful'.
Isaac had just finished with the therapist that the government had assigned him.
He felt the burdens on him slightly lessen, but they hadn't vanished.
Sighing he walked towards a certain building.
A sign in front of the building depicted a white tower with one eye gazing down from the top.
Below the sign read "Atlas Guild".
Isaac quickly opened the front door and walked into the building.
It wasn't overly spacious yet at the same time, it wasn't tight either.
The building had at least three floors which was more than enough for what Isaac wanted to do.
Walking up to the desk, he saw a young lady on the phone, a nail clipper out meticulously cleaning beneath her seemingly newly polished nails.
"Hi, I am looking for someone".
Isaac addressed the young lady.
The young lady moved her eyes to look at him, freezing and surprised for a few seconds before a small blush crept up on her face.
"H-Hi how may I help you uhh-".
She stopped for a few moments, seemingly scrutinizing his face.
"Master Isaac".
"Ohh my mistake".
Clearing her throat, she looked back at him once more.
"Hello, Master Isaac, how may I help you?".
Isaac looked her up and down for only a second before responding.
"I am here looking for Gunlaung".
The young lady's face froze for a moment.
"I am sorry Master Isaac but you need to make a proper appointment before you can meet with the guild leader".
Isaac stayed silent before replying.
"Call him and see".
He paused and then said.
"Your Master is here".
A moment later, a man came down the stairs slightly in a hurry.
It was Gunlaug.
He moved towards the desk.
There he saw a young lady whom he had hired and the young man with black hair and gray eyes.
Walking up to the young man, he bowed slightly.
"Hello Master Isaac, how have you been?".
Isaac quickly replied.
"I am fine, I just came from the government Awakened therapy program and wanted to see how you were doing".
Gunlaug froze for a moment before replying.
"I hope your session was productive, but please come with me while the others are waiting upstairs".
Isaac nodded.
Gunlaug turned to the shocked young lady at the desk and said.
"This young man is a VIP guest of the guild, do you understand?".
The young lady froze.
'A VIP!'.
Once you first started this job, the guide Leader had made one thing clear.
Only one person would ever be given the title of VIP.
And that person that he would introduce her to would have the same privileges as the guide leader.
"Are you listening?".
Seeing the young lady space out for a moment, Gunlaug spoke up.
Snapped out of her stupor, the young lady quickly nodded.
Sync is an employee, not enthusiastically Gunlaug sighed.
He then turned to Isaac and spoke.
"Please write this way".
Gunlaug turned towards the staircase as he began to walk up the stairs
Their destination was the third floor.
Opening the door to the third floor, Isaac walked in.
Inside he saw familiar faces.
Tessai, Gemma, Kido, and Harus.
All of them have become Awakened.
Not only that from his rise through the second floor, but he knew some of the bright castle's former residences also stayed within the Atlas Guild.
They all stayed silent.
They didn't even give a greeting.
Maybe they were simply scared, or they had lost all desire for a living and had grown different.
Yet such things matter, not for Isaac.
It was simply because each of them had signed a contract with him.
No.
Calling it a contract does a disservice to actual contracts.
This was more like a deal with the devil.
Every last person excluding Isaac, who was within that room was no different than a slave.
They all signed terrifying contracts, which devoured their lives.
And the worst part.
Even if they had no desire to live, they could not kill themselves.
For it was stipulated within the contract.
Isaac's wording within the contract was domineering and used the laws and concepts of the Shadow Slave world to make them more unbreakable.
Of course, the laws and concepts that he used weren't something that originated from his abilities per se.
It was more so that the wording within the contract invoked the laws of the world itself.
For example within the contract, his orders could not be defied.
But he did not write "my orders can't be defied".
He wrote " the recipient of this contract shall follow Isaac's orders with the same intensity as though they were a Shadow Bound Creature".
This was done to ensure absolute obedience.
In the world of Shadow Slave Aspects held great and terrifying powers.
Even though within the novel, there wasn't any instance of a person being able to manipulate contracts that didn't mean there was none.
The novel mostly scrutinized the main character and a few side characters.
It did not explore the full extent of how twisted and weird an Aspect truly becomes.
As such Isaac took the greatest precautions in forging the contracts.
Turning to the group within the room, Isaac spoke up.
"In two weeks you will join and conquer the Second Nightmare".
His words sent a ripple throughout the room, causing the one silent person within it to stir slightly.
"A Nightmare Gate was found on the Chained Isles".
"Your teammates will be Nephis, Sunless, Cassia, Effie, and finally Kai".
Isaac stopped, allowing the words to sink in.
"This is the location."
After giving his orders, Isaac turned away and opened the door, leaving the room in silence.
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Stones Please.