“But there has to be a way,” I said, “You’re the one who said there are endless paths, endless stars, endless… everything!”
“I did say that, but—"
“There must be something we can do. I mean, any spell to shrink yourself, or turn into something smaller, or anything?”
“No. If that spell exists, I’ve never heard of it,” the turtle said. “And honestly, I’m not too happy about living in this giant body either…”
“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “But if there’s a way for me, then there has to be one for you too. Maybe in that town, or somewhere else, there’s a spell or a ritual or something. I mean, this world has magic!”
“Wait, wait,” it said, squinting. “What did you just say?”
“...What?”
“You just said a ritual, right? I don’t know any spell for it, but there is a ritual we can try,” the turtle said, its eyes going wide.
“I-I don't get it...”
“Listen. There’s a ritual called Soul Bond. It links two beings for life and lets them share their skills and traits,” it said, nodding.
“A soul… what?"
“Soul Bond. Normally we use it to trade skills. You take mine, I take yours.”
“Forget it, I don’t have any skills.”
“Exactly! You have nothing to offer except your human body. And that's the best part of it.”
“The best part? How so?”
“If you had any skills, you’d give them to me. But since you have nothing, you’ll be giving me your traits instead, just like your body.”
“Wait, give you my what?” I blinked hard. “Am I turning into a turtle? Please tell me I’m not turning into a turtle!”
The turtle laughed until its shell shook. I just sat there, waiting it out, feeling that sharp sting of being a clueless idiot.
“No, not like that. But that wouldn’t be so bad anyway…” it said, still holding back laughter. “It copies skills, not swaps them. I keep my teleportation and you get a copy. You keep your body and I get a copy. Any other skills would copy too. You don’t lose anything.”
“I... guess I get it. Let’s do it then. Nothing to lose by trying, right?”
“No, of course not. But first, there’s a little detail you need to know.”
“...What detail?”
“As I said, it’s a soul bond, also known as a forever friendship deal. You don’t just share power, you bind your souls for a lifetime. That means you can’t become enemies, and you can’t kill each other either. If one of you tries, both die in the end.”
“Why on earth would someone do that?”
“To be the only one with that power, of course, and that's why that rule is there,” it said. “If you take someone’s skill, then kill them to keep it for yourself, the bond kills you too.”
“But I don't think that's the case for us.”
“Yes, I don’t think you’d ever do something like that. And if you try, don’t worry, I’ll knock you out first,” it said with a serious look. Then its face softened. “You saved my life, after all. I just wanted you to know all the details. Maybe you’ll change your mind… or, you know…”
“No, it’s fine. I just want you with me, that's it. You know this world. You’re kind. I’m clueless, lost, and one wrong sneeze away from disappearing.”
“All right,” it said, “so let’s do it!” Its eyes sparkled.
The turtle calmly raised its arm, bit into it, and made a neat cut, like opening a bag of chips. Then it held the bleeding arm out to me.
“Your turn,” it said, calm as ever.
“What... no. Do I have to?”
“Yes, you have to. It’s part of the ritual. Just a tiny cut is enough. I promise you won’t die from it,” it said, raising one eyebrow like that was meant to be comforting.
“Fine, but I’m not using my teeth. Hold on.”
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I looked around for something sharp. After a moment I spotted a small stone and picked it up. I pressed it against my palm and made a tiny cut, just enough to bleed a little. Then I held out my hand, silently praying that this would be enough.
“Is this... okay?”
“It is,” the turtle said, touching its palm to mine. It lifted its head to the sky and spoke up to the clouds.
“Goddess Desira, ruler of lust and all other desires, hear us and start the Soul Bond for both of us!"
Soon a very familiar voice came down from the sky, and that alone was enough to send my nerves straight through the roof.
“Soul Bond started,” the goddess said.
“Hey! You bargain?bin goddess, listen to—”
“She can’t hear you,” the turtle cut in before I exploded any further.
A white light burst from where our hands met. It grew brighter and brighter until the world turned pure white. A cold shiver ran down to my bones. I squeezed my eyes shut, rubbed them hard, and waited for my vision to forgive me for whatever that was.
When I finally looked ahead, my jaw gave up and dropped. The giant turtle was gone. In its place stood a woman. A very not turtle woman. I stared from head to toe, waiting for her to flicker and vanish like a bad illusion, but it didn't.
She was real and there. In her early twenties, maybe. A bit taller than me. Soft curves, full hourglass figure, long green hair tied back in a ponytail, and dark brown skin that felt unfairly attractive. She was wearing a green kimono which was trying very hard to keep everything contained.
She tugged at her dress and stared down at her chest as if she couldn’t quite believe they were actually there. Then she checked her sides, her legs, the whole package.
The instant our eyes met, she beamed, threw her arms wide, and charged straight toward me. I planted my hand on her forehead just in time. No way, I wasn't doing that suffocating hug again.
“Let’s... just not hug,” I muttered.
“Oh, alright,” she said.
Just as I relaxed and lowered my arm, she wrapped hers around me, banged my face in her chest. Then she started patting my head.
“Oh gods, I thought I would end up all scrawny like you for a second,” she said, trembling with excitement. “But wow! I always wanted a body this nice! Thank you for giving me this chance!”
“...What? What does this have to do with me? And didn’t I just say no hugs?!”
She finally let go and stepped back. “Of course it’s because of you,” she said. “My appearance comes from your imagination. And I have to say, you have good taste.”
“My... imagination?”
Then it hit me. The turtle wasn't just any woman, but a perfect mash of every over the top ecchi heroine I had ever seen. What she called was my imagination was actually just a mix of those unfairly over-the-top figures publishers love to draw to boost sales. And I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or impressed, but at least she seemed pleased.
“Well, if you say so,” I muttered, averting my eyes.
“But something is bothering me,” she said, tilting her head. “In your world…” she grabbed her chest, “…do all women look this well-gifted? Or is this just—”
“Ah, no, not really,” I cut off, panicking. “I think… it’s just pure luck! Yeah, it is!” I forced a stiff smile while staring at literally anything but her.
There was no way I could tell her that she was basically the cover photo for my secret under bed collection. That embarrassing fact was staying locked in my soul forever.
“Well, uh, can we head to the town?” I tossed out a few words, trying to change the subject. “You know I've been hungry for a long time and…”
“Ah, sure, why not!” she said, glancing at the distant town ahead. “But I can’t teleport us there. I’ve already used my daily chance. We must walk.”
“What if… I tried it? I mean,” I hesitated, unsure yet, “if I had your skills, teleporting should be part of it, right?”
“Ah, yes, but also no,” she said with a smile so forced it looked like it might crack. “You probably can’t use it without mana.” Then she realized my dropped face and added, “But hey, we can at least try, right?”
“Okay, just tell me how.”
“Oh, it’s pretty simple, indeed. You need to picture the place you want to go in your mind and wish to teleport there. That’s all. But it has to be somewhere you’ve already seen or been. You can't go to places you’ve never been.”
“Makes sense.” I stepped closer to the town in the distance. “So we can teleport there, right? I mean, I can see it from here, even if it's not that clear…”
“As long as you can see it, yeah. Go on, try it.” She came up beside me and grabbed my hand.
I closed my eyes and pictured the town we wanted to reach, every little detail sharp in my mind, like I had a manga editor hovering over my shoulder making sure I'd drawn it all perfectly. Then I wished to go there. But nothing happened.
I tried again. Still nothing. I willed, commanded, even desperately begged… I’d exhausted every trick I could think of. Then I felt something, soft, swirling around me. I focused, held on… and when it faded, I opened my eyes. Yep, still nothing. It was just a breeze.
“Fine," I sighed, "let’s just walk.”
We walked toward the town in dead silence. Neither of us said a word, it felt like anything we said would just pour salt into the wound of my mood. I kicked aside every little rock on the path, letting out all my frustration on them, until we finally made it to the town.
The moment we reached the entrance, two heavily armored guards with flashy helmets looked at us, blinked, and swung the gates wide. They drove their spears into the ground, dropped to one knee in perfect sync, and bowed deeply.
We looked at each other, confused about what was happening, but shrugged it off and stepped through the open gate anyway, guessing it was just some kind of formal greeting or a traditional thing.
We walked into the town, and right away something felt off. Everyone we passed, even people who just saw us from afar, dropped to one knee like the guards. Then it hit me. Every single one of them had horns. Yeah. Definitely not normal humans.
“Why do you think they’re bowing?” the turtle whispered, clutching my arm as tightly as I felt inside.
“No idea. Maybe that’s how they welcome strangers… or some tradition,” I muttered. “They’re demi-humans, right?”
“Uh… maybe not. I’m not sure. If I didn’t know their kind was long gone, I’d swear they were demons. Then again, other races have horns too, like goats, so who knows.”
We just walked with no idea where we were going, people quietly moving out of our way, until we somehow ended up in front of a huge wooden mansion where the road simply stopped. We didn't know what to do next, but my stomach was growling. The building looked like an inn, so we stepped forward to go inside.
Before we could even grab the door, it slammed open. A few figures rushed out. Leading them was an old man, ancient-looking, leaning heavily on his cane, with two middle-aged men trailing right behind him.
He shuffled forward as fast as he could, then bent as low as his frail body allowed, cane and all. The others went down on their knees too. This awkward display of respect was already making me wince… but then the old man's words hit like a ton of bricks.
“Welcome home, my lord!”
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