Soul Contracts

Carmen discovers that Ambermill, a small settlement near Haven, is tricking women with promises of opportunities to resettle in Sanctodomo or Haven. They just have to to be interviewed and fill out a little paper work. Of course, the paper work turns out to be a slave contract.^[3] After the underhanded leaders try to force Carmen into a contract, Jake and Sylphie arrive to find the town on fire, buildings destroyed, and over a hundred corpses scattered throughout the debris.

Meira and her father are forced to sign slave contracts making them property of the Order of the Malefic Viper. After brutal training, Meira is assigned to Jake as his slave. Coming from a culture that doesn't believe in slavery, Jake is horrified.^[4] However, he discovers that the only way to keep her safe is for her to remain under contract until she is strong enough to protect herself or find a backer who is both strong and willing to free her. Meira ultimately remains under contract until around the time Jake is publicly present as the Chosen of the Malefic Viper.

Having realized that Jake has the ability to travel through the System-enforced boundary of their world into the greater multiverse, the Venusians and Arachnecs collude to try to force Jake to sign a soul contract. The contract would require Jake to return to Venus and report to the Venusian or Arachnec leadership at least once every five years and to routinely transport large batches of their native population through the barrier to the open 93rd Universe in exchange for growth aids intended to hasten his leveling so that he can transport larger groups more often. Jake vehemently refuses, as submission or acknowledgement of a greater authority would irrevocably damage his Path. He insists he would kill himself before signing such a contract. Luckily, before his hand is forced, he is rescued by the Great Sea Serpent at the behest of the Malefic Viper.

"[...]Jake would never sign anything limiting his own freedom. Especially not a Soul Contract. They could spin it however they wanted, but he would rather die than ever give up something so fundamental to his being. Even if he wanted to compromise, Jake knew, deep inside, that if he ever did so, it would compromise his entire Path and likely even mean that godhood would be out of the question for him in the future. And this was even if he ended up getting free of the contract in the future."^[5]