While Others Contract Magical Beasts, I Bond a Peerless Goddess

Luke Vain spent three years at Asgard Academy of Bonding Arts doing the work no one else wanted—shoveling beast dung, washing laundry, risking his life for herbs in the forbidden forest. Every coin went toward a single shot at the covenant ritual, his only chance to bond a magical beast and become an official student. On the day of the ritual, the other students step forward with mid-tier beasts and resonance crystals. Luke carries a stone toad with no rank. The jeering starts before he even begins. Landon tells him to know his place. When the bond fails, the laughter crashes over him. Moments later, Julia Ashford—the Frost Rose, the greatest genius the academy has seen in a century—completes her bond with a high-tier Serebus from the forbidden forest while Landon offers her a resonance crystal she refuses without a glance. Luke stands in the wreckage of his failure and swears that if he ever rises, he will repay the humiliation a hundredfold. Then a locked book left by his grandfather catches his eye. His blood drips onto the cover, the pages fly open, and a spirit calling itself Merlin's grimoire announces that the soul band—a forbidden power capable of forcing a soul bond on any female creature—is now his. Luke's eyes land on Julia, still standing in the aftermath of her own successful bonding.

Before she can react, the bond activates. Julia shrieks that she will kill him, but when Landon attacks in a fury, her body moves on its own to shield Luke. Beast protection mode has taken hold. She drags him away from the crowd, demanding to know what dark magic he used. In her room, she hurls spell after spell, yet every strike stops inches from his skin. Luke explains the unbreakable rule: a contracted beast cannot harm its master. Julia calls it an impossibility—she possesses a noble magical lineage and is no one's pet. Luke tells her that is exactly what she is now. That night, Landon bangs on her door, convinced he heard Luke's voice inside and threatening to enter. Julia panics, begging Luke to let her go. He tells her she only gets one chance. As Landon pushes again, her pride shatters. "Master, please save me now," she whispers. Luke releases his hold. Landon and his crew burst in, demanding to know where Luke is hiding. Julia, composed and furious, tells Landon he is barging into her room at midnight with his gang and had better have a good excuse or she will report him to the dean. When Landon insists he heard Luke's voice and tries to search behind a tapestry, Julia threatens to freeze him into an ice sculpture at the academy gates for trespassing. Landon retreats, fuming. Later, as Julia meditates beside Luke, her speed triples under Merlin's pact. The power feeds back into him. She inches closer while he sleeps, chasing a breakthrough she has been stuck on for six months. Luke wakes to a system alert—Julia is forming her mana core and needs protection. He pulls her closer, and the bond tightens further. Julia is only the beginning. The millennia-old queen of mythical creatures and the grand judge of the celestial court will follow—neither pride nor divine rank can shield them from the soul band. One by one, goddesses fall under his contract and fight on his behalf, while Luke simply enjoys the victory.