"Ophiuchus... that name is a mouthful. I'll just call you Ophis," Ankh decided.
"Ophis, what can you do? What are your powers?"
Ankh patted Ophiuchus's huge snake head and asked curiously.
His knowledge of Celestial Spirit Magic was still pretty basic, mostly what he remembered from Lucy's use of it.
But from what he knew, each spirit Lucy had was unique.
They all had their own personalities and special skills.
When it came to being useful and flexible, Celestial Spirit Mages were top-tier.
Need to fight at sea? Summon Aquarius.
Need a long-range fighter? Call Sagittarius.
Need to dig underground? Virgo's your choice.
And others, like Cancer and Gemini, had all sorts of handy uses beyond just fighting.
Ophiuchus flicked its forked tongue.
Its cold snake eyes trembled slightly, and then its whole body began to give off a rolling, dark mist!
Soon, the giant snake shadow vanished within the black fog, and a tall, human-like figure slowly walked out from within it...
Ankh was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the graceful figure emerging from the mist.
It was a beautiful woman with black hair and purple eyes.
She wore a black robe with golden patterns over her clothes, looking both serious and mysterious.
But under the open robe, she wore a crop top that showed her stomach, and her pale thighs contrasted sharply with her black shorts.
Looking at her outfit, Ankh thought she looked like a mix between a holy priestess and a stunning, sexy older sister.
The human-form Ophiuchus walked up to Ankh.
He had to look up to meet her eyes.
He twitched his mouth awkwardly and took a step back.
Ophis long legs were impossible to miss—not only were they perfectly shaped, but being barefoot made them even more striking.
But that wasn't what bothered Ankh.
What bothered him was... how tall this Celestial Spirit was...
Ankh wasn't short.
In the guild, only Gildarts was taller than him.
But this Ophiuchus...
Was a full head taller than him, and that was without wearing any shoes!
Ankh had to crane his neck to see Ophis's face. If he took one more step forward, his face would be buried in her chest.
Although Ophis's purple eyes were beautiful, her expression was somewhat blank.
Seeing Ankh looking up at her, she tilted her head as if she understood him.
She then lowered her body and decisively squatted down on the ground, continuing to look at Ankh with expectant eyes.
Ankh was completely thrown off by her action and quickly helped her up.
"Alright, alright, that's not necessary. So what if you're taller than me..."
Ophis nodded and stood up again, raising her intimidating height once more.
Ankh's gaze traveled upward, and his eyelid twitched again.
Even if he acted like he didn't care, the truth was, men do care about their height.
Ankh quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, you still haven't told me what your special ability is."
A thoughtful look appeared on Ophis beautiful face.
She pointed at Ankh, her voice was distant and soft.
"Master, could you please create a small wound on yourself..."
Ankh nodded, then extended his forearm and used a little magic power to make a shallow cut.
Ophis looked at the wound, her purple eyes glowing faintly.
To his surprise, Ankh saw the wound slowly healing.
'Healing Magic? That's a very rare ability...'
'Wait, this didn't feel like normal Healing Magic.'
Ankh frowned—it felt less like the wound was healing and more like it was just... disappearing.
Confused, he looked at Ophis.
She seemed to understand and explained softly.
"I can absorb illnesses, wounds, and other bad conditions from others—like dizziness, fear of heights, or even blindness—to heal them."
Ankh understood now—this was an interesting ability.
She was like a pure support healer.
If she could also absorb someone's fatigue, that would be even more amazing.
Suddenly remembering something, Ankh asked, "Is there a limit to what you can absorb?"
Ophis nodded gently.
"I am a very special Celestial Spirit. I cannot use my own magic power. Whenever I use any magic, I have to rely completely on my master's magic power."
"And I cannot absorb any condition that is beyond my master's magic power or what my own body can handle."
Ankh was startled.
He carefully checked his magic and found that his magic power had indeed decreased a little bit earlier.
He just hadn't noticed right away because his total magic power was so vast.
Normal Celestial Spirits and the twelve Zodiac Spirits only use their master's magic power to open the gate and stay in this world.
When they fight, they mostly use their own power.
But Ophiuchus is different.
Besides those normal costs, every time she uses an ability, the magic power comes directly from her master...
Ankh scratched his head.
'So Ophis ability has a downside—it could potentially hurt her.'
In future fights, he'd have to be careful how much he used it...
Ophis soft voice spoke again.
"Besides absorbing damage, I can also send the damage I've absorbed back to an enemy. But the magic power it costs, and the strain on my body, will be much higher..."
Ankh's eyes lit up—that was an unexpected bonus.
He thought she was just a healer, but it turned out she could also reflect curses and damage.
As for the magic power cost, for someone with as much magic power as Ankh, that wasn't a big problem right now.
Whether it was spending magic to heal or spending magic to transfer wounds, Ankh just needed to find the right balance.
The most important thing now was to figure out how efficiently Ophis could absorb damage, to make sure fights didn't spiral out of control.
Satisfied, Ankh nodded and smiled.
"I look forward to fighting alongside you, Ophis."
Ophis nodded and gave a slight bow. "Yes, Master."
Ankh waved his hand. "No need to call me 'Master.' We're partners now. Just call me Ankh."
Hearing this, a faint light seemed to appear in Ophis usually deep and calm purple eyes.
Her voice became noticeably brighter.
"Yes, Ankh."
Ankh smiled, then remembered how Lucy did things in the original story.
"Well then, let's make our contract. When are you usually free?"
...
The relationship between a Celestial Spirit and a mage is usually decided by the contract they make.
It sets the rules for when and how the mage can summon the spirit.
Since Celestial Spirits have their own world and their own lives, they can't be available to fight 24/7.
Well, except maybe for Taurus—Lucy seemed to be able to summon him pretty much anytime she ran into trouble...
Of course, if a mage has a bad character, they might treat their spirits like tools and ignore the contract.
But mages like that lose the true bond with their spirits.
Both the mage and the spirit will struggle to grow stronger that way.
Ankh didn't want to be that kind of mage.
After discussing it with Ophis, they finally agreed on the terms of their contract.
For the five weekdays—Monday through Friday—Ophis was available.
On weekends, she preferred to rest in the Celestial Spirit World.
That was actually a lot of available time.
Ankh couldn't help but think that even Celestial Spirits got weekends off.
Where else would you find a boss as good as him?
Ophis also made a few small requests, like asking Ankh to summon her often to play or to eat something tasty together.
Finally, Ophis added that if it was a life-or-death-emergency, Ankh could summon her even on Saturdays and Sundays.
Hearing this, Ankh had a thought.
In the original story, Lucy could often summon the Zodiac Spirits in a crisis.
Maybe this rule was the reason why...
The contract with Ophis was settled quickly. It might change in the future as their bond grew deeper.
Ophis seemed happy with the contract.
Ankh raised the key and said, "Well then, the contract is sealed. I'll keep my promises."
Golden starlight shimmered.
Ophis, who was about to return to the Celestial Spirit World, showed a rare, faint smile.
"Thank you for your kindness, Ankh."
Ankh smiled and nodded.
As the starlight brightened, Ophis tall figure vanished.
Ankh let out a relaxed sigh.
From today on, he was officially a Celestial Spirit Mage