Jason was unsure if he would have rescued Emily under normal circumstances only to satiate his marginal sense of justice.
At least not as long as he didn't know who he might offend, which could bring huge problems.
However, there was another reason for him to rescue her.
Not only did he need an employee but with what he saw, the thought of forming a faction that only appeared in his mind several minutes ago increased manifold.
The Emerald-green colored crystal in Emily's hand which she seemed to have received from her parents before they died, harbored a beast!
Jason was unsure why the beast inside didn't hatch and at the same time why nobody noticed that the emerald crystal was not what it seemed to be.
It was an egg instead of a normal crystal.
Hearing this, Emily was astonished as her eyes widened as she looked at the Emerald colored crystal in her hand
"What do you mean by that? How can that be an egg? The orphanage deemed it useless and didn't take it from me because of that. Furthermore, I have had this crystal since I was little, how could it not have hatched until now if it were to be an egg?!"
Without wanting to say too much about his mana eyes, Jason just tried to convince her one more time before he would let it go.
Forcing someone was not something he wanted to do, even less with someone he wanted to work for him and maybe even to establish a faction with!
"If you have a wind affinity, soul energy units in the four-digit range, if possible not in the lower four-digit range, and enough space for a soulbond, you might as well try it out. There is no harm in trying, right?"
Smiling at her, Jason tried to encourage her, because this choice might change her whole future.
If Emily would bind the beast inside the emerald-colored egg, it was possible for her to become strong as long as she received enough resources to absorb mana and breakthrough her current shackles with her new soulbond!
Through his mana eyes, he perceived a strong and distinct purple color, which meant that the unhatched beast had the potential of a strong Guardian-ranked beast!!
This meant if she contracted the Guardian-ranked beast at her current mana core rank that was at the 1st Expert rank, her strength would increase a lot.
To be able to reach the 1st Expert rank at the age of 15 without cultivation resources indicated to Jason that Emily was ambitious, diligent and someone with talent!
She might have absorbed mana over the whole day because she didn't have to refine her soul energy for several hours like he had to or practice any martial art techniques as she didn't possess any, but by nurturing her, Emily was bound to become strong if she didn't give up!
Hearing Jason's words, she began to ask herself if there was even a reason not to try out what he said.
She always felt that the Emerald crystal from her parents was something special but was only to get the hang of it.
Jason's calm attitude and confidence showed her that he knew something she was unaware off and instead of hesitating as she did since becoming an orphan, Emily gathered all her courage, inhaled deeply before she cut her finger with a dagger, Jason handed her.
Loosening up a thread from her soul, Emily led it through her arm to the cut finger, which she held on top of the Emerald-green colored egg that was placed in her other hand.
Once the soul thread enveloped the egg completely, Emily shrieked out and a joyous expression formed on her face, telling Jason that she finally figured out what the Emerald "crystal" really was.
Only two minutes passed until the soul connection was established and the emerald-colored egg vanished inside her soul through the magic circle that manifested below it.
However, what happened afterward caused Jason to frown because Emily lost consciousness before she started to sweat heavily.
Rushing towards her, he felt a searing heat from her as he asked himself
"Was that too much from me? First the soul contract and now a Guardian-ranked egg as first soulbond…."
Scratching the back of his head, Jason decides that it might be better to consult Dalia about it.
'She won't have the same issue as I have with my vessel, right?'
Slapping his forehead, he could only curse inwardly because he was once again too impatient.
Artemis who sat on his shoulder screeched out when Jason carried Emily out of the shop which he locked, before doing anything else.
It was only Friday and there was more than enough time for him to contract another employee until Monday, when he wanted to open the Shop for everyone.
However, right now, Artemis seemed to be annoyed by Jason's request because he asked her to let him and Emily fly on her.
She rejected this request almost immediately and when he asked Artemis to enter his mana core to manifest her wings on his back she rejected it once again.
Frowning deeply, Jason was not sure what his soulbond wanted and he didn't have any time to waste because Emily's current situation was not something he could neither determine nor heal as a normal recuperation potion seemed to be useless.
In the end, he could barely force Artemis to enlarge and grasp his shoulders with her talons to bring them to his master's house in a few minutes.
It was a vast difference to use shuttles or a soulbond as a means to transport someone because the pathway for soulbonds had many shortcuts, and it was even better for flying beasts.
Jason could also use his fortified soul conjunction everywhere as long as he wore a mask because it would be hard to determine his age while he wears a mask.
His voice was the only clear indicator to tell others that he was still a youth and not even in his 20s.
Once Artemis carefully descended in front of their house, Jason sprinted towards the door with Emily in his arms.
Rushing inside, he carefully placed Emily on the couch before he started to call for Dalia several times.
However, before Dalia appeared, Shane already stood next to him and Jason could clearly see his master's frown when he saw a young, unconscious girl laying on the couch.
"What is this girl doing here?" He asked, barely averting his gaze to Jason who could only smile innocently, when they heard Dalia arriving behind them.
"Jason! What trouble did you make again?"
Upon seeing a heavy sweating girl laying on the couch, Dalia pushed away Shane and Jason to take a closer look, as she looked at Jason in confusion
"She is extremely weak, exhausted, and has overtaxed her soul... Didn't you go to the shop? How did you meet her?"
There was no need to omit anything and Jason explained everything clearly,
Upon hearing what happened to Emily and how Jason behaved, both Dalia and Shane couldn't help but smile at Jason's action even if his reason to save her in the first place was not exactly why they were proud of him.
However, getting to know that there was a slave market inside the B-grade city they lived in which might even be supported by the Jual clan, Shane and Dalia couldn't help but frown.
"Under normal circumstances, the Jual clan would never retort to enslaving others. Their system to grade people might be wrong but that doesn't mean they enslave others...Did something change while we were hiding?"
Shane said, not knowing what was going on and both he and Dalia hadn't heard about the slave market before, because they didn't go out needlessly.
Instead, they prepared everything for Jason's arrival after they fled to Terebrean.
Before that, they hid on Astrix for several decades and didn't actively try to figure out news from other islands or Canir.
Rather than trying to figure out more information about other islands, they tried to stay alive by all means and look out for potential prodigies which allowed them to encounter Jason!
However, it looked like many things changed in these decades because both Shane and Dalia were in the opinion that a slave market didn't exist on Terebrean before!