The whole squad is now in a defensive formation as their friend falls to the floor, charred and barely alive. I can still feel his heart beating somehow, despite all the lightning I crammed down his throat. I donât know whether to be happy or annoyed, but he must have [Lightning Magic] at Mid Rank at the bare minimum. That is the only way he could have survived.
Well, letâs just play it off as a warning and not attempted murder. I mean, he did attack me first. Creating more blood above my head, I do my best to get some breathing room. âI donât wish to fight you, but I will if you attempt to attack like that rabid dog.â Keeping up my haughty attitude, I see the group twitch as they read my blood letters.
A few tense moments pass before the fox girl speaks up. âM-May we heal him?â She is clearly nervous, which makes sense. I did just knock out one of their members before they even had a chance to do anything. I must say, I am quite a bit stronger than I expected to be. My Ether moves faster and more smoothly than before, I can feel the power coursing through my new body so clearly. It was like I had been trying to thread a needle while wearing thick gloves this whole time without noticing. Now the gloves were off.
Hmm, how should I handle this? I am feeling better about my ability to win against all of them now, and their main caster is out for the count. Should I just kill them? Nah, I will just get more people flooding in if the party goes missing. Better to let them live and pretend I mean no harm.
My eyes shift towards the blackened wolf man, the scent of burned hair and flesh thick in the cave. I donât mean any more harm.
The glistening blood takes on a new shape as I play my part. âI see no reason why I should. But, if you can guarantee that he wonât attempt to get revenge should I let him live, I will consider it. That, and I expect suitable compensation for the nuisance.â A deep growl rolls from my throat, the blood inside rumbling under the vibration. Their faces scrunch up and I can see a bit more concern than I was hoping for.
Shit, even they canât think of a way to keep the idiot under control! Why would you party with someone like that?! The fox girl starts to stumble as she panics, âW-We donât have-â Only to be cut off as the elf girl shouts. âA blood contract! You are a blood mage so we can use that right?â
My eyes widen a bit at the suggestion. Blood contracts are a way to enforce a deal by manipulating the body through one's blood. Breaking one of these contracts will often see a personâs heart stop, a rather violent approach to deal making. The whole caveâs air is thick with tension as the party waits for my consideration. I can feel the wolf manâs heart slowing down, the beating becoming irregular. He does not have long.
âYou think you can get that idiot to sign?â
The elf girl nods, but the lack of confidence is rather concerning. âHe doesnât have a choice.â Moving towards the blackened moron, the tall slender woman glares down at her own party member. âLupis, listen. You are going to accept the blood contract with her. Are we clear? It is that or die.â
A weak growl rumbles from his throat, but after a short hesitation he finally nods, just barely.
With confirmation now secured, I send a drop of blood into his mouth connected to my own through a thread of Ether. I fill the air with the terms of the contract. âBy my blood, I bind you to never stand against me in any form. Do you accept?â The blood takes on a thick gold tinge and crimson light begins to build around us. The wolf man glares at the words hatefully, his whole body trembling. He is stalling.
âLupis! You will die if you wait any longer. Just say yes!â The elven girl begins screaming at him. A weak wince and a growl later, he nods his head. I feel the Ether thicken a connection between us, the blood from the glowing letters rushes into his body, sealing the contract.
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Making their way back down the mountain and towards the town, Lupis grunts as the bandages over his skin chafe. Nadia by his side continues to stream [Healing Magic] through his body all the while. âWhat do we do now? That thing is too strong for us to take on alone.â Growling out his complaints, the ulfr scratches at the bandages on his face.
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âOne: Donât scratch at the bandages, you will mess up the healing. Two: We are not going to do anything, if we do then the blood contract will activate and you will die. What part of that was unclear?â Nadia rolls her eyes as she continues to heal the idiot wolf. In response, Lupis growls hatefully, but does not say anything else.
Dahlia notices the ulfrâs clear disagreement and piles on. âThis is your own fault. If you could have kept your ego in check for five seconds then none of this would have happened.â
âYou expect me to believe that?! That monster is evil and should be put down!â Screaming at the top of his damaged lungs, Lupis glares at Dahlia through his wrappings.
At this point, even Greg âwho is normally quite carefreeâ feels the need to speak up. âWe are all still alive dumbass. If the creature wanted us dead then we would be. She said she didnât want to fight and even let someone who attacked her, you, live. How is your situation not your fault?â
Before he can offer a rebuttal, Dahlia speaks in a low voice, one filled with disappointment. âTell me, was it because you couldnât stand a monster being better at magic than you? Or were you just trying to compensate for your own cowardice?â
Lupis winces and desperately avoids making eye contact with his partyâs leader as she finishes speaking.
âI guess that answers that question. Idiot.â Dahlia lets out a long sigh and a silence settles over the group. Looking back up at the direction they came from, the vulpid canât help but wonder if the monster would make a better party member than the idiot currently covered in bandages. It was certainly more rational and accommodating. Shaking such silly thoughts of partying with a monster from her head, her eyes drift to the rest of her party.
Greg and Nadia both have reached their limits of patience. Letting your temper get the better of you and nearly getting your party killed is a massive taboo in adventurer life. They had put up with him until now because they needed a magic caster starting out, but he had overstayed his welcome.
Finally resting her eyes on the wolf man, she sighs again before making a decision as party leader. âWhen we get back to town we are reporting your actions to the Guild. You will need to find a new party.â
Once again the ulfr winces, but canât even muster the resolve to look his leader in the eyes. He just carries on back to town slowly. Stewing in his hate.
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Slumping back against the cavern wall I let out a pained groan. Ughhhh, that was nerve wracking⦠Why did those humans have to show up now? I just wanted to evolve in peace and then check out my new body! Now I have to find a new place to hide and I am already exhausted. I was going to log out soon and go to sleep. It looks like I will be sleeping in-game to be safe though.
My barrier was built mainly for monsters, and the stealth aspect of the spell was clearly not enough to hold back the Ether emitted by my evolution.
Quickly logging out, I open the forums to look for magic circles I can use to detect people, as well as trap the area around my cave. I am too tired to find a new one right now and need some sleep. A few minutes of mindlessly scrolling later I discover the spells I am looking for and log back in.
I have much more Ether now than I did before, so I think I will take the opportunity to replace my nearly depleted sacrifice. The rocky bear thing was slowly powering my magic circle before, but it has been quite some time and the creature is nearly gone. But, I just got the perfect replacement. One that is much more powerful.
Stalking out of my cave, I dart down the mountain to the place where I had just killed the big snake. A few chickens were feasting on the corpse, but a quick yank on their blood turns them into paste. Now, I wonder if this will work? There is quite a bit of blood around already, so I grab ahold of all of it, slowly wrapping it around the snakeâs body. Heavy! I can feel the pressure pushing back on all my blood, the mass of the creature making it rather difficult to move through the blood alone. Though, it is not impossible.
It takes about an hour of careful movementâand a few accidents where I dropped the stupid thingâto finally make it back to my cave. Throwing the corpse into the magic circle, I use the large mass of blood I was using to transport it to draw several new circles. Detection, Lightning Barrier, Blood Curse, High Concealment, the works. My own magic greatly strengthens the effects of the spells I have an affinity for.
When I finally complete the spells, I collapse into the back of my cave and quickly pass out.
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In a murky void, far from the eyes of humans, two all consuming black orbs peer into the heart of a young wolf eared man.
âWhat wonderful hate. Perhaps you can make a good test run for striking out against the goddessâ pawns?â A voice thick with miasma causes the depths to tremble. At the same moment, the wolf covered in bandages shivers, not noticing the speck of black forming inside his soul.
âDo put on a good show for me.â