2 Kurma, Binding Vow, System.

Narrator POV:

In the middle of a sea of bright and magnificent "stars", on a planet whose surface was devoid of life.

Surprisingly, on that vast surface, you could see an oriental dragon with the size of a mountain.

The dragon was just finishing her laughs for what seemed like minutes.

And near that dragon, there was something as strange as that dragon.

There was a cluster of pure white light with a humanoid shape, which seemed helpless against the dragon's reaction.

(Really...), the unknown soul thought ironically as he saw the dragon who was barely regaining his composure after laughing for ten full minutes.

(although thanks to that same fact I was able to calm down after that little surprise...)

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but your reaction was really funny, I couldn't help it, only by this, intercepting you was worth it"

The dragon said when she had finished calming down and noticed the little boy's mood.

"intercept me? I guess you're not something like a manager of souls of the deceased or someone like that.

"so, I know this may sound presumptuous, but I would appreciate knowing who you are, where we are and what is your goal in "intercepting" my soul."

The unknown soul said, completely calm in the face of any possible danger.

after all, of what would he be afraid after already having experienced death.

He was only curious about the purpose of this fantastic existence in front of him.

"Oh, yes, I understand your curiosity, and I will answer your possible doubts in exchange for you just having entertained me long enough."

"For the first question, my name is Kurma, and I am known by the title of World Dragon, but I will generously allow you to call me by my name."

"And for our current location, to put it exactly, we are on a planet that i just created a few minutes ago"

The dragon, no, Kurma, said as she continued. Not caring about the unknown soul's surprised reaction to the fact that he was facing a being who could create a planet due to a simple whim.

"And for the second one, there was no such thing as a concrete "goal". I was simply looking for something interesting to relieve my boredom and I just found you at that moment, I guess it was by "luck"

"Well, I understand that feeling of boredom, and I appreciate that you answered my questions."

"but since someone of your "caliber" is here, taking the trouble to talk to me in this way."

"I suppose that something about "me" that I still don't know is getting enough attention of you for this situation to happen."

"although I don't know what it is, because right now I don't have anything at all with me."

The unknown soul said while shrugging his "shoulders" and making a bad joke about his precarious situation.

After he was dead, he was currently "living" as a kind of...spirit. And without knowing that he could have something that caught the attention of a being that can supposedly easily create planets.

"kahahaha, that's very simple, little friend, in fact since I observed you, I vaguely felt a very special power that only a dozens like me possess."

"More precisely, a seed yet to germinate from that power. And imagine my surprise when I intercepted you and felt another power equal or even more special than that seed of power."

"although it has impressive stealth and normally i would not be able to detect it. It appears to be in an extremely weakened state, or rather, without energy to function properly."

Kurma was explaining, while the unknown soul felt pure disbelief at what he heard.

after all, on the planet where he lived all his life there was not any type of fantastical thing.

all of that was supposedly just some unreal fiction created by the human imagination.

Such as things like novels, anime, manga, comics, and many other things that he had read throughout his life while looking for something interesting to pass the time.

And now, just after having died, he found out that he had fantastic powers like those in the fiction that entertained him so much for most of his life.

He didn't known why or how, but that surely surprised him.

"Although it seems quite unreal to me. I understand that you have no reason to lie about something like that, nor do you seem like a scheming person. so what is your point by telling me this?"

The unknown soul said, having quickly calmed down after already being almost insensitive thanks to the surprise of seeing and talking to a giant dragon on the surface of a planet in the middle of "space".

"I just want to propose a mutually beneficial deal to you, you see, I come from a place called "Little Garden", that place is known as the "Paradise of the Gods".

"A place where all kinds of powerful existences play different kinds of "Gift games", with almost anything as a bet."

"Due to certain restrictions, beings of my level cannot act very directly. Therefore, they either create avatars with extremely limited power, or they separate a little of their power and create powers that are given to chosen people to act as our agents in Little Garden"

(Little Garden? That sounds familiar to me from somewhere...), The unknown soul thought while listening attentively to what Kurma was proposing, (wait a moment, little Garden, isn't that it?!...)

"although I suppose if I give you this it will be much easier to understand"

The dragon said while a kind of card materialized in the air, big enough to fit in a human palm.

The card had a background design of a meteor shower. At that same moment, the card flew towards the soul and easily integrated with its spiritual form.

(Indeed!), Just recovering from the third biggest surprise of his life.

The soul confirmed his assumption with a hint of disbelief while absorbing the profound knowledge contained in the card.

Which contained all kinds of knowledge, both meaning common as important secrets of the world known as Little Garden.

Little Garden, Upper and lower world, communities, Spiritual state, Gifts, Gift games, Binding Vow, Digit Division, Demon kings, 4 strongest species.

Floor Masters, Main pantheons, last embryo, Another cosmology, Authorities of the sun and the moon, Historical transition period, Method of observation and attraction of worlds.

Paradox of omnipotence, Candidates of origin, 4 truths and much more...

(This is information presented in a certain Japanese novel that I had already read.)

(If I remember correctly the name was something like "Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren't They?" and in its sequel "Last Embryo")

( it was about one boy and two girls being summoned to another world called Little Garden by a girl with rabbit ears who was looking for help to restore her community...)

the soul thought with surprise, at the fact that a world that he thought was "fiction", really existed, he was even talking too with a being from that world. And that even potentially other fictional worlds also existed.

"So, my proposal is very simple, I will give you enough energy for that second power of yours to function properly."

"And in exchange when you have become powerful enough you will occasionally act as my agent in Little Garden"

"More accurately you will be my "knight", at least until you reach my level someday. although at that moment you would be more of my ally. And of course that while being My knight you will have almost total freedom in your actions"

"I will not order stupid things to you, I don't need a slave. This way is just much easier for me than having to go through the trouble of using an avatar and hiding my identity whenever I have to participate in an important event."

" You can think about it carefully, although I don't think you have much choice given your current state."

Kurma proposed seriously as she watched the soul recover from what she thought was the surprise caused by the Big amount of knowledge she had just given him with that card.

"I don't think there's much to think about, I accept."

The unknown soul said a few seconds after collecting himself and "breathing" deeply.

After all, he was already dead and he didn't want to risk finding out if there was or not something like a second life and if he would still be the same person after that.

In addition, this proposal was undoubtedly the door to a new world. A world filled with an almost infinite amount of entertainment and opportunities.

"Kahahaha, well, well, then let's make an unbreakable binding vow that serves as a contract that regulates this deal."

Kurma happily suggested while the unknown soul remembered one of the knowledge he learned in the card.

(binding Vow...a promise Made by an unbreakable chain united to the soul of both parties, a contract that must be fulfilled once agreed.)

(or otherwise the party that violate the binding vow will receive the repercussion that his spiritual state. The most essential part of the existence of all things, will be at the risk of being destroyed or at least severely damaged)

( is reasonable, so we can both trust each other no matter how much we are just strangers by now. Although even if it were false, there is not much I can lose besides two incredible powers that are now ironically useless to me because one has not been developed yet and the other one lacks battery...)

"Binding Vow"

"Binding Vow"

The dragon exclaimed, while the unknown soul did right after her. Just after that, a kind of indestructible chain was formed. And it was linked at both ends to the deepest part of the soul of each of them.

"With this Binding Vow as a witness, I, Kurma, swear that I will be the protector, sponsor, and Ally of the soul in front of me until this vow is broken with mutual consent"

"With this Binding Vow as a witness, I, Mikhael, swear that I will be the agent, knight, and Ally of the dragon in front of me until this vow is broken with mutual consent "

They both exclaimed as the Vow binding was finished and the chain became invisible to the naked eye. Although it was still present in the souls of them both.

"Okay, now take this"

The dragon said as an almost unlimited amount of energy from the current Mikhael's point of view began to form right in front of his field of vision.

in less than a few seconds, when all that energy was reduced to a ball made of energy the size of a basketball.

After being formed, floated towards the now known soul, and entered in his being, or more specifically, in his second special power.

And just after that he began to hear an emotionless mechanical voice.

[...]

[Starting...]

[Detecting new available energy...]

[Fully loading the system...]

[10%...%20...40%...%60...%80...%100]

[Loading finished]

[The "Dimensional System" sends its greetings to the host]