29 Servant
Ethan reorganized his thoughts and started walking towards his kitchen. He picked some ingredients and started preparing a gorgeous meal, and having his bodily control highly enhanced, it became as easy as breathing to him.
While cooking, he started to think about the many enhancements his body and mind had undergone ever since coming to this world.
'Only a few months have passed and I can already be considered slightly powerful in this world. As long as I don't encounter a bizarre Sequence 5 Beyonder like a Marionettist or Dream Stealer, I could probably kill them with extraneous preparations.
'There are also the sins that corrupted my soul; I wonder what the powers of Pride, Greed, and Envy will be like.
'I also don't know how I ended up in a book world at all… Are there other worlds based on books too? What about movies and TV shows? There's an infinite number of possibilities…
'My best option is to advance in Sequences and try to see how things play out. Maybe I could regain my curiosity about things?'
All these thoughts didn't take Ethan ten seconds to think about, his mind was far too fast now for that. He kept having similar thoughts and ideas until finishing preparing his meal.
He then sat on his comfortable sofa and appreciated the simple, but refined stew of beef, potatoes, and vegetables.
Finishing his meal, Ethan got up and walked upstairs in the direction of his room. He phased through the door using his Apprentice powers and easily came inside.
He then walked to the side table on the right of his bed and picked the big black suitcase that stood on top of it.
Using his Apprentice powers, he unlocked the sealed suitcase and looked inside.
There were numerous Beyonder characteristics inside, most of them being Sequence 9. The other ones were in his other suitcase on the left side table he now commonly used.
He had all Sequence 8 Pathways characteristics other than Sheriff, Listener, and Barbarian, which were the ones he traded for many ingredients. He also had eleven Sequence 9 ones from multiple Pathways, one Psychiatrist and Devil characteristics, and two Sealed Artifacts.
'This is a wealth of at least 26000 pounds. How unfortunate, it's far too difficult to sell them without any possible repercussions.'
Ethan then closed the suitcase and went to his destroyed bathroom. Inside, there were remnants of his advancement to Sequence 7. The whole place was corroded and burned beyond recognition.
He then used his sharp nail to cut his pulse once more, allowing his blood to form complex patterns on the ground. With that, he raised a wall of spirituality and started chanting things in ancient Hermes:
"Spirits that inhabit the upper realms;
"Servants of Devils and Demons;
"I!
"I summon in my name;
"The creature that kills with no restraint;
"The servant that is always ready for its Lord;
"They that will be at my side for as long as their existence allows it;
"In the name of Ethan Edwards, I make my call to all who are willing to obey my will!"
Using his large reserve of spirituality, Ethan conducted the Ritual of Summoning, which he altered to target the Spirit World instead of the Abyss.
During the process, he conjured his cursed fire to burn around the ritualistic circle with many patterns, some of it floating in the center.
The wind around Ethan became very pronounced, the flames flared up to higher heights, burning the bathroom's ceiling even more.
In the middle of the ritualistic circle filled with hundreds of arcane symbols, the dark-green flames exploded in a surge of fire, their color changing to that of black and white.
From the exploding fire, a figure started materializing itself, seemingly slithering out of the tongue of black and white fire.
The blood that made the ritualistic symbols floated from the ground into the materializing creature, their form extending to many meters in length.
As the blood floated up to the forming being, Ethan could finally perceive its true form.
It was an impossibly big snake with dark-red patterns all around its body, the flames conjured by Ethan being absorbed into its scales to turn them a shade of dark-green.
*Hiss
The body that formed from Ethan's blood and flames extended to the bathroom's ceiling and looked at him from above, its eyes a mix of coldness and craving.
Ethan looked up at the spirit he summoned and snapped his fingers. With his snap, the huge snake that covered the whole bathroom, lowered its head with much resistance.
'This one is a powerful spirit, the energy it gives is probably at Sequence 6? Maybe Sequence 5… Though it's only in spirituality and strength alone, not having any abilities to supplement it.'
As the snake lowered its head with a lot of hesitation, Ethan spoke to it in ancient Hermes, "You have answered my call; We may now form a Master and Servant contract, and I shall allow you to exist as a part of my own being."
This was the only contract that could be formed from the Ritual of Summoning, and while it was certainly very dangerous to call entities that lived in the Abyss right now, as they might very well be demigods and angels, doing so with the spirit world allowed him to have a great level of control over the summoned creatures.
The huge snake tried to resist the control, but it had already initiated the process of contracting when it passed through the portal that opened.
Ethan could feel its powerful resistance against its slavery, but he didn't care at all. When the flames he had conjured were completely absorbed by the huge snake alongside his blood, the ritualistic ceremony had been completed.
The snake had changed from dark-red to dark-green in color of patterns and scales, its form was almost corporeal as its spirit body connected to Ethan's own.
From this point onwards, the snake became a part of Ethan, no different from his arms and legs.
Its will had been subjugated by the ritual, it was now no different from the most loyal of servants, and it would obey all of his commands without hesitation.
At the end of the ceremony, Ethan couldn't help but use the bathroom's walls as support for his tired body, the pressure he was feeling in his spirituality barely doable.
'As its existence is connected to my Spirit Body, it'll consume my own spirituality to keep it in the real world. Good thing I can let it exist inside the Spirit World and only call it when I need it through our connection…'
The huge snake slithered all about the bathroom, almost demolishing the walls with its movements.
Ethan looked at it with an amused smile and said, "You are my first servant."
He decided to call the snake Jörmungandr, as in the snake that devoured the world of Norse mythology.
'Is this name a bit revealing to The Fool and other possible transmigrators? Whatever, I'll just call it 'One' most of the time anyways.' He then allowed Jörmungandr to return to the Spirit World, freeing the bathroom from its imposing presence.
Ethan then left the bathroom, proceeding towards his living room once again.
'I think it's time I leave Backlund… Killing Beyonders in this place is far too risky, maybe I could try my hand at sea?' His thoughts revolved around leaving Backlund to be a bounty hunter at sea, as hunting pirates would be far more profitable than killing random Beyonders like he was currently doing.
…
Ethan left his rented residence with all his important things. Walking on the streets of Backlund, he observed the scenery around himself with a thoughtful look.
There were many people coming and going all around him, living their lives in any ways they could. The white pigeons flew from one place to another.
Every part of the city was filled with a vibrancy that only a Kingdom's Capital would possess.
Ethan made his way towards the train station, he intended to take the steam locomotive towards the docks stationed many miles away from Backlund.
He soon reached the steam locomotive. Paying for the ticket to the docks, Ethan entered the train and sat inside one of the private compartments.
Producing his pocket watch from his tailcoat suit's inner pocket, he looked at the time for a second before observing the scenery outside the window.
He looked at the people entering the locomotive and tried to analyze their actions, and as a Telepathist, he could easily understand most of their quirks and personality traits.
Soon enough, the steam locomotive set off from Backlund in the direction of the docks owned by the Loen Kingdom.
…
Ethan left his private compartment on the train to take in the beautiful view of the blue sea and afternoon sun. The waves gently moved in the distance, seemingly welcoming all to their sights.
Walking in the direction of the biggest liner in his sight, Ethan quickly reached it and saw a line of people getting up on it.
He observed the line for a second before looking in the direction of two bodyguards that were quietly guarding another set of stairs up the cruiser.
Ethan quietly analyzed their behavior and facial expressions before walking in their direction.
The two men looked at the pale, luxuriously clothed, white haired young man walking in their direction and showed cold expressions on their faces.
"This entrance is private to VIP's. I'll politely ask you to leave, young gentleman." His words were very polite, but his tone was cold and irascible.
Ethan calmly looked at the two of them and said in a very simple and commanding tone, "I want to use these stairs."
The calm words pronounced in a cold and authoritative tone sounded from him. They should have most probably angered the guards, however-
"Yes! Sir!" Both of them bowed at him like they were the most loyal of servants, their previous coldness and irascibility nowhere to be seen.
They politely made way for him, getting to the side of the staircase and waiting for Ethan to climb it.
Ethan didn't give the guards a second glance, he calmly ascended the VIP entrance to the cruiser and quickly bought a first class ticket from one of the respectful attendants.
Getting to his room in the liner, he put both of his suitcases on one of the coffee tables in the middle of the white and blue luxurious living room.
Sitting at the big sofa made from high quality leather, he picked the crystal clear wine glass and poured himself a full cup.
'Being an Arbiter and Lawyer at Sequence 8 level is quite useful. I wonder how powerful it'll be at Sequence 7.'
