23 Claire

Lightning gathered around Draco's sword as he shot out multiple slashes into the distance. Despite doing so, they didn't travel for long and disintegrated into nothingness along the way to the nearest wall.

It had already been a week since he started practicing this technique, but it was still hard to even properly use the first move. Much less talk about the second one. It was truly difficult, coupled with the fact that he was constantly training with Angelica.

Of course, he made sure not to tell anyone about [Thunder's Wrath] and kept it hidden for now. It was his trump card, of a sort. Draco was sure that it could very well save his life by catching the enemy off-guard.

"Adam said that he will return today, but it's getting quite late," Draco mumbled, stretching slightly and putting his sword away.

It was already damaged to a great extent and it wouldn't be long before it broke altogether. He needed money desperately.

As he was deep in his thoughts, the sound of the main door opening resounded throughout the buildings, and Draco smiled subtly.

"Draco?" Adam walked inside, looking around the building. "Why did we have to meet in this abandoned building in the middle of nowhere?"

"It's not abandoned. It's mine." Draco smirked, causing Adam to furrow his brows. "It was a great deal. This enormous place and only for 5 million. Not only that, but I also bought it anonymously, and no one will ever know what we will be doing here."

"What are we going to be doing here...?" Adam suddenly had an awful premonition, but Draco only shrugged his shoulders, as if saying, who knows?

"Anyway, did you get the thing?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't that easy. That treasury was hidden deep underground in the Southern city and was guarded by two B ranks. Also, the alarms would go off if I had taken something more valuable." Adam briefed the mission, leaning against the wall. "Talking about that, how did you know about that place in the first place?"

"Intuition." Draco extended his hand forth while Adam just gave up on pressing the matter further. The more he got to know him, the more did Adam understand how mysterious Draco was. At least he wasn't evil, probably.

"Here." Adam threw a little tube towards Draco, who caught it with one hand. "Why do you need th--actually, I don't even want to know."

"Alright, since all the preparations are made, I just now need to find her." Draco stored the tube in his dimensional space, a smile on his face as he glanced at Adam. "I am sorry, but your job isn't done here just yet."

"Are you just putting all the troublesome works on me?" Adam sighed, closing his eye for a good minute. "You better find a cure for my sister's illness faster. What do I have to do?"

"It's nothing much. Just buy these ingredients." Draco gave Adam a paper, depicting all kinds of stuff in a large number of quantities. "I sent the money to your account."

"Aren't these ingredients for creating potions?" Adam suddenly felt like a headache was incoming, so he decided to just leave sooner before Draco would make him do any other things.

"They are." Draco laughed internally when he saw Adam walking towards the door at a quick pace. "Oh, and make sure that you hide any evidence of you buying anything. I would suggest going to the black market."

Adam nodded.

He wasn't dumb.

Whatever Draco was planning, it didn't seem like anything good.

Better to be more cautious.

While Adam left through the main door, Draco grabbed his phone again, scrolling through the internet in search of all the nearest hospitals for disabled people.

***

Draco walked through the dark streets of the Northern city, exhausted from visiting all these different hospitals. Despite being tired, he just kept going and searching for that woman. The sweet smell of money was just that strong.

"Excuse me." Draco stepped inside yet another hospital, greeting the woman standing behind the desk at the entrance. She raised an eyebrow at a sudden intrusion, definitely not expecting anyone this late at night. "I heard that my cousin was staying here."

"Name?"

"Claire Johnson."

Draco showed no hesitation in his answer as the woman immediately started going through the files on her desk. A few moments later, she raised an eyebrow and glanced at Draco. "Are you sure you said her name right?

Draco nodded, a warm smile spreading on his face.

Finally found her.

"She is staying on the third floor, twenty-seventh room, but are you sure you are her cousin?" The woman scratched one of her temples. "She said that she had no relatives who were still alive. Otherwise, why would she stay here if someone could take care of her?"

"Don't worry. It's just that we have met a long time ago." Draco waved at the woman before making his way to the stairs, still smiling. "Perhaps she already forgot about me."

Not letting the woman say anything else anymore, Draco promptly appeared before the twenty-seventh room. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door with a quiet clink.

Then he saw her.

Claire Johnson.

She had short, green, greasy hair, clearly showing that she didn't care too much about her appearance. Her body resembled that of a teenager who still hadn't gone through puberty, but she was, in fact, older than Draco by a few years.

However, her most noticeable trait was, without a doubt, a huge burn mark on her entire face, and those blank eyes that didn't seem to function properly. Claire was blind.

"Who are you? You aren't a nurse." Claire frowned, skidding further away from her bed.

"Don't worry, Claire. I am not a nurse, but I am not someone who came with bad intentions, either." Draco remained standing in the same spot, staring at the defenseless woman. "In fact, I came here to propose a deal, which would be beneficial to both of us."

"A deal? Why would you want a deal with a blind person?" Claire frowned even further, suddenly having a premonition that this man was trouble. "If you want something, introduce yourself first."

"Draco, a first-year cadet of Northern Academy." Draco smiled subtly. "And someone who can let you open your eyes once again."

"What?!" Claire shouted. "What do you mean?! That's impossible!"

"I will tell you everything you need to know, but don't you think it's rude that you still haven't introduced yourself?"

Claire remained with her mouth closed for a few moments, calming herself and understanding that there was no need to rush things. This mysterious Draco said that he came here to make a deal.

"Claire Johnson. The leader of Azure Laboratory... and the sole survivor of its tragedy." Claire stated, having some difficulties saying the last part.

Azure Laboratory was a company that was known to everyone in Northern city, especially for its incredible potions that left all over companies in the dust. Claire Johnson was considered an exceptional genius throughout the human domain. However, that was only until the tragedy a few years ago.

While they were working on a new project, something suddenly went wrong and the whole place blew up. Since Azure Laboratory had only like ten people in its ranks, no one survived, except for Claire. Though she still lost her vision, therefore crippling her from continuing to create any more goods for humanity.

Thus, now she lay there, forgotten by everyone.

"Well, let's not dwell on the past and instead look in the future." Draco changed the wrong mood, taking a seat on the nearest chair. "As I said, I came here to propose a deal. In fact, I have already prepared the soul contract in advance, so I will just brief it out."

Claire gulped visibly.

"First of all, you and I will create our own company, something like Azure Laboratory, but much better. You will be responsible for creating potions while I will be responsible for all the ingredients and delivering the goods. The contract works for the next ten years." Draco said, reading through the soul contract. "In return, I will cure your eyes."

Claire once again gulped at the last sentence, temptation arousing within her blood. She just needed to sign it, and she would see with her eyes again. No...she had to stay steady-minded.

"Exchange ratio?"

"I get 90% and you get 10%."

"What?!" Claire almost hit her head against the bed's fence. "Doesn't it just mean that I will be your potion slave for the next ten years?!"

"Come on, don't put it this way." Draco shrugged his shoulders. "To me, this contract is fair enough. In ten years' time, you will be filthy rich and could do any research you ever wanted to do. Compared to your miserable state right now, shouldn't you be happy?"

Claire clicked her tongue, understanding that Draco had a point, however she didn't want to admit it. This contract was her last chance unless she wanted to spend the rest of her life on this bed, not being able to do anything.

"How do I know you aren't lying? I can't see the soul contract after all?" Claire made another good point.

"Truth to be told, you can't," Draco stated blatantly, stretching his hands and yawning slightly. "However, I would like to think of myself as an honest man. Besides, what would be the reason for me to lie? If I can't cure your eyes, why would I need a blind potion slave?"

"So, you do admit that I am going to be your potion slave?" Claire sighed, giving up on thinking of any other alternatives. This man came out of nowhere, but he was truly her last chance to pursue her dreams.

Claire bit into her finger, and Draco smiled, seeing blood dripping from her hand. He gave the contract to Claire, and she dripped some blood on it, causing it to mysteriously vanish into the air.

Draco once again noted how bizarre it was, but it was something that could save a lot of unnecessary persuasion and backstabbing. The good thing about soul contracts was that it wouldn't work unless the other party wouldn't sign it willingly, hence, not letting anyone force into doing atrocious stuff.

"So, are you gonna cure my eyes now?" Claire mumbled, hoping that she wasn't wrong with her choice.

"Sure, but not here." Draco looked into the shadow of the room, nodding slightly. Soon, Adam's figure appeared out of nowhere as he grabbed both Draco and Claire by their shoulders.

They then disappeared into the darkness.