11 A Blood Contract
''OK. Let's go over our conversation, okay?"
Lucas asked, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly with his left hand and grinning from ear to ear. He stared at a blond woman who was kneeling before him.
The young man's appearance was deplorable, and if anyone saw him like that, they would surely think he was some madman who had escaped prison or an insane asylum.
"Yes sir." The blonde nodded in agreement.
Lucas smiled even more, there was a huge, invigorating feeling of happiness that spread through his entire body when he left her in that state. That bastard in front of him had left him in a miserable state before, very close to death, by setting and activating a magic trap in place for him to be killed.
''First of all, the contract you suggested. The contract of… The contract of what?" Lucas made fun of the woman as he asked her while putting a hand to his ear, as if to hear better.
The young woman sighed lightly, completely bathed in a vivid red and so her once white dress had turned red like a rose.
"Blood contract, sir."
''Exactly, first of all let's talk about the blood contract. Your suggestion is certainly interesting and I find it noteworthy that you know I'm a vampire, but other than that, how am I supposed to know that you're just not going to betray me unexpectedly?"
''It's not just my word. The contract I suggested is a temporary agreement between both parties, if there is the consent of the people who wish to do so, the system allows for such a thing. There's a function for just that, it's almost like a knight assignment seal, but closer to a master and servant contract.''
Lucas looked at her once more as he waved his right hand and crossed his arms. He listened to her words until she finally stopped talking. Then shook his head up and down a few times, showing that he understood her explanation.
''I understand. So how do I activate this option on the system? Is it some kind of complicated process?''
''No, it's extremely simple. One of the two people just needs to demonstrate their willingness and open the function in the system menu, in order to send the invitation and the terms, as well as the functions of each one. And the other person just has to accept, of course, the person can read the information before clicking to find out whether or not they want to comply with the terms of the contract.''
The woman said as she touched something invisible to Lucas, probably adjusting the contract she had suggested earlier. And confirming that the young man's thinking was right, a system window appeared in front of him.
Tintin~
[The user 'Brightest Light Of Heavens' wants to make a servant's contract with you.]
[Category: Loyalty Agreement
Conditions: None.
Functions: - Lucas Cerqueira 'Hades' Nunes Alves - Master
- Brightest Light Of Heavens - Personal Servant
Rules and Terms: The servant must always be available to his master, regardless of the situation, if he is summoned by his master, he will immediately be forcibly teleported.
* The servant must obey all orders of its master, whatever they are, otherwise the system will apply a temporary punishment on the servant user.
* The master and the servant are linked by a magical and mental connection, and so they share all the information in the system with each other. However, keep in mind that it is impossible to interact or change your partner's stat or skill windows.
* The contract can be changed at any time by the Master, but the main rules cannot be modified under any circumstances.
Servants Limit: 0/8]
[Do you want to accept?]
[Y/N]
Lucas read the huge window that described the loyalty contract and when he was finished, he pressed the confirmation button without thinking too much about it.
Tintin~
[Congratulations! You and the 'Brightest Light of Heaven' are now bound by a loyalty contract.]
[The skill 'Summon Servants' has been created.]
[The skill 'United In One' has been created.]
"Summon Servants and United in One?" Lucas wondered, instantly opening the skill info window. He planned to take the moment to check out some of the rewards he had received from the quests he had completed, in addition to the new stats he'd gained too.
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[Summon Servants]
[A skill common to rich people and nobles who have servants or slaves. As a skill it cannot be used in restricted areas or when the caster has the silence debuff. Once the master summons his servants, they are quickly summoned to his side, no matter how far away they are.
* The servants will be teleported by the system and their resources will not be affected.
* If a servant is summoned injured, the system will automatically heal them. Keep in mind that very serious injuries or illnesses cannot be cured by the skill effect.
* Have in mind that the ability is tied to a certain number of servants, which varies depending on your current level.
Servant Limit: 1/8
Skill Mana Cost: 280 (each summon)
Skill Cooldown Time: 32 hours.]
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[United In One]
[A skill common to rich people and nobles who have servants or slaves. The skill allows the users involved in the loyalty contract to see each other's stats without restrictions.
* You and your servants can see each other's stats.
Skill Mana Cost: None
Skill Cooldown Time: 0.]
"Okay, this will definitely come in handy for me." Lucas said as he opened the skills window. He planned to finally choose his unique race and class skills to further strengthen himself.
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[Skills Window]
[Overview]
[User Skills:
- Adventurer's Strength ✰(New Acquisition)✰
-Shine, Shine, Little Star
- Vampiric Analysis
- ?????????????
- Basic Martial Arts
- One Lucky Strike
- Endurance, Endurance, Endurance
- Fangs and Blood
- Vampire Threatening Pose
- Basic Sword Mastery ✰(New Acquisition)✰
- Raw Potential Blessing
* You can select a class exclusive skill.
* You can select a race exclusive skill.]
He pressed his finger on the buttons at the bottom of the window.
[Race Skill Options:
* Blood Manipulation: An ability that allows the user to manipulate blood, his or not. The manipulated blood can be molded into different shapes, if the user has the capacity and the amount of blood to do so.
* Rapid Blood Shot: An ability that fires a red line made of blood from the user's hands in the shape of a bullet. To use the skill, the user must use blood, whether it is his or not. Have in mind that if you use your own blood, you can get tired and will take some damage.
* Blood Needles: It is a skill that the user's palm must be open to perform. From the user's palm, various needles made from blood will be released, causing damage to the enemies in the area or forming small shields to protect the user. The skill has no penetration capability and therefore its damage is not very high if defended.
* Blood Gauntlet: Blood Gauntlet is an attack and advantage skill. An amount of blood, whether from the user or not, will be used to form a gauntlet on the user's arms; the gauntlet increases all physical damage by 2x and causes double penetration in the target.]
''Certainly the two best options are the gauntlet and the blood manipulation... But, in the long run, manipulation will probably be more helpful. Also, when I level up, I'll probably acquire these skills anyway." He said, selecting the blood manipulation skill.
[The skill 'Blood Manipulation' has been generated.]
He glanced quickly to the side to see what the woman was doing, and seeing that she was healing herself, he turned his attention to the skill class window.
[Class Skill Options:
* Inspection: The inspection skill displays information about objects, monsters, players and inhabitants of Acaris, items and more. The inspection skill can reveal hidden functions of items or a person's weaknesses.
* Skill Analysis: Similar to the inspection skill, this skill displays information about abilities and items correlated with learning new skills. The skill will automatically alert the user if he comes in contact with an item capable of making him acquire a new power.
* Analysis Cancellation: No inspection skills, be it for abilities, status, and many others, will work on you. Note that this only applies to targets weaker or at the same level as you.]
'Hmm...' He thought seriously, both analysis skills were useful, but he opted to select 'Inspection' instead of skill analysis, as it would help him more at the moment.
[The skill 'Inspection' has been generated.]
"Statistics window." He wasted no time opening the stats window and going directly to the new special stats he had acquired in the dungeon.
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[Persistence]
[You never give up, even in the face of a difficult task or a nearly death situation. You won't get tired easily and can endure some fatal blows. The inventory weight limit has increased. Your regenerative factor and your resistance were increased slightly.
* Your mind will remain stable to some extent when you are in a near-death state.
* The higher the number of stat points, the higher the effect.
* Stat points cannot be distributed to this stat.
* Every time 100 points are gained in this stat, your Resistance stat will increase by 5 points.]
____
[Stamina]
[Your stamina is enormous and you don't surrender, even when your muscles are about to explode. The endurance and resistance capabilities of the user's body have been increased. You tire more slowly than others.
* The higher the number of stat points, the higher the effect.
* Stat points cannot be distributed to this stat.
* Every time 100 points are gained in this stat, your Vital Force stat will increase by 5 points.]
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And lastly, Lucas opened his inventory and grabbed the Light Swordsman's Boots, equipping them immediately.
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[Light Swordsman Boot]
[Rating: Rare
Durability: 120/120 / Defense: 50
* Movement Speed: +10%
A boot usually worn by the best swordsmen in the capital of Hickory! It is really comfortable to wear, and it's ideal for long-distance travels.
Item Weight: 200]
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"By the way, what country and region of Earth are you from?" Lucas said, closing the system windows as he gestured for the woman to sit up straight.
''My name is Lucas, Lucas Cerqueira. I was born in Brazil, but I lived over 17 years of my life in England, Europe. I don't have special talents and that's all i can say about myself.''
The woman sat up, patting the hem of her dress a few times to remove the dust that had stuck to her clothing. When she was finished, she turned to Lucas with a genuine expression of confusion on her face, she listened intently to the young man's lines but didn't understand a thing.
''Earth? What is this, a new kingdom?''
Lucas stared at her, waiting for the woman to say she was just kidding... But two minutes passed quickly as they continued to stare at each other, and Lucas noticed: The woman was really confused by his question, after all, she was NOT a person from earth like him.
''If you are not from Earth, how can you so easily understand what I say? I thought that in another world people would speak different languages, after all, there is diversity, differents culture and many other things in this world.''
''I have no idea what the Earth is, after all I was confined here for many years. I didn't want to draw attention to avoid problems, but I see it didn't do much good in the end.'' She looked the young man in the eye.
''As for this Earth that you say, and how I can communicate with you, I have no idea either.''
''By the way, you had introduced yourself before. I'll do the same, my name is Ket, Ket Carinnus. Despite everything that happened here I hope our relationship is healthy, after all now we are connected.''
The dungeon fell into an awkward silence after the woman's speech.
"K-Ket?" Lucas showed reluctance for the first time during the conversation.
''Yes, is there a problem with it?'' The woman asked, while healing her own wounds with a strange glow coming from her own hands.
''Just a minute… Attribute of light, brightness, and especially the magics you demonstrated. In addition to the 'Forgotten Temple of the Forgotten Goddess'' quest…''
Lucas had lost some of his anger and now said things calmly, as he looked at the blonde woman sitting on the floor in front of him. The woman no longer looked at him with fear, and now only showed interest in the young man.
''You... No, let me rephrase my sentence. Are you by any chance Ket, the Supreme Goddess of Light? That Ket who is called the Supreme Ancestor and one of the creators of the world?''
''Hihihi'' The woman started to laugh madly, having found the sudden change in tone and the way Lucas addressed his word to her very funny. There was no fear in his voice, but the previous spiteful and constantly cursing boy now spoke formally.
''May I know why you are laughing?
"Hihhiahiaa!" The woman continued to laugh, now lying on the floor beside the throne as she rolled wildly from side to side. Her uncontrolled laughter made her sound like a child, but if Lucas was correct about her true identity, that woman was old enough to have been his great-great-grandmother.
''Yeah...that's...Me...hiHaha. ''She finally regained her composure, gasping a little and giving a few weak giggles mid-sentence as she wiped her watery eyes. The vision that any normal person would have of that situation, was that of two lunatics covered in blood, with their clothes completely destroyed were talking nonsense for some unknown reason.
''Oh. I see…''
Lucas replied, looking the woman up and down, his suspicions had been confirmed and that woman in front of him really was the Supreme Goddess of Light… But if she was who she claimed to be, then why was she here in the middle of a shabby dungeon setting traps for random people, instead of commanding and collaborating with the other gods to make the inhabitants and players stronger?
"I think it's amazing that you know who I am, and still don't run away."
"You see, I beat you up easily." Lucas raised his voice, giving the woman a look of pure contempt.
''It was just a joke. Please don't kill me." The woman said holding up her hands and smiling as she held back her laughter.
Lucas looked at the woman and couldn't believe she was an entity thousands of years old, one of the first beings to be created with the universe. He wondered how it was possible that she had that completely childlike attitude that differed so much from what he remembered of the goddess Ket from the Soulland game. It was almost like she wasn't the same person and was just pretending to be who she said she was.
However, her powers and the magic she used proved her claim, which is why Lucas didn't decide to delve too deeply into the 'interrogation' about her identity.
''The Goddess of Light is in that pathetic state, what the original Ket would say about you...''
''What did you say?''
"Nothing." Lucas said, stretching his muscles.
''Anyway, we need to get out of here, and find a city. I don't see any advantage in continuing in this dungeon anymore.''
''Ok, but know that outside this temple I will have to be a little cautious.''
"You don't have to worry," Lucas said, looking at the woman and pointing his thumb in the direction of his own chest. ''After all, you are with me. There is a way for everything.''
The woman did not respond and just continued to follow the young man.
And so, a rather dangerous pair was emerging from the Temple dungeon, looking for signs of civilization.
It was the beginning of a new journey, but the path would not be easy.
