Hey, come out, I’ve got some treats for you.
Shouren was sitting outside, in an isolated area behind his home. It was a rundown area with no other houses, except for patches of littered garbage. He picked this place to have a conversation with the demonic chains.
No one else could see the burning chains, but Shouren wanted to try a few other things, and it was best to not draw any attention to himself and his activities.
He had a couple [Common] class cards in his hand and he poked the edges to his chest, where the crimson chains resided.
Silence.
The night’s cool breeze brushed past Shouren, but the demon didn’t respond.
I’ve got a lot more than this, buddy. Look at the tasty cards.
Shouren brought out three more class cards and waved it in his hand, attempting to lure out the pie-thief.
Does it only come out when a trait unlocks? No, it came out of its own volition to steal my lemon pie. So, it can choose to come out when it wants.
Shouren mused while standing still. The boy took a peek at the oven mitts he swiped from his grandma’s shelf in preparation to take on the demonic chains. He didn’t think the mitts could fully protect him from the hellish flames, but it was better than his bare hands. Shouren was going to enact justice for his stolen pastry.
I can force you to come out.
Shouren smirked as he raised his hand and activated his corrupted ability on the five gray class cards.
“
A burst of hellish flames washed over the cards, devouring the stack in the blink of an eye.
[Activated
[Activated
[Activated
[Activated
[Activated
“Y-you—”
Shouren wanted to explode into yet another tirade of curses, but he held himself back. His grandmother would hear him and then he would have to make up some lame excuse.
[*gd%oa/6]
He could feel the demonic chains laugh gloatingly.
I’ll make you pay it back one day, you demon!
Shouren sighed with resignation and pushed away the burning chains. It would definitely come out again on his next trait unlock and he would force it to cough out answers then. The demonic chains were more animated than before, and Shouren wondered if eating the cards had made it recover faster. By now, he could even sense its subtle shifts in emotion. Could he one day decipher its unintelligible, gibberish text?
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“If I’m going to enter the dungeon with Virelle, then I need to make some preparations. What should I include in the contract to ensure they don’t pull a fast one on me?”
Shouren sat down on the filthy ground and brought both of his hands out in front of him.
“Lumen Weaver.”
Two tendrils of lumen swirled through his arms in unison. Shouren clasped his palms together and commanded the two ropes of lumen to swim side by side, creating a loop. He wanted to study their movements to figure out to how split them again into four threads.
A lot of people delve into the dungeon with new parties all the time, and there are a few standard clauses that are present in every system contract. But there might be loopholes, so I need to watch out for that.
It wasn’t uncommon for strangers to enter the dungeon together. However, in most cases, their strengths were relatively similar. This was not the case with Shouren and Virelle’s party. If the nun’s Tier 1 was any indication, the rest of her party members should also be in the same tier.
Something about the way in which Virelle made the proposition had been bothering Shouren. He recalled her voice yelling at him before he entered the dungeon in the morning, and then the moment he was out, she was waiting for him the whole time. He didn’t think he was important enough for a healer to wait more than half a day for a dungeon proposal.
If it was just for a health mule, couldn’t she have just asked one of the other slum kids? Why wait specifically for him?
The reflection of the two lumen threads flickered over Shouren’s hazel irises. He was trying to control the flow of the lumen to discern its qualities. The speed of the lumen flow differed little from the original single thread, but Shouren noticed the threads were more ‘fickle’ when split into two. They appeared to flow in more of a ‘wave’, bending at the curves unlike the single lumen thread which was denser and flowed in a straighter line.
Is there a difference in the weight distribution? That would make sense. It’s ultimately the same units of lumen. If the density decreases per split, do I need to find a way to make it continue to flow when it gets lighter?
Shouren mentally mapped the variables. If the goal was to stabilize each thread to flow smoothly, that would explain why, when he previously tried to split the two lumen threads, it instantly sputtered out. The threads were too light and couldn’t flow with the same density. He didn’t have an answer at the moment, so he simply continued to observe the lumen threads.
Maybe Virelle thinks I’m much sturdier than I look. She was the one who healed my burns from the lightning beast, and thought I could handle at least a single Tier 1 monster’s attack. Was it because I was too calm at the injury, while other slum kids would bawl in tears?
Shouren resumed his thoughts regarding the nun and racked his brains for the uneasy feeling. He was missing a connection somewhere in the complex web of his instincts.
I will add a clause that prevents any party member from attacking him, using their abilities on him without his permission, and I’ll include any items as well, in case they use potions to drug me.
Shouren ran a few scenarios in his mind and began listing out the clauses he would include in the system contract. He needed to make an exception for the abilities as it would include healing as well, but Shouren added that it had to be done with his explicit consent. He would also demand payment of the chronas before entering the dungeon.
I’ll add that they cannot use me as bait to lure monsters, and I will remain in the center of the party formation, and I won’t be facing any direct attacks from the monsters. I’ll also add that they can’t send me with another party member to a separate location, in case they try to get me away from the main party.
Shouren calmly considered everything that could possibly go wrong and would have these points stated in the contract.
Despite his wariness, Shouren couldn’t let go of this chance. He needed to take the risk. There was too much he didn’t know, and the demonic chains were getting stronger day by day. Shouren didn’t think he could control it anymore if it decided to go on a rampage. For that, he needed to bring his own abilities and power en par with the demon.
With higher attributes and stronger class abilities, Shouren could keep the demon in binds. Today was an alarming wake up call for the boy. The chains could interact with the physical world on its own and Shouren couldn’t even stop it.
What if the demonic chains tried to hurt his grandmother?
Shouren’s eyes hardened. He needed to become stronger urgently… before it was too late.
“Sharding.”
Shouren’s hazel eyes flared with intensity as he grabbed the Lighten Weight spell card from his vault and shot his lumen into it. He activated his Veinreader trait at the same time, navigating the lumen threads into the card’s veins.
He was getting faster at breaking the star nodes each time he sharded. Under his deliberate control, the lumen slithered from each viable star node to another, leaving a trail of shattered dust.
One node… two nodes… one node… and another final node. Shouren destroyed five consecutive star nodes before diverting the lumen to the four main gates within the card’s frame. This was his current limit, as the other nodes were too small for his lumen threads to pass through.
In a flash of light, 9 really small shard pieces lay floating over his palm. It was the highest number of shards Shouren had ever extracted. The boy’s lips curled up. He couldn’t wait to surprise Rhea for their bet after a week.
Are you my friend or my enemy?
Shouren squeezed the shards in his hand and tried to talk to the demonic chains once again. He was in torment. Shouren didn’t hate the demonic chains, but at the same time, it was much stronger than him and had the power to hurt everyone in his life if he couldn’t rein it in. Until he had the power to fight back, the chains would always be a ticking time bomb in his body.
He crushed the shards and felt the surge of wisps stream towards his class card.
[Synchronization: 44%]
[Synchronization: 45%]
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[Synchronization: 48%]
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