Claire looked over the ritual circle for the fifteenth time, comparing it with the knowledge her Perk seared into her mind. As with last five glance-overs, every line and every shape where in the correct places. She nodded to herself, and lit the five candles on the arms of the pentagram. The expertise she'd been imparted said that the five-armed star inscribed with additional glyphs would act to confine anything summoned within the circle's perimeter. The candle flames ensured proper focal points for the ritual's magic.

  Here goes nothing.

  She nicked her finger with a knife and held the hand above the circle, until a solid five drops landed in. She then immediately grabbed the bandaid she kept on hand and covered the wound. A few drops were enough for what she planned.

  She then knelt down onto the floor and put both of her hands right up to the edge of the circle, careful not to smear the lines, and started pouring mana into it. Eventually, she felt something pulse out back into her. A request for direction from the ritual.

  "Barristan Flavius Kaiser, I summon you to bargain!" She exclaimed.

  The whole circle glowed white, then black, how the fuck is black light even possible? then white again. The droplets of blood she shed onto the floor surged up on their own, and begun glowing a vibrant red. The tangible light they turned into pooled into the center of the circle and began expanding, until it took on a humanoid shape.

  The circle and the silhouette within ceased to glow. The figure in the middle appeared to be a thirty year old man dressed in a long red jacket and black tough pants, attire made for traversing wilderness, if one didn't mind the dirt standing out. His face was cleanly shaved, and his jaw was pointed like a fox's. Somehow, it didn't make him appear any less masculine. If he had hair, his brown cowboy hat with a black feather obscured it.

  His eyes, which glowed like a cat's, were currently inspecting the ritual circle.

  "Mhm, mhmmmm... yep..."

  In a movement so sudden Claire only registered it after the fact, he unslinged the weapon he'd been carrying on his back, and pointed it seemingly randomly, before pulling the trigger.

  The weapon's muzzle - is that a fucking blunderbuss? lit up with fire and spat barrage of lead. Instead of getting lodged in Claire's room's wall, however, it splattered against an invisible barrier as the circle lit up once more. Despite the violent outburst, the gun made almost no sound; the pulling of the trigger was louder than the explosion of gunpowder.

  "Good job there!" The Huntmaster applauded and slung the blunderbuss back onto his back. "You would not believe how many rookies get the containment bit wrong. You've got talent!"

  "I- I was told you were supposed to be a cooperative summon." Claire muttered.

  The fellow demon snickered. "'Cooperative' and 'peaceful' are two very different words. The whole point of dealing with mortals is to exert influence over their material world. Besides, it would be a waste for me to actually break out to cause havoc. The vessel made from your blood will last twelve minutes at best. Another point for you, by the way. Now, there is a bit of a power imbalance here, you know my name, but I don't know yours."

  "You may refer to me as Dealer." She smiled. Finally, something she has prepared for.

  "Haha! You are doing fantastic for your first time!" He clapped. "Very well, in that case, let's stick to using titles. As you're well aware, I am known as the Huntmaster. Now, what is it you were hoping to bargain for, Dealer?"

  "I need protection."

  "If you want me to act as your bodyguard, I'm afraid you can't afford me for even a day. Maybe one day, you could adopt one of my hounds, but you are quite far off from that, too."

  She shook her head. "No, of course not. I want some kind of weapon, preferably one that is easy to use. And that can't be taken away from me."

  The Huntmaster nodded. "A soul weapon, then. I'm quite good at those. One of the reasons I sold my name to the System in the first place is that beginner summoners like you usually go for this option."

  Claire filed that little tidbit away for later. "If I could specify, I would-"

  "Nope, not how I do things." His jovial demeanor suddenly dropped, his eyes fixed at hers and filled with arrogant disdain. "I've been in the business of killing since before your kind invented crossbows. I've seen uncountable people of dozens of species ply the art of hunting. I can figure out what weapon suits you better than you ever could, even if you've tried them all. And you haven't even taken a life yet, so don't you go thinking you know anything about what tools would suit you best."

  His smile returned immediately after that. "Now, let's see who we are dealing with here..."

  He stared at her once more, but this gaze wasn't one of scorn, but of curiosity. It bore even deeper into her, though. If his eyes were glowing before, now they were like two beacons from a lighthouse, pouring golden light directly into her being.

  "Now, that is quite something... you're part demon! I bet that makes for fun family dinners. But that's not the thing that matters here, no. Aha! I got it!"

  The Huntmaster straightened out and reached into his jacket. He pulled out a revolver and stretched his arm out to show it to her.

  "Everyone has a 'thing', you see, that one bit that makes them tick. That resonates with their soul and lets them truly become their best selves. Well, best is a loaded word, morality doesn't really factor here. You know what I mean. Your thing? Stories. References. You love when everything is nice and on theme. Epic tales with symbolism and well thought out worlds."

  Claire narrowed her eyes. It was true enough, but she was annoyed he was able to just read her soul like that.

  "Oh, relax," he waved her off when he saw her reaction, "I'm not gonna spill your dirt to everyone. Do I look like an information broker? Do you really think someone's gonna contract me to tell them your secrets? Sure, that might come up if someone hired me to off you, but if someone has that kinda power, you're dead either way.

  "Were was I? Right, stories. I love a good story myself! A hunt is such a nicely structured tale, don't you think? So, I've took some time to study your world's stories when I first got wind of your little blue rock. This weapon is one of your stories given form. A German legend, 'Freischütz'. Take a closer look!"

  Claire leaned forward a bit, though not enough to cross the boundary keeping the Huntmaster separated. The revolver resting in his gloved palm was bulky, bigger than most handguns. At least, she thought so, she'd never seen a gun in real life before. The barrel was thicker than her thumb and engraved with flame motifs. The handle had a detailed image of a crucifix with a crack running through the center. Most unusual, however, was the cylinder. It had more chambers than what she thought a revolver would normally have.

  "Yep, it holds seven shots. Six for you, one for me."

  She blinked. "What do you mean?"

  "And here we get to the details of our deal. See, you can have this soul weapon for no upfront payment. I just give it to you, it enters your soul and becomes a Skill."

  "Well, it can't be that easy. What's the catch?"

  "Two catches. First, for getting a soul weapon from me, I get to take a bit from every kill you make with it."

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  He opened the gun's cylinder and removed a bullet. Instead of a normal tip, it had a tiny, slightly open mouth full of needle-like teeth. "These shots will, quite literally, take a bite out of someone's soul when they do them in."

  Claire nodded slowly. She expected full blooded demons to care very little how ethical their own soul gain is, as long as the power flowed. "What's the second catch?"

  "The bullets will home in on their targets based on intent. Specifically, in each cylinder, six shots will follow your intent, and one will obey the sliver of my soul I put in when I forged it."

  "So you could just shoot me with my own gun."

  "Part of the deal is that I don't harm my clients nor their families. Bad business to turn on business partners. Plus, if you're dead, who will feed me souls?"

  "Then what the hell are you going to use your shot for?"

  He smiled widely. "That's part of the fun, isn't it? You don't know which bullet will rebel, and what it will hit! When you take this gun, you'll become a hunter, and hunters need to think on their feet. Besides, I think you can have a pretty good guess what my 'thing' is by now. I don't exactly hide it."

  Claire pursed her lips. "Do you have a contract for this thing drafted?"

  He smiled once again, and retrieved a rolled up piece of paper from his pocket, then handed it to her in such a way that she didn't need to stick her hand through the barrier to retrieve it.

  The contract contained the two clauses the Huntmaster has already mentioned, as well as the fact that Claire would join "the Hunter's Lodge". It wasn't a physical place, but rather a sort of social club for everyone who made a similar pact with the demon. It outlined a code of conduct, in which the members weren't allowed to harm one another or their close ones - including by sharing information to their enemies - unless it was through an official duel. The Hunters would also recognise membership on sight, which meant there was no possibility for accidental breach of contract.

  Not that it was a concern with Claire.

  There were several stipulations on the consequences of trying to block the Huntmaster from collecting his due or attacking other Hunters, but, again, it wasn't an issue for her.

  "You are considered a Hunter under this contract, right?"

  "Yep."

  "So if I told you a secret that could make people go after me, you wouldn't be able to share it?"

  "Unless to another Hunter, but they can't share it out of the Lodge, either."

  "Wonderful, in that case, I would like to get rid of the 'consequences' section entirely."

  "And why the hell would I allow that?"

  "Because if there are consequences for the breach of terms, that means that the contract technically permits breaking the rules, it just punishes it. I want a contract that just doesn't allow for that to happen at all."

  "So you just want no consequences if you break it except for the backlash?"

  "Normally, that would be how that worked. But my contract Skill doesn't do backlash. It just doesn't allow anyone to break it. It's Absolute."

  The Huntmaster let out a hearty laugh. "Now, that is something I don't see every day. Normally Absolute contracts require a demon to dedicate themself to the art of deal making. And yet, you're this young and you can already make those... you truly exceeded every expectation I had when I first felt the ritual pull me here. Keep it up, Dealer, and you'll go far."

  "So, can we modify the contract?"

  The other demon sighed. "Yeah, alright. It might make it a bit wonky for you when interacting with other Hunters, but that's more of a you problem."

  He snapped his fingers, and the sound reverberated through the room, even though he had gloves on. The clauses Claire wished gone erased themselves from the paper.

  She took out a pen and officiated the contract. The Huntmaster's signature was already there.

  Contract officiated.

  The revolver floated out of the Huntmaster's hand and flew through the circle's barrier at Claire, colliding with her and sinking into her chest as it embedded itself into her soul.

  Skill gained: [Freishütz].

  [Freishütz]

  Conjuration, Offensive, Demonic, Spiritual

  Conjure Freishütz, the devil-blessed revolver. Bullets fired with this soul weapon can pierce through magical and physical barriers. Bullets will rend the target's soul and feed it to the shard of the Huntmaster's soul embedded in the soul weapon. After emptying the drum, the weapon will conjure new bullets using your mana.

  CURSE: Bullets fired with this soul weapon will home in on the intended target BUT one bullet in each drum will instead follow the will of the Huntmaster' soul shard.

  "This was fun! I look forward to meeting you again, maybe share some tales of hunts. Farewell, and happy hunting, Trader!"

  And with that, the Huntmaster's body erupted in flames like a pile of gunpowder, and just as suddenly ceased to be. Only a few grains of ash remained. With the ritual done, the protective barrier the circle provided also went down, letting the smell of burnt blood permeate the room.

  "CLAIRE BLACK! DID YOU JUST SUMMON A DEMON?! IN MY HOUSE?!!"

  Claire sighed. She probably should have done this outside, or at least informed her mother.

  Moments later, Vivian barged into the room with a scowl on her face. "Young woman, you have some explaining to do."

  Claire sighed again. "I'm s-" but she wasn't sorry, so she couldn't say that. "I apologise for summoning a demon into the house without permission."

  "It wasn't one of those succubusses, right?"

  "What- no!" Claire wanted to follow that up with "I would never", but, again, that would be a lie. "I bought a soul weapon in exchange for parts of souls of those it hits." She said, willing the revolver into her hand.

  "That... I see. In that case, you should only use it as a last resort. Soul damage is... yeah. Though I'm glad you at least have something to protect yourself with. Now, please clean it up. And if you have to summon more fiends, at least do it in the basement."

  Vivian turned around and hobbled back to her room, but not before leaning back to the door and saying one last thing:

  "Oh, and good job. The circle didn't leak any mana until the end there. If you want, you can borrow some of my ritual books to learn some less... demonic magic."

  Claire smiled as warmth filled her heart. "Thanks, mom! I'll clean it up right away!"

  --

  The next day, Claire got a call from Blair, Draxon's secretary, asking her to visit his office once more for a "new contract opportunity".

  "Will it be anything like yesterday?" She asked.

  "The details are too sensitive to discuss over the phone."

  "That's already close enough to a 'yes' for me to not want to go."

  "It's... related, but mister Draxon ensures the conditions will be much less stressful."

  "Alright, but if it's anything like last time, I'll bill him for my therapy."

  She prepared her [Glamour], hopped on a bus, and soon enough, she was in Draxon Inc.'s lobby once more.

  "Interesting shade choice, miss Black. It looks good on you." The receptionist commented on Claire' purple skin.

  "Thank you." She responded, blushing a bit. A compliment from the beautiful woman was enough to make the visit worth it on its own.

  Draxon started talking as soon as she entered his office.

  "Do you realise how much of a mess you've made?"

  "No, and I don't care. I fulfilled my part of the contract. In hindsight, it was really dumb of you to give me that much executive power." She retorted. Her response to yesterday's events was constantly flipping between aloof indignation and paranoid anxiety, and right now the pendulum swung in the former direction.

  "Seventeen people resigned after you held them all in here for hours. Another five quit because of the hostage situation."

  "I didn't make the thief take a hostage. And the lockdown is what revealed them in the first place. Didn't you get a report from Julliette explaining the situation?"

  "I did. Though she omitted the thief's name, just like you're doing, because apparently you pardoned them in exchange for the prototype."

  "Yep, which was my one and only goal there. You also know how they did it, so you can build preventative measures against anti-memetic abilites. Mission accomplished."

  Draxon scraped his fingers on the table in a frustrated tick. He began grumbling something under his nose.

  "Did you call me in to yell at me, or is there actually a follow up job offer?"

  Draxon quickly composed himself. "I'm assuming you've already put your gains from the contract into use. I was wondering if any abilities you've acquired was capable of making souls tangible. Using physical manifestations of soul components could be very useful for the development of our technology."

  "Not yet. Though I do have an ability that lets me give someone an all-around buff to body, mind, and soul. It scales off of my max mana, so now that my soul has grown, it should be even stronger. I can only have six of those out at once, though, and I'm not willing to give out more than three spots. Oh, and I can now officiate contracts without having a primary role in them, so I could-"

  "In that case, our business is concluded. You may go."

  "You don't want in on those buffs?"

  "No. Working with you has been a terrible experience. You caused the loss of twenty two employees, let the thief go, and asked to be paid in soul parts, which ended up being supremely uncomfortable. Only something like soul materials would make working with someone so volatile worthwhile."

  Claire tried to come up with a defence, a rebuttal, even a last snarky remark, but the wind left her sails.

  "Okay then. Goodbye."