Monsters and legends, p.27
Monsters and Legends, page 27
part #1 of Infinite Realm Series
“Why did you think that it was a good idea to undress me?”
He frowned. “Because you don’t sleep with your clothes on.” It didn’t seem like a big deal to him. Perhaps it was a social convention that he had missed?
He saw her close her eyes tightly and take a deep breath. She released it slowly before meeting his eyes again. “Where are my clothes?”
Ryun pointed to a chair next to the bed where he had folded them. Seeing that she was past whatever issue she had, he spoke.
“So, the last thing you said was that Qi aspects can be obtained in two ways, by purchasing or finding a source in the wild—” He stopped when he saw her give him an incredulous look. “What?”
“You are just going to continue the conversation, with me like this?”
“We didn’t finish our talk. I have questions.”
She palmed her face and shook her head. “How can you not have any sense whatsoever? Did you grow up with animals or something?”
Ryun shook his head. “No, or at least I don’t think so.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t remember much of my life. Important moments, conversations, impressions and feelings, yes. Things before the Framework are just echoes. And everything in between is foggy, at least everything in the distant past. The things all of you take for granted, the knowledge of how to act with others. Those things are… It is like I knew them long ago, but can’t quite remember them.”
Anrosh narrowed her eyes. “So you lost your memory?”
“I… No, I don’t think I did. I just forgot some things. I remember being... angry, mad. Then I made a choice between staying that way and…and doing something. I think that that was when I forgot most things that came before. I remember the Framework, I remember fighting, I remember moments, like snippets of a memory, and living alone. It is the things in between that are fuzzy.”
She seemed like she wanted to ask more questions, but in the end she controlled herself. “Let me get dressed and cleaned up, and we can continue the conversation from last night.”
Ryun nodded and waited.
She looked at him for a long minute, and then sighed again. “Can you give me some privacy? Leave the room?”
Ryun blinked. That hadn’t even occurred to him. He jumped down from the cupboard making no sound at all and started walking out. A few steps later he stopped and turned as he remembered something. “The bathroom is through that door over there,” he said, pointing. With that, he left the room.
Interacting with others was so…exhausting. No wonder he kept away from everyone for so long.
A few minutes later they were back in the meeting room and Anrosh was explaining a few more things to him. “…aspect that matches your path the best. Making that choice is the most important decision that most Cultivators ever make. True, they usually base it on what path they want to practice, not the other way around.”
Ryun nodded. He had already given it some thought. “I raised my Cultivating rank a few days ago,” he said casually.
Her eyes widened. “Really? I never asked what Realm you were. It is considered rude here, but…”
“I don’t mind. I am currently in the Peak Lord Realm.”
“Whoa, I was certain that you were at least a Monarch. How did you defeat Fier so easily if you were the same Realm as him?”
Ryun chuckled. “There was nothing that was the same between us. It was obvious that he had his power handed to him. He didn’t cultivate his Essence. I cycle through my Essence several times before I advance. I have done it for every step.”
“I’ve heard of Cultivators who did as much…but you are wasting so much Essence.”
“It is worth it in the end.”
“Yes, I can see that. I’ve never met anyone who was in the Peak Lord Realm, I haven’t ever met a Lord Realm Cultivator at all, other than Fier. What is it like?”
“I can now choose a second path,” Ryun answered.
“What?”
“Another thing that I wanted to talk to you about. I need to choose a second path, preferably one that complements my first, and I need to pick an aspect that will be complementary to both paths.” He had already put some thought into this. His plan for the second path was to find a utility path that would supplement his perks, paths, and Class. His Class wasn’t all that important to him, as it had only one use in his mind: to fuel his Cultivation. His Path of the Final End was his main focus, the use of Qi for destruction. His first technique allowed him to boost his stats, gaining more power, his second was a focused targeted blast of destruction, and the last was an AOE wave. His skills gave him a pretty good combat awareness and an attack skill aside from his path. His perks on the other hand were more important. They were geared toward taking a lot of punishment in fights against many opponents, and the more enemies he was facing the stronger he got. He would need to pick both a path and Qi aspect that supplemented that.
“I didn’t know that Peak Lord Realm allows for a second path. Most powerful Cultivators keep the secrets of cultivating close to their chest.”
Ryun shrugged.
Anrosh turned thoughtful. “Picking a path is a completely different thing.”
“How so? I can just buy one from the shop.”
“What? No, that is a terrible idea!”
“Why? I bought my path from the Dealmaker.”
“Oh. I forgot that you are a Ranker for a moment. I heard something about that; you were asked to choose a path when the Framework arrived, right?”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t know what the path was? What techniques you would get?”
“No, I just asked the Dealmaker questions to narrow the choices down based on what I wanted.”
“You shouldn’t do that now. Paths bought from the Dealmaker are a gamble. You don’t know anything but a small description that tells you nothing.”
“There is another way?” he asked.
“Of course, how do you think that so many follow the same path here?”
“I figured they all bought it from the Dealmaker.”
“No. You can’t buy the paths that someone already has, as every single path that the Dealmaker has is unique. Once bought, they are no longer available in the shop. Instead, Cultivators who had achieved the Foundation Realm can either teach their path to someone else, which is how most sects pass on their paths. Alternatively, the Cultivator can create a Path Stone. It is expensive, requires a ritual and time, but it can then be sold. It contains the details on how to use a path, and obviously the three techniques that come with it.”
Ryun hummed as he was thinking. When he’d gained his path he instinctively knew how to use it, the knowledge had just been put inside his head by the Framework. “So, you think that I should buy or learn a path?”
“I don’t know if we could find you a teacher, but buying a well-established and known path should be preferable to trying to gamble with the Dealmaker’s options.”
“And where can I buy this Path Stone?”
“The auction house, although we need to have an established town in order to get that option.”
Ryun nodded. It looked like securing the town and triggering the Town Stone just became a top priority.
CHAPTER 40 – PRESENT - Ryun
Contract
Ryun sat on a fallen log deep in the Twilight Woods, waiting. He spent the time thinking about all the new things he had learned. Acquiring a Qi aspect was his primary goal, but so was getting the second path. After learning that he could buy a path from an auction, he decided that it was the best course of action. Anrosh had a point: buying a path blindly wouldn’t be smart, especially since he now needed a path that synergized with his primary one. That meant that he first needed to activate the Town Stone and complete the scenario. He had left Anrosh in charge, telling her to accelerate the work. He didn’t plan on waiting for long, which was also why he was sitting in the woods, waiting. The day turned into the night, and finally the monster he came to meet with arrived.
Ryun raised his head and looked at the large wolf, who was now standing just a few steps away from him.
Twilight Woods Dire Wolf Alpha—Ereclaw (E) (Tier 4)
Ereclaw was large, his shoulder coming up to Ryun’s jaw. His fur was silver, with almost imperceptible streaks of black.
“Two-legs,” Ereclaw greeted him.
“Ereclaw, I have come to discuss our deal.”
The massive dire wolf sat on its hind legs and focused his red eyes on Ryun. “So, you have decided to stay here.”
“I have.”
“This is good.”
“Tell me more about this contract, what it entails.”
Ereclaw titled his head, then spoke. “A contract between a monster and one of your kind makes a connection between the two. It provides the monster a way of moving past our limits. Without the need for hunting and killing.”
“How does it work?”
“There are two types of contracts: a bond contract and a blood contract. A bond will establish a tether between us. A portion of your Essence will flow to me and allow me to grow stronger alongside you. We will gain some benefits, such as each knowing where the other is, and speaking mind to mind. But there is nothing else. I would grow in the way I already am, simply growing stronger. We would be companions. A blood contract is different; it makes a greater connection between us. I will lose who I am and become something more. The connection between us will be stronger, and both of us will benefit from it in the long run by gaining contract perks as our bond deepens.”
“It looks like the blood contract is better. Why would anyone chose the bond contract?” Ryun asked.
“Not many two-legs would agree to such a thing, it requires both of us looking into each other deeply. Few are comfortable with having their existence stripped bare before another, much less a monster. And I would pay a price: I would no longer be who I am now.”
“So, which of the contracts do you want to do?”
“I have spent a long time thinking about this, and I am tired of having advancement denied to me. I would take either contract if it meant that I get to grow stronger. But the one I prefer is the blood contract.”
Ryun thought about it. He wasn’t really opposed to it. Gaining more power was his main goal now, and if this contract was going to give him that, then it was what he was going to do. But first, they had to agree to the terms of the deal. “We spoke of a deal, that your pack would protect the town, and we wouldn’t bother them. I have something a bit different in mind…”
Ryun proceeded to explain what he had in mind, and once he was finished, Ereclaw spoke.
“I do not know if that would work, but perhaps it is time that we stop living in isolation. I agree to that.”
“Good. Now, you said that you’ve been in these woods for a long time. Have you seen the scenario for claiming this territory before?”
“No, the settlements that trigger the event always disappeared almost overnight. We’ve never found any signs of them afterward.”
Ryun frowned at that. Scenarios could be many different things, from fighting a single invasion, to surviving for a set time. But he remembered that there were other kind of tests. Sometimes, everything in the vicinity of the Town Stone would be teleported someplace else, with the task of surviving in a different environment. Ryun shook his head as he realized just how strange it was that he remembered that it could happen that way, but didn’t exactly remember ever seeing it. It didn’t matter at the moment.
“That tells me enough. So, do we have a deal?” Ryun asked.
“Yes.”
“All right, how do we do this?”
Ereclaw brought one of his paws up and closed his teeth around it until blood started flowing. “Cut your palm and clasp my paw.”
Ryun stabbed his nail into the skin of his palm and pulled. Blood trickled, and before the wound started to heal he grasped the offered paw. Immediately, a window popped up in front of him.
You are about to establish a blood contract between you and the monster Twilight Woods Dire Wolf Alpha—Ereclaw!
Are you certain that you wish to proceed?
YES/NO
Ryun picked ‘YES’ and a moment later he felt a strange kind of heat fill him. It lasted for a few seconds and then Ereclaw started to glow. Ryun took a step back, shielding his eyes. The glowing lasted for a good ten seconds, and then it slowly abated. In place of the large dire wolf, now stood something that was far more humanoid. Ereclaw now appeared more like a wolf walking on two legs; his fur was still mostly silver, but the black streaks were more pronounced. His eyes had changed color, and instead of red they were now brown. A moment later Ryun realized that they were actually the exact same color as his own eyes. The other change was that he could no longer see his monster tag above him.
Ereclaw looked at his hands. They were still clawed, but were far more human now. He closed them and opened them several times.
“This is different,” Ereclaw said, and this time he used his mouth. His voice was deep and growly.
“You didn’t tell me that you would become more… human,” Ryun said.
“It is the price that blood contract requires from monsters. We lose our previous selves to become something more.”
“If we had gone with the bond contract, you would’ve remained the same?”
“Yes, two-legs. I would have gained more power, but I would’ve always remained a monster.”
“I don’t think that you can keep calling me two-legs. I mean, you are two-legs now, too.”
Ereclaw blinked, then looked at his feet. “I did not think this through.”
Ryun chuckled. “Call me Ryun,” he told him, but Ereclaw was too busy studying his new body.
Ryun brought up his notifications and read them through while Ereclaw familiarized himself with his new appearance.
Congratulations!
You established a blood contract with entity Ereclaw Nacht!
Contract Perk Available - Great Hunter (More Contract Perks will be unlocked as your bond with your contracted partner grows)
Ryun’s eyebrows rose as he read the notification. Ereclaw had Ryun’s last name now. He wondered what that meant, but it looked like this blood contract was a far deeper connection than he assumed. He glanced at his perk list and looked at what the new perk did.
Great Hunter (Contract Perk)
Any person whose blood you have drawn is marked by your power. The mark allows you to track them no matter the distance between you.
It didn’t seem to be too powerful for his needs, but it was useful. He dismissed the windows and looked back at Ereclaw.
“So, did you gain more power?”
“I believe I have. I am no longer a Twilight Woods Dire Wolf Alpha, and I can now pick a new direction.”
“I was wondering about that—do you have a Cultivation path?”
“It is different for monsters. Our power is unique. Now I am more like you, but not quite the same. I don’t think that our advancement is equivalent. But I am now in the Early Lord Realm on the Path of the Twilight Hunter.”
“You used to be on the fourth tier of power. Are you still?”
“No. That is one of the prices of the blood contract. I have reverted one evolution back, and I am now tier three.”
Ryun nodded. “So, can you pick a focus
“My choice is between three. Harbinger, Lone Wolf, and Emissary of Twilight.”
“The Harbinger is my Class. I guess that is why you received it as your choice. Can you see anything about them?”
“No,” Ereclaw said.
“Don’t choose one yet. We can look if anyone back in the town knows anything.”
Ereclaw nodded. “I should return to the pack, get the things going.”
“I’ll wait for you here, and we’ll go back to the town together,” Ryun told him.
Ereclaw turned and walked away, leaving Ryun alone with his thoughts.
Focusing, he turned his thoughts back to his own upcoming decision.
CHAPTER 41 – PRESENT — Zach
Mystery
Zach and Griss delivered their prisoners to the Greenstone Mining Syndicate. The mine itself was a pitiful place—there was no question as to why someone would want to escape it. But all people there had contracts, or were criminals whose debts had been purchased by the Syndicate. Zach might not agree with the state they were in, but they were all here for a reason: either because they owed a debt or because they had signed a contract. It was their own choices that had led them to the mine. This was the way of this world, the law, and law and rules existed for a reason, and it was not for Zach to judge them. Even though he disagreed. This was not his world, not yet. If he was to become a full warden, he was going to need to learn to enforce the laws of this world.
He could already tell that he would like being a warden. It was a job that was clearly defined by the laws of various territories. And he liked that, rules and order, as he had spent far too long in a world consumed by chaos. It eliminated the need for him to make choices. He didn’t want to be responsible for other people, not anymore. Order and law brought peace, and peace brought stability and safety. It was not up to one man to decide what was good and what was evil. It was up to the people to agree to the laws, and the majority were the ones whose voice should be followed. On Earth, their laws, their attempt to bring order to a fractured world invaded by monsters, had been brought low by a single person. And Zach hated him for that, for deciding that he knew better than what the majority had decided, for slaughtering the innocents and destroying everything that they had created.
Griss and he spent a few days at the mine, interviewing the miners and investigating the escapes. Griss did most of the interviews, allowing Zach to do only one near the end. The drake was teaching him about what kind of questions to ask and how to tell if the subject was lying or hiding something. Still, they didn’t learn much, as the miners who escaped seemed to have done so suddenly and efficiently. No one knew that they were planning it, nor had anyone saw anything suspicious. After they conducted the interviews, they left the mine, heading into the forest to search for the remaining escaped miners, as they had been hired to do.
