Important Findings

Graham Hymes was standing in a dark basement with a candle on his right hand, while his left was holding his briefcase. The flame from the candle was the only source of light in the pitch-black room. Using the limited lighting, he shone upon the diabolical object in front of him.

Graham was standing in front of a pile of countless human skulls of different sizes. They were stacked on top of each other neatly, like they were deliberately arranged into that formation. At the base of the skulls, there was a sigil that Graham was not familiar with. It was drawn on the stone floor using paint, or blood, he was not sure. It was black, not that contrasted with the dark stone floor. The sigil itself featured a tuning fork-like shape that was entangled with a lot of lines and circles.

"A ritual?" he thought out loud. He had limited knowledge of Contractbounds, so he could only guess.

He observed the stack of skulls closely, trying to etch it in his memory. Once he was done, Graham moved away from the pile of skulls in the middle of the room and went to the further end of it. There, he found a table with an open book on it. It looked like a journal of some sort, with messy handwriting covering the pages. Graham read what was written on the already open page.

'The Deity of Conflict and Putrefaction requires human heads as sacrificial materials in order to please Him. If the Plague Cavalry, that is the Contractbound in contract with this Deity, fails to do so within 133 days, they will turn into a mindless embodiment of affliction. The heads must be stacked in the form of a pyramid and ritual must be started exactly at three thirty-three early in the morning.'

At the bottom of the writing, there was the sigil that was the same as the one drawn on the floor.

Graham analyzed what he had just read and spoke in a low voice, "So each Contractbound has a different name. Based on the ritual, I guess the owner of this journal was a Plague Cavalry."

He paused for a while and continued, "I wonder what we are called."

'The Deity of Great Battles and Decay offers similar power to my Deity, but I chose to be a Plague Cavalry because a Sagitarr has to kill people in war to please their Deity. If only we could get into contracts with three instead of only two Marquises...'

"Sagitarr? Marquises?" Graham got into thinking, "This is all guesswork, but I think a Sagitarr should be the Contractbound of the Deity of Great Battles and Decay. As for a Marquis, do you think it is the level of the Deity, Val? I don't see anything else in the paragraph that it could refer to."

Graham flipped over to the next page and read the content with difficulty because of the bad lighting and the messy handwriting.

'Information regarding known Contractbounds.'

'Fire Divinators are those who are in-contract with the Deity of Fire Divination. They have superb divination abilities, mostly related to fire, but are lacking in direct combat. However, their boosted vision makes up for their shortcoming to some extent. They have the ability to limitedly see into someone's future through palmistry, but it only happens very rarely and under special circumstances.'

Graham stopped reading and reacted to the information, "My question has been answered. So I'm a Fire Divinator. Apparently, I can to some extent see into the future? Is it the case with my vision of Mirjam's male guest?"

'Slumberers are those who are in-contract with the Deity of Sleep. They have the ability to put people into sleep and stun their foes with a horrible nightmare. They are also granted night vision, for the dark is where they thrive. They will feel more invigorated during the night and will be able to fall asleep wherever and whenever they want. However, they lack any offensive abilities and will feel tired more easily during the day.'

'Romancers are those who are in-contract with the Deity of Lies and Attraction. This Deity is one of the only three Earls governing over two domains. Romancers have the ability to make people of the opposite gender attracted to them by telling them lies. Their lies will also be more subtle and difficult to detect. The more powerful Romancers can even control their victims completely. They also have the ability to create a gust of wind to attack their foes. However, the cost of power is their iron-hard nails that never stop growing.'

'Murderers are those who are in-contract with the Deity of Bloodshed and Manslaughter. This Deity is the second of the three Earls who govern over two domains. Murderers are granted boosted vision and the ability to smell blood from afar. They will instinctively know how to use and fight with sharp weapons such as knives and swords. They can also sense the blood pulsing in their foes and strike where it will hurt the most. They are granted the ability to use their own blood for various effects as well. However, their craving for blood will make them slowly lose empathy.'

'Mediators are those who are in-contract with the Deity of Reconciliation. They are amazing talkers, and granted the ability to use speech and reasons to calm down people and solve conflicts. They exude an aura that makes people tend to like them better. They are also able to fool their foes into thinking that they are friends. Their active ability allows them to create a neutral zone for a short time, where no fights can happen. However, their knowledge of combat will be impeded, since their natural element is peaceful times.'

'War Marchers are those who are in-contract with the Deity of War. They are granted leadership ability to lead their men to war. They have the ability to use the war drum, which will boost their men's power. They are also able to incite conflict between people, to sow distrust among them. Their body is enhanced to be physically strong, to better withstand blows from their foes. Since they thrive in conflict, peaceful times often agitate them.'

'Not enough information regarding the seventh Deity.'

'Not enough information regarding the eighth Deity.'

'Jewellers are those who are in-contract with the Deity of Herbs and Precious Stones. This deity is the last of the three Earls governing over two domains. Jewellers are granted incredible knowledge of herbs and precious stones, and how to mix herbs to produce incredible effects. They can also sense the existence of precious stones from a distance. Jewellers are probably one of the few Contractbounds who can make money easily. They have no active abilities, however.

'Not enough information regarding the tenth Deity.'

'Denuders are those who are in-contract with the Deity of Uncovering. They are those who uncover the wickedness of thieves and evils. They are granted the ability of tracking, which gives them a limited vision of what has happened in the past. Their sense of hearing is also greatly boosted. Denuders are great interrogators since they can make their victims unable to lie. In combat, they can strip their foes bare of their weapons. Since their calling is to uncover iniquity, any lies happening near them can anger them.'

Graham took in all the information he just read. It was so much information at once.

"Val, your Deity of Secrets should be among the ones with not enough information. We know the other one should be Luuk's Deity of Theft. What do you think the last one would be?" he said analytically while his eyes were scanning the pages. The next page also had information that garnered his attention.

'Things to note about Contractbounds.'

'Do not enter into a contract with another Deity unless one has pleased his. The body will not be ready and the mind will shatter in an instant. Pleasing the Deity will grant one His blessing, consolidating one's power.'

'There are numerous Deities existing in this world. Some had higher ranks than the others. Some would require great sacrifices while others would not. Be careful which deity you choose to form a contract with.'

There was nothing else written under that note. Graham turned to the next page and it was also blank. He kept turning until the last page, which only had a single line.

'Beware of Pravitatem!'

Next to that warning, there was the symbol that he was very familiar with. It was the four interlocking rings with countless eyes. Some of the eyes were closed and some were open. The eyes that were open were looking directly at the reader, Graham. In the middle of the ring, there was a silhouette of a small figure.

"We found it!" he said firmly.

He finally found the clue he was looking for, but there was only the name and nothing else. He would divine it later, along with the dolls and the house itself. Graham closed the book and tried to pick it up to study the content more at the hotel, but when he tried to lift the book off the table, it suddenly became very heavy. It was as if he was lifting the whole house itself.

"Urrrgh!" he grunted while lifting the heavy object in order to gain more strength.

No matter how much strength he put into it, he couldn't pick up the book. He was confused.

"Is this another one of Contractbound trickeries? No wonder the book is still here after years," he said accusingly.

Since he couldn't take the book with him, he reopened the pages and memorized all the content as best as he could. Owing to his remarkable memory, it didn't take too much effort for Graham to do so. Once he made sure that he had the content of the book memorized, he left it on the table and went around the room again to search for more possible clues.

In the dark room, the atmosphere felt suffocating. Graham walked carefully from one corner to the other, with the sounds of his footsteps and breathing accompanying him. Aside from the book and the skulls for the ritual, there was nothing else in the room. It was just an empty dark basement.

Graham went back upstairs and stayed in the kitchen, in the farthest spot from the main hall, where the wailing ghost was. Since he didn't really know how to kill it, he had to leave it just like that. He had sent the anonymous tip to the Police, so they would be coming any time and Graham was sure the Police could deal with the ghost. For now, he needed Valentine's anti-divination to mask his activity there.

Graham lied down in the quiet spot of the kitchen against the wall. It was still in the afternoon, and he was not really in a comfortable position, so he had to take a sleeping pill to fall asleep. After double-checking that he was safe, he took out one from his pocket and quickly swallowed it. Time passed, and finally, he fell asleep.

Valentine woke up not long after and swiftly went into the main hall. The ghost sealed inside the bed sheet was still squirming about, shrieking occasionally. By this point, it didn't affect him much because he had gotten used to it alongside Graham.

Valentine stood beside the sealed ghost and took out his knife. He slit his palm and let the blood pool on it.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Secrets, offer this blood as a medium"

The blood on his palm emitted a mysterious mist that gathered around it.

"For I declare this place under the Shroud of Secrecy hereafter!"

He dropped the blood onto the sheet and the floor and for a second everything was obliviously silent.

Once he was done with his anti-divination ritual, Valentine made sure that everything was secured and that he had left no trace. Once he had finished, he left the house through the broken window, the same one that Graham had used to enter. He was back out in the overgrown field and tried to remember his way back to the hotel.