Chapter 3 : Reduced To A Peasent

"Now, now no reason to panic."

the sinking disappeared as fast as it came.

"You can see it right? my karmic value?"

What's that?

unfortauntley for the man, Daedulus had an excellent poker face on, as he didn't want this man to read him like an open book.

Is he a terrarian, or a mage?

he once read that Terrarian can be mages but mages can't be Terrarian.

Terrarian mages can grow and get stronger, learn new spells.

Non-Terrarian mages are separate, however as they are born with a set amount of mana, they can get certain items to achieve more, meaning that they cant train their mana.

This guy seems to have a lot of mana.....

noble origin?

it was a shame Yharim burned most libraries with magecraft to a crisp, otherwise, he would have known more knowledge.

Why were there so many circumstances?

First of all, Terrrarians were all killed before he was born, not to mention that magecraft was brutally banned, because of many reasons.

1. since mages were a lot stronger than people, they were feared

2. since Terrarians were gone, powerful mages could take on armies based upon their mana count.

So why the fuck is there both in a hillby village?

of course, the man could be a Terrrarian.

My brain hurts.

Daedulus eyes grew attentive towards the books displayed on the shelf, obviously the man's collection.

But something was strange.

Leather pages, probably sheepskin.

Why not wood?

isn't this the most basic standard thing?

The man grasped onto his eyes, before sighing.

"My great...great collection." He held a bitter smile. "Took me half of my life to get all of those books, before I finally settled down with my wife."

A late wife, but Daedlulus's expression did not change.

He didn't want to offend this mage.

"You can read them after, use your middle finger and tap the globe."

He was a stranger to this next step.

-------------------------

Transmuter

Skill 1:

Wood Manipulation

Skill 2 :

Basic Alchemy

Skill 3:

Basic Crafting

Choose one.

--------------------------

"You know what they say, knowledge is power." the man laughed, before saying "the boy got quite a shock when he saw this, you seem no different."

The man pulled out a tobacco pipe, and Daedulus examined the crude pipe.

Smoking when he was on a fine line to death?

bold.

"You're a demon, no?"

"Well listen here." The man smiled. "Soul contract, or death, you choose."

Daedulus was shocked by the change of attitude of this man.

He went from a jolly old man to a cruel geezer in a blink of an eye.

"I want you to protect my kin, "you're a terrarian as much as he is, and we have been unfortunate to make some..... problems."

he didn't elaborate, but he caressed his temples while smoking the pipe.

"Not to mention that there is a plague going on." He spoke quietly. "If you choose not to accept the soul contract, I wouldn't mind bringing your head to the jungle association."

The jungle association....?

how far back has he gone?

they were destroyed because of Yharim.

does that mean this is before Yharim's rule?

So many possibilities...

and threats.

maybe he would be able to meet the person he was named from.

"A nice bounty would sound nice.... yes yes..." the old man muttered, before saying "What would it be, demon?"

Daedulus nodded, what fool would want to be killed on the spot by a powerful mage.

The thought sent shiver's down his spine.

"Good, good."

a single piece of paper was put out.

It was sheepskin, and the man groaned.

It was likely this would have cost a lot of money.

"Blood."

A knife was given to Daedulus, as he was instructed to cut into his hand.

The knife sunk into his flesh, and it caused shivers to go down his spine.

He hated pain.

Really.

The man also had a turn with the knife, but he did it with no hesitation, not even flinching when the coldness of the blade reached his fragile hand.

The blood seeped into the middle of the paper, and a seal was created.

It was like a tattooed eye, without the pupil inside of it.

It was eerie, and it looked like the part of a demon contract.

Soul contracts?

what was the scale of contract he was walking with right now?

"Do you demon, vow to protect my grandson for the next 3 years?"

3 years.

An awful amount of time, is it not?

Daedulus couldn't talk, so he quickly nodded his head.

"Good, now stab yourself again and let the ritual seal itself."

Daedulus did what was instructed, as he slowly watched the blood seep from his hand into the paper again.

he felt something tighten in the navel, where his soul was reached.

He felt dizzy, but he quickly regained composure.

The man on the other side of the room wasn't holding on too great, as he peacefully snored off.

Must be mentally taxing.

Thank god he didn't die on him straight away.

That would have been an interesting conversation with his grandchild, wouldn't it?

within 10 minutes, the man woke up and looked towards the demon looking at him with bored in his eyes.

"You will be living in a separate house from now on, away from the rest of the villagers."

The old man led him to his accommodation.

He got some lovely stares from the villagers, and he responded with a wicked smile.

"Stop teasing them." The man groaned, before shaking his head and leading him to the smallest house in the village.

"Got any problems? build your own." The man grumbled, before going back to his own house. "You are a crafter, after all, right?"

the air around him grew denser.

"If you want to read any books, make sure that you knock on my door, and I will let my grandchild know to let you in."

Seeing the demon had doubts, the man shrugged.

"Dont worry about being hunted in an angry mob, I will say that you are a powerful demon that's bonded to me under a soul contract , and im sure they will understand..... eventually."

Daedulus wanted to cry at that moment, but the old man finally introduced himself.

"Im ashen, by the way." Ashen, the old man grumbled. "And my grandson is Axel."

even had the name of a hero, how poetic.

The name didn't ring any bells, so that meant this kid probably died young or got killed before the world even knew.

which one it was, Daedulus didn't know himself.

"Crafter's grow when crafting, so you do that. Maybe you would build a frisbee, throw it, maybe a female villager will pick it up, you might fall in love. Oh, that's what we used to do back in my day...."

Daedulus stared at the man with the will to die, as he laughed.

"I'll be going now, hunt for your food in the forest unless you're ballsy to ask the butcher of the village." The man also passed him a piece of stone.

"Here's a stone tablet with a piece of the magic crystal inside , use it to view your status."

It seemed that he was getting spoiled by the old man, but he nodded.

"And also... if i or my grandson see you read the book on the bookshelf that has red on it." The comedic Ashen changed their personality once more. "Death would be the last thing you would want to worry about, even for a demon for you. And it wouldn't even be my 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥"

Daedulus gulped.

Who was this man?