Edric, the little dragon tilted its head in confusion for a split second when Calle suddenly put him on the floor right in front of Calle. And he still didn't know what Calle was doing when he extended one of his hands forward. But after sensing Calle's intentions through the bonds that he had with Calle as Calle's familiar, Edric understood what Calle wanted and also raised one of its legs forward, reaching toward Calle's outstretched hand.
Making sure that no holes will appear on his wrist when shaking Edric's hand that had very sharp-looking claws on them, Calle decided to grab Edric's wrist instead of directly holding onto his fingers and claws.
"Let us be best buds starting from now on!" Calle said as he grabbed Edric's little body and put it back on top of his head.
Now that the little dragon was on top of his head for the second time, he realized that the dragon's claws had actually pushed against his shoulders and his skull as he felt a hard and dense object make contact with his body.
But surprisingly, he didn't feel any pain whatsoever from Edric's claws despite it looking so sharp that his kitchen knife looked pale in comparison.
"Are your claws actually not sharp, Edric?"
Edric shook his head and shrugged his body, telling Calle that he, himself, also didn't know about it.
[The dragon's claws, although still a baby dragon, are one the sharpest things in existence.] The familiar mechanical voice suddenly sounded in Calle's head.
Calle was only startled for a split second as he still wasn't used to having a voice suddenly appearing inside his head, but he recovered as quickly as he was surprised since it wasn't his first time hearing the voice.
"Then why am I not bleeding or my clothes still intact when Edric's sharp claws pushed against them?" He asked.
[It's because a familiar can never really injure its master.]
'So it's like that. It does make sense now that my body is completely fine even after that really painful crash earlier…'
[Calle, now that Edric had hatched safely and he even got a name, it's time for you to make your first Dungeon Sovereign Contract!]
"Dungeon Sovereign Contract? What is that?"
[It's easier to explain it while you are doing it, so let's start right away.]
[Repeat these words out loud, Calle.]
[With the authority given to the Dungeon Sovereign, hereby I, Maverick Calle, offer you, Edric, to be my strength. Through thick and thin, we will never be apart even over life and death. Will you accept?]
"Okay." He replied shortly
With Edric still perched comfortably on his shoulders and head, Calle repeated every word that the voice in his head told him.
"With the authority given to the Dungeon Sovereign, hereby I, Maverick Calle, offer you, Edric, to be my strength. Through thick and thin, we will never be apart even over life and death. Will you accept?"
Calle's voice traveled directly towards Edric's ears as the little dragon was still enjoying his time. But when Calle's voice reached him, Edric's body tensed up and his head was raised straight upward. He heard and understood each and every word that Calle just said without even having to rely on the familiar and master connection between him and Calle as if the words that came out of Calle's mouth were speaking right to his very soul.
The little dragon then released another squeal,
"Screee! (I accept!)"
Right after the little dragon gave his answer, Calle felt a jolt of electricity running through his body for just a split second and it seemed to have also connected to the little dragon as he felt Edric's little body squirm for a bit as well on top of his head.
"Is it done? Just like that? No fancy ritual or something?" Calle asked the voice inside his head.
[Yes, it's done.]
"I just can't get used to these anti-climatic vows with the dungeon sovereign thing," Calle muttered, shaking his head.
"And now what?" Calle asked once again.
[Just wait for it, it will happen any second now.]
"What is going to hap-"
Calle's words were suddenly cut off as he once again felt another jolt of electricity running through his whole body and this time, it didn't disappear even after a few seconds.
The intensity was bearable for Calle as he only gritted his teeth and he was still able to keep himself standing despite his ordinary human pain tolerance level. And after holding on for about 10 seconds which felt like a full minute for him due to the very uncomfortable feeling that he felt all over his body, the jolt finally disappeared completely without leaving any long-lasting aftereffects.
"What… was… that…?" Calle said between his breath as he held onto his knees to support his body from falling to the ground.
[Don't worry, it's only a part of the contract. Now that it's done, Edric's abilities and traits are now also yours.]
"Oh, okay. That's quite nice." Calle nonchalantly replied.
But then he realized something,
"Excuse me, can you explain what that means?"
Instead of giving Calle another explanation, the voice only gave him a short answer,
[Try jumping up.]
Curious about what the voice meant, Calle didn't give it any thought before pushing both of his legs against the floor. It was only a light push, only enough to get his body a few centimeters above the ground.
However, when his body truly did leave the ground, it didn't stop at only a few centimeters above the floor. His body traveled directly several meters upward as he easily broke the world record for the highest vertical jump without breaking a single sweat on his body.
But before Calle was able to celebrate his overwhelming strength, he found himself falling from 6 meters above the ground, with nothing but the cold hard stone ground beneath him. He didn't know about dying, but breaking his legs was a very likely scenario that would probably happen and he certainly didn't want to have broken legs considering that he was currently still inside the unknown circular room.
He then suddenly remembered something and felt that there was still something weighing on his head and shoulders.
He was about to ask the little dragon to fly and help him break his fall, but when he realized that the little dragon was still squirming in place with its eyes closed, possibly because of the contract, Calle gave up on that idea as well.
'Bah! Whatever happens, happens!' Calle thought as he braced for a huge impact on his feet.
However, when his body finally fell and landed on the ground, Calle didn't feel any huge impact on his feet or his whole body. Just a little nudge on his legs, that's what he felt when he landed.
"What kind of abilities does Edric have?" He asked the voice once again.
This time, the voice answered by directly sending an image towards Calle's vision.
---------Status---------
Name: Edric
Rank: H (Peak)
Status: Infant
Skills:
Hardened Skin
Enhanced Strength
Dragon's Eyes
Absolute Mana Control
---------------------