"I want to make a deal." She spoke with more confidence this time. As if repeating the action made her more sure of her course of action.

The voice returned. Then, let us begin. So, as you don't know who I am and what I offer, In good faith I will lay out some background information. As a devil I can offer you the power to become a warlock through a contract agreed upon between us. This 'Pact' will include magical power and the knowledge how to use it, as well as certain abilities that will depend on your mastery of the pact. For that price I require something in return.

"I'm not signing away my soul! I'm not an idiot." She didn't know much about souls, but she had seen enough movies to know that was generally a bad thing.

Never thought you were. If I thought you were an idiot, I would never have bothered with this. I do not need more mindless servants. But I do require souls, it is the currency here. Let me think for a minute.

She breathed out again and tried to relax herself. She needed to be calm for this. Not jump into this without thinking. This was a negotiation, she had been through this kind of thing before. This devil wants something from her, and she wants something from them as well. She needs to keep thinking of it like that, not as an exchange for her soul or something else. No, it was a deal, a negotiation, a business transaction. She was still calming down when the voice returned.

Well then, I have considered your requirement and have an idea. I cannot see everything about where you are, but you are surrounded by enemies, right? In a dungeon loaded with cultists?

"Yes? I don't know what they are doing but kidnapping me and locking me up are definitely not friendly things to do."

This may sound harsh, but I wish for you to kill and sacrifice at least 3 of them to me.

"WHAT!"

No need to get angry about this, I need souls and you seem rather attached to yours. Where else are you going get them? The ritual is relatively easy and quick, no need to excessive chanting or blood, it's rather clean actually.

"Even if I agreed to these conditions, 3 souls still seem like too much. I would need to get them alone and alive while performing the ritual, presumably. I could not even keep up with 2 of them. No, 3 is too much. Also, if I did give away my soul, you would only get 1, not 3. This deal is too heavily skewed in your favour."

You should value yourself more, your soul is far better than that of a random cultist. But I get the point. How about this. 2 souls, but we agree to keep in touch. I have other warlocks, but they all shun me after the deal. Even when I graciously offered help and rewards for small tasks, trivial even. I want you to hear me out when we talk, not simply cut the connection instantly.

"I will not agree to a blank cheque. I will not simply kill on command or something. I will have to agree with each and every part before I do these tasks and if I become uncomfortable, I reserve the right to quit or re-negotiate."

A valid concern, I agree on the condition that any rewards and returned when abandoning your task.

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"I can agree to that."

Then we have a deal? You will sacrifice 2 souls to me and agree to hear out any of my future dealings. You reserve the right to decline or re-negotiate later, but when abandoning a task, any rewards given will be returned. In return you will be rewarded with pact magic and the knowledge to use it. This magic will grow organically even without my intervention.

"We have a deal."

In a sudden rush thought and concepts flew into her mind. She was instantly struck by a massive headache, and she felt sick. Her whole body shook, and she clamped down in pain. For a moment she blacked out.

The Warlock woke. It was strange, she suddenly knew things that she had no idea about minutes before. She suddenly understood concepts and even knew simple facts about her magical abilities. She already understood two spells. A simple blasting spell and a hexing spell. She also knew the ritual for the sacrifices. She also knew there was plenty more to unlock and learn, but that would have to wait. For now, it was time for revenge.

She stood up and turned to the door. A quick motion and a blast of purple-red force shot forward. The door exploded outwards showering the room in splinters. The sound was deafening, but she pushed through and walked into the next room. The cultist that guarded this room was sprawled on the floor, stunned from her blast. She walked over and hit his kneecap with the hammer they had forgot about. The cultist groaned in pain and she broke his other one for good measure. In a strange state of calm and raging, she stood over the cultist. She quickly began the ritual, this would be the first of 2. Let's get this over with.

Some quick movements and controlled magic power later and she could feel something grab from her into the cultist below. It was gross and it felt burning hot, she gasped in pain. The power shot forward into the cultist and pulled back into her body. As fast as it had begun, it was gone. It left her feeling wrong and in pain, but that was 1 done. She went through the right door, same as last time. The main difference was that she wasn't hiding anymore, she walked upright and steady. The felt a lot better as well. No more hiding, no more fear of these fuckers. She had gained magic powers, fucking magic powers.

The other room looked identical to the last time, the cloaks were still there. This reminded her of the book and she grabbed for the pocket she had stashed it. It was still there. They hadn't even searched her, idiots. She walked forward into the storage room, it was the same, again. That was weird. You would have thought that they would have checked the place by now. The boxes were still open and everything. She thought about blasting one of the boxes open and seeing what was inside, but thought better of it. The contents might not survive and the sound might attract too many enemies. She could deal with 1 or 2 of them, but one of them had also used some kind of magic. She remembered freezing in place, that was definitely not normal.

She threw open the door forward, she remembered that the exit was this way. She also remembered the sound from the other side. She saw them on the other side. The room they were standing in was the same as the other rooms. She didn't have to look far for the exit. The wall had a massive hole in it. There was also an idiot standing in her way. She didn't actually know anything about him or her. She couldn't make out much from this distance, but that didn't matter. They were an idiot all the same, she needed 1 more soul and an exit, they could supply both. She fired a blast right in their chest and walked forward. The cultist was blasted into the backwall and fell partly in the hole.

She moved forward and pulled them back out. She took a deep breath and began the ritual again. 1 more time, just once more and she was done. She felt the force again, she expected it this time. It didn't hurt as much this time, she was getting used it. Not sure if that was a good thing though. As soon as she felt the pain recede she stepped into the hole in the wall. She couldn't see what was on the other side, but an exit is an exit. The world spun around her and her vision went black.

--- Congratulations Warlock Candidate. You have won the trail. Welcome and good luck. ---