"Where is he then?" Debbie gasped for air.

She once considered Ric to be a sort of evil mastermind, manipulating the citizens of Hope like puppets for his experiments, only to discard them like garbage later. Yet, after a heated argument lasting around four hours, the image of a devil faded, replaced by someone worthy of Henzo's friendship.

"Who?" Ric asked, mentally scrambling to recall. 'What was his name again?' he pondered.

"Ravi!"

But Ric had already purged the name from his memory, deeming it irrelevant. Why clutter his mind with a name and face he couldn't or wouldn't exploit?

'Crap! I did it again!'

Ric turned to Henzo for assistance, who had yet to complete his fourth sit-up since their conversation looped back for the fourth round. Henzo tapped the earth, prompting Ric to connect the dots. However, as they neared the end of the fifth round and prepared to start the sixth, Ric realized Debbie was impossible to reason with.

Unlike Henzo, who threatened to absorb his knowledge like a sponge, or Mary, who exuded an air of wisdom enabling her to grow and accept new premises before presenting him with a wiser opponent, Ric found in Debbie another adversary not to be trifled with, nor to squander his precious demonic seconds upon.

Debbie epitomized stubbornness and self-righteousness, characteristics mirrored in himself. One of them was enough for this world, a world he already laid claim to.

With individuals like Debbie, it was wiser to acquiesce to their demands, follow their lead, and pray for the misfortune of never crossing paths again, if one desired peace in their life. Contrary to popular myths, demons valued their tranquility, or rather, their semblance of sanity.

Ric stepped back and turned to face Henzo instead. "I should've sided with you from the beginning," he sighed.

"Why? You were always ahead," Henzo encouraged, only to be corrected by his inner voice. 'No, he wasn't. Not once.' Henzo grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "You weren't?" he asked Ric.

Ric noticed that Henzo always glanced upward, to his upper right corner, when conversing with his bond—a detail he had picked up during their initial interaction.

"So, he's the brains and you're the brawn?" Ric startled Henzo. "And no, I can't hear your inner conversation with him unless you speak aloud, and he's never foolish enough to converse using words," Ric clarified further.

"You could say that," Henzo grinned, his imaginary tail wagging with excitement as if Ric were the master and he the pup.

Ric lowered his voice, ensuring only Henzo could hear, "Why only three sit-ups? Don't want others to catch on?"

Feigning weakness was a strategic ploy, one employed by demons and a top tactic Ric endorsed for all to master. Acting like a child, a fool, a simpleton, or a seductress could lure opponents closer.

In the realm of power, the supreme entity is always the most cunning. Gods have fallen, exposed, and betrayed in moments of pleasure, their pants, lost, alongside their shred of dignity.

Sadly, Henzo wasn't among them. He lacked the endurance to harness the contract's full potential, and without knowledge of its intricacies, there was no way to assist him, rendering him useless to Ric.

“Give me a short version.” Ric probes, but gets shut down by the bond.

All they were willing to divulge was that he lacked the stamina, which makes no sense, because after the contract is formed everyone’s attributes multiply. One requires a better body to wield such power, and during the initiation stage, their souls and bodies are semi-present in this realm and inside the Arcane sanctum, where the realm tests how much a body can be modified.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

This is why a child keeps growing in power until the realm meets the body's, or rather, the soul's ultimate threshold, and later creates a contract tailormade for the individual. Yet Henzo worked in peculiar ways, where he stayed a dunce and weak, while the contract grew stronger by the day. It was like they were separate entities.

At his current stage, the bond held a gallon worth of power, while Henzo was barely a teacup, dipping and cracking by the pure pressure whenever he tried to wield it.

"Weird indeed," Ric frowned. "Let's try this." He took Henzo's hands in his own and focused on summoning the arcane energy.

Contract-wise, he already had the Kagaz prepared: Make the fool his slave.

With Henzo's hand already in place and anticipating his quick temper, Ric only needed to channel the energy to make it official. He would seal the deal before his mind—the bond—could react.

"Come, Arcane Sanctum," Ric chanted, and Henzo echoed along, having nothing better to do.

———<>|*|<>———

Ravi stirred from his slumber, unaware of how much time had passed. Judging by the sun's position, he had been out for at least four hours—the longest stretch of sleep he had enjoyed since entering this line of work.

The Kagaz transformed itself into the latest addition to Ravi's library of contracts. As he strolled through the forest, he summoned one book after another, reflecting on the foolish contracts he made with friends, the challenging ones with his late wife, daughter, and son, the coerced ones from being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the most desperate ones that were never accepted.

Contrary to popular belief, the notion that Arcane requires contracts to be mutually beneficial is far from reality—a myth, one might say. Similar to any judge, if the Instigator or Acceptor deceives the other party during the contract process, they can leave them high and dry.

Ultimately, it boils down to the parties' intellect. That's why signing a Kagaz, whether small or substantial, requires utmost care. The other party can only deceive you under the watchful eye of Arcane. There's no time limit or external pressure, except for the false circumstances and the feeling of being boxed in experienced by the naive party.

As Ric would often quip, "When a demon presents you with two options, always pick the third."

Many aspects of Ric rubbed Ravi the wrong way. He couldn't quite pinpoint the vague, gut-wrenching sensation, but as absurd as it sounded, Ric was even more so. This uncertainty led Ravi to play it safe and offer a contract to appease Ric.

Ravi felt neither threatened nor deceived by Ric. With the presence of Arcane, such threats and trickery were not permitted to exist.

Once Ravi tapped into the Arcane and linked it with the contract, a unique power of Arcane emerged, exposing the true intentions of the parties involved. Like a lie detector hovering over them, the energy stripped away their deceptive facades, revealing only their innermost desires. No demon could deceive a commoner under the watchful eye of Arcane, regardless of their spells, acting prowess, or curses.

Whether it be an almighty god who dictates the laws of reality or a demon who defies them, both had to bow and adhere to the rules of Arcane while operating within its domain.

Ravi knew he couldn't deceive Ric, nor was he confident enough to outwit the decisive brat. Instead, he schemed to triumph by tricking them both. Ric was unaware of a particular clause within the Arcane contract, and by withholding this information, Ravi managed to deceive not only Ric but also the Arcane itself, tipping the scales in his favor.

Ric's trust in Ravi deepened further with simple yet enticing terms and a straightforward agenda pushed forward by Arcane. The signed Kagaz was all the evidence Ravi needed to assert his victory.

With a deft motion, Ravi slid the book onto the imaginary shelf. As the word of the Arcane dictated, only he could enter this library for any purpose whatsoever. Others couldn't even perceive the book in their hands unless Ravi permitted them to.

Burglary was rendered impossible as the book resided solely in the realm of imagination. Should someone attempt to steal it, all they had to do was think they possessed the contract, and it would instantly reappear in Ravi's library. Even if the person perished, the library was rumored to endure eternally in the arcane realm.

"My first victory over you," Ravi smiled triumphantly as the book slid into a mysterious pocket within his sleeves.

It was a statement he regretted the next moment, a sentiment that would haunt him for the remainder of his days.

"That shouldn't be possible," his jaw sagged lower, staring incredulously at Ric, who sat unperturbed amidst the tranquil pond of Arcane.

═─┈─{═E═}─┈─═