Raj worked to improve one of the various rituals he had glowing on the walls of the room. There had to be dozens of heroic ranked versions, all of which converged onto the legendary ritual he had most recently set up. It wasn't cheap, especially the power source that was required to keep it running, but he felt it would do its job just fine. He had been enjoying life much more after the stress of Gratsden had been taken off his shoulders, but of course there was always another thing, or should he say serpent, that was there to push his buttons.
“Why must you be so ungrateful? After all I have done for you, this is how you repay me?” A feminine voice echoed through Raj's head. It was the Dune serpent that had trapped him and his people, speaking straight into his mind just as it had been for the past 3 hours. He ignored it, continuing to fine tune and test the containment ritual he had been working on. A few minutes later, the voice spoke up again. “You know, it's pretty draining keeping that repelling ritual and weather control ritual running. They aren’t cheap to feed with nothing but my regeneration.”
“It’s not like you have anything else to spend your mana on.” Raj said.
“Still, a thank you would be nice from time to time.”
“I don’t have much to thank you for.”
“But of course you do.” The voice took on a playful tone. “I have trained you in the art of ritual craft, enchanting, and have supplied the enchantments protecting your town with plenty of mana.”
“You also deceived me and trapped my village. I am also quite certain you don’t have the kindest intentions for once you are free.”
“And what makes you say that?”
“You have said as such. A monster with a wisdom score as high as yours should be able to remember that you were a much more angry snake when we first met.”
“I’m not a snake.” The voice said, getting slightly upset. “I am a serpent, and I don’t know what you are talking about. I have always been a shining example of a benevolent overlord.”
“Sure you have.” Raj said, packing his stuff up and getting ready to grab some more materials.
“Leaving all ready? We barely got to speak.”
“Don't worry, I’ll be back soon.” Raj said, then quietly added under his breath, “unfortunately.”
An hour later he came back down with more cores from lesser sand elementals that had cropped up across the desert. His chiefs had been gathering them and handing them off to him for a while, as they knew the importance of the rituals being set up. He had also been informed of some of the current events going on throughout his village and several others. He knew the serpent had also heard all the news he had been told, as there really wasn't a lot that could be hidden from it.
“So, it isn’t much longer.” The serpent said.
“No, no it isn’t.” Raj said, his shoulders sagging as he placed the bag of cores down on a nearby table. He looked at the eye on the wall that looked right back at him.
“I can’t wait to be free.” The serpent said, excitedly. “I have been down here for so, so long.”
“It’s only been what, 6 or 7 months now? You act as if it's been your whole life.”
“Maybe six or seven months to you. To me, I have been down here for nearly a year. I wasn't just born into this power you know. On the day of reckoning, as I like to call it, you humans all disappeared without a trace, or so I have heard. I wasn't actually alive back then. Those who remained were left to fend for themselves, fighting to keep up with a world that was changing around them.”
“The day of reckoning?” Raj asked, confused. Then realization struck him. She must have meant the day that the system came around. “So you mean to say that there was time between when humans left and when they returned?”
“Why of course. I don’t know why you silly humans would think time just stops just because you aren't around to care. I remember in our many conversations you had talked about a man named Schrodinger and his cat. Saying that the cat is both dead and alive until you check, but that assumes that it doesn't matter if the cat observes itself. Most of you humans are so self centered that it’s as if nothing you aren’t actively observing matters, and it makes me dislike you even more.”
“How much time exactly passed between when we left and returned?”
“Oh, about ten years or so.” The serpent said casually, as if it hadn't just dropped a bomb of information. “A small amount of time, but long enough for me to rise to power as the strongest being in this ‘safe zone’. The system forced restrictions on me after I refused to leave in order to allow you humans to inhabit the area, and so here I lay.”
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Raj needed to sit down for a moment to process that. Ten entire years where the world had just existed without human intervention. Ten years where the world just kept on turning. He almost didn't believe it, but what difference would it make if he didn't. Either way, the snake was powerful, and apparently it had quite a bit more to it than he had first thought.
“So, you actually built your strength up to a point that you crossed the level 100 evolution, and yet it took you ten years?”
“No, it only took 2. As I said before, I wasn't alive when the day of reckoning occurred, but my parents were. They told me the tales of you humans and what you did to the planet. Nasty stuff, terrible stuff. Nothing good comes from your presence, aside from some mild entertainment.”
“So in two years you gained over a hundred levels. Did you fight?”
“Of course I did. It is the only way for us monsters to grow. I discovered enchantments and how to kill with them. How to use them in combat. I could teach you, for a price.”
A notification appeared in front of Raj.
*A soul contract has been offered. Dune, serpent of Dune will teach you to use enchantments and rituals in combat if you promise not to fight against her once the safety zone has fallen. Accept? [y/n]*
Raj immediately hit no with such a mental effort that he hoped it felt like a slap to the face for the serpent. “I’m not binding myself to your will any more than I already have.”
“Oh well, it was worth a shot.”
“So how do you use them in combat? I mean I guess you could sketch a quick rune in the air, but that wouldn't be nearly as fast as just casting a fireball.”
“Sorry, but you didn't accept the deal. I’m not just going to bend to your whims. But if you ever change your mind, know that the option is available.”
*A soul contract has been-*
Raj slammed no again, this time he could see the serpent flinch slightly from the rapid rejection. “Is there anything that could convince you to not destroy my village and slaughter my people?”
*A soul-*
“Other than that.” Raj said, cutting the notification off.
“No, nothing will stop me then. The only thing that may keep me tame is if you get your friend Mike to enter a soul contract with me. I mean no offense, but you couldn't hold a candle to the worth I would get from having him on a short leash.”
“I will not be forcing him into entering a contract with you.”
“You wouldn’t be forcing him. You could just have him meet me again and we can find out what he has to say about it.”
“I may not be technically forcing him into it, but if he thinks that it would save the village, it might as well be the same thing. I know Mike pretty well, and I know he is the kind of guy who would give up his freedom if it meant saving so many people.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because, I have already once before seen him throw his life and hammer against terrible odds. I am sure he will do the same again. He’d let me scar his flesh with enchantments if he thought it could save a few lives.” Raj thought for a moment just then, realizing something he had said. “Is that how it is done?” He asked the serpent, rolling up one of his sleeves.
“No hints, that would ruin the fun.” The serpent said, and while it might have just been blinking, as Raj could only see one eye, he swore that it winked at him.
Raj’s face hardened as he attempted to use his mana to form a small rune on his arm, drawing the rune of force on his skin. It immediately fell apart before he could even attempt to stabilize it.
“You will need a more permanent medium if you wish to enchant your own body.” The serpent said, and Raj could feel its aura shifting to pull his attention towards a knife he had set on a nearby table.
“You can’t be serious.” Raj said, looking back at the serpent.
A small glowing run just below the serpent's eye began glowing, which Raj had always before thought was simply a scar. “All power comes at a cost. When compared to what others must pay, our own flesh and blood seems like quite the bargain.”
Raj stared at the knife, standing still for several minutes as his heart rate sped up. “You are sure this is what it takes?”
“Like I said, no hints, even if I may break my own rules sometimes.”
Raj reached for the knife, and brought it up to his arm. The metal felt cold against his skin as he held it there, his breath getting quicker and quicker. He had felt the bite of a blade before, when he had fought in Gratsden, but to bring one to his own skin was an entirely different level of pain. He closed his eyes, trying to slow his breathing and keep the pattern of the rune he needed in mind. With one quick motion and his breath stopping, the knife bit deep.
Several hours later, and with several bottles of health potions scattered on the ground around him, Raj sat in a pool of blood on the ground. His arms glowed and his skin ached, but it had worked. His arms hadn't healed as they normally would have if he used a health potion, but instead nasty scars had formed in the patterns he had cut across his arms.
He breathed heavily as he dropped the knife to the ground, feeling the power coursing through his arms. He tried lifting something heavy, only to find it feeling no different. Then, he tried giving one of the walls a punch, and all the runes on the arm he punched with lit up like a disco ball. Pain shot up and down his arm, but the result was undeniable. The force of his punch had been amplified at least twice over and a deep hole had been punched in the stone.
He breathed heavily, a small smile playing across his lips. That smile faded almost instantly as the serpent spoke.
“The toll has been paid for your next step towards power. You aren’t too dissimilar to how I was. Perhaps you may one day follow in my footsteps.” The serpent said, its eyes moving across the runes on Rajs arms.
Raj didn't answer the snake. He unrolled his sleeves, hiding the hideous scars that now littered his arms. He left the room, knowing one thing with absolute certainty. He would never be the same as that damn serpent.