=Hmmm, so that’s what happened? Interesting...better make a note of this...and probably send our lord an update to our inventory...=
|[Core of Wounded Vainglory] has mutated into [Core of Dark Ambition] please use at your earliest convenience.|
=That should do it...hmmm. Strange that an extracted desire core should mutate ...then again, it has been a long time since a kaijin lord has brought in a desire core source to the library...well, a desire core source they weren’t sleeping with...=
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"I’m...not sure how to put this...," Rianna trailed off, "but I am...weirdly disappointed..."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
As Rianna and Jin Fang watched Zhen Liu do his "devil dealer" schtick, a pervading sense of boredom began to develop in the case of the latter.
This reaction was not due to Zhen Liu’s performance, despite it being rather hammy at this point. But it was due to who Zhen Liu was performing this schtick to, Zhen Li.
"You mentioned how the last time Zhen Liu had to do all...that, he ended up displaying a surprisingly sadistic side that you said made your toes curl."
"That’s...a bit of an exaggeration...," Jin Fang weakly defended.
In reality, it was one of the few times she had seen Zhen Liu being forceful and she found that surprise side of him, oddly attractive.
"Either way," Rianna continued, "Zhen Liu is displaying a side of him I’ve never seen before, but it seems to be not having an affect on Zhen Li as much as anticipated. Didn’t you say that you saw Zhen Liu reduce a man to rage tears with just a few words?"
"I said that happened last time," Jin Fang corrected, "also, those guys were a lot more resistant than this Zhen Li guy, which is surprising. I always figured direct disciple types were made of sterner stuff..."
The two of them had honestly expected a touch more screaming, maybe a little bit of crying, but all they got instead was a decisive young man of the Zhen Clan, who decidedly to "technically" betray them.
In essence, it was like watching a two person play, but only one person was putting in any effort.
"Oh I just realized something, what are we doing for dinner tonight if most of the caravan is frozen solid. Do we need to go hunting?," Rianna asked.
"I don’t think so...last I checked, the ice should be thawed by the time we get back. Besides, we also have all those frozen Ravager Otters."
"Oh yeah...you know, I have never eaten otter meat before."
"Me neither, but I do remember some older folks mentioning that the best way to eat it was hotpot."
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Zhen Li looked positively flabbergasted as he saw the scroll appear in the Overlord’s hands.
Not because the man essentially pulled it out of thin air, he had seen multiple powerful experts perform this feat before using a variety of methods, but because this particular Overlord was presenting him a contract in the first place.
It was surprisingly formal from a guy who Zhen Li had decidedly label as "eccentric", "insane" and "bloodthirsty".
That being said, there might’ve been a possibility that he would have to sign this contract with his own blood, so he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
The Overlord, not caring or knowing whatever Zhen Li was thinking, proceeded to unfurl the sinister looking scroll and present to the young man an incredible thorough contract.
At least, what Zhen Li thought was thorough.
He had no idea what the words "non-disclosure" meant at the top of the scroll of parchment, but that didn’t really matter.
"Alright, my young spy, before you is a formal contract that details everything we have agreed upon for our...exchange," the Overlord stated as he presented the contract to Zhen Li.
"Namely, in exchange for keeping tabs on your elders and informing either my disciple or agents about any plots, you will get a significant power boost in the form of one of my demons possessing you, changing your foundation and allowing you to use aether affinities you normally wouldn’t be able to," the Overlord explained, not mentioning that there could be side effects if Zhen Li broke through while possessed by a "demon".
"Right...," Zhen Li agreed as he read through the contract, "but what’s all this other stuff? Isn’t it enough of a guarantee that you can just snuff my ass out if I betray you?"
Zhen Li wasn’t wrong on this observation. Outside of merchant deals, promises and deals made between Aether Warriors tended to be a bit more...informal and honor bound.
A piece of paper stating that a particular agreement was made between two parties kind of means jackshit when either side could just annihilate the other with a flick of the finger.
In response to this understanding though, the Overlord let out a single, "ha", before going into a short explaination as to why this contract was made...sort of.
"The agreements betwen man may be rife with betrayal and loopholes, but when it comes to demons like my friends, they require formal agreements set in stone. Sometimes literally."
The Overlord paused for a moment, increasing the tension and weight of what he said next.
"Demonic beings already have enough power to do what they want, the contracts they make just adds a nice bit of...challenge to them."
The more Zhen Li learned about these demonic beings, the less sure he understood of the world at large.
Regardless, the young man proceedrd to look at the contract before him and realized something important.
"So...am I suppose to write my name on this, or..."
As soon as Zhen Li asked that question, the Overlord snapped his fingers, and a strange looking tube made of a clear material he didn’t recognize appeared in the latter’s hand.
At the end of the tube was a strange, brightly colored button.
"This is called a pen."
The Overlord had pressed the button on the so-called pen, causing it to present a tiny metal tip.
The Overlord proceeded to hand the pen over to Zhen Li so that he could sign the agreement.
"Just sign here, here and here we’ll be on our way."
Experimentally, Zhen Li drew a line with the so-called pen, finding it flowing much smoother than the quill and brushes he was used to.
"Fucking demonic magic...," he mumbled.
The Overlord heard this comment and wanted to retort with, "nah, it’s science", but held his tongue.
He still needed to look intimidating...for at least ten more seconds.
"Alright...done," Zhen Li said as he finished signing the contract.
With their agreement now formalized, the Ovelrord took the contract and proceeded to send it elsewhere in a burst of black flames once more.
Was it unnecessary? Probably.
Did it look cool? Yes.
"So do I get like an aether formation tattooed on me or be given a tool?," Zhen Li asked as he relaxed for the first time while being stuck to this chair.
"Also, how do I get back?"
"Oh I’ll handle that, you just need to go back to sleep again."
But before Zhen Li could ask any further questions, a powerful burst of strange energy suddenly exploded in his face and knocked his ass out.
The only person conscious in the room now was the Overlord.
"Man...I do not look forward to dragging your ass out of here."
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With Zhen Li once again rendered unconcious, Zhen Liu proceeded to take off his Overlord Costume and proceed to stretch out his tired muscles.
Evidently, playing the role of an eccentric powerhouse was significantly more cardio than he anticipated.
"Eh, whatever. At least I finally got a spy on the inside...but who the heck among my kaijin would even be willing to possess your ass?"
Zhen Liu understood that the power of his kaijin could best be described as "rule breaking bullshit", but that didn’t mean he wanted to flaunt it.
He knew damn well that he was a small fish in a big ass ocean of violence, and that being a mere Aether Grandmaster with his sort of abilities was just asking for someone much more dangerous than himself to come and kidnap and/or murder his ass, hence why he limited his possession stuff to his family and/or people who definitely don’t have connections to anything greater.
"But here I am now, standing before the inner disciple of a major ass clan on another fucking continent...at this point I should take this as a sign to get stronger, get more kaijin or join a sect..."
"...or fucking get dinner because I just realized we skipped lunch fighting off a swarm of angry murder otters."
Once Zhen Liu was done musing, he summoned a pair of zakos to come and drag Zhen Li out of the library and back to the caravan.
Hopefully they would’ve been thawed out by now.
’Hmmm. Wonder if otter meat is edible?,’ Zhen Liu mused as he made his way to the exit gate.
’I don’t think you’re supposed to roast it?’