Chapter 2: Blood Pact

"Dang it! I thought there would be an enchanted gear in there after all that trouble." EL said, brushing his blonde hair with his right hand.

"All because of this stupid Porter who jinxed it," Lance said, kicking Arnold in the back, who couldn't balance himself and fell.

"Don't get mad... don't get mad..." Arnold murmured and quietly got up and started caressing his back.

Unfortunately, the dungeon didn't have any enchanted items to offer. The guild members felt like they had been cheated on a lottery and were super pissed, so naturally, Arnold was subjected to all the anger and frustration they had.

He didn't talk back either because talking back would make them even more frustrated, and if they told the guild manager that the porter had 'misbehaved' inside the dungeon, his pay would be decreased permanently. Not to mention, he might not get any jobs either.

All he could do was hope that the guild members wouldn't blame their mistakes on him. Not that the payment he received was a good amount either. He just got the basic pay of 100 modern dollars per dungeon trip, and he could only take about three trips per day.

But it didn't mean he would get 300 modern dollars per day, as the governmental guilds always deducted some amount of wage for totally absurd reasons, such as not having proper work etiquette, not wearing guild-approved gear, being poor, not taking proper care of guild's equipment and whatnot.

The party came out of the dungeon one by one and were immediately greeted by a swarm of reporters and guild supporters.

"EL! EL! Just one quick question, please!" Nancy Williams, A 25-year-old semi-professional reporter who had been working for CNN for 2 years now, rushed towards him.

She was known for being entertaining and friendly but could also be very sneaky and a bit greedy. She was the type of reporter who would go to any lengths to gain promotions and viewership. Physically, Nancy was in pretty good shape. She had an average height of 5'3" with fair skin, blonde hair and green eyes. All in all, she was a maiden in the eyes of people like EL and Lance.

"Why one? I'll answer a thousand as long as it's you who is asking them."

"How cute. Coming back to the topic, our sources informed us that you might have gotten your hands on some enchanted gear. Is it true?" Nancy asked, shoving the microphone back at EL.

"Your network is fast, but unfortunately, your information is wrong. No enchanted gear was found in the dungeon." EL shook his head.

Arnold was walking past them, wanting to go to the guild manager and get checked as soon as possible so that he could head out to meet his sister and give her the jar filled with luminous moss, but he was suddenly pulled back and was now standing next to EL, facing the camera.

"This gentleman is the reason I work so hard," EL barked, "you see, I always had a little urge to help the poor and defenceless and Become their shield and sword. I want to make this world a better place, not for us! No! But for people like him. You worked really hard today. Here, have this."

EL handed Arnold around twenty modern dollars. This was also a daily occurrence; one could call it as a publicity stunt. After all, both the guild and EL had an image to maintain. Even though most of the world knew about the mistreatment of guild workers like porters, this drama about helping the poor was enough for the people to turn a blind eye to them. After handing the money to Arnold, EL pushed him aside and carried on with his interview. But then someone shouted at Arnold.

"What an ungrateful piece of crap! EL gave him some money, and he didn't even thank him." One guy from the crowd shouted.

"I know, right? No wonder people like him don't get help more often. They just don't deserve it." Another one joined in.

"Don't be too hard on him. The man's about to break down!" Yet another one shouted.

Arnold stared hard at the money. Even though it was a lot of money for him, he felt no attachment towards it whatsoever and threw the money at the ones shouting.

"You think you know what it feels like, right? HERE TAKE IT ALL, YOU CHEAP PIECE OF CRAP!" Arnold snapped back.

Everyone was stunned! No one expected him to do something like this. Even the camera was now focused on him. No one said a word while Arnold continued towards the place the guild manager was waiting.

****

"Seven glow torches are missing, but according to records, you only used six in front of the others. 15 dollars would be deducted. Furthermore, you caused quite a ruckus in front of the camera. The higher-ups had been lenient with you till now but not anymore.

"Your daily wage has been decreased to 80 modern dollars per trip, and you have been suspended from the guild for a week. No monetary compensation would be provided to you for this duration." Martis, The guild manager, smirked. "So the pay you'll receive for today is... 65 modern dollars minus 10 dollars convenience fees, that makes it 55 modern dollars. Take the money, and don't show us your stinking face for a week."

Just one moment of heat caused him so much trouble, but Arnold couldn't do anything to make it up to the guild at this point. He bit his lips, quietly took the money and headed towards the hospital. At least no one discovered the tomes and ability books that he hid in his backpack.

Before he reached the hospital, he went into the alleyway and changed his tattered uniform into a clean black formal shirt coupled with blue denim and cheap sports shoes. He did it because, in the eyes of his sister, he was one of the core members of Flying Swords, the guild he worked for.

His sister was already in so much pain he couldn't bear the thought of inflicting more pain on her by making her sad. After changing his appearance, he deposited his backpack at the hospital counter and then went to meet Nicole.

"Hi, Nicole. Miss me?" Arnold smiled.

"Brother!" Nicole radiantly smiled back.

Arnold pulled a chair and sat next to his sister's bed, and sat down. He then narrated the entire story of what happened inside the dungeon from a warrior's perspective. Nicole kept smiling throughout the narration, gasping and smiling at all right places. Soon after the story ended, she fell asleep. The disease made it very difficult for her to stay awake for a long duration.

The Andrea syndrome syphoned the life force of the diseased, slowly killing them... so far, there wasn't any cure for it. Although they were some drugs that could slow the process, these drugs were expensive, and Arnold could only afford a minuscule amount of these. Even if the treatment was free, the drugs weren't.

He placed the jar of luminous moss on the side table, kissed his sister's forehead and walked out of the hospital room. He gathered his backpack and went on his way towards his shack of a home.

****

Once Arnold was inside his room, he immediately drew the curtains and took out all the books and tomes that were hidden safely inside his backpack. He rubbed his hands and proceeded to check the content of the books first as those were more valuable.

"All of these are related to elemental magic, and three of them are extremely rare!" He thought, looking at the books having the abilities of ice, light, and shadow inside them. But he couldn't learn either of them because of two reasons. First, his level wasn't high enough, and second, he didn't have an affinity for any of the books.

The ability books could only provide the reader with said ability if they had the ability or the level that was needed to master them. Even though Arnold didn't know the level limit the books had, he guessed one would have to be at least a level C being, to be able to learn the basic books and to learn the three books which had the rare abilities in them, one would have to be of level A. Since he was stuck being a level E porter, there was no hope for him to be able to learn these.

"I was gonna sell them either way." He thought, putting the books aside.

He then pulled the stack of tomes towards him. This was the part he was excited about. While the ability books granted someone the abilities, the tomes, however, could grant the user the affinity required to use those abilities. Arnold prayed to god and opened up the first scroll. And it turned out to be empty.

"What the hell!"

He hurriedly opened the rest of the scrolls, but they were all empty.

"Damn it! I should've known my luck. Ouch! Paper cut? Really?"

As he was rolling the scrolls back, he accidentally cut his thumb on the edge of the scroll, few drops of blood fell on the scroll, and it started shining brightly. Arnold hastily covered his eyes with his forearm. After what felt like an eternity, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

"WAIT! I'm floating in the air!"

As soon as he uttered those words, he felt a force around him which slowly guided him back to his bed.

___

System Initialising...

A sentient being found...

Race: Human

Affinity : <None>

Strength: Weak

Power level: Weak

Specialties : <None>

Rank: E

WELCOME MASTER

___

"Blood pact? What does it mean? What are you?" He kept questioning, but no, this 'system' didn't answer any of his questions.

___

Configuring the system to suit the user.

Learning boosted.

You can now learn new affinities...

___

"What the hell is this... What's this all!" he was flabbergasted. "Learning boosted... wait, does it mean..."

He looked at the opened scrolls scattered around the room, and they weren't empty anymore. He picked up the scroll nearest to him, and a message appeared in front of his eyes.

___

YOU'VE PICKED UP < Water > AFFINITY SCROLL. DO YOU WANT TO LEARN < Water > AFFINITY?

•YES or •NO

___

"Wait! So does it mean it's all for real? I can learn new affinities!" A malicious smile appeared on his face as he said, "YES!"

___

REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED.

LEARNING...

YOU'VE SUCCESSFULLY ACQUIRED < Water > AFFINITY.

You've unlocked new ability(s):

• [ POSEIDON'S BLESSING ] : (Passive ability) Your HP will be increased by 100 points when you level up.

[ Rank: B ]

• [ ESSENCE OF LIFE ] : (Active ability) After being used, you'll instantly gain half of your HP back. Further, it'll increase by 10 points/minute for the next five minutes.

[ Rank: B ]

[Mana cost: 80]

___

After the message ended, the scroll slowly disintegrated in Arnold's hand. Tomes which contained hidden abilities could only be used once, and after that, they'll disappear without leaving any trace.

So using these scrolls essentially meant that he was burning his money away, but as long as he had the affinities and skills, he could always get the money back. With this thought, he grabbed another scroll, and a familiar message appeared in front of him.

___

YOU'VE PICKED UP < Wind > AFFINITY SCROLL. DO YOU WANT TO LEARN < Wind > AFFINITY?

•YES or •NO

___

"Yes." Arnold thought.

___

REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED.

LEARNING...

YOU'VE SUCCESSFULLY ACQUIRED < Wind > AFFINITY.

You've unlocked new ability(s):

• [ STATIC RAGE ] : (Passive ability) After successfully inflicting damage for 5 times in a row, the sixth attack would deal +35% of physical attack as additional true damage.

[ Rank: B ]

• [ RAPID FLASH ] : (Active ability) After being used, you'll instantly gain 10% of agility (AGI), hence increasing your movement as well as reaction speed to superhuman levels. The skill lasts for two minutes and slowly decays over the next five minutes.

[ Rank: C ]

[Mana cost: 30]

___

"Two new affinities and four new skills! The day is finally getting better!" Arnold couldn't hold his excitement anymore, but then another notification popped up.

___

TWO < Basic > ELEMENTAL AFFINITIES FOUND.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MERGE THE AFFINITIES TO LEARN AN < Advance > ELEMENTAL AFFINITY? YOU WOULDN'T LOSE ANY ABILITY YOU'VE LEARNT SO FAR, AND YOU'D BE ABLE TO LEARN THEIR RESPECTIVE ABILITIES IN FUTURE AS WELL.

PROCEED WITH ADVANCEMENT?

•Yes or •No

___

"An advanced level affinity! HELL YEAH, I WOULD!"

___

REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED.

COMBINING... SUCCESSFUL.

LEARNING...

YOU'VE SUCCESSFULLY ACQUIRED < Ice > AFFINITY.

You've unlocked new ability(s):

• [ ELEMENTAL CONTROL: ICE ] : (Active ability) You can conjure a field of ice and can control it as you wish. It can be used to slow down your enemies, to make weapons, and you can do anything you want.

[ Rank: A ]

[Mana cost: 60/per use]

• [ ICY VEIL ] : (Active ability) After being used, your surrounding is immediately covered in mist and fog, lowering the accuracy (ACC) of your opponents while increasing your evade (EVD) by 10 points. The skill lasts for ten minutes.

[ Rank: C ]

[Mana cost: 35]

___

But Arnold wasn't paying any attention to notifications that were popping up. As soon as he saw he had gained the Ice affinity, he immediately reached out for the ability book, which contained ice abilities.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
AkshatArpit

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