章 42: A book or a spear
Stephan didn't reach that conclusion for nothing. He started at a wrong foot in life several times. Making fun of everything was his way of living since he started being a gamer. It was a life choice he never regretted. He came to hate people and turned rude each time he talked to someone. Sometimes, he felt as if he went far with his words but never take them back. Someone had to take the blame and the one who died because of someone else was just unfortunate. It was because someone else caused it.
When he chased his aunt and her husband away when he turned eighteen, they brought it upon themselves. Many talked behind his back for being ungrateful but everyone was just talking, even if they knew the truth, they would never admit they were wrong. Therefore, he let things as they were and retracted from meeting people. He didn't finish his school days and didn't take his degree because he found them useless.
They were useless for someone who hated people in general, especially crowds. Furthermore, he had money until he died and he didn't wish to leave anything for the people who eyed his parents' money. There was no one who really cared for him as he was, so why should he give something he didn't receive in return?
"I understand," she offered her hand to shake. "How about we do a blood pact, stating in it what each one of us wants and the other party accepts?" she immediately tore part of her robe and wrote strange words with her blood. "A sorcerer's blood contract is absolute. If one of us breaks it then the consequence is death. This way we can have a little bit of trust."
A contract? Stephan thought it was a convenient piece of paper that made the transaction fair. However, including all the conditions in it was bothersome. He would have to go over it a thousand times to simply include everything because the words were true to only what they meant. Sometimes, it could be easy to twist them and make them true to the contract since there was nothing to prove the contrary.
He picked the contract and tore it into small pieces. The witch opened her eyes widely at the rude behavior. "We don't need a contract. Even if we make one, I don't trust anyone. I only trust the process. Therefore, don't try to gain something from me if I don't intend to give it?"
"You are a brat, do you know that? However, I can recognize a part of her thinking in you. I should have thought of this before… That you would look more like her. She is an odd woman that wouldn't accept anyone as her disciple."
"Since you aren't attacking me, it means you understand that I have something you need. We are already in agreement on something. I need you for something and you need me for something. It's already good enough. You cannot get rid of me and I am stuck with you."
"What do you want?"
"I am in need of protection and a travel companion that would make my journey quicker. It's already a bothersome thing to think of travelling by foot so I need you," he grabbed the hand that she was about to let down because he didn't reach out for it earlier. "On the other hand, you need me to find your spear and I know where it is. My condition is that you will get to it when my quest comes to an end."
"Why are you so keen about calling my book a spear? I didn't make it that way. I meant it as a book to teach magic to normal people. You know how some people complained about the inability to practice magic. That book was to give the ability to talentless people in the field of magic to bloom and become strong faster. It's a book that I made with the help of a mage in the Tower of wizards."
"And it was the wizard who stole it from you, I know that. My point here, your book now is no more than a spear. The knowledge contained in that book was turned into a spear and now it's a lively thing that obeys whoever gave it enough blood. If you want it back, you need to find the real thing."
Soprana grinned while putting her fingers on her lower lips. "Do you realize you just gave up an important piece of information?"
"Do you think I am dumb, witch Soprana?" he returned her grin by another. "I am not. You would never be able to know how the spear looked like. Furthermore, there is another ability to the spear itself. The second one is the most troublesome one; it's mostly the obstacle to what you are looking for and mostly, there is a whole group of wizards set out for your head. All of them are searching for a red-haired witch with bloody eyes."
The Wizards of Soprana were a group formed by the one who stole the book itself. Their most important goal was to find the witch Soprana and offer her as a sacrifice to appease the demon they worshipped. Following the command of their leader, they summoned the demon that gave Soprana her powers and the creature asked them to kill her if they needed more power.
Nevertheless, there was an important secret of the witch Soprana that the demon himself knew. It was a secret that would let any word he said about killing her false promise. Stephan obviously wasn't oblivious of those secrets. He intended to use them against her later.
"Everything you said was right, word for word. I am amazed by your knowledge. I guess you have an unusual curiosity about the world like her. It's troublesome. People who know a lot are troublesome ones," she jumped on her two feet. "Yosh! Let's go back to my hut. I will treat you all to a little bit of stay since you need to clean yourself."
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