ALL NOVEL The Journal (3)
“Mister, is this really fun?”
I look at Cody for a brief second, before continuing to punch the training dummy. I had been at this for weeks. Everyday was just me shoveling calories into my system without much regard for what it was, cheese, steak, vegetables, ale, beer, anything.
To be exact, it's been a month and a half since I’ve entered this world. I’ve been training hard since that day. It’s been two weeks since I collapsed inside the Spider dungeon.
“Demon child, must you waste your days pummeling a target that cannot fight?”
I hear the voice of the book clear inside my head. I look up to the second floor of the inn, at the Journal I plundered from the Labyrinth. It was resting on the windowsill, wrapped in layers of cloth and tied together by a piece of rope.
It looked too valuable and fancy to just be left out in the open. We even engage in conversation from time to time.
“Because even if the enemy could fight, I am putting myself at considerable risk. I nearly died because of you, remember?”
“That is true.”
The book couldn’t refute my words. It stayed silent and continued to watch over my training. I hadn’t forgotten what happened in that library, how helpless I felt. I was a literal inch away from finding out if there was a third life.
“But heed my words child, risks come for all of us. Danger looms the very night that watch over this world.”
His words were true, but conversing with two different people is exhausting. So I’ll send Cody away first.
“In a way, sure.” I huffed at the curious boy. “Go cook up another bundle meal, Cody. I’m getting hungry.”
“Kay-Kay!”
I was not in the rush to put myself in a dangerous situation. I was busy refining my already known skills and discovering new ones. After I made a deal with the Journal, my horizons had permanently been broadened.
But those horizons came at a heavy cost. I lost three more points of constitutions because of the stund I pulled. Menu.
[ Strength: 11 (+3) / Speed: 11 / Constitution: 13 (+2) / Intelligence: 20 (+2) / Wisdom: 20 (+4) ]
I was back where I started, and it was not a good thing. In the many possible skills I could have spent my skill points on when I had the points to purchase them, they were now more expensive now.
But, I gained something priceless in return for those sacrifices.
[ Profile: Hyun / Race: Demon / Profession: Adventurer, Scholar - (Soul-Bound Contractor), Civilian / Level: 6 ]
I became a [ Soul-Bound Contractor ], a hidden-subclass from underneath the Scholar Skill-tree.
If I were to describe the Journal, it would be something like a Wikipedia page of this world, but I’m not free to look up anything I wanted whenever I wanted.
First, there was a constraint on the information that I could learn. For example, the journal is perfectly capable of explaining the true essence of ‘Infinity’ but my mortal mind would be destroyed in the process.
So I shouldn't learn something I can’t handle. On the opposite side of that coin, the Journal cannot give me information I can’t survive from. So he can’t just feed me information against my will.
Second, I can only study the information the book inherently contains if I sacrifice an item that holds the essence of what I am looking for. Another note of this ability is that the level of information it can provide is determined by the value of the item.
In simple terms, I can’t give it a piece of coal and it would return a diamond, even if they’re made from carbon.
The principle of Equivalent Exchange.
In fact, this whole contract of ours is based on that principle. I would continuously travel the world, while searching for a proper vessel for this ‘thing.’ The day I stop trying to find that vessel, I would be sacrificed as his new vessel.
Creepy, but fair. It was a mutual agreement.
I still remember the day I made a contract with this guy. I limped all the way back to the city, taking a longer route by the river to reach the south gate. I explained the situation as best as I could to Eric and Rudolf before passing out from my injuries.
I didn’t explain to them why I had an ornate book, I just called it treasure I found from a monster-infested room, but I gave them information about my findings on the Mining operation. They gave each other looks and concluded that what info I provided was useful for their operations.
I have still to make contact with the poison of Ironhold, but they were understanding enough to move it up.
I’m thankful for their help and their consideration so I think it would be best for me to actually hold on to my end of the bargain.
I will make contact with an establishment owned by ‘Frederick Mercury,’ and disguise myself as a patron until I eventually get accepted into their organization.
Rudolf, Eric, and the Mayor of Ironhold wish to purge Mercury’s poisonous operations.
And they want me to be their spy, through whatever means necessary. They needed proof of their misdeeds, and a powerful enough legal case held by the church to bring Fredrick to the gallows.
But as thankful as I am to have been helped by them, I’m not entirely sure if my future is secure. For all I know, Rudolf will put me to death as well. He’s not exactly a warm type of man.
He’s loyal, yes, fiercely so, but he is by no means charitable.
“Demon child, I have finished our first transaction. Return to your quarters, so that we may have a lengthy conversation.”
So I need to proceed now carefully appeasing both sides while I create for myself an escape route. That escape route is called the Journal, the same one sitting on my window sill.
I planned to make good use of him, so in exchange for everything I knew about Earth and Source.
“To think you would offer everything you know about your world for everything I can tell you about this one.” The book chuckled, “For this world of mine, to be called a meager game… how amusing.”
“It isn’t just some game, it was my world.” I quiped. It felt right to say so, that's why.