Chapter 324:
Alex’s eyes snapped open.
He was back in Mirrorwane’s Town Hall. His legs ached slightly, letting him know that he’d been sitting for a little longer than he’d been expecting to. There was a twinge in his back and the sides of his temples pulsed slightly in a dull headache.
Rising to his feet with a grimace, Alex brushed himself off before reaching into the silver deck box at his side and pulling the cards free from it. They’d all been reinforced and changed from the first of the upgrades he’d taken today. But, aside from that, they looked exactly the same. There were no more contracts sitting around in wait for him.
Even Glint’s card looked unchanged. If he hadn’t had an entire conversation with Ein’Zahl just a few moments before, it would have been a safe bet to assume his 2nd ability hadn’t done anything at all.
I wonder how the contracts actually show up. Did I just open a magical mailbox to my soul or something? Actually, that’s a question I think I can answer pretty easily.
“Glint,” Alex said. “Come out.”
The air beside him split. Claws rent through reality, sending fragments of shimmering mirrored glass raining to shatter against the ground as coils of Riftwarped Energy slithered out through the air. And from within the rift stepped Glint.
He looked almost identical to his previous form. The Glasmir still looked like a mix between a gaunt zombie dancer and something a half-step away from an angel. His silvery wing-cloak of mirror fragments hung around his shoulders and the glossy mirror contoured to the top half of his features remained exactly as it had been before. His skin was gaunt beneath it, mouth full of razor-thin shards of needle-like glass.
But even still, there was something different. The change was subtle. Faint enough that anyone who hadn’t known Glint for long never would have recognized it. It was the seemingly insignificant shift in the monster’s stance, the way his head was ever so slightly askew, the small sway in his movements.
“Glint?” Alex asked, watching the monster through narrowed eyes. Everything had fallen away when he’d agreed to the contract with Ein’Zahl. He was pretty sure that meant the contract was finished and there was nothing to worry about. But pretty sure wasn’t always quite enough.
Then something shimmered behind the glossy mirror covering the upper half of Glint’s head. His gaunt lips twitched, peeling back.
“Is that the name of this vessel?” Glint whispered. His voice was — somewhat unsurprisingly — like shards of glass grating against each other. It was uniquely awful, nails on a chalkboard magnified to an entirely new level of ear-rending. “Glint?”
“Yes,” Alex said, trying to keep his voice steady. “Did the contract force you into the body already?”
“Force?” Raspy laughter rolled out from Glint’s mouth. It was odd. Hearing a voice coming from him didn’t seem right at all, especially after traveling together for so long without so much as uttering a single word. “Oh, no. I heard the call and answered. How could I not?”
Glint held his clawed hand out. He looked down at his palm and flexed his fingers before drawing in a slow breath, savoring the air for a long second before letting it free again.
“Been a long time since you’ve been out?” Alex asked.
“Longer than I care to imagine. The taste of free air… I had forgotten it. Long have I dreamed of this day.” The Glasmir let his hand lower, then looked to Alex. “Glint, was it? A good name. I will take it. We cannot use my true name here. It could cause difficulties. I have a great many questions. But… first, I must ask. Where is the rest of this body?”
“The rest?” Alex asked. “What do you mean?”
“It is weak. I am weak.” Glint flexed his fingers again, then shook his head. “Where is the rest of my power?”
“Oh, damn. Yeah. Bad news about that,” Alex said, clearing his throat. “You never actually asked about how strong the monster was when we were making the contract. This is it, I’m afraid. And please don’t talk too much shit about Glint. He’s damn strong for only having lived a few weeks.”
Glint’s head snapped to look at Alex. Even without eyes, Alex could tell that he was getting stared at.
“What? A few weeks?”
“Yup.” Alex grinned. He reached up to his face, banishing the mask to reveal his true features. There was no point trying to hide himself now. The contract had already been agreed upon, and it wasn’t like he’d be able to hide from his own monsters forever anyway.
Ein’Zahl is still going to get everything he wants out of this. Trying to hide anything at this point would just be a waste of energy. He’ll figure it out eventually either way. Better to just use him to get information.
“You called out for a contract… with a fresh monster?” Glint asked, aghast. He genuinely sounded offended. “Do you not value my powers at all? Ah! I see. You plan for me to prove myself before advancing this body to a more appropriate level.”
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“Not exactly,” Alex said. He scratched the back of his head. “This is it, I’m afraid. I mean, for now. I have every plan of upgrading Glint’s body whenever I can. But I don’t think power-leveling him is on the table.”
“Why? Why would you restrict me? I—”
“There’s no restricting. I’d say Glint is probably close to the peak of what summoned monsters are going to be right about now,” Alex said. Then he grinned. “After all, he’s not the only thing that’s just a few weeks old. The whole world is. 274-50 was only initialized around a month ago.”
Glint stared at him. For several long seconds, neither of them said a word.
“What?” The monster whispered in disbelief. “How? You received my call. How could such a powerful entity possibly have already arrived on a planet only a few weeks old? The System would never permit such a thing.”
“Ah. Yeah. There really wasn’t any arriving involved. Well, there was some, but not the kind you’re thinking of.” Alex chuckled. “Sorry for the letdown, but you really should have checked the fine print of the contract a bit closer. I’m not some great entity from another planet. I’m native to this world.”
“A Nativeworlder?” Glint said, voice little more than a whisper. “And you contracted me?”
“That does seem to be the case, yes. So I’m sure you’ll understand why Glint isn’t really a crazy powerhouse quite yet. And I’d thank you to appreciate all the effort I’ve gone through getting him this strong. I’m quite proud of it. As far as things in this world go, he’s quite a menace.”
“What rank are you?” Glint asked.
“That’s a rather invasive question,” Alex replied. “But since we’re partners now, I suppose it’s fine. I’m Adept 2.”
“Adept 2,” Glint repeated. Then a bark of sharp, scraping laughter cut free from within the monster. “Adept 2. A child contracted me.”
“Hey. That’s just uncalled for. And you did most of the contracting yourself. I just set some ground rules and agreed on a reasonable deal. There’s nothing to be angry—”
“Angry? No. I’m not angry,” Glint said, laughing even harder. There was something deeply unsettling about the Glasmir’s horrifying form doubled over in amusement. It was even scarier than his normal, dead-silent self. Then the laughter silenced as quickly as it had started. Glint’s head raised and he looked back up at Alex, his lips pulled apart into a haunting smile. “This is the best news I’ve gotten in years. A fresh world… that means there is nobody to stand in our way. We can reap everything this planet has for ourselves. I will make you a king, Ash. And then, when you grow strong enough from the rewards we claim, you will free me from my prison.”
“That sounds like a lovely proposition,” Alex said. “And while I’m more than happy to work with you, we might need to set some slight goal adjustments. The whole ‘nobody can stand in our way’ thing? That’s the villain monologue. The one they say before losing.”
Glint shook his head in amusement. “I cannot believe — no. It doesn’t matter, now. The System has granted me an opportunity. After all these years of boredom and suffering, I have earned this. You simply do not understand the extent of the universe, Ash. I have seen it. What you believe to be the ocean is nothing more than a well. There are planets more powerful than you could ever believe. People more dangerous than you have ever known. I can assure you, compared to them, that conquering some small planet will be simple. There is much I must teach you if we are to capitalize on this opportunity. Even with the System’s restrictions, if you obey my instructions, I will make you greater than you can even conceive.”
“Well—”
“First, we must find an Outworlder to tell us the Tier of this world,” Glint said. “Then—”
“I think I’m a bit ahead of you there. Might be worth getting up to speed before you go promising too much. I’ve got quite a few Outworlders in my town.”
“I… wait. Your town? You have a town?”
Two, if we count the version in the Mirrorlands.
“Yes. We’re sitting in the Town Hall.”
“How did a — shit. Don’t tell me you’ve thrown your lot in with some Outworlder,” Glint growled. “If you have, they will have to be the first to be removed. But not before we find out the tier of this planet. Most are Tier 10. If we are lucky, it may be a Tier 9. Anything higher is—”
“One,” Alex said.
Glint stopped talking. His head tilted to the side.
“Did you cough?”
“No. One. We’re on a Tier 1 world.”
There was a long pause.
“Oh,” Glint said. “Well.”
“Well,” Alex agreed. “So… about the conquering thing?”
“How much do you already know?” Glint asked.
“More than you suspect and less than I’d like to.”
“How many families are here?”
“14.”
“And the strongest of them? Do you know?”
“Starfallen.”
Glint stiffened.
“Shit,” he scrape-whispered. “Stay away from them. We will adjust course. This planet cannot be conquered. Not with me as I am now. But if we can claim sufficient opportunity—”
Alex coughed into his fist.
“What was that?” Glint asked. Even though the Glasmir’s eyes were covered by the mirrored faceplate, he could tell that the monster was glaring at him. “Why are you coughing?”
“It might be a bit late to stay away from them,” Alex said. “I met one already.”
“What?” Glint exclaimed. “You met one? As in… you saw one from afar?”
“We spoke for a bit. Then my team snagged the reward from the Ancestry we were in while he was held up fighting someone else.”
“Bullshit,” Glint said. “You met one and lived?”
“Well, he was distracted. But, as I said, you should really get up to speed with where things stand before you start popping out bullshit promises. I’m fresh, but not as fresh as you’d like. Stick to the terms of our contract and I think we’ll both enjoy this partnership quite a bit. I’ve got a lot more to offer than you’ve seen so far.”
“I have no plans of reneging on our contract. Even if I could… I lose nothing by staying and watching to see what you are capable of,” Glint replied. “I cannot even feel pain when using this body. But what do you think you could possibly—”
The door to the Town Hall swung open.
Both Alex and Glint looked over as Claire poked her head inside.
“Oh, hey. You’re awake. Great,” Claire said. She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “We need you. Wess got back from his job. He wants double pay.”
“What?” Alex asked. “Why?”
“Because he robbed Crimson from some fancy auction ticket on the way out.”
“Your people are dealing with more Outworlder families?” Glint exclaimed. “Do you have a death wish? How many Outworlders have you antagonized?”
“Holy shit!” Claire exclaimed, nearly tripping over herself as she spun toward Glint. “Glint can speak now? That’s incredible. An upgrade to make your monsters a bit smarter will go a long way.”
“I’ll be honest,” Alex said with a grin. “Neither of you have the faintest idea.”