"So, to sum it all up, the Witch is coming in 7 days, and with that, the three worlds will be connected?" After Hawkes had repeated what he said several times, Metro finally comprehended all the knowledge that was given to him.
"Yeah, can I finally get the information. If you joke around, I will kill you immediately." Hawkes made an empty threat, while Metro just laughed and said, "You wanted to kill me earlier, but it looks like you're restricted. Just make a demon contract with me first. I want some more benefits out of you."
Metro had learned about the demon contract from Hawkes earlier. A demon and human would engrave their true names onto a piece of parchment created by the demon. The human's name only held significance if it was the name that people recognised, while the demon's true name simply held significance. This way, both participants would have their souls bound by the Abyss.
"You!" Hawkes had not been angered like this before. He gripped his knuckles tightly, until it became white. He had not even realised that he had yet to form a demon contract to ensure that Metro would keep his words. Why would I make a mishap like that?
Metro thought that Novice Charm was broken. Just by dominating the conversation, he could successfully trick the anxious Hawkes into following his lead.
"Calm down, calm down. You are smarter than this, Hawkes. You just have to bear with the mortal for a few moments." Hawkes talked to himself inside his heart, and turned to Metro while gritting his teeth. "Fine! I will open your Abyss eye if you tell me everything! I want to know everything you know!"
"That's more like it." A parchment appeared in front of Metro. Using the sharp skull of Brian, he cut his hand, letting the blood drip onto it. The blood wriggled, before forming his name as the contractee.
The parchment dissolved right away, as Hawkes' name was already written on it. A notification for Metro and Hawkes appeared at the same time.
[You have signed a contract with another Artifact Wielder under the power of the Collective Abyss.]
"Why did this show up again? I signed demon contracts a few times, but this didn't show up." Hawkes asked Metro, since Metro had to spill all the beans about the system.
"It's because both of us are Artifact Wielders. We are people that are blessed to move through dimensions and collect various items. You can learn skills through the experiences you have through the dimensions. You also have an item that is bound to you."
"Does it make me move through dimensions like how I move to this world with the power of the Abyss? As for the item you mentioned, I haven't found it yet." Restraining his innate impatience, Hawkes slowly fulfilled his thirst of knowledge with Metro's answers.
"Haha, no. The dimensions we move into are much more complicated. For example, this world is one of the dimensions that I have been moved to."
Hawkes widened his eyes unnaturally. "These dimensions actually contain the whole universe? But... but... that would mean that the dimensions we go to are also real?"
"Of course. That is 50% of the information, help me to open my Abyss eye now." Hawked knew that this would have happened sooner or later, but he was still reluctant to do so. He sighed, and a red bead of light formed on the palm of his hand.
"Boom!" Hawkes then forcefully pushed it into Metro's forehead. Metro's flesh separated apart for the bead, which created a hole for it to reside in. The bead then spun around rapidly, before slowing down. When it stopped, a dark red pupil could be seen.
[Basic Abyssal Eye: You can now slightly pry into the secrets of the Abyss. You can detect traces of carnal energy and feed it to this skill to further upgrade its capabilities.]
"So, this is the Abyssal Eye." Metro felt a new extension being built to his brain. Using this new extension, he could see strands of thin carnal energy surrounding Hawkes.
"Now that that's done, can we continue?" Hawkes knew that the second half would comprise of the pop-ups he had, so he was particularly more anxious. He needed to know the reason why his power was drained so quickly. Metro closed the extension, and the eye was also covered.
"So, everything relates back to the item. You have to do certain actions to fulfil your item. Once you manage to complete this action, a status screen will appear, showing all your skills." Of course, all of this was Metro's assumptions, but it was based on his experience, so the Abyss allowed this loophole.
"So, how do I know these actions and the item I have? Seems kind of weird to me." Hawkes felt that there was something fishy about Metro's statements.
"Oh! You're supposed to have a voice guiding you. Maybe you suppressed it or something. Try actively looking for the voice in your mind." With Metro's final words, the contract completely dissolved. All his knowledge had been given to Hawkes.
Hawkes did not notice this, as he was trying to actively find the voice. Surprisingly, it surfaced in his mind after a few seconds, as though it was supposed to be there from the first place.
A smooth and crisp voice connected with Hawkes. "Finally, I didn't expect the Abyss to be able to curb my influence for so long. Now, let's have you read the list here, shall we?"
Hawkes was totally immersed inside his own mindscape, oblivious to anything that Metro was doing. Since Metro was free from his constrains now, he opened his Abyssal Eye again.
The dark strands of carnage energy appeared again. There was always a steady supply of carnal energy, as human society contained humans that had sold their bodies to the Abyss. However, it was minuscule, compared to the skull that Metro was holding.
[Additional Option: Sacrifice Brian's Skull to upgrade Abyssal Eye to Novice stage. Ritual: Concentrate on the skull and draw in its carnal energy.]
"Makes sense, demons are part of the Abyss after all." As Metro was nodding his head, a fleshy head burst out of Hawkes' vessel. A hideous scream came from Hawkes, as the head started devouring his body.
Metro stared and looked as the head started to elongate, as he continued to eat the vessel. Eventually, all that was left was the head, but it still continued eating itself, until it disappeared entirely.
"Well, I didn't think that moving to scenarios was this interesting." Metro uncrossed his legs, and started walking down the stairs.