"What?!!" Aurelius Goldmedal exclaimed, looking at his son, who looked like the cat that ate canary.
Tom regretted he doesn't have a camera or guts to borrow one. His father's expression is one for the albums. It is equal parts surprise, anger, eye-roll and realization. Tom is sure he could use that to cheer himself up from any sort of misfortune, including the last sundae being sold out.
"It is impossible to find another pristine such as me. Thus, it stands to reason that a person with enough magic should make a contract with the golden dragon." Titan explained. Pristine is more than a person without magic. The person with no magic still has a magical network. Thus, they get affected by magic. A pristine is a person without a magical network on top of having no magic, thus, allowing them to be resistant to all magic attacks. Yep, that means a fireball that's purely magic can't hurt Tom.
His father on the other hand is the greatest sorcerer of the land. His magic power index has not been surpassed till now, and Tom is sure it will be quite long if it ever will be broken. Even with his middle school education, Titan knew these differences in contractors' magical nature meant changing every detail involved in the contracting process, from the bottom most to top most.
Whatever Mr. Fenton may be planning, it will never come to fruition now.
If there's a foul play somewhere, his father will definitely find it and handle it.
This is the best Titan could do for the situation.
From now on, the ball will be in his fathers court, literally.
Thus decided, Tom left the planning process to his father, and left to the venue with the offered public transportation.
The moment he got down the bus, a team of bodyguards found him.
He was led to the VIP box, where Gold medal corporation's directors are supposed to be.
Half way through to the VIP box, he rejected the offer.
"Master Goldmedal! Our orders are to direct you to the VIP box." the security guards insisted.
"All the same, I am a student of AAA, not an employee of Goldmedal corporation. I will sit with my fellow students." Tom insisted.
"Master Titan! I insist you follow the directions set by your father. Are you sure you want to go against your father?" the man insisted.
The moment he did, both of his personal bodyguards subtly shifted position.
The other side noticed it as well.
His father never gives out commands to any bodyguards other than his own. Obviously, this idiot is a plant.
"Mr.left… I don't like this guy's voice." Tom said all of a sudden.
"Yes, Sir." left answered, before his hand moved with lightning speed.
The man who just insisted Tom sit with directors spat out blood, mixed with four of his teeth.
"Some one, drag this trash out and teach him manners." Tom commanded the guards.
None of the guards moved. Obviously, the guy who got beaten is a grunt. The leader must be elsewhere, and commanding them a bit remotely for them to freeze like this.
Tom fiddled with the ring on his hand.
He tapped out a simple question in morse code.
"How many? "
Mr. Right, his other personal bodyguard answered the question.
"All, Sir!"
As soon as he said those words, a body guard standing at the very rear smashed a smoke bomb.
The moment the bomb exploded, Tom crouched down and rolled towards the guy who spat out teeth. He could hear a metallic tinkle where he just stood.
The next second, he felt something coming for him from behind him. He lifted up the bodyguard who just fell down, blocking whatever that is coming for him.
Given there's no wet feeling of blood leaking through, it's probably not a conventional weapon.
Tom immediately pulled out the magical grenade he always had on him, and detonated it.
It is the simplest way of resolving this situation.
Are you asking if it will not kill Mr.Right and Mr.Left?
Probably..
However, isn't that why they get a hefty salary with a brilliant medical plan?
Risking their lives for him is why they are employed.
Tom is not nasty enough to call it their honor. At the same time, he is not so softhearted he will risk his own wellbeing for people who are paid to look after it.
Thus, he just got up from the bodies spread all over, and walked away from the place, leaving all the bodyguards lying there.
He simply walked straight to the stadium, took a seat at the very front of the arena, so that he has a clear view of the contracting process.
Soon, the event began.
"Hello, everyone. Are you ready for the greatest show you have ever seen?" His father asked from the stage.
YES!!…YES!!.. YES!!...YES!!
The crowd began to cheer.
"Then without further ado, let's begin." his father said, moving to the prepared table.
"This is the beast tablet of the golden dragon! For those of you who do not know, Golden dragon is the strongest spirit beast in the spirit realm. A Golden dragon's magical output for a single attack could very well be higher than magical output of forty high rank mages put together. An attack lower than a-rank magic attack will not even scratch it's hide." his father hyped up the crowd.
In the giant screens set up around the arena, miscellaneous facts about the golden dragons.
Tom attentively checked the perimeter.
Chances are whoever has chosen to bribe those bodyguards will now have to go with a direct attack plan.
Tom did not know where the attack would come from.
Before his father could drop his blood onto the tablet, a sniper shot hit him, right in the middle of his forehead.
"Fuck" Tom swore.
If they have a sniper, the sniper could target him just as well as his father. Thankfully, they ignored him for now. Tom is not worried about his father, for he always wore his golden armor. He can not be killed with a mere sniper shot.
The chances are they are trying to steal away the golden dragon's tablet.
His father clutched the dragon's tablet, at the same time, started running from the stage.
The bodyguards wanted to shove his father towards the inside the small back room of the stage.
Instead, his father jumped out from the protective circle of the body guards, ran straight to the middle of the arena.
The drone cameras followed.
As did Mr. Fenton.
"Aurelius Goldmedal, Leave the beast tablet, and back away if you want your son to stay alive." Mr. Fenton threatened his father.
"Traitor. " his father spat out.
"I have worked just as much as you did for the company. It is I who found the team for retrieving the golden dragon, it is I who should be the owner of the golden dragon. Yet, you wanted to give it away to your useless son, without any magic. I hope you will recognize the hard work I did for the company, and offer me the golden dragon. Yet, you want to take it away for yourself? Your selfishness knows no bounds. Return the tablet to me, or your son dies." Mr.Fenton threatened his father.
'Hey..! that's not our deal..' some one seems to be shouting from besides him, but the man paid no attention.
"I will count to three! Three!" the man counted.
Just as he counted to three, a great magic hit his father's right arm...
However, the beast tablet did not fall from his hand.
Instead, it is Fenton who lunged forward and tried to pull away the beast tablet from his father's hands.
Only, his father bound the beast tablet to his own hand with a thorn vine. The vine is a binding magic that never loses power as long as the owner did not cancel the magic.
At the same time, as long as the contractor completely does not concentrate on contract magic, the contract will not initiate. More powerful the beast, more time for the contract magic to set.
Fenton smiled brutally at his father.
He slashed his own hand, then made to grab the beast tablet with the wounded hand.
His father had no choice but to cancel the binding magic, but he was late for a beat.
Both Fenton and Aurelius's blood imbued with magic touched the tablet at the same time..
Their eyes widened in horror…
This means they both have the contract leash, but whoever was able to keep hold on the golden dragon gets the beast in the end.
Even the sorcerer with the highest amount of magic can barely keep up with the golden dragon's full strength. If the said sorcerer had to split his fighting consciousness between two beings, then it will not be sufficient to hold the golden dragon at all.
The golden dragon rushed out of the beast tablet, but it already has a spirit shackle around its neck.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…!!!!
The dragon roar is so loud and terrifying, almost all the children in the arena have fainted..
Obviously, Tom is not among them.
Golden dragon is a pure magical creature, thus, it's roar has no effect on Tom except for being loud. He knew from the books dragon roar disrupts magical systems of all creatures, thus, almost everyone in the arena is affected. Save for his father, and the man threatening him.
Fenton is too ambitious. He does not have a bottom limit, the man never felt right to Tom. The golden dragon falling to the hands of such a man must be avoided at all costs. His father may not be cleanest of the men, but he had a code of honor. Worse yet, If anything happens to his father, Tom can say goodbye to his dream of eating without working.
By now, you should know. Tom is not a hero.
But that does not mean he will keep watching as someone tries to kill his father.
Tom jumped into the arena.
The people are still stunned by the dragon's roar.
Wherever that sniper is, he would have been keeping a visual of himself. Chances of the sniper being pristine are exponentially low, so Tom must change his position now, when he is disabled. Higher the rank of the mage, faster one recovers from status effects such as 'Fear'. So, it's now or never.
He rolled into his jump… burrs prickled his skin …
His father kept the hold on the magical leash extending from the beast tablet, despite the golden dragon trying to shake him off like a bull at rodeo.
Fortunately, due to this, Fenton and the mages accompanying him are unable to attack his father. All the same, it does not mean his father will be immune forever. Finally, just as the golden dragon leaped into the air, Fenton lost his hold on the contract chain.
Immediately, all the mages started attacking the golden dragon and his father together.
There..
Tom ran straight into the path of the magical attack that's going for his father.
The vicious fireball dissipated when it hit him, but the paralyze spell hit his father.
Only, his father seems to have embedded the beast tablet right into his hand. The magical shackle to the golden dragon extended right through a bloody hole in his father's hands. Thus, even if the paralyze spell hit his father, he did not let go of the beast tablet or the shackle.
Only, when the dragon swung this time, his father hit the ground directly. His armor has come out in full force, but it has become worn out. It will not be able to stop an attack from the mages, much less a golden dragon.
The dragon which has been going mad seemed to have calmed down, and sensed some kind of change. Tom could only guess the paralyze magic somehow freezes the magic flow as well, thus, probably it sensed the slack of the spirit chain that bound it.
It landed in the arena, looked around.
Then, it noticed his father lying on the ground.
If a dragon could grin madly, that expression is the one.
It raised one of it's paws…
A deadly dark gold claw, different from the rest of its body glinted at the tip.
The dragon went straight for his father's heart.
Tom's heart jumped at the sight.
He slid over rather than ran to his father, and stood straight in the path of that claw, raised his hands automatically guarding his heart. Not that it will do much good.
The claw pierced his hands, then the slug he held in the hands, and through it… his heart.
Figures!!!
'Golden dragon will be the one magical being that could harm my indestructible slug… or a pristine ' Tom complained in his mind.
'Damn! I never wanted to be a hero' was his last thought as he lost consciousness.