"Alright. Let us begin". Raja said, signifying the commencement of the negotiations.
"I will start by explaining to you our situation". Raja said again.
"Most of you humans might not be aware, but the price which we mana beasts have to pay for learning magic is our sanity". Raja added.
"Your sanity?" Levi muttered, wide eyed at the shocking revelation.
"Yes. When we mana beasts reach the pinnacle of our magical prowess, we slowly start to lose our minds. From animals to mana beast to monsters, such is the life of us mana beasts. Although compared to the mutants who appear in the dungeons, we are much better of as they are just mindless creatures from the start. The phenomenon is called 'beastialization' and each mana beast has a different pinnacle which is decided from birth and common to all species of that magical beast.
My pinnacle is what you humans call the B- rank, but I am currently at the C- rank. I am the strongest of all my brethren and I also serve as the protector of this forest". Raja explained.
There was a brief silence before Levi decided to speak. He was sorting out all of the information that had been off loaded onto him all at once and had finished so he opened his mouth.
"So...what does that have to do with me". Levi asked. Truth be told, he could already guess what it was that the mana beast wanted, but it never hurt to confirm right?
"I am very sure that you remember the beast that you encountered earlier?" Raja asked.
"How could I not?" Levi responded with his own question. Truly, that was one of the most horrific things that had ever happened to him at the time.
"Good. That creature is a [Demon bear]. His peak is also the B- rank and that's where he is now. He is a powerful, B- rank mana beast that poses a threat to my pack and my territory. As the strongest, I need to put an end to him for the sake of all the creatures that live here,but alas I am unable to serve as his opponent." Raja said.
"That still doesn't answer my question though". Levi said while maintaining his poker face. It was quite obvious to him that Raja was trying to appeal to his kindness, but Levi wasn't going to lose sight of his goal.
"I was getting to that. Anyways, I am in dire need of individuals who could aid me on my endeavours. I bore witness to your showdown against the beast, you can use a special kind of mana and my instincts tells me that it will be of an invaluable assistance". Raja said.
"Hmm. What's in it for me though?" Levi asked with a raised brow. He already knew the answer to this, but he still decided to ask.
Raja looked like he had been expecting the question as he poked his neck at the pond.
"If we succeed, then I will allow you to take a bottle full of elixir water". Raja said.
"Make that two bottle fulls and we got ourselves a deal". Levi said. They argued some more until Raja reluctantly agreed to one a half bottle fulls of elixir water.
'yes! I did it'. Internally, Levi rejoiced but his poker face was still in full gear on the outside.
"Yes, so is there anyway by which we can confirm the deal, like a contract or something?" Levi asked. At this point, it was like he was talking to a fellow human being, Raja was no longer a mere beast in his eyes.
"I was actually about to bring that up right now. Yes there is". Raja confirmed.
'sweet!' Levi thought.
"Is that so..."
Raja began to walk closer to Levi. His pristine white fur practically glowed with the mana stone lighting, and his dark streaks served to make the light brighter. His beautiful green eyes also complimented his overall look. There was the confidence of a leader in his every step, and Levi was quite jealous at this fact.
'show off.' he thought.
He walked up to where Levi was currently stood and took in the state of his body for the first time since their meeting.
It turned out that Levi was severely injured. There were no large wounds, but the accumulated small wounds was sufficient.
After eyeing him once more, Raja became genuinely impressed at Levi's tenacity. A normal person would have already passed out from fatigue by now, but Levi was still standing, and somehow there were no signs of any sort of tiredness on his face. Levi had masterfully hidden it all.
"We can seal the deal with a blood contract. In case you didn't know, it is a form of a bond".
A bond was formed when artificially tamed mana beast and any other existence came together to make a pact of sorts. Bonds were like powerful pets and the well trained ones were indispensible during battle.
A blood contract was similar, but at the same time very different as it could be formed with either another mana beast, or a human. The two parties must agree to very specific terms and use their mana to bind themselves to it. The repercussion for breaking a blood contract was decided during the contracting process and it was impossible to escape.
How did humans come to know about this you ask? Simple. In this world, there were no shortage of religious heretics who would contract various demons to get stronger. Contacting a demon was the only known way by which humans could use dark magic.
"I know". Levi said.
In fact, he didn't know what a blood contract really was but he had long since decided to to show any weakness to Raja. Though it wasn't like he couldn't take a good guess. He could infer what the 'blood contract' was just by its name.
"Stretch out your hand and channel mana into your fingertips. The two parties Mana must come in contact with each other before the process can even begin". Raja said while stretching out his own paw.
Levi reluctantly agreed to this and stretched forth his right hand to the beast which was almost his height, even on four legs.
'i can't use mana, but I wonder if aether would work..... Grim?' Levi thought, but Grim didn't respond.
'still giving me the cold shoulder, eh? Guess I'll just do it'. Levi thought and passed his aether from his core, through the still forming aether veins and into his fingertips. The pain assaulted him, but he properly endured it not even allowing a twitch to appear on his face.
He was determined to look cool.
Raja pushed the mana from his core into his fingers quite easily and quickly. He allowed his fingers to touch with Levi's and a slight spark went off at where the two fingers made contact.
'hm! It's as I suspected, his mana is a lot different from normal. It's more....wholesome. This might actually work'. Raja thought as he established the contract. A bright blue light formed just above where their fingers met and an indecipherable text appeared out of thin air.
'what the?!' Levi was quite surprised at this development. The words were like runes, they didn't make any sense and they gave off this ancient writing vibe.
The whole thing was a first for Levi, but against all odds, he kept up his poker face. He was getting better at this as not even a hint of emotion surfaced. It was to the extent that even Raja started to believe that Levi was familiar with the process.
'maybe he has tried to contract a demon before...unlikely, but I don't think he would react this naturally if this is his first tine
(AN: somebody get our MC an Oscar!!)
"This is the part where we agree on the terms". Raja voiced.
"Ok, so let's get it straight. I will help you to defeat that demon bear, in exchange for one and a half bottle full of elixir water and during this time, you are not allowed to harm me". Levi said, he added another clause.
"The same goes for me. Until the bear is slain, you are not allowed to harm any of my pack members and you cannot make contact with the elixir pond without my permission". Raja didn't even bother adding himself, as he knew that Levi could not pose any sort of threat to him.
(AN: I advise y'all to take note of the terms used for this agreement. They might become important in the future. The key word here is might though.)
"The price for breaking the contract is death, agreed?"
"Agreed".
They both concluded the contract and the runic writing increased as indecipherable words popped up, the terms of the contract. The words kept on popping up for about a few seconds before an eerie voice began to speak.
"As the one consents to the establishment of this bond, may the terms of it's fulfillment, haunt you to your deaths." The voice said and then the runic writings seemingly dissolved into nothingness.
'damn that sounded so creepy. What the heck was that even?' Levi asked inwardly. No reply came back though.
Raja immediately felt something around his mana core. Like binding chains, something was limiting his actions now. On the other hand, Levi felt the same as always, nothing in him had changed noticeably.
He was just about to ask whether Raja had actually established a contract, but an unstoppable felling of tiredness washed over him.
He had been holding it in quite well, until now at least. He felt his limbs lose strength causing his leg to give out and then his body collapsed to the bare ground, his eye lids became heavier as his vision grew blurry and his consciousness waned.
He caught one last glimpse of Raja's fur before his eye closed and welcomed the darkness.
Levi passed out. The blood contract had drained him of what little strength he had left.
AN;
Special thanks again to Aerios, Halis_Eren_balaban and Epic_Buddie123( I got it right this time, right?) For their continued support for this series. Once again, love you guys!!