"AAAAA-!?"
Azel woke up from his forced stupor rest in a panic carousel, as if he was grasping for a rope that could get him out of this nightmarish experience that he was having.
"This room feels familiar…" His head felt hazy, but the amicable and natural atmosphere of this bedroom was enough to calm him down, enough for him to think straight at the very least. "Hahaha, it must be a dream… No way that a person as beautiful as him can be that evil…"
"Are you sure that it's a dream? Yesterday was fun, you know?"
A familiar sound came from the side of the bed. It was Yroa, cupping his cheeks as he was smiling like an innocent child.
It took five seconds for Azel to process the whole event. And so, he instinctively ignored the adorably beautiful creature that was gazing at him expectantly, and began laying his head back to where it formerly belonged.
He then prayed that this was just another sequence of a dream, before proceeding to shut his eyes close and return back to sleep.
'This must be the sequel to the nightmare,' Azel thought.
"Are you sure you want to sleep again?" Yroa slightly tilted his head to the side. "I have already prepared breakfast, you know?"
Azel didn't know what had just gotten into him, but he immediately got up and stood with straightened back on the opposite side of the bed as if he got jolted by thunder.
"Y-yes, my Master!" He said instinctively, as his body twitched constantly from the insurmountable fear that was installed deeply into his subconsciousness. "S-should I lead you to the dining room?" he said as he gestured his hand.
"Master… huh, not bad, I don't mind being called a 'Master'." Yroa grinned at the idea of having a fantasy-like servant around, calling him 'master' all the time. "Though, why the stiffness? You haven't made any glaring mistakes yet, just relax~"
'Said the devil who threatened to skin me and torture me alive for no reason!' Azel swallowed his saliva. "S-so shall we?"
As such, in the familiar morning, the two of them were present on the chairs to the table full of all sorts of exotic dishes made from the local beasts and ingredients.
"... Is there any poison here?"
"Yup," Yroa nonchalantly replied as he fearlessly dined on his plate. "Don't worry, if the pain from the poison yesterday didn't wake you up from your sleep, you should probably have enough immunity or regeneration factor as a demon, since I didn't see any more scars left on your body."
Thinking that Yroa probably had been checking on his body a lot for the past couple of days, Azel reflexively recoiled and taken aback, hugging himself as he showed a face of embarrassment.
"Pervert!"
"... Say that again I'll rearrange your organs upside down." Yroa said calmly and non-menacingly, not wanting his curiosity to be mistaken as pervertness.
Azel deemed that his life was more important than his dignity, so he quit playing around and began eating the food in front of him lest he want to provoke any more anger from Yroa.
Even without deliberately planning, Azel was a great source of EXP by just his sheer fear of Yroa alone.
"... Why are we eating poisoned food like it's normal, again?" Azel took a bite on the glazed and roasted steak. It was divinely good, but it was also poisoned, so he didn't know what to react. "Is this also another part of your biology trait, Master? To eat poison so that you can accumulate them before inflicting them on an unsuspecting prey like me?"
"If that's the case, don't you think that you should have died by now?" Yroa snickered. "I don't know if it's the same with demons, but I saw a notable increase in my CON numbers after I survived numerous poison attacks again and again. The numbers also translate to real value that also makes me heal scratches and open wounds faster than normal."
And thanks to the 200% increase of result on any attempt to temper and improve the bodily physique of the Living Vessel, the effect became much more apparent with every masochistic activity.
"Ah! This reminds me of something I learned from the east!" Azel pointed out. He seemed to be less uncomfortable now that he had something to talk to on the dinner table. "Cultivators often perform a method of training and self-tempering by destroying and reconstructing their physical vessel. Now that I think about it, they often drink pills full of poison and use it to temper their organs or even use it to fight off another poison."
Yroa chuckled. "And here you're scared shitless despite having that knowledge."
"I doubt that you're a Cultivator in the first place…"
As the breakfast conversation went on, the two of them exchanged a couple of knowledge and common sense, since it was quite obvious that Yroa didn't really know much of this world beyond some guidance given by a package of information that came with him being a Dungeon Core.
Azel also mustered all of his courage to ask who and where Yroa came from.
To solidify his position and image on Azel's head, Yroa made up his own background about how he was an ancient being that was sealed for a very long time inside the Reversed Lake Mountain, until he woke up without any of his memory, with all of his strength reduced into that of a normal mortal.
"N-no wonder." Azel nervously snickered, he didn't want to imagine Yroa with his hypothetical full strength and memory, if he was already this adorably terrifying in his eyes. "To be truthful, I am only a passerby from a nearby region, currently on my way to the Town of Ariah, somewhere down the west before I stumble upon you…
"I don't know if it's because of some sick fate that it all led to this, but at this point, I might as well go all out." Azel stood up and began to bow forward. "Please, establish a familiar contract with me!"
Hearing the fabled 'familiar contract' fantasy cliche that was about to happen, Yroa's heartbeat was rising in excitement. "I don't know what that will actually do, but we will, after you explain what it's all about, and after we finish the food."
"Thank you!" Azel exclaimed, looking happier than usual.
Yroa instinctively wondered why Azel acted like he was the one who would achieve a once-in-a-lifetime change, since it would be the other way around if it went according to what Yroa expected.
But regardless, Azel elaborated this familial contract further until breakfast was finished and there were no scraps lying around the wooden plates except some few bare bones.
Then without further ado, the two of them went to the spacious side of the living room.
To explain how a familiar contract works, there were only four things that needed to be understood.
Terms of Service: The demon agrees to provide the contractor with certain powers, knowledge, or assistance for a specified period or indefinite period of time.
Exchange: In return for the demon's services, the contractor must offer something of significant value to the demon. This could include the contractor's soul, a future favor, or a specific task to be performed by the contractor, mostly subjective for both sides of the contract on what they deem as valuable.
Limits and Conditions: The contract may include limitations on the demon's powers or actions, as well as conditions under which the contract can be terminated or renegotiated.
And then finally, the Consequences of Breach: Violating the terms of the contract could result in dire consequences for either party. For example, the demon might claim the human's soul immediately, or the human could suffer from the withdrawal of the demon's granted powers.
"These four core values of a familiar contract don't necessarily need to be available in a pact, since all of those depend on the general agreement between the demon and the contractor." After a few sweaty minutes of harnessing his ohr, he conjured an ethereal floating paper of purple contour, alongside the pen needed to finalize the agreement. "As in our case, since I have already referred to you as Master, I just only want to make it official."
According to Azel before this, contracts are a big thing within the demonic world. Demons were very obsessive of this concept and despite their demonic nature, they would strongly abide by their formed contracts, although not without any attempt of deception and trickery.
Within cultural point of view, establishing a contract with non-demonic beings was seen as an achievement, so demons took great pride in their contracting business, regardless of the subject of exchange.
And if their contractor were someone powerful or amazingly important to the grand scheme of the world, it also heightens the amount of Essence of Actualization that they could acquire to increase their Lvl.
Azel probably immediately came to this decision after hearing that Yroa was an ancient being with a potentially great past.
"Interesting," Yroa widely smirked, reading the content of the contracts while also ensuring that there were no funny attempts made by Azel. The language and letters on the letter appeared to be conceptually powered by ohr that allows all beings with ohr to understand them. "So the only benefits you get is to serve me and also ride on the same waves of any kind of achievements that I acquired, and vice versa, the moment the contract is signed, until it's nulled in any way."
"Hehehe." Azel crossed his arms as he puffed his chest, donning a wide smile. "With this wording, my Tree of Life will be spiritually connected with yours, allowing me to gain the appropriate benefits of your acquisition on Essence of Actualization."
"Will that affect the value of my acquisition in any way?"
"Not in the slightest. To the contrary, both of us will get more essence than we should if both of us are contributing to the same achievement, multiplying our Lvl increases. Although, it's limited to some extent…"
"Interesting, how does that really work?"
"Well, you see, the demonic contracts affect the very fabric of reality itself! Before the very creation of the demonic blood, we're blessed by the Void Deity of Law to uphold personal circumstances and terms, making it our reliable source of Essence of Actualization to climb the Emanations!"
"I bet that there is more to that."
"Of course! But I can't convey it in written and verbal manner to non-demonic beings, since it will be a breach of my own limitations as a demon."
Something clicked inside Yroa's mind after hearing those words.
"And why does 'serving me' be part of your benefits?" Yroa asked, as he planned to see what he could do with the information he acquired about the contract.
"W-well." Azel flustered, looking away as he fiddled his fingers. "Remember how the 'exchange' is mostly subjective for both the demons and the contractor? I-I just deem that you have a potential for big things, and me having a chance to be on the same side as you is a benefit in the grand scheme of things!"
'... Why is he acting like an adorable puppy all of a sudden? Is he even a demon at all?' Yroa thought, before he cleared his throat. "Moving on, you said that the value of the 'exchange' can be affected by the subjective opinions and possibly the individual personalities of both the demons and the contractor."
"Y-yes?"
Yroa grinned. "I said that we need to revise this contract to gain the conceptual maximum benefits from it."
From then on, Yroa began to deliver numerous suggestions as he took a great focus on Azel's facial expression and overall reactions, and then modified the content of the contract according to it.
It also helped that Azel was very expressive and honest for an alleged demon.
After a while, the content of the contract prominently include the 'exchange' from both sides as follows:
Azel Flegor shall appoint his utmost loyalty towards Yroa Ingram at all cost unless the contractor commands him otherwise.
Azel Flegor must not betray and perform anything that demerits Yroa Ingram unless the contractor commands him otherwise. This includes invading the contractor's dream with malicious intent, nor invades the dreams of those that are already 'claimed' by the contractor.
As the sole Owner and Master of Azel Flegor, Yroa Ingram shall take utmost care to give appropriate rewards and punishments per actions made by Azel Flegor.
For every reward and punishment given to Azel Flegor, he will obtain half of the future portion of Essence of Vitality gained by Yroa Ingram.
And with every essence gained this way, Yroa Ingram shall be compensated with the same amount of Layered Vitality using the surrounding natural ohr converted by borrowing the Lvl gained by Azel Flegor.
As the Primary Servant, Azel Flegor's goal and aspiration must adhere to Yroa Ingram's own ambition. To compensate this, Azel Flegor shall acquire the same amount of Essence of Actualization relative to the essence acquired by Yroa Ingram and the amount of Layered Vitality possessed by both parties.
Likewise, Yroa Ingram shall acquire the same amount of Essence of Actualization relative to the essence acquired by Azel Flegor and the amount of Layered Vitality possessed by both parties.
Before the acquisition for the individual portions of Essence of Actualization formed independently from the actualization performed by Yroa Ingram and Azel Flegor, the essence shall be stored equally between the souls of both parties for two seconds for all of the necessary process to complete to further compensate the essences.
And these terms were barely scratching the surface of the contract.
"T-this is the first time I've seen a contract this long," Azel said nervously, holding a demonic familiar contract that stretched to the floor and more for up to 20 meters, visibly clumping into a mountain of sheet on the corner of the living room. "But for the contract to actually manifest, it means that it adheres to the established rule made by the demonic Void Deity of Law…"
All of those complex and and interwoven terms and clauses serves as one ultimate mean:
To abuse the limited leverage of the reality-bending aspect of the contract by slowly raising the threshold of excess compensation that didn't affect both Yroa and Azel, while also reaping as many benefits from it as possible.
This resulted in 666 long paragraphs of terms and clauses that tapped directly into the influence of the demonic contract.
And to summarize what this monstrous contract does other than what have been stated: It will multiply the amount of Essence of Actualization by ten that will be shared equally to both Yroa and Azel regardless of who gained the essence, and it will also accumulate something called 'Mutual Ohr' that could be utilized by both of them at any given time.
The amount of Mutual Ohr stored will also be automatically converted to enhance all of the 6 status values of both parties over time.
As if that wasn't enough, every time the amount of Mutual Ohr increases, Yroa also gains an equal amount of Excreted Perturbation points. Albeit, it will still be reduced to half by the dungeon-less multiplier.
Of course, all of this was only possible thanks to the work-around of compensative accumulation built by the amount of terms and contracts that were interwoven with one another.
"I didn't tell you what we're going to actually do because I assume that just by merely thinking of attempting to abuse it, you might get the brunt," Yroa chuckled as he picked up the ethereal demonic purple pen and signed his name on the monstrous contract. "Thankfully, you're as open as a kindergarten picture book."
There was a moment where Yroa wanted to further abuse this demonic contract mechanism like giving both of them straight-up immortality and the likes, or even giving them a duration of time where they would be automatically revived after death—but it seemed like those weren't possible without losing something valuable in exchange on both sides.
Yroa also preferred if he could just prevent their own deaths instead of being handicapped for most of the time only to be revived after some sacrifices.
As soon as the contract was signed, the letters inscribed into the demonic paper were suddenly aflame in purple prism, before transcending its plane of existence and churning the contractor and demonic contract maker.
A loud boom permeated the house as both of them felt a sudden surge of vitality entering the very core of their existence.
In reflex, both of them performed a Basic Appraisal on themselves, since it was a great act of actualization for both of them. Yroa who gained his first demon servant and his utmost loyalty, while also cheating the laws made by the Void Deity of Law itself—and Azel with how he gained his best contractor ever, and a great master to follow and serve to.
[Name: Yroa Ingram]
[Lvl: 225 Malkuth]
[Domain: Physical]
[STR: 3.0]
[DEX: 3.5]
[CON: 7.9]
[INT: 60.2]
[WIS: 19.1]
[CHA: 43.7]
"So the Lvl is truly a separate existence than the stats of the vessel, huh."
Yroa then checked his owned EXP points, assuming that this Actualization resulted in acquisition of the Mutual Ohr, which also gave him an equal amount of EXP per contractual compensation.
[EXP: -40,890.4]
'It seems like it's still not the most efficient method to gain EXP, huh, even though I have gained a lot of Lvl,' Yroa thought.
He then glanced at Azel, who appeared to be in a state of utter disbelief and happiness.
[Name: Azel Flegor]
[Lvl: 160 Malkuth]
[Domain: Physical]
[STR: 0.7]
[DEX: 1.3]
[CON: 1.5]
[INT: 4.5]
[WIS: 12.1]
[CHA: 6.2]