Chapter 88 82: System Contract (2)

Purple.

The skies had turned many shades of purple.

Trees of an ashy white and ivory spread around over the deep blue grasslands as their red and pink leaves fluttered down.

Right in front of me, a beautiful teal boulder stood invitingly. A strange air of red and pink flowed out from it as what sounded like hymns of the breeze filled my ears.

I took a step ahead. Strangely enough, I couldn't feel the sensation of my muscles moving one after the other.

This wasn't my real body, but my soul. As I gazed down, around my dantian, an orb of black and another of white swerved around in a dance inside my soul. The dual cores in my body were reacting to being summoned, or rather, transported with my soul to a completely different realm.

"Cool home," I muttered as I walked over to the stone. It was asking me to come closer, who was I to refuse?

I walked up to the gargantuan bolder that reached well above my head. I slowly placed my hand on the boulder and in the next moment, the strange energy seeping out of it surrounded me.

A draining filling hit my body as both my mana and my Ki was being consumed by the boulder in a single go. I widened my eyes and tried to pull away, but it was impossible to do so, it felt as if someone had stuck my hand to the boulder with super glue and that I would sooner tear my arm off than move away from this boulder.

I closed my eyes and decided to do the opposite. Guided by me, my energy smoothened out and coursed through my hands before filling the boulder at a much higher pace than before. My trembling cores were not agitated anymore as they spun to maximize my output.

The boulder quaked.

In the next moment, a crack spread through it.

The crack moved up the center of the boulder, emerging from my hand. Before I could see it move, it spread over the entire boulder and snapped it in half, making it fall into two parts on the ground.

A white ball of light appeared in the air where the boulder used to be.

I blinked.

And the blob of light was replaced by a small bug-like thing.

I could see human-like legs and arms stretching out of the bug that would fit in my palms as its translucent teal wings fluttered. Maybe the fairies looked down on humans because we were similar to their bugs?

"Child, I commend you for summoning me."

"Heck, this bug speaks?"

"B-bug!" The bug shifted its hands back in shock before shaking its head. It took in a few deep breaths to calm itself down and then started flapping its wings harder. Golden dust fell off the skies and made a trail in the path the bug took.

"Child, I am no bug," it said. The bug came in front of my face and clasped my cheeks with its tiny hands. "I am a fairy. Can't you see this oh-so-beautiful face of mine?"

The bug glowed.

I moved my gaze away.

I didn't have the courage to tell it that its face was censored.

"C-censored!? You rude brat—"

Wow, so she could hear my thoughts?

"I can! It's because I am a fairy, ok?" The fairy soared up in the sky and struck a pose with her hands on her waists. She was quite the weirdo huh?

"Fairies are not just any randos you can call whenever you want," she said. "Alfheim itself listens to your calls and pairs you up with the fairy matching your soul the most, from potential to personality."

"It can't be!" I shouted.

"Mwahaha! It is!" the fairy screamed. "If you think I am a weirdo, it's because you're a weirdo too!"

"Nooo!" I sank to my knees and grabbed my chest.

The little fairy stepped on my head and smirked. "Surrender to your fate!"

"Kuh, kill me."

We stopped and laughed before standing in front of each other again.

"Seriously though, I am very cool, ok?" I said.

"Me too. You are not allowed to say otherwise."

We nodded and she stretched out her hands. I met her hand with mine own.

In that moment, white light surrounded me, no, us. The white light turned into a torrent swirling around with the two of us in the center.

As the warmth of her hand reached mine, a single flowed in my mind.

This fairy and me. We were the same. It was a feeling that went beyond just thoughts and character, it seemed as if our souls were part of a whole. She had said it herself, we were two souls who were destined to be together by Alfheim itself. It was the will of the world.

I could have said many things to her. She seemed smart, quick-witted, someone I could get along with, but none of those words came out of me. There was no reason to convey those feelings, and she felt the same.

I didn't have to ask.

I understood her.

It was a truly surreal feeling as the white glow condensed and formed an orb where our hands met.

"Titania," she said.

"Eugene," I answered.

The white glow intensified. In the next moment, the purple sky and the red leaves all trembled as a searing pain shot up my arm. My soul was being branded by Alfheim right here.

Then, the pain disappeared.

Like a pleasant lullaby ringing in my ears, Titania's voice reached me.

"Shall you seek hell or heaven, Eugene, for this lifetime that binds my eternal soul, I shall be your guide."

The pain completely disappeared and the glow dimmed down. A stinging sensation remained in my hand where the white light left behind a branching anchor-marked stamp on me. Many lines spread through the anchor which reminded me of sturdy roots while the small sears left behind were like sharp leaves.

It was only my hand that had stopped glowing.

I didn't have a clear picture of what was happening, but I knew that this was the contract that was to be formed. I understood without any effort that the words that left her were all true.

Many books and even the receptionist had said that fairies had nasty personalities.

This fairy should have been no exception. It was purely because of how well we understood each other that I knew, she would more than gladly show me whatever path I choose. This feeling of our souls being connected was almost terrifying. As if someone was messing with my mind and my emotions, but at the same time, it was soothing. I was being completed.

Matching her, the same honest truth spilled out of my mouth.

"Whether it be the gods of the heaven or the demons of hell, Titania, for all shall stand in the path you point, I will make them bow to you."

She was smiling. I didn't need to see her to know this.

The side over at Titania also cooled down and a similar brand was left on her palms.

Suddenly, the purple sky cracked down. The trees collapsed and the winds raged.

Alfheim was kicking me out.

"I look forward to living together forever, Eugene."

"Just do your own chores."

Titania giggled, and the world of Alfheim collapsed.

***

At the same time, in the royal palace of Alfheim, King Oberon and Queen Mab of the fairies received news they couldn't bring themselves to believe.

"My lord! The prison! The prison has been emptied!"

"W-what!?" Oberon screamed.

"The Queen of Evil Titania has been summoned by Alfheim!"

Queen Mab fainted while Oberon bit his lips.

After seven thousand years, the one sealed within the deepest coffers of the fairy kingdom, the queen of all evil, was released into the world.