Chapter 270 (1/2)

Zhang Dong looked down at the golden-haired girl that looked to be in the middle of her teens. At this moment in time, she was clutching her ears. After his little outburst, her ears were probably ringing. He noticed that his increased size was causing the girl harm so he tried to lower his tone.

The need to lower the amount of energy he was giving out was also a must. He started glowing less but shrinking to her size was not an option apparently. If she was just someone from a tiny race was a possibility. Zhang Dong had a hard time believing that he had turned into a giant by coming to this other world.

”Sorry about that little girl, could you raise your head it's hard to talk like that. What did you mean by a heroic spirit when you addressed me? What is this about a contract?”

She had clearly given him a title of some sort. This was probably a clue to this predicament, if not he would need to search for answers of his own accord.

”Great Spirit…?”

The girl looked up towards him, he had leaned closer slightly so his giant face along with his glowing eyes were now looking intently at the small girl. Surprisingly the girl didn't flinch at his colossal sight again, was it bravery or resolve?

”I thank you for answering my call, If the great spirit is willing I would be honored to form a contract…”

He could see her fidget a bit after returning the question with a statement. From the short exchange, he could somehow figure out what this was. The problem was that it didn't really make much sense, how was he a summoned being? He came from a fantasy-like world of cultivators, so summoners and wizards wouldn't be really shocking to him.

”You would like to form a contract with me?”

He asked out of curiosity, maybe prooding with questions someone that thought that he was some kind of summoned spirit wasn't the greatest idea.

”I would be honored, Great spirit!

The answer didn't give him much, though he didn't even know how to form this 'contract' even if he wanted to oblige. Also signing strange binding contracts with unknown people in an unknown location would probably not be the smartest option.

The space around him felt strange. He could somehow use his cultivation and powers but the energies were different than what he was used to. He could spread his spiritual sense in all directions but he couldn't feel any other living being here. The girl and he himself were the only two people here. Even then, she felt more like an energy construct or a soul than a real living being.

He wanted to try some other options before asking the girl for further answers. This space felt like some kind of dead-end, the only thing he wanted to do is get back to his sect. After going through all the teleportation treasures and his system options, he still couldn't find a way out, being stuck here was a very real possibility.

The girl down below remained silent while trying not to fidget while he continued to think.

”G-great spirit? C-could we form a contract? D-didn't you summon me here to form one, great spirit?”

Zhang Dong looked down at her, one brow raised. The girl really wanted to get this contract deal going but there wasn't really much in it for him. He would rather decline her request but a sudden new development threw a wrench into his plan.

”Warning… world link fading… need to establish a stronger tether… warning!”

'What is it now?'

He groaned a bit while looking at his system window that started flickering with warning signs. He could see some kind of new counter that was going down.

World synchronization rate 89%.... 88%...87%...

It started going down and continued without stopping. He started getting some kind of strange feeling in his very soul. Zhang Dong could see that he was somehow getting rejected from this world by something, slowly fading away. He looked at his hands and after the rate dropped below 70% he could see them flickering in and out of existence.

”It is advised for the user to form a contract with the summoner named Beatrice Hohenberg.”

”What the?”

He heard a voice from the side, it sounded like an old text to speech module from an old operating system. He turned to the side to see a wisp of blue light hovering there, this was the thing that just talked.

”Who are you supposed to be?”

”I am the AI companion generated to aid the User number 80082. If the user fails to form a connection with someone from sector number 41067 he will be erased from existence.”

Apparently, the system had gained some kind of sentience or it was just a more elaborate AI program. It was advising him to form a contract with this girl. It sounded that if he didn't go through with it, it would end in death.

”Is there another way?”

He asked.

”Analysing the question... The User could absorb the person called Beatrice Hohenberg and inhabit her body forcefully. The User would be then recognized as an inhabitant of this sector.”

He looked at the young girl that was still kneeling down. She was looking at him with those big blue eyes, taking over her body was out of the question. He wasn't an evil spirit that possessed others and he would like to keep it like that.

'I might not have a choice…'

The counter dropped below 50% and he started to fade away. There didn't seem to be another option but to take this girl up on the offer and form that contract. He wasn't sure what that foretold for his future but he had to live. His family was still out there, he needed more time to figure things out. Sticking around a teenage girl for some time didn't seem like much of a problem.

”Uh… system? AI helper? How do I form a contract with the girl?”

”... sending information to the user… please wait for the data transfer…”

He felt a familiar pain run through his head. It was reminiscent of the jolt he always got when buying techniques from the old system store. In a matter of moments, he had the information in his brain.

'So that's how it is… it's not as bad as I thought it would be…'

The contract wasn't binding him for life. Thanks to his level of power being far superior to the summoner he was the one with all the decision-making power. He would be able to break it off by his own will if he ever wanted to. If the summoner wasn't strong enough to keep the summoned spirit at bay in some way, the spirit could leave at any moment. He could even switch hosts if he wanted to.