Chapter 507: Lump of Coal (1/2)

“Kill me?!” Triv shrieked with dismay. “No! Let me stay on this planet. I can be useful for you!”

“You’d stay on a life-attuned planet rather than return to your Kingdom?” Zac snorted.

“I’m fine while my master is dead. There is no way I will survive returning to face Lord Rexus. My soul will be tortured until it finally crumbles from age,” Triv hurriedly said, the words veritably spilling out of his mouth. “That’s why I resisted the call earlier.”

“I thought you couldn’t resist the compulsions of the empire?” Zac said.

“That’s different. The one calling was Lord Rexus, Lord Adriel’s master, and the investor of this Invasion. I’m technically part of his force though he didn’t awaken me. Adriel did. His call is hard to resist, but it’s nothing compared to the rules imprinted onto our very souls.”

“What level are you?” Zac slowly asked. ”And what can you bring to the table?”

“I’m a level 73 Custodian, and I even have gained two Dao Seeds after staying here,” the ghost said with some pride piercing through fear, as he shared his status screen. “I am practically guaranteed to advance to an E-Grade Butler in the future. I will be better assistance to your daily life than any custodian burdened with a corporeal could hope to be, provided you help me purchase Miasma Crystals for my survival.”

Zac shook his head in bemusement when he saw that the ghost really was telling the truth. Its class was [F - Uncommon] - Spectral Custodian. There were really all types of classes in the world. He also noted with some interest that the ghost only was aligned to the undead Empire. Normally it wouldn't look like that.

You were aligned to your local force, not the empire it was a part of, just like Zac was aligned to Port Atwood, rather than Earth itself. Triv should have been aligned to his master's force, but he must've had mentally cut ties with it, leaving only an alignment with the Undead Empire.

“A ghost butler,” Kenzie mumbled, her mouth rising with intrigue. ”Might be pretty convenient with your situation.”

“Sign a contract to serve me properly and you can stay on Earth,” Zac said after a brief hesitation.

He knew how it would look taking in an undead after what they had done to Earth, but Port Atwood had long since passed the point of no return in picking up stray aliens. If it had been one of the generals or the Lich King he wouldn't be so willing to leave them alive, but a non-combat attendant couldn't be considered as culpable. Non-combat classes almost never had a say in the decisions of a force, after all.

“Nothing would have pleased me more,” Triv said with a sigh, though Zac felt he didn't really mean it. “But our commands precludes me from entering contracts with the living.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Zac said as his eyes slowly turned pitch-black. “That won’t be a problem.”

The cooldown for his change had passed while he was unconscious, allowing him to turn into his Draugr form once more. The ghost looked on frozen with incomprehension, its mouth ajar.

“Now,” Zac said with his abyssal voice. ”The contract!”

“It was you the whole time… The mystery undead! This is impossible!” the ghost screamed.

“The Lich King said the same thing just before he died,” Zac shrugged.

“Such a pure bloodline... No wonder the Noble Lady made your acquaintance!” the ghost spoke, and his whole form shuddered as his excitement quickly mounted. ”I'll sign, I'll sign!”

The next moment the ghost had entered a lifetime contract of servitude with Zac, and Zac finally released him from the chains that bound him. The ghost had obviously just wanted to serve as means of survival before, but now it looked beyond excited.

”Why are you so happy all of a sudden?” Zac asked with confusion.

”I'm a custodian, a caretaker of the elite. When our master is strong, we benefit as well. Our bloodlines become stronger if our master's bloodlines are stronger.”

”So you're like a parasite?” Kenzie asked from the side. ”Will you slow down my brother's cultivation?”

”No, no, not at all,” Triv hurriedly said when Zac's brows furrowed together. ”This comes to no detriment to our master! You can see us as a mix of a supportive and non-combat class.”

”Can you buff me in combat?” Zac asked curiously.

”Alas, no,” Triv said with a shake of his head, but he quickly followed up when Zac's eyes dimmed with disinterest. ”My skill set is more linked to your home. I can help improve its environment to better suit your needs. Lord Adriel's Dao Chamber was largely set up by me, for example. It will take some time until I can sync with you to that level though.”

”What else?”

”I am there to deal with all the small things that flitter's on my lord's periphery. Cleaning, lighting incense, keeping track of servants, maintenance of private arrays, poison and threat detection. As I evolve I will also gain some small healing capabilities and the ability to deal with unwanted spying or Karmic manipulation. We allow our masters to focus on what's important, becoming stronger,” Triv hurriedly said.

Zac had to admit it sounded pretty convenient having a butler, though that might just be Triv upselling his usefulness. But he first needed to deal with the realignment array before he went into detail about what Triv could do and what limitations he had from his compulsions. However, Zac suddenly felt a weird presence appear in his mind, and his eyes once more turned to the ghost.

The chains of [Love's Bond] trapped the ghost the moment he felt the foreign presence in his mind, and the ghost wailed as he was about to be ripped to shreds.

”What did you just do?” Zac growled as Kenzie looked on with confusion and worry.

”My apologies, Lord! It's my skill called [Deathbound Attendant]. This is just our connection that you can use to send me commands,” he screamed.

Zac took a steadying breath. He had overreacted a bit due to his history with getting his soul cracked. But there really was nothing wrong with the mark after a second glance, not that the ghost could harm him with a Contract of Servitude active. He dropped the subject and once more focused on the Seed of Undeath.

”We'll talk more about what benefits you can bring later,” Zac said as he turned to his sister. ”What do you think? Just yoink that thing?”

”The podium seems to be some sort of absorption array,” Kenzie nodded. ”I think it will be fine to just take it. But perhaps put the thing in a separate Cosmos Sack?”

”Okay, stand back just in case,” Zac said as he walked over.