231 Saleen’s Follower Part 2 (1/2)

”Daniel, you have to consider this very carefully. This contract isn’t going to be very fair to you,” Saleen advised. Daniel did not know that this was Saleen’s way of raising the stakes. He simply grit his teeth and nodded.

”Saleen, as long as you give me this black crystal, it will be up to you to write the contract.”

”That’s no good. I want you to do this willingly.”

”I am willing!” Daniel’s voice sounded like he was in pain. Aside from the winged skeleton, he had nothing else to his name. It was his fortune that Saleen was willing to exploit him.

”Daniel, I need a follower,” Saleen said calmly. At the same time, Daniel’s expression became quite intriguing.

Many mages had followers, and followers were split into two types. The first type was a student of a mage. The student was not willing to leave their teacher and train by themselves, so they would become a follower. The other type was a contractor, who had signed a magic contract. A contractor could stay with the mage and aided the mage in training and combat.

Saleen’s request had not been made on a whim. He had experienced multiple battles and realized the advantage of having more people by his side. Especially after coming to Alchemy City, Saleen had realized that if he wanted more time to train, he had to emulate the mages in Alchemy City by getting someone to help him.

Be it gathering materials or doing battle, Saleen would not have much time for training if he did all of these activities by himself.

Daniel was hesitant now. Just now, he had been full of determination about wanting to sign a magic contract with Saleen since he had thought that Saleen simply wanted him to carry out some tasks. In reality, Saleen wanted a follower. Once the contract was signed, Daniel would never be able to leave Saleen ever again.

Daniel felt that a piece of black crystal in exchange for his lifetime’s freedom was not worth it.

”Daniel, do you think the deal isn’t worth it?” Saleen’s question had hit the bullseye in Daniel’s heart. Daniel nodded, then Saleen said, ”This contract is not permanent. As long as your grade surpasses me one day, this contract will be voided.”

”Okay!” Daniel was overjoyed. Upon reaching the grade of a sorcerer, a death mage would advance slower than an elemental mage, but before that, a death mage’s speed of advancement was much faster than that of an elemental mage. Saleen was currently at grade-4, while Daniel was about to break the limits of grade-3, so the difference in their grades was limited. Even if Daniel wasted some time by assisting Saleen, he would still be able to reach grade-6 in ten years at most. Yet, Saleen was thinking of reaching grade-6 within ten years? That was pure daydreaming.

If Saleen had been at grade-6 now, then Daniel would not have had much hope. But, Saleen was at grade-4, so Daniel did not feel that the contract was unfair. He simply thought that Saleen wanted to borrow his powers just for the next ten years.

Saleen was also rejoicing in his heart since Daniel did not know his background. In order to surpass his grade, Daniel’s training speed would have to be four times that of a normal mage. The moment the contract was signed, it would be too late for Daniel to have any regrets. A contract between mages was not able to be repudiated. Furthermore, Daniel was a death mage, so the backlash from the contract would affect his soul directly. If Daniel decided to go back on his word, he would surely be doomed.

Saleen’s body had been transformed by Joey and he had also obtained Raphael’s magic notes, so his training had become very smooth. And, if Saleen still lost to Daniel despite all these advantages, then he would have no right to have Daniel be his follower.

The real challenge would be advancing to grade-7 from grade-6, as this barrier was the tallest one in the face of every mage out there. As long as Saleen was promoted to grade-6 in advance, then Daniel would never have a chance of surpassing him anymore.

Saleen grinned as he took out a blank scroll. This time around, the contract was of extreme importance, so a normal piece of paper was no longer strong enough to contain the powers of the contract.

”Daniel, I am going to write it now. Have you decided?”

”I… have decided.” Daniel knew that once he signed the contract, he would have to start working for Saleen. However, he was merely a grade-3 mage, so his powers were limited, and thus Saleen would try to make him advance to grade-4 as soon as possible so that he would be useful.

Saleen sat down calmly and opened the scroll before taking out a magic pen and the ink made from dragon’s blood. Then, he started writing the contract.

The format of a magic contract was not complicated. The crux of the contract was in its magic array. A magic array which could affect the soul would effectively restrict both parties involved in the contract. Saleen had been weak in the aspect of magic arrays, but after taming Nailisi, he had continuously studied the magic arrays of contracts.

Before meeting Joey, Saleen’s studies had been confined to books, but after being enlightened by the conversion of the six great elements, Saleen could now draw magic arrays on his own. The magic array which he was now drawing on the level-5 blank scroll caused Daniel to be petrified. That was the Elemental Annihilation magic array. When this magic array was deployed during combat, the power contained in it was just too weak. However, when used in contracts, it meant that the soul would be affected by the magic and ignore any defenses as long as both parties took the initiative to make a soul imprint on themselves.