903 Astrologers Contract Part 2 (1/2)
”Saleen, if you are willing to come back, I will give you a key. You can open the astrology tower of the imperial city with it, and gain the lineage of the astrologer's. To mages, being able to see your fate ahead of you means getting yourself one more life,” Aragorn said, trying to tempt Saleen.
”I want to ask...have you, great grandmaster, practiced astrology? I have heard that astrologers are people who are just too lazy to practice magic, as they have greater power,” Saleen's mind was firm, and he refused to simply sign the contract because of Aragorn's words.
”Astrology is not something that can be practiced so easily. The ones doing so need luck. The very reason why we died in battle was because we lacked luck, otherwise, with our powers, hehehe...”
”You believe in things like luck?”
”Luck, is one of the highest rules there are. This is different from faith. Luck is something you can control in your hands. Saleen, we are people who have lost luck. If we were to practice astrology, you would perhaps be able to help us escape from it all.”
”Escape what exactly?”
”The shackle of our gravestones!”
”Great one!” the great grandmaster shouted, but decided against talking Aragorn out of it. He saw how calm and collected he looked. Their gravestones protected their souls from decay, but without being free from the shackles of their gravestones, they would not be able to venture too far from their gravestones. That meant they would have to stay at the cemetery for all eternity.
”So you wanted the stuff of the gods to break yourselves free from the shackles of your gravestones then. What happens if you leave?” Saleen's mind calmed seeing how the souls still possessed desires, and that meant there were still ways to work at things.
”What else? We will of course continue doing battle, and kill all those detestable gods!”
Aragorn's words almost had Saleen mistake him to be a lunatic. Having questions about the gods in his mind still, he asked, ”Will gods really cause the collapse of a plane?”
”Of course, when a plane is rendered under the rule of a god, then the lifespan of that plane will be set to be one-billion and eighty-million years. The gods will rob the entire plane of its essence, turning a plane into an interdimensional space. It will then finally decay into a place where even space will be rendered unstable. The place will be full of elemental storms, and no life shall ever grow there again.”
”That is why you hate the gods?”
”No!” Aragorn laughed. ”All this should belong to us humans, yet the gods go about wrecking it all! Tell me, should we not feel angry about it?”
”Alright, let's talk about astrologers then.”
”What is there to talk about? You give us what we need, I give you the key. Then you just go look for the lineage yourself,” Aragorn answered in a natural, lax manner.
”I go there myself? The abyss is a very dangerous place. I'm afraid I will end up dead before I find that astrologer's place.”
”It is only the first contract between us. I won't want you dead. Saleen, just say yes.”
”If I say no, I can't leave then?”
”Indeed,” Aragorn answered shamelessly, yet Saleen knew those souls had already been very polite and friendly with him. Given their levels and temperaments when they were still alive, having them make deals with someone like him was something really absurd to begin with.
”I will need to add another line to the contract then. When the contract is over, you will need to be responsible for my departure from this place, within a month,” Saleen said.
”Done,” Aragorn pointed at the Contract of Fate and another line of ancient scripts appeared, cementing Saleen's request within.
Saleen only took out his magic brush then and wrote his name on the Astrologer's Contract. The Astrologer's Contract shimmered, and the words disappeared in a whiff of green smoke, leaving a star chart behind. The star chart fell onto Saleen's hands, and Aragorn said, ”Keep the star chart. It can be used for writing further contracts. These are rules beyond grade-18. Even gods would not be able defy the conditions written on such contracts.”
Saleen listened carefully as he put away the star chart and asked, ”I would like to ask then. How are the grades above grade-10 divided? What are the levels of gods?”
What Saleen had asked was hardly considered a secret to the souls before him. It was just that there had been gaps in the flow of knowledge throughout the generations. Even someone like Joey had limited knowledge on subjects like that. That made those souls the only one he was able to turn to.
”Grade-10 to grade-12 mages are sorcerers. Gods reaching grade-12 become true oracles. Beyond the rank of sorcerers, grade-13 to grade-15 mages are called grandmasters. Grade-16 to grade-18 are great grandmasters. There are no titles for levels beyond that, as grade-18 would be equivalent to the king of gods to the gods.”
”King of gods?”
”Yes. Grade-18 are kings of gods, grade-17 are greater gods, grade-16 are middle gods, and grade-15 are lesser gods. These are divisions created by us humans. The gods have their own titles, but we just don't care about that. Grade-14 are demigods, grade-13 are pseudogods, grade-12 are greater oracles, grade-11 are middle oracles, and grade-10 are lesser oracles.”
”So you are saying that the grades after grade-10 have huge gaps in terms of powers in between them!” Saleen quipped nonchalantly.
”Indeed, for grades after grade-10, advancement of every grade is more difficult than the previous one. Advancements of humans between grade-10 to grade-12 can still be done easily, so oracles are hardly a match for us humans. We...”, Aragorn did not continue from there, as he had already heard from Saleen that the power of humanity on the mainland had suffer a massive drop.