Chapter 215 - 187: Magic Ability
"Five years to find this Red and Blue Eye in the Nightmare Forest," Shire read the contract carefully, word for word. "After the contract takes effect, the client may grant the contractor one Magic Ability. If the eye is found within the time limit, the client will grant one of the contractor’s wishes that is within their power. If it is not found..."
Shire frowned as he read the following text. "If it is not found, the client has the right to take the contractor’s soul."
"Well?" The Demon Lord Lust smiled at the goblin before it. "The terms are quite good, wouldn’t you say? You’ll receive a Magic Ability immediately, which will make you far more powerful than other goblins. After all, no goblin has ever been able to use Magic."
Shire listened, his expression unchanging, but internally, he had already cursed Lust several times. ’Just one Magic Ability, and I probably can’t even choose which one. If I don’t find it in five years, my soul will be taken. This is a losing deal no matter how you look at it.’
’Besides, with that fake smile that doesn’t reach its eyes, it clearly thinks it has me cornered. If I refuse, it’ll probably just slap Soul Shackles on me and force me to do its bidding.’
"A Magic Ability is certainly appealing. I’ve seen those human Adventurers before—the Magic they cast is very powerful." Shire put on a timely expression of surprise. The demon had not yet discovered that his soul was not actually a goblin’s; it seemed it still saw him as just a slightly clever, but incurably greedy, little green-skin.
"So, as long as you sign it, you’ll no longer have to fear those human Adventurers," Lust’s Clone said, its smile unwavering. The amusement in its eyes even deepened.
"But the forest is vast, and those human Adventurers are brutal," Shire said, sounding vexed. His hand, as if by accident, brushed against the Angry Long Horn sitting on the table. "I might not even survive for five years. My previous leaders all died very quickly."
Lust looked up, sizing up the goblin before it. A flicker of coldness flashed in its eyes, but the sight of the wobbling horn on the table quickly made it smile again. "You have a point. Those fellows are indeed troublesome."
Then, it raised a finger and traced two circles in the air. Shire saw a wisp of flame flash across the parchment, and the five-year term instantly became a ten-year term.
"The term is longer," he said with "delight," but his tone immediately turned discouraged. "But I still can’t defeat those human Adventurers. They’re too powerful."
Just as he stole a glance and saw the Demon Lord’s eyes turn cold once more, Shire quickly interjected, "If I could choose a powerful Magic for myself, then I think I’d have nothing to worry about."
Lust’s eyes narrowed upon hearing this. In the past, when it signed contracts with greedy humans, it had always directly bestowed one or more Magic Abilities upon them. Now this goblin actually wanted to choose? Granting powerful Magic was its prerogative, and it would consume its own power.
However, as the goblin before it "happily" slammed its hands on the table, the horn vibrated and swayed back and forth. The blurred afterimage of its movement was like a constantly beating heart.
Lust raised its hand, and a thick, heavy, red-covered book materialized out of thin air in front of Shire. "Choose one you need from these spells."
Shire’s eyes widened as he stared at the floating Magic Book. Its sudden appearance had startled him. The dark red cover was like congealed blood, and the yellowed pages inside bespoke the Magic Book’s great age.
’Don’t tell me these pages are made of human skin,’ Shire thought sardonically, stepping forward to carefully read the list of spells.
"Mage’s Hand? Magic Energy Burst? Pain Curse?..." He went down the list. Lust had only offered him a little over twenty spells, not even as many as the Abilities Shire himself had siphoned and saved.
’I can’t choose a spell like Magic Energy Burst. I don’t have much Magic Power, so I couldn’t cast it more than a few times,’ Shire thought, his mind racing as he read. ’Pain Curse looks powerful, but it has its downsides. It’s not suitable for me as a leader of a tribe.’
’Fragility Curse is the same.’ He continued down the list and found that Lust’s spells were mostly Mind Magic, with many having effects like Charm or Control. ’Me, a goblin, Charm Adventurers? Seriously?’
As he was carefully deliberating, the Clone of Lust grew impatient. "Haven’t you chosen yet? I can just grant you a spell. How about Magic Energy Burst?"
Hearing the impatience in its tone, Shire’s eyes narrowed slightly. Then he nodded emphatically and said with a "joyful" smile, "I’ve decided. This one."
Lust looked over. On that page of the Magic Book, written in large characters of black ink, were three words—"Group Dumbing Curse."
"Group Dumbing Curse. You can cast this spell proactively when facing enemies, or you can cast it on yourself. That way, any target you perceive as an ’enemy’ will be affected by a dumbing effect."
"This is the one. With this, I won’t have to worry about sneak attacks from those human Adventurers," Shire said cheerfully, punctuating his words with a glance at the Mage’s corpse on the floor.
"So, you’re certain you want to sign this contract?" Lust’s smile returned. It looked like the goblin was about to take the bait.
"Yes. What do I do?" Shire nodded, his eyes fixed on the parchment contract on the table.
"Just sign your name," Lust said, pointing a finger to the bottom of the parchment. Soon enough, Shire signed the name "Green Egg." After he finished, an illegible, blood-red signature appeared on the parchment’s edge.
’That’s probably Demon Language,’ Shire thought. He then looked expectantly at the Demon Lord’s Clone. "Will you grant me the Magic now?"
A puff of red mist rose from the Magic Book, then slowly drifted toward the goblin by the table, completely enveloping him.
Gradually, the mist dissipated. Shire felt as if something in his consciousness had been pried open. He slowly raised his hand and said to himself, "Dumbing Curse."
A thread of red light coiled and flickered around him, then scattered into the air like starlight. ’Is this what it feels like to cast Magic?’
Shire looked himself over, trying to perceive any change. But after a few attempts, he felt nothing significant.
"Now that the contract is signed, you should begin your search as soon as possible." With that, Lust, cradling the Magic Book, walked toward the mirror.