Till the end of your life.
The words replayed in Alex's head over and over like a broken record. He couldn't escape the looming sensation that he had made one of the biggest mistakes in the history of big mistakes.
What was he supposed to do? How could he even possibly begin to explain this? 'Hi, my names Alex and I have a Daemon in my head, wonderful weather today isn't it?'
If he wasn't outright killed on the spot, he would probably be tossed in some kind of prison. Then again, it wasn't like he would be going about running his mouth to everyone about what he had done to stay alive. It was just another secret he would have to keep, another lie he would have to tell if anyone asked him what had happened.
Till the end of your life.
He would have to take a secret like that to the grave. A secret that would be revealed the second he gasped his last breath. A secret that wouldn't matter once he was six feet under. A secret that doomed everyone around him the instant he stopped living. A secret that would never see the light of day… at least until Alex passed on.
In the cave, with a sword coming for his throat, he had been so sure in his resolve. He had been so sure that being selfish and doing everything he could to stay alive was all that mattered. Now, in the face of the consequences of his actions, his resolve wavered. He had let an all powerful Daemon out of its prison. He had let an all powerful Daemon inhabit his body.
Till the end of your life.
Alex was aware of his own inner turmoil, his mind replaying the events that transpired. On one hand, there was a part of him that would do it again without a second of hesitation. On the other hand, he would refuse the offer and let himself be killed. Both weren't favorable options, but at least one of them would keep the universe free of Arburnok's fury.
What's been done is done. He just had to accept that. Selfish or not, Alex knew that he would uphold the words he had spoken before the deal had been made. He would keep this bastard trapped for as long as possible. He would keep the calamity that called himself the Breaker of Reality imprisoned, no matter what it took.
Till the end of your life.
"Hellooooo? Come on kid, we gotta get moving." Arburnok's grating voice tore Alex from his pondering. This guy was gonna get old fast. "We're burning daylight, and that warlord isn't gonna catch himself."
Right.
Arburnok had explained that 'saving' Alex had included inflicting nightmares and promises of a tortured existence to the one who had stabbed him. Somehow, even from inside the crystal, the Daemon had been able to expand his influence enough to reach the warlord's mind. Apparently, the promise of devouring his soul had been enough to scare the guy off before he could kill Alex.
Alex didn't really buy into that story completely, particularly because that dark place he had been in had felt so real. But he didn't really remember what happened after the deal had been made. The last thing he had seen was the sword, and whenever he mentioned waking up outside of the cave Arburnok just deflected, saying that "The vault's defenses finally kicked in and vomited you out."
If there were defenses powerful enough to eject someone outside, then why hadn't they kicked in for the invaders? Alex knew something was up, he just couldn't tell what. Arburnok was most definitely an expert manipulator and liar. He would whisper sweet nothings and deliver empty promises in order to get what he wanted. At the very least however, he had upheld his end of the deal.
"Seriously, I've seen Kraylics that move faster than you. And that's saying something because those hideous things don't ever move their fat asses, unless you're running at them with a thousand soldiers all intent on harvesting its organs. Ahh, to be young and hunting again… Anyways, hurry up, we've got to catch that bastard before he escapes."
Alex didn't appreciate taking orders from a voice in his head, but he still picked up the pace and started to jog along the path that Arburnok had told him to follow. After asking the last question about being outside the cave he hadn't wanted to converse with the Daemon. Just because Arburnok was a chatter box didn't mean he had to respond.
Especially because there was no way Alex could ever trust anything Arburnok said.
"What's with the silent treatment? Aww, don't tell me that you've suddenly grown a conscious and can't talk with a Daemon? No, you're too moody for that. Wait. Is it because you didn't like my gift? Dammit, I forget how touchy you humans are sometimes, but I can't take it back now. Hmm no, I'm a great gift giver…"
Arburnok's voice trailed off as the Daemon started muttering to himself with theories about why Alex wasn't talking to him, but the part about getting a gift had stuck with him. He hadn't opened up his menu since waking up, scared about what he might find there. He had long since learned that he wasn't directly in control of things and was worried that making a deal with a Daemon would mess things up, especially because the system still considered him a Hero.
[Notice! Making deals with Daemons goes against what it means to be a Hero. Tread carefully.]
[Notice! Hero has not reclaimed the mantle. As such, the guidelines that a Hero must follow have not been enforced.]
[Notice! You have made a deal with Arburnok the Greater Daemon. Going back on your word could have catastrophic consequences and fatal results.]
[You have received a gift from a Greater Daemon, would you like to open it?]
In the end, Alex's own curiosity got the better of him and his fears were confirmed. Being a Hero meant that the universe would frown upon him doing certain things and acting a certain way.
Funnily enough, he had been saved from whatever the punishment might have been because of his death. He never thought he'd be grateful about dying, and yet here he was counting his lucky stars that the universe thought the Hero was dead.
It still meant he would have to be far more careful in the future. He got lucky this time, but once he reclaimed the mantle of a Hero he would have to be mindful about what he did. He was a little bummed about having restrictions on him, but it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter of being a Hero.
Putting all that aside for now though, he acknowledged the last notification with a mental yes.
[Skill acquired.]
[Inspect: (F-Rank) (Active) Allows the user to appraise items to discern their capabilities. If something is too high ranked compared to the skill and its user, information will not be given.]
["Here you go kid. I was thinking about what to give to you and was about to hand down one of my powerful skills, but imagine my surprise that you didn't even have something as basic as the ability to appraise stuff. Anyways, thanks for freeing me from that infernal crystal, and like damning the universe when you die or something."]
Alex blinked and stopped dead in his tracks, coming to a halt on the dirt path he had been walking on.
"Oh, you just now saw my gift? I know right. No need to thank me, I'm pretty awesome. Can't believe I was gonna give you a Hellfire ability when you couldn't even appraise stuff. Everyone's gotta be able to appraise things, that's like magic basics." Arburnok sounded awfully proud of himself, like he hadn't just handed Alex the biggest pile of shit ever as a gift.
He didn't really know how to feel. The Inspect skill was important, and it was something Alex had planned on getting at some point. But to be given it as a gift by Arburnok? It felt like he had been slapped in the face and then kicked in the balls repeatedly. How in the world was this a gift? How could Arburnok be so pleased with himself?
Maybe he was just being ungrateful, but a Hellfire ability sounded like a much better gift. Instead, he had been given one of the most basic skills out there, according to the Daemon. "Seriously? That's the gift you gave me?"
"Aha, I knew you could still speak! There goes my idea about you not liking me or something, that would've been awkward." Alex bit back the retort he had and let the Daemon continue to rumble on. "Yes! That's my gift. You like it? Stupid question, you love it! I knew you would."
"It's-"
"Fantastic? Marvelous? Absolutely amazing? The best gift you've ever gotten?"
"It's okay." It went eerily quiet after that. The extremely talkative Daemon finally shut up, and Alex couldn't be more happy about it. Arburnok had not stopped talking ever since he had woken up, always going on about how cool and great he was. Having some peace and quiet again felt nice.
At least it did feel nice. Alex had started jogging again, trailing the now visible and heavy footprints of the warlord. He was getting closer to catching the bastard.
The problem was that Arburnok hadn't said anything for a solid fifteen minutes. Now Alex didn't really trust or like the Daemon, but he had kinda gotten used to the annoyance.
No. Nope. Absolutely not. There was no way Alex actually missed having the master of manipulation talk to him. Had he somehow offended Arburnok? He shook the idea off; so what if he did? The Daemon was a lying pain in the ass that forced Alex to make a deal with him so he could free from his prison.
At least with Arburnok being quiet he would be able to think clearly without having his thoughts interrupted every other second. It wasn't like Alex had intentionally wanted to offend or hurt the Daemon's feelings, he was just being honest. Getting the Inspect skill was nice. There were better gifts he could've been given, but what he got was just okay.
God, he sounded like such an entitled prick. If anything, he was acting like those rich brats who got given everything. He had seen them get plenty of gifts that were later thrown in the trash. Gifts that he would have loved to have been given in his previous life.
And he would be damned if he ever became one of those arrogant little shits.
"Hey Arburnok… I do like your gift. It's nice, and it's something I didn't have, so I appreciate it." It was Alex's turn to be stumped. He had tried sounding as sincere as possible, but no response was forthcoming. Shit. He was gonna have to try harder to get the Daemon to talk again.
"Seriously, it's a really good and thoughtful gift." Alex couldn't believe things had come to this. He, a human, was trying to placate a Greater Daemon about the fact that he had given a mediocre gift. Why did he even care in the first place? He couldn't seriously enjoy having Arburnok around, right? "You were right. It's the best gift I've ever gotten."
"Really?" There was a certain hope in Arburnok's rough sounding voice that made Alex feel bad. It was like he actually did offend the Daemon. "You really mean that?" He sounded so dejected and deflated, it was as if all the jovial cheeriness had been sapped from Arburnok because Alex had said his gift was just okay.
"Of course." The irony wasn't lost on Alex. He was lying his ass off to someone who had spent centuries, if not more, lying and twisting the truth about far more important things. "It really is an amazing gift, it'll help me out a lot." That part wasn't a lie. Being able to inspect things and discern their true properties would be really beneficial. Alex just hoped Arburnok would buy into it.
"YES! I knew you would! Man, you really had me going there for a second. I thought you really didn't like my gift." Like a balloon being inflated, the usual bright attitude and ecstatic tone to Arburnok's voice had returned. "Hells, I even started to think you didn't like me. Crazy right? No one has ever not liked me before."
"Yep, that's super crazy." Alex mentally rolled his eyes as he spoke. Not only did he have a manipulative self-centered Daemon whose every other word spoken was a lie living in his head, he had a dramatic manipulative self-centered Daemon whose every other word spoken was a lie living in his head.
"Well that's good Alexander. You and me, friends till the end of your life. Fighting the universe and kicking ass while we do it." Arburnok's laugh brought a slight smile to Alex's face, before it quickly faded.
Could he really be friends with a creature that was probably counting down the days until Alex shoved off his mortal coil? Could he genuinely form a friendship with the being that was using him as a vessel?
Yes, he could. Eliza and Ajax were the only two other people that Alex would consider his friends, and that was being generous given the circumstances that had transpired. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have more friends in this life. "Yeah Arburnok. You and me. Friends."
Till the end of my life.