Kody stared blankly as he processed her question. The last thing he had expected was to get a job offer, and he would most likely have taken it up if he hadn't just made up his mind to leave the fighting lifestyle behind, although he hardly believed he had a choice right now.
He didn't know the horrors that roamed this forest, but from how cautious the group acted he doubted he would be able to survive it.
Additionally, she seemed to have an endless supply of food, which was also a plus.
The best option for him right now was to accept her offer for now, and if things got too hard later on, he could simply retreat.
"One more thing," she continued. "If you swear your loyalty to me it would be possible to get your arm back." She pointed at his left shoulder.
This made Kody's eyes glow; the offer was simply too tempting. He couldn't afford to remain like this—with one arm—for much longer. It had not only thrown off his balance, but there was no way he could fight like this. If he hadn't been discovered by the team he would most likely be dead right now.
Back on earth, he hadn't been the best fighter, but he could definitely hold his own against the lesser abominations, and for the greater ones, he could escape.
Seeing as the pros far outweighed the cons, he decided to take up her offer.
"Okay, I'll join your men."
A smile blossomed as she spoke, "You've made the right decision, Kody."
She picked up the sword on her lap that glistened under the flame and handed it to him. "Cut yourself."
"Wait, what?" Kody was immediately off-put by the order. He shifted slightly, his paranoid mind not fully over the events that had happened earlier in the day.
"Your blood, I need your blood for the contract," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. Rubbing the dimensional ring on her finger, a piece of paper appeared in her palm out of thin air and she also stretched it to him.
After a moment of thought, he whispered, "Whatever." She clearly had no intentions of harming him, so he didn't have a reason to think this was some sort of ploy.
He slid his finger on the edge of the sword and gritted his teeth in pain. But he didn't drop his blood on the paper just yet.
"Anything I need know before doing this?"
What he got for a reply was a chuckle, and she said, "You're a cautious one."
I wouldn't be alive if I wasn't.
"I have no plans to take advantage of you, the contents of the contract are simple: you will not be able to harm me during your time under the contract; as long as it's not an absurd request, you'll have to comply with my orders—I'd still compensate you, depending on how well you do the job. The contract only lasts for five years, although you could break it if you become more powerful than me.
"Also, I would be in charge of your well-being during this period, meaning your survival would be my responsibility. That's good enough, right?"
In the case that she wasn't lying then that was indeed good enough. He doubted that was all there was to it, but he wasn't in the best position to bargain right now.
He let out a sigh and a drop of his blood fell on the paper. All of a sudden, the piece of paper went into flames out of thin air.
Kody jerked at this sight, but Aphena just sat there and watched it burn.
Just then, the system appeared before him, displaying new information.
___
You have entered a contract with Aphena Evilion
Details
Type E+ contract—Breakable.
Duration—5 years.
Specifics:
Contractor (Aphena Evilion) has minor control of Contractee's actions. In return, Contractor must be in charge of the Contractee's well-being and also repair the Contractee's lost arm.
Note: Control is heavily dependent on Contractors Evolution Level.
___
This wasn't the first time Kody had stumbled upon a contract, but it was definitely the first time he himself had entered one. From his knowledge, there was a group of people back on earth who had made contracts with the red sun. Sources say they all went insane.
The contract he had entered clearly wasn't a high-tier one, although he was still subject to it. If he could evolve then he would most likely be able to escape it. Probably.
"Good," Aphena said, turning to him. "I can now take care of you as I do with the others."
That statement made Kody a bit unsettled. What did she mean by take care of? He wasn't some child. In fact, they were about the same age.
"You mean the others…"
"Yes, they signed contracts too, the same as yours. I… don't like it when people are hard to control. The contract makes us get along really well, don't worry, you'll get used to life around here."
It wasn't a good feeling knowing that someone could order you around. He didn't know how it worked. Nor did he have an idea of what would happen if he disobeyed her.
But he didn't even have the urge to try it out. That was most likely an effect of the contract, he concluded. His trust in her had increased.
"Now that you're a member of the team, I feel I should inform you why we're here."
His ears became attentive. He had no prior knowledge of this world and whatever she was about to say would most likely give him the knowledge he needed of this place.
"I'll start from scratch," she began. "We're currently in the Great Blood Forest which is the most unexplored forest in the entirety of Elonia. Our goal is this."
She retrieved the image of a creature from her dimensional ring and handed it to him.
After taking a good look at it, Kody had no idea what it was.
"So, this is…?"
"It's a Wyvern, one of the three legendary monsters that oversee everything that happens in this forest."
Kody searched through his brain, and he had indeed heard stories of Wevens or whatever she called them. Mostly in tales of dragons shared at the facility. This was his first time seeing what one actually looked like.
"So you want to kill it?"
Aphena burst into laughter, cackling side by side with the dying flame.
She stopped after a while and replied, "Even if I were a thousand times more powerful than I currently am, I wouldn't dare to do such a thing. That would be the height of folly."
"So what business do we have with it?"
She took a deep breath and her expression turned serious.
"Less than a month ago the aura of the blood dragon returned after a thousand years. This caused the Wyvern and the other two legendary creatures to leave the forest in haste."
Pausing, she allowed Kody to digest the information.
Blood Dragon… is that why they named this place the blood forest? If so then it must be really powerful.
Aphena continued, "We currently have no idea where the other two legendary creatures went. But the Wyvern was spotted at Drodemia and it is currently being subjugated."
"If it isn't here, then what exactly are you looking for?"
"Have a little patience," she said while cleaning her blade. "Under normal circumstances, this is the rare birthing period of the Wyvern.
"And since it fled, there is no one to protect its eggs. Our job is to find and retrieve those eggs and any other thing of value it left behind."
Kody could feel that he had stumbled on some sort of legendary heist. No sane person would steal the children of such a powerful creature. Perhaps, the people in this nation weren't so sane.
"Do you have an idea of where it lays eggs?"
She nodded. "Yes, we have a rough idea. We'll be heading out to scout tomorrow, and you will be following us."
"Me?"
Well, I guess they can't really leave me alone.