“——— It’s over.”
“Ah! Good job!”
When I returned home from the dungeon, an unusually excited old man greeted me.
It seemed that he already knew I had defeated the evil god.
“So… you’ll make the contract properly, right?”
“Of course! However, you should rest for now. We can finalize the contract tomorrow.”
“Ah… I’ll take your advice.”
I decided to follow the old man’s suggestion and rest my body for the time being.
“To think you defeated it in just one day… The future looks promising.”
— Five days later.
During these five days, I was plagued with severe muscle pain throughout my body.
The cause was obvious.
——— The use of 《Thunder Man》, 《Thunder Slash》, and 《Takeminakata》.
No matter how much I converted my body to magical power, I was still human and would return to my physical form.
Even though I was already overusing my body in 《Thunder Man》 form, using 《Takeminakata》 added even more strain.
However, it seems there are still about ten days until the entrance exam, so if I recover by then, there should be no problem.
Although, it seems I won’t be able to use magic today.
So, naturally——— the contract was postponed for these five days.
Well, since the contract involves sharing and completely linking each other’s magical powers through magic, it wouldn’t make sense to proceed without being able to use magic.
But finally, today, after five days, I got the OK from the old man.
Since my muscle pain was almost completely healed, he judged that I should be fine.
“So——— where exactly are we going?”
I asked the old man, who was walking ahead of me.
Currently, I was being led by the old man somewhere.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know the destination, so I had no choice but to ask him…
“We’re almost there.”
That’s all I was told as we continued walking for several hours.
Even I was reaching my limit of patience.
“Hey, old man———”
“We’ve arrived.”
Just as I was about to complain to the old man, he announced our arrival.
Tch… What perfect timing… If he had been a little later, I would have vented my frustration.
“…So, where is this place?”
In front of me, instead of being in the forest as I was a moment ago, I was now suddenly on top of the clouds.
Moreover, the ground was clouds, and looking up, there were clouds above as well.
Furthermore, the clouds in the sky were storm clouds, with lightning containing magical power equal to or greater than my lightning magic, falling down. A single strike could kill me.
“…It looks like, no matter how you think about it, this isn’t a normal place.”
I was brought to a place I had never seen in games, and I was somewhat surprised.
To think that even after playing the game repeatedly, there were places I didn’t know… Hmm?
Come to think of it, with the previous evil god incident and this one, I realize there are quite a few things I don’t know.
“Well, you probably wouldn’t know. This is a world only accessible by me and my contract partner.”
“Oh… It’s the Unique Spirit Realm.”
“As expected of someone who knows the future of this world. That’s right, this is my Unique Spirit Realm.”
——— Unique Spirit Realm.
In simple terms, it is a general term for the world where spirits live.
However, only a handful of spirits possess their own Unique Spirit Realm, mainly those of royal or higher rank.
Others are in what is called a “Shared Spirit Realm,” where spirits of the same attribute live together.
The major difference between these two worlds is that the Unique Spirit Realm cannot be entered without permission from the owner, while in the Shared Spirit Realm, spirits of royal rank or higher can freely enter and exit.
So, while I’ve seen the Shared Spirit Realm of lightning spirits, I’ve never been to a Unique Spirit Realm before.
“…It’s quite a dangerous place.”
“Ho ho ho… Well, that’s true. However, if you make a contract with me, you will be able to use all the magical power here and gain the authority to enter and exit the Unique Spirit Realm.”
“Then let’s start quickly. I really don’t have much time.”
It’s a certainty that I’ll fall into a coma for the first two or three days after the contract.
Missing the entrance exam is no laughing matter.
“Ho ho ho, I understand. Then sit over there and close your eyes.”
The old man pointed to a one-person sofa made of clouds.
I sat down and closed my eyes, listening to the old man’s instructions.
“First, I will flow a bit of my magical power into your body. It will hurt due to the rejection reaction, but bear with it and accept my magic.”
“Understood.”
A few seconds after I responded, an intense pain surged through my entire body.
“——— Endure. Accept my magical power.”
“Ugh…!”
Following the old man’s serious tone, I wrapped the incoming magical power with my own magic and slowly changed its nature to match the old man’s magic.
Gradually, the intense pain throughout my body began to subside, and by the time my magic was on par with the old man’s, the pain had completely vanished.
“Alright, let’s move on. Shin, open your eyes.”
As instructed, I slowly opened my eyes.
In my vision, I could see the flow of magical power connecting the old man’s heart to mine.
“What is this…”
“That’s the base of our contract——— the Pass. Once the contract is made, this Pass will remain linked until death. Are you sure about this?”
“Yes. Please continue.”
“Alright, understood. Now, I will be transferring my magical power unilaterally. Now, you need to flow your magic to me.”
“……Understood.”
I slowly began to flow my magical power according to the flow.
Then, I started to feel the old man more strongly than before.
“Good. Now———”
The old man warned me not to panic even if my heart hurts, so I nodded.
“——— In the name of Zeus, the Thunder God, I appoint Shin as my contract partner———《Contract》.”
——— Thump.
My heart pounded violently, and immediately afterward, I felt a pain as if my heart was being grabbed.
However, as I endured the pain… a massive amount of magical power from the world flowed into my body.
Magical power converted into lightning erupted from my entire body and connected to the lightning falling into this world.
At that moment, lightning coursed through my body.
It felt like my body was being reconstructed.
“Ugh… aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!”
“Just a little more! Endure, Shin!!”
Barely regaining my consciousness from the old man’s shouting, I gritted my teeth and endured, clenching my fists until they bled.
My consciousness was almost gone.
But I———
“——— Can’t afford to fail here to protect Hera…!!”
——— Endured with sheer willpower.
“Ha… ha…”
“You’ve endured well. The contract is now complete.”
“I see…”
After the old man’s words, I lost consciousness.
