Lewd System: Every Scream and Moan is EXP

Chapter 397: Chapter 397: The Fine Print

After the slaying of Hercules, Athanor sat spacing out in his chamber, replaying the humiliation he’d suffered at that academy over and over across the past few days.

And for the life of him he couldn’t work out what was wrong with him.

She was the first person who had ever humiliated him like that and then simply walked away entirely unharmed.

She was also, inconveniently, the first to ever ring a single bell inside that hollow chest of his.

So the monstrous duke of the southern reach spent night after sleepless night with her face refusing to leave him, until at last he made up his mind.

He used the one-time privilege granted to every celestial. The spell that let a man keep his eye on a single chosen target down in the mortal realm before binding them to a contract.

And the moment he laid eyes on her again, an inexplicable relief washed clean through him. So the turmoil that had haunted him for days hadn’t been some passing illusion after all.

He watched her shake down the noble bullies of the academy like a common thug, cornering them in a stairwell with all the menace of a small violet-haired bandit.

He studied her for hours, right up until the spell began scraping the edge of its limit, and only then did he finally reach out through its telepathy.

“Lysia L. Valterre. I have been observing you for some time, and I have taken a liking…”

A pause.

“…I mean, a liking to your prowess. Therefore, I have chosen you as my disciple. This contract will not bind your will. You are free to accept it, or to decline it.”

Athanor had come armed with several layers of careful, indirect persuasion. Every one of them shattered the instant she lit up like a festival lantern.

“Hold on, hold on.” Her voice bubbled with excitement. “Are you for real right now? Am I actually the chosen one? Like in the fairy tales?”

Because Lysia had heard those tales. The ones about celestials who reached down and picked out a single mortal, showered them with blessings, and turned them into legends.

She’d also been quietly picking through her mother’s research for years, Archmage Rashida’s own study of the celestials, which meant she was more than a little invested in the subject.

And her dream had always been simple. Become their chosen hero, climb until she stood in a league entirely of her own, and look down on the whole weak world from up there.

And now that exact dream had come knocking politely on her door.

“But…” She squinted at the empty air. “How am I supposed to trust you? For all I know you’re some demon doing a bad celestial impression to trick me.”

“As I said before,” Athanor replied flatly. “The choice is yours. Accept, or decline. I have no intention of proving my identity to you.”

“Ahem. I was only joking, obviously.” She rubbed the back of her neck with an embarrassed grin, because she wanted that power very, very badly. “You’re not going to revoke the blessing over a little joke, right?”

“It makes this simpler if you already know of celestials and of the blessing,” Athanor said. “So I’ll assume you also know what we expect from our chosen, and what we provide in return.”

“Well…” Lysia scratched at her cheek. “The only part I really paid attention to was the becoming absurdly strong part.”

“Then allow me to explain the price of the blessing I offer.”

“Every celestial demands something different of their chosen. My condition is a simple one. Over the next five years, you will grow stronger under my guidance, and when the time comes, you will represent me in a tournament.”

“I will personally aid your growth throughout those five years. Furthermore, I shall guarantee your safety. Until the tournament concludes, and beyond it if need be, I will protect your life to the fullest extent of my ability.”

His voice stayed as level as still water. “I have no intention of raising you as a sacrificial pawn. If it’s necessary, I shall swear an oath upon my own name to prove it.”

Lysia’s eyes practically glowed. “Oh, what a gentleman you are. How could I ever have doubted you?”

She didn’t spare his clause so much as a second thought. Her mind had already sprinted off ahead, arms full of power.

“Right, then. Everything’s cleared up.” She clapped her hands together. “Tell me where I sign. Bring the contract, bring the ritual, bring all of it. Every second we sit here chatting is another second I’m not getting stronger.”

“Not that I’m desperate or anything. I’m simply eager to live up to your expectations.”

Athanor let out a quiet sigh from his chamber, finally understanding why they always said mortals were far too easy to fool.

Though in fairness, he hadn’t actually needed to deceive her at all. Lysia had been so thoroughly blinded by the greed of power that she’d gone ahead and done the convincing entirely by herself.

Some time passed, and the arrangements were made and finished. As the ritual and the soul-binding completed, Lysia felt her body begin to change, felt it tearing itself apart from somewhere deep inside.

Where any other soul would have been screaming raw, she was enjoying it, because her mind was already drifting through visions of the future, of herself standing at the very pinnacle of the world, looking down on all the mortal pests below.

Set against a dream like that, the pain barely registered.

When it was over, a golden gate bloomed open in front of her, and Athanor’s voice came through one last time. “Step in.”

And once again, without a single thought, Lysia stepped in.

The instant that blinding light faded, she found herself standing in a lavish room she’d never seen before in her life.

That was when a familiar voice spoke up behind her. “Welcome to Luminera, Miss Lysia Valterre.”

She spun around, beaming. “Benefactor! Gods, you scared me for a sec—”

Her voice died in her throat.

Because there stood a man calmly wrapping up a stack of paperwork. And she knew that face instantly. It was the very same one that had been staring at her like a common pervert only a few days ago.

“You…”

Athanor ignored her entirely, tucking the files away and sliding the drawer shut, already turning to leave his own chamber.

Lysia lunged and grabbed him by the collar. “What the hell are you doing here, you creep?”

“That is quite the downgrade,” Athanor replied. “Moments ago, I was your gentleman.”

Lysia went stiff as stone as the truth finally caught up with her. This man. This stalker. He’d been her benefactor the entire time.

“You cheater. You tricked me. You lured me straight into your trap.” Her grip tightened. “I was a fool for believing in those celestial tales, and a creep like you went and took advantage of it.”

Her anger flared over, and her hand snapped up, hovering inches from his skull, mana already gathering hot in her palm. “Answer me honestly, before I blast your head into pieces. Who are you? What do you want from me? And what kind of contract did you force me into?”

Athanor stood there at gunpoint with no emotion on his face and not a flicker of fear in him. “I have told you before. I have no interest in proving my identity. But I will say it one final time. I am a celestial. And if you still doubt it, then look for yourself.”

He walked to the window and drew back the curtain.

And what Lysia saw beyond the glass was not her world. The sky wasn’t blue. It was an endless expanse of pale silver, with ribbons of golden light drifting through it in place of clouds.

Her eyes darted next to the stars, lively and shimmering and far too close. And nowhere among them could she find a sun.

Every last thing out that window told her the same impossible truth.

“This is Luminera,” Athanor said. “The upper realm, where the celestials reside. And as for your next question, what it is I want from you, I believe I answered all of that already. I want you to grow at my side, under my watch, for the next five years, and to ultimately stand beside me in a tournament. That is the entirety of it.”

Lysia’s mind was racing, weighing, calculating. “I still don’t buy it. There’s absolutely something you’re hiding from me, something I can’t put my finger on yet. So let’s just call the whole deal off right here.”

“I’m afraid I cannot do that,” Athanor said. “You signed for this yourself. And now you don’t get to go back on your word.”

Lysia clicked her tongue. “Fine. I’ll honor the stupid contract. At least until I catch you plotting whatever it is you’re plotting.”

She flapped a hand at him. “Now open the portal back to my world, I’ve got a class to attend. Oh, and one more thing. Whatever training you were going on about had better fit around my schedule, because as you can plainly see, I’m a very busy girl.”

“I believe there has been a misunderstanding, Miss Lysia.”

“…You will not be returning to the mortal realm. For the next five years, Luminera will be your home. That is the duration of our contract.”