Chapter 5

Ancient Pact

"Tell me the truth, Duliri," Arthur declared as he approached the stack of books, seizing Duliri on his right hand. "Did my father really created you?"

"He did!"

"And he sacrificed his life to do so?" Arthur grimaced. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I know, however, as you've seen with your eyes," Duliri said earnestly. "Your words are absolute. I couldn't lie."

Arthur sucked a tired breath, gently letting Duliri go. "Then, I order you to answer my questions truthfully." He treaded to the nearest shelf from the door and picked up a book. His hand traced its title before he looked back to Duliri. "Why are my commands absolute?"

"Well, to put it simply, your mother cast the Enchantment of Absolution on me," Duliri said as Arthur picked up another book from the shelf.

"C'mon Duliri!" Arthur grunted, pushing back the book to where he took it. "You're making me more confused. I said make it simple, but please, make it clear too."

Duliri laughed, "My bad, I never thought that you are as impatient as your father."

Arthur darted a glare at him, not saying anything.

Duliri immediately stopped and cleared his nonexistent throat. "For starters, I believed that the Enchantment of Absolution makes an object exclusive to a particular being. And once enchanted with sentience, then any wish of that user becomes absolute. The item couldn't–"

"Wait!" Arthur interrupted, looking back at him. "It's possible to enchant sentience to an object?"

Duliri laughed, "Of course, Sir Arthur–"

"Drop the courtesy. Arthur is fine."

"Understood, Sir Ar… Arthur," he paused, verbally clearing his throat again. "Anyway, it is possible. Though to make one, one needs a soul."

"A soul?" Arthur laughed dryly. "You are a soul in a staff?"

"Exactly!" Duliri exclaimed. "Though I'm nothing more than a Pseudo soul."

"Pseudo Soul? Okay," he paused, taking another breath. "What is this pseudo soul?"

"Essentially, Superus Dupulu created souls to inhibit living organisms that capable of thinking and intelligence. When the material body dies, the souls leave and undergo a cycle of reincarnation," Dupulu explained. "Pseudo souls, on the other hand, are artificially created. And once the vessel dies or gets destroyed, we will only disperse to magical energy. Unfortunately, we couldn't reincarnate."

"Understood…" Arthur nodded, staring somewhere unseeingly. Then after a while, he asked, "Duliri, is it possible to retain your memories upon reincarnating?"

Duliri didn't reply for several seconds, but once he did, he began laughing. "You have a very wild imagination, Arthur. That's a good question, indeed!" He glided, drawing closer to Arthur. "I have to disappoint you, however. Because briefly after leaving the body, all the memories of the soul will be erased. The soul will be nothing but a Tabula Rasa."

"That makes sense," Arthur nodded. For the time being, he pushed the questions about his reincarnation away, not wanting Duliri to surmise unnecessary details. Then he got back to business and read the titles of many books on the first level of the first shelf. "Anyway, back to the first question." Arthur paused and glanced at Duliri. "I still don't understand why my father has to sacrifice himself to create you?"

"As I've said, Lord Leon created me for your use. However, we can deduce that he also did it for other purposes. Those, of course, I have no recollection of. Perhaps, Lady Allegia or Lord Leomord can answer your questions."

"I don't think granny will answer any of my questions," he answered, hesitance washing over him.

Leomord? I heard that name before, Arthur thought. He tried to recall his memories. It was at the corner of his tongue, but he couldn't figure it out. "Who is this Leomord guy?" he finally asked.

"Leomord guy?" Duliri laughingly said. "Now, I had no doubts that you are Lady Allegia's blood."

"Just answer my question!"

"Yes, yes, Arthur. If there's someone I fear more than Lady Allegia, it would be Lord Leomord. He's just no guy. Lord Leomord is your father's best friend and most trusted aid."

Arthur gave him a questioning stare, as though he made him more confused.

"Come here a minute, Arthur. It would be best to show you." Duliri hovered to the southern wall and opened a wooden chest with serpent carvings. Then, he urged Arthur to get three large paintings inside.

The first one was an image of a woman, who looked very similar to Katarina in her younger years, and a man. The man smiled awkwardly at the painter as he stiffly sat inside a wide ballroom. But what intrigued Arthur the most was his facial features. Arthur had only seen himself a few times in the mirror from Katarina's room, but he could clearly see himself to the man. The golden hair, the emerald eyes, even the mole below his chin – everything – reflected him as though he was staring at himself many years in the future.

"Is this my father?" Arthur asked, pointing at the man.

"Yes," Duliri replied. "And the woman is your mother."

"My mother? What's her name?"

Duliri didn't answer for a second, and with hesitance, he answered, "Lady Mondragon, yes, your mother is Lady Mondragon."

Arthur glanced with doubtful eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! You know I couldn't lie to you."

"Alright!" Arthur sighed in defeat. He didn't want to encourage more questions as there are too many to process. He put the first picture back into the chest and examined the second one. The same man sat in a golden chair, shaped and sculpted with two serpents, their mouth meeting at the center of the chair's back support. However, this time, as he glimpsed at the man behind his father, a chill ran on his spine. The man stood elegantly and wore no expression. Arthur stared at him with trembling hands. That silver hair, that body frame, he thought. His body hair stiffly stood.

"What's the problem, Arthur?" Duliri suddenly asked, taking him back to reality. Still, he was so anxious that he lost the ability to speak for a few seconds. "Oh! That man behind Lord Leon, that's who I am talking about. That is Lord Leomord."

"This is Leomord?" Arthur managed to ask, his voice trembling.

Duliri snickered, "I see. So you are also afraid of him."

Arthur didn't answer, but his silence confirmed it.

"Well, I can't blame you," Duliri inched closer and moved the second painting to show him the third one.

Arthur's eyes widened as a painting of an enormous beautiful white dragon filled him with awe. It wasn't the typical western dragons that he was used to seeing in movies. Instead, it had a striking resemblance to Chinese dragons. It flew in the starry sky with elegance, the hair on its back dancing against the wind. Two pairs of claws crossed on its chest and lower body.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Duliri commented.

"Yes," Arthur said mechanically, not taking his eyes away from the picture.

Duliri laughed again, and only Superus Dupulu knew how many times that night. "Beautiful, yes! But very deceitful, for that is Lord Leomord's true form."

"I can see that," Arthur replied, then he finally turned his eyes away and looked at Duliri. "But how did he became my father's aid?"

"That is a funny question," Duliri said. "Lord Leomord is your father's Tamed Dragon."

Arthur's eyes sparkled. "Tamed Dragon? As in my dad defeated a dragon and made him his pet?"

Duliri laughed his heart out, "No, no, no, Arthur, though your father do have the ability, he didn't. Lord Leon got his dragon from an Ancient Pact. Your father, grandfather, and great grandfather; all of them obtained a contract with a dragon at age ten," he paused and hovered a few inches from the floor. "So even you, Arthur, shall have your dragon in the future."

"Yeah right," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "You're messing with me again."

"Arthur, I am not," Duliri said seriously. "If your father's memories don't betray me, what I'm saying was nothing but the truth."

Arthur sighed, "Then, I'll take your word." But as he thought more about it, he felt the excitement building up on his chest. Dragon pet, huh? He thought, a smile gradually curving his lips as he returned the paintings on the wooden chest.

"Anyway, let's get back to the real business," Arthur said, going back to the shelves. "Where do I find the books for elementary magic?"

"Here," Duliri replied, gliding to a nearby shelf. "Just scrim through it again, and you'll find one."

Arthur obliged and took one book, one after another. He searched for a title that might contain the basic principles of magic. Though he was quite annoyed at Duliri, who promised to teach him the fundamental laws of magic, he couldn't understand his teachings. It was excessively verbose, and his instruction was ridiculous. In the end, he decided to find a book to teach him the ideas, which was his original plan.

"Small but Terrible, the Art of Insect Taming," he read, tracing the letters on the title page. He heaved a sigh and returned the book to the shelf, before glancing at Duliri behind him.

"Duliri, are you sure it's here? I'm almost done at the first level of this shelf, but I still couldn't find it! All of them are insect taming books!"

Duliri backed away. "Well…" he stammered. Arthur could see him looked away, if only he had a face. "It might be on that shelf, I'm pretty sure Lady Allegia said that she stacked the books based on difficulty. Books about Elementary Magic should be on the first level of these shelves."

"Okay, but do you think I should start looking there?" Arthur asked, pointing at the shelf in the far corner of the room.

"Maybe," Duliri answered. "She might have also sorted them from right to left, not just from bottom to top."

With a sigh, Arthur stood up and marched to the farthest shelf. He took the first book from his right, his eyes immediately lit up.

"MANA: The Fundamental Energy and Particles of Magic, Understanding the Principles of Perceiving and Controlling Mana, Volume One, by Cruxio Haftal."

"I found it, Duliri! I found it!" he exclaimed, jumping in delight, raising the book into the air. "I guess you are useful, after all."

Duliri laughed at his remark, "That's right, Arthur, you should trust me more."

"Nah," Arthur refuted with a sarcastic half-smile. "I'm good."

Arthur carefully placed the book on the floor. His eyes studied the cover, his eyes thumping. He took a breath before gently pressing his fingers to the title page. This is it, he thought. However, as soon as he flipped to the first page, footsteps echoed behind the door of the basement. Arthur and Duliri stared at each other for a second. Then, he closed the cover nervously and placed it back on the shelf.

"Where should I hide?"

"Come here," Duliri led Arthur in front of a large cabinet. "Open it, you can hide inside."

"Won't she notice?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "Let's just hope that she wouldn't."

"Fine," Arthur uttered in defeat. "Just close it properly, okay?" He added as he sat inside and embraced his folded knees. The light escaped his eyes after a brief delay as Duliri anxiously closed the lid, leaving it partly open. Arthur wanted to pull the tiny gap, but the iron door already bolstered forward.

"Serpent staff, are you there?" Katarina called, prompting Duliri to approach her. Though Arthur could barely see anything, he could picture Duliri trembling and sweating profusely, if only he had a body.

Good thing, he didn't have, Arthur thought.

"Yes, Lady Allegia, how can I help you?" Duliri answered with his usual playful voice.

"What have you been doing? I was hearing some vague noises when I was going down in here."

"Nothing, your ladyship," Duliri said. "I was only gliding around to soothe my boredom."

"Gliding around?" she grimaced. "Maybe you should try doing something more noteworthy."

"I'm afraid that I am nothing but a staff. I couldn't do anything without a master."

"Master? You mean my dear Arthur?" Katarina laughed. "You think I'm gonna entrust him to the likes of you?"

"Lady Allegia, with all due respect, the sole purpose of my existence is to be of use for Lord Arthur," Duliri said, his voice sounded so out of character that Arthur covered his mouth with both hands to contain his laughter. "If you truly believe that I am unworthy of him, then, I shall ask you to put a stop in this existence without a purpose," he added, then let himself fell on the floor as though a man prostrating.

Katarina, who witness the farce, couldn't contain her laughter. Arthur laughed discreetly as well, but he made the sound louder than intended. Katarina stopped and looked at his direction, which made him stop as well. She approached the cabinet, her steps unsure and slow. Arthur watched nervously. Please, no, he prayed. She held the rim of the parted lid while he gasped in horror, casting all the curse words he knew in his mind.

"They're moving," Katarina suddenly released the lid from her grip and turned to Duliri, looking at him severely. "You are permitted to leave the basement for now and command the Arisen," she added in a commanding voice, racing towards the Western corner of the room and grabbed a wooden staff. "Protect the house while I take care of some pesky spies from the Kingdom."

"As you wish, Lady Allegia."

As soon as Katarina left the room, Arthur emerged from the cabinet and asked, "What's happening?"

"I could answer your question, but now is not the time," Duliri answered, the color of the gemstone atop him changing to a reddish hue. "Go back to your room, Arthur, and do not leave," he paused, emphasizing his last words. "It's very dangerous outside."