Graham, who now looked like the average factory worker, was walking steadily in the street that was getting dark. The brown watch that he was wearing showed six in the evening, and the orange sky was gradually becoming pink and blue. People were rushing out of their offices to get home after working the whole day.

"Val, for tonight I'll just use my ability to make the hotel receptionist allow me to stay without an identity card. But we need to move to a different one tomorrow and get our new identity card as soon as we can," he muttered.

He kept walking towards the west, farther away from Tuinstraat. He was currently on Grotemarktstraat and was just walking to a hotel in the distance called 'Tom's Hotel'. It was a three-story hotel that looked quite old. The architectural style was a testament to the old days and the paint on the wall had begun peeling. It was not the best there was, but it was enough for him to stay the night in.

Graham pushed open the wooden double doors at the entrance and heard the chime of a bell placed at the top. In the small hotel lobby that was painted in the color of lime, there was a reception desk on the other end with an old woman standing behind it, smiling at him. Graham walked past the old wooden furniture in the lobby to the receptionist; the sound of ceiling fan spinning added to the classic atmosphere of the hotel.

"Hello, can I book a room for one night?" he asked. His voice had turned into that of Christian Barnhart's high-pitched voice that had a slight crisp.

The old woman that looked to be in her sixties didn't respond.

"Excuse me!" said Graham louder.

The old woman was still smiling without saying anything back.

"Hello! Can you hear me?" said Graham even louder. He waved his hand in front of the smiling lady, but she still didn't respond.

Graham then stayed quiet and perked up his ears. Only then, he could hear the faint snoring coming from the smiling old lady in front of him. She was sleeping in her chairs with her eyes open and a smile on her face!

"Val, what should we do? We can just go up to a random room, use Order to unlock the door, and stay the night without anyone knowing. But it will leave a bad taste in my mouth," he muttered.

Graham then leaned closer to the old woman and stretched his hands far away from each other. He then brought his both hands closer to each other in a swift motion and created the loudest clap that he could make.

Clap!!

"Fucking shit who woke me up!!" shouted the old lady suddenly. The smile on her face was replaced by a frown and her eyes were blinking rapidly.

She then saw Graham who was standing in front of her and quickly regained her composure.

"Ah, I'm sorry dear customer. I was talking to myself, ohoho..." she said with a warm voice.

Graham raised his eyebrows and then looked over his shoulder.

"Val, she is definitely not what I expected her to be. It's a reminder to us not to judge a book by its cover," he muttered quietly and then turned to the old woman, "It's fine. Can I rent a room for one night, please?"

The old woman looked at him from head to toe.

"Of course, of course. Can I borrow your identity card, dear?" she said sweetly.

Graham then leaned closer to her and looked at the old woman in the eye.

"I am sorry but I lost my identity card. You will allow me to stay one night without it, won't you? I really need a favor here and I know I can count on you, Ma'am." he said with a very convincing tone.

The old woman felt like there was something about the man's eyes that made her want to do what he just asked. She nodded slowly in confusion and then returned to normal. It was apparent that Graham's persuasion had worked on her and in her mind, it was just something very acceptable to do.

"Sure, sure. The rate per night is two stuivers, dear customer," said the old woman.

Graham nodded.

"I'll pay upfront and tomorrow I'll just leave the key here when I check out," he said while taking out his wallet.

He took out two one-stuiver bills from his wallet and handed it to the old woman.

"Sure, sure, it's fine. Here is the key. Your room is on the third floor, number 313. Enjoy your stay, dear customer," said the old woman with a friendly smile.

Looking at the old receptionist, Graham wouldn't have believed that she could curse like that if he hadn't seen it first hand. She just looked like a sweet old lady who was very kind to young people. He took the key from her wrinkled hand and walked up the stairs that were right next to the reception desk.

The steps in the hotel were just like how it was in his apartment building; the wooden panels creaked whenever he put his weight on them. He tried to walk up as lightly as he could; however, it was difficult using his current body because the fitness level of Christian was too low, despite him being thinner than Graham.

He reached the third floor not long after and went directly to room number 313 as said on the key chain. Graham inserted the key into the keyhole and twisted it gently to unlock the door. There was a click and the door was unlocked for him to open.

"This will be where we're staying for the night, Val," he muttered.

In front of him was an old room that smelled like it was freshly moped. The wooden furniture looked like it came from the 40s and even the bedsheet had the pattern that was typical of an old household. The room, which was painted in the same lime color as the rest of the hotel, gave off a strange feeling of nostalgia.

"This hotel is actually not bad, Val. It feels like we're at Grandma's house, although we never met ours. It's too bad we're technically staying here illegally, so if there was an inspection, we would be busted," he said as he hung his coat on the rack.

Graham sat in the rocking chair by the window while looking outside through the glass. He started rocking back and forth lazily in the chair.

"We'll warn Luuk tonight when he is out to steal. But first, let's divine who our enemies are,"

He took out a black lighter from his pocket and lit a fire.

"I ask that the flame float in the air," he commanded and the small flame began rising to the air away from the lighter. It was now burning with Graham's stamina as the fuel, so he could save up on lighter fluid.

Looking at the tiny floating flame, he began concentrating and asked a question in his mind.

'Who are the enemies who ambushed me at my apartment?'

The flame in front of him grew brighter but instead of showing him an image, he instead got a splitting headache. Graham held his head in pain and started massaging his temples with both hands. The floating flame in front of him gradually became normal afterward.

"Someone is interfering with my divination? Does the enemy have a Shroud? That's likely the case and that means divination directed at them will be useless," he said while massaging the back of his head now with his right hand.

"I can try to divine the condition of the apartment, but the target just won't show in my divination. This is tricky, Val. We need to gather intelligence another way."

"Maybe we should just report it to the Police, but that way, we're also giving away our identity as a Contractbound, Val. There is no way members of the Place Society would just stalk a normal person's apartment, is there?"

Graham then looked at his briefcase that was lying on the floor near the queen-sized and issued an order.

"I order you to come here!"

The heavy briefcase flew towards him like there was a piece of string tied to it being pulled strongly. Graham caught the briefcase skillfully and then unzipped it to see the content. He took out the thick ancient book and put the briefcase back down next to him.

"For now, this is what we can do," he said.

Graham leaned back in the rocking chair comfortably and then looked at the tiny floating flame near him. The room had gotten a little colder for his taste.

"I ask that the flame burn brighter!"

Once he issued the order, the flame became bigger and it emanated warmth to its surrounding. Feeling much more comfortable, he began to open the thick ancient book in his hands. He had read most of the contents that were unsealed, so he quickly went to the part where the pages were blank.

"The author mentioned we could use our own power to unseal these pages. I think he meant using divination, just like how we unsealed the door to the room where the book was kept,"

Graham looked at the burning fireball in front of him and concentrated. He also asked a question in his mind.

'How do I break the seal on these pages?'

Slowly, an image began to form in the core of the fireball and it showed him the very same book that he was holding. Words began to be burned onto the pages and when he looked at the real book in his hands, the words also began forming there. Once the pages in the divination were filled, the image disappeared and the content of the pages in his hand was now readable.

"That was easy enough," he said proudly with a cheeky smile.

Graham began reading the pages before him.

'Being a Contractbound is both a blessing and a curse. On one side, you are granted abilities that normal humans could only dream to obtain; on the other side, you are bound by blood with all the Deities you have been in a contract with. This bond is eternal and there is no way of breaking it, even if you lose all your power.'

'Some truths regarding Contractbounds that I have managed to gather. The Deities are currently at war with another entity and by granting us power, they are also empowering themselves. How you ask? Once a Contractbound dies, their soul goes to the Deities they are bound to and split equally among them. The soul then becomes part of the Deities and that's how they get stronger.'

'That is also why dead Contractbounds don't leave any bodies behind. They all go to their respective Deities. Contractbounds also cannot become lingering spirits or other undead beings for the sole reason that their souls no longer exist. They forever become part of the Deities and will become their fuel in their war.'

'I don't know more about the war of the Deities and even the information above is a highly guarded secret. I only managed to learn of it by chance and have never told anyone about it except the reader(s) of this book. I believe that once I get stronger, I can learn more about the truth.'

'Knowing this, now you know why I call being a Contractbound a curse. The promise of a beautiful afterlife that our parents and grandparents kept telling us about is nothing but a fleeting dream for us. Only eternal darkness is waiting for us once we die. That's why try your best to live as long as you can. Our natural lifespan is increased naturally as well, so at least we have that going for us.'

Graham stopped reading and processed the information he had just read. He then combined the information he had just got with the mural he once saw with Luuk inside the cave.

"It says the Deities are at war. Do you think they are at war against the beings called 'Cherub', Val? Just like the mural that we saw; it depicted the Deity of Fire Divination with legions of spirit fighting against a Cherub with his army of angels. It was also described that the angels were 'degenerate'. I wonder what they are and why they are at war," he said analytically. The voice of Christian Barnhart being used to analyze a situation didn't sound right in his ears.

"Now about the fate that awaits us upon death. It does sound bad that our souls will simply become a part of the Deities. We should also research some ways to prevent that from happening if it is possible. Although I doubt with our current power we can do anything. We can't even defend our home, Va," said Graham with a heavy tone.

He then looked up at the wooden ceiling and let his mind wander. He was thinking of the innocent life he had been living just until a month ago before he became a Contractbound. He was just a normal detective who solved mostly missing pet cases and on some rare occasions, affair cases. He had never thought that he would get entangled in something this dangerous.

"We just do what we must, Val. Let's continue reading for now," he said solemnly.

Graham turned to the next page and read the heading that caught his attention right away. His eyes opened wide and his heart beat faster from excitement.

'Known Information Regarding Marquis Rank Contractbounds.'