World Awakening: The Legendary Player-Chapter 89: Contract

Nox opened his eyes.

He wasn’t in the Proving Ground anymore. He was floating in an endless, empty gray space. There was no ground, no sky, just a featureless void that stretched on forever. He tried to move, but his body felt heavy and slow, like he was trapped in thick syrup.

Then he saw the eye.

It was bigger than a car, a massive orb of molten gold with a slit of a pupil that was a crack of pure darkness. The eye blinked, a slow, world-ending movement, and he realized it was attached to a face. A face covered in scales that were each the size of a dinner plate, a snout so vast he could have parked a truck inside one of its nostrils.

He was looking at a dragon.

The sheer pressure of its presence was a physical weight, crushing him from all sides. His lungs felt tight, and a cold sweat broke out on his skin. This was nothing like Fena’s power. Her power was a mountain, something ancient and unmovable. This was a universe. It was an existence so far beyond his own that his mind could barely even process it.

’W-what the hell is this overwhelming presence?’ he thought, his mind struggling to form a coherent thought.

A voice rumbled through the gray void, a sound so deep and powerful that it vibrated in his very bones.

"So, the little insect awakens."

The dragon’s massive head moved a fraction of an inch closer, and the universe seemed to tilt. Its golden eye focused on him. He felt like a bug under a magnifying glass.

"You have something of mine, human," its voice echoed, each word a peal of thunder. "Something precious. Something you could not have possibly obtained through your own meager power."

Nox’s mind raced. ’Something of its? What is it talking about?’

"I came here to extinguish your insignificant life and reclaim what was stolen," the dragon continued, its voice a low, terrifying growl. "I came for my child."

It clicked. There was only something in his possession that fits that description. The egg from Auraelia. This thing was its mother. He was about to die because of a gift.

He tensed, his Corrupted Mana coiling instinctively in his chest, a pathetic little snake preparing to strike at a sun. He knew it was useless. He couldn’t fight this. He couldn’t even run.

The dragon’s massive snout lowered, its hot breath washing over him like the blast from a furnace. "That was goal when I came here," it paused, its golden eye narrowing slightly. "But then I saw something amusing."

It leaned in even closer, its voice dropping to a conspiratorial rumble. "I watched you, little anomaly. I watched you challenge the Elf Elder. You were outmatched, outclassed in every conceivable way. You were a gnat trying to fight a storm."

A strange, deep chuckle vibrated through the void. "And yet, you did not break. You were beaten, humiliated, but your will... it did not bend. Even as your body failed, you landed a hit. A pathetic, meaningless touch, but a hit nonetheless."

It pulled back slightly. "That interested me. Your will is stronger than your body. Stronger than your power. You have a darkness in you, a cold, hard thing that refuses to die. Perhaps that is why the egg found its way to you."

Nox just floated there, ’What is it getting at?’

"So I have changed my mind," it declared. "Killing you would be a waste of an interesting specimen. Instead, I will offer you a contract."

’A contract?’

"You will become the guardian of my child," it explained. "You will protect the egg. You will see that it hatches, and that the hatchling is kept safe. You will be its vessel, its protector, until it is strong enough to stand on its own."

He stared. "And what do I get out of it?" The words came out before he could stop them, a flash of his usual defiant arrogance.

The dragon’s massive eye seemed to crinkle at the edges, a terrifying approximation of a smile. "You get to live," it said simply. "And perhaps, if you do your duty well, you will earn a reward worthy of my gratitude. A scale from my hide. A drop of my blood. Such things could remake a mortal like you."

He thought about it. It wasn’t a choice. It was a command disguised as an offer. Refuse, and he was dead. Accept, and he was a glorified babysitter for a god-dragon’s unborn kid.

But he would be a living babysitter.

"And if I agree?" he asked.

"Then our contract will be sealed," it said. "A mark will be placed upon you. A brand that will declare to all who can see it that you are under my watch. It will protect you from those who would try to take the egg by force, and it will allow me to observe my child’s progress through your eyes."

It was a leash, then. A way for this cosmic monster to keep tabs on him. But it was also a shield.

He looked at the golden eye, at the universe of power swirling within it. He had no other move to make.

"Fine," he said. "I accept."

"Excellent."

The dragon’s claw, impossibly large, moved towards him. A single, sharp point of light flared on the tip. It touched the back of his hand.

A searing pain shot up his arm. It was a pain that went beyond physical, branding his very soul. He cried out, his voice swallowed by the endless gray.

Then, everything went black.

---

His eyes opened.

The first thing he felt was a heavy weight on his wrists. He looked down and saw thick, black chains. They were connected to the stone wall behind him. He was sitting on a cold floor in a small, dark room.

’Chains? Seriously?’ he thought, his head aching. He remembered the dragon in that gray place, the contract, and the pain. He looked at the back of his right hand. A new mark was there. It was a black tattoo of a dragon’s eye, and it felt a little warm.

He tried to pull at the chains. They were heavy and didn’t budge. He focused on them, his mind quiet.

’Void Gaze.’

A blue screen that only he could see appeared.

[Ashen-Forged Shackles (Rare)]

[Description: Chains forged by Ashen Elf smiths. They are enchanted to suppress mana.]

[Weakness: The locking mechanism is old and can be broken with enough force.]

’Suppress mana, huh? And a weak lock.’ He felt the Corrupted Mana inside him. It was quiet, but it was still there. The chains made it feel... heavy. Hard to use. freewebnσvel.cøm

The door to the room creaked open.

Elder Fena walked in. She stood there for a moment, her eyes looking at him. Mela was right behind her, but she looked worried.

"You are awake, human," Fena said. Her voice cold.

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