A Contract with a Demon

"Come, sign a contract with me. I will give you endless knowledge. In return, all you need to do is offer up your useless soul after you die." Stavago said with a smile, emphasizing that it would only be after death.

That was right. The demon Stavago only wanted the soul after death, and this condition was incredibly tempting to humans.

The chances of successfully resurrecting the dead were absurdly low. Generally speaking, no one believed they could come back to life. Even if the magic was powerful enough, it was difficult to say whether the person would still be themselves after resurrection.

So, once a person died, they were dead. Their soul was useless anyway.

Moreover, Stavago had specifically explained that Dean only needed to contribute the knowledge within his soul. He would not torture the soul. That was an important condition of the contract.

So, trading something he would never need for something else that could provide him with tremendous help—wasn't that a huge profit?

"Little Dean, the decision is yours. Whether you sign the contract depends on whether you have confidence that you can become stronger than Stavago." Sanderson spoke eagerly, because in a few years, his soul would belong to Stavago.

"This... Mentor, do you think it's possible for me?" Dean couldn't help asking. After all, he was only a fifteen-year-old boy. Using his soul as the price required tremendous courage, but Dean seemed to lack courage in abundance.

"Anything is possible. What I failed to accomplish when I was young may not be impossible for you." Sanderson said.

"Hahaha, Fourth Generation, you really weren't wrong. If you hadn't failed back then, I might have had to wait another eighty or a hundred years." As he spoke, Stavago stuck out a small tongue and licked around his lips, as if he could hardly wait to taste Sanderson's soul.

Failed? Dean was somewhat confused. Had his mentor done something decades ago?

As if he knew what Dean was wondering, Sanderson said indifferently,

"Back then, I was only a step away from becoming a Sixth-Level Mage Mentor. Unfortunately, a minor error that shouldn't have occurred happened during a limb-transplantation procedure. It caused my Magic Vortex to rupture, and it nearly shattered completely." Sanderson spoke with a sigh.

He had been only a step away from becoming a Sixth-Level Mage Mentor? Wouldn't that mean he had been at the peak of a Fifth-Level Grand Mage?

As far as Dean knew, the entire Empire had only a handful of Mage Mentors protecting the royal family and the king.

His mentor had actually been that powerful.

Could he reach that height himself? Dean stood there in a daze for a moment. Did he have the confidence to become a Sixth-Level Mage Mentor?

No. Dean could tell himself with certainty that if he relied only on himself, a Fourth-Level Grand Mage would probably be his limit. He did not have the energy to study anything more.

Perhaps if he lived a little longer, he might advance further after reaching the Fourth- or Fifth-Level Grand Mage stage, but that would be as far as he went.

That was the reality for the vast majority of people in every profession, whether they were Mages, knights, or anything else.

Dean had no doubt that he would become one of them, dealing with all kinds of people and things of the same level.

Then, at the age of seventy or eighty, he would be buried.

And what about his soul? It certainly would not go to Heaven, because that place did not exist. Naturally, Hell did not exist either.

As for the Divine Kingdom, that was where the gods' believers went. Whether it even existed remained to be proven, and Mages were fundamentally not believers in gods.

So where would a soul go in the end?

Dean did not know, and no one knew. Therefore, it did not matter. Even the so-called torture of the soul, making it feel pain—

Come on, did a dead person still have self-awareness? If not, where would the pain come from?

"Little Dean, what Mages pursue is knowledge—every kind of knowledge. Unfortunately, human lifespans are limited, so we cannot contain more knowledge." Sanderson spoke with a sigh.

Indeed, knowledge was endless. The more one learned, the less one discovered one knew. The more one wanted to understand the existence of something, the more other things would emerge to prove the former thing. Then what were all those new things, and how could they be understood?

"Actually, the demon Stavago has lived for thousands of years and already possesses endless knowledge. Yet even that knowledge is only the tip of the iceberg. In this vast world, there are still far too many unknown things that humans have yet to discover."

Dean listened in a daze, while Sanderson's explanation grew more and more mysterious.

"There is only one point." Sanderson became serious. "For us, the knowledge given by the demon Stavago is a treasure we would pursue for our entire lives. So this is both an opportunity and a piece of free pie."

Dean's eyes lit up. With Mentor Sanderson putting it that way, wasn't this basically getting something for nothing? He could use something he did not need—his so-called false soul—to trade for the knowledge he would pursue for his entire life.

"I... I know how to choose now, Mentor." Dean bowed to Sanderson. "This is an opportunity, just like when I sought out Mentor and became your student, changing my life. This time is the same. I believe it will change my life too."

Sanderson nodded in satisfaction. Although Dean would have to use his soul as collateral, this truly was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.

This knowledge could make Dean powerful. Becoming a Sixth-Level Mage Mentor, or even an Eighth-Level Grand Mage or Ninth-Level Holy Mage Mentor, might not be impossible.

If he accidentally surpassed the demon Stavago, he would not need to offer up his soul. That would be the equivalent of being given endless knowledge for free.

Of course, that was only how things sounded. Dean also knew that even with endless knowledge, he would still need time to digest it and make it his own. Moreover, the effort required to struggle along the path of magic would not be reduced. It would merely help him avoid unnecessary detours.

"Honored Lord Stavago, I have a few final questions. Please allow me to ask them." Dean spoke humbly.

Apparently pleased, the little shadow thrust out its "chest," and even its tone rose slightly. "Mm-hmm, no problem. Ask whatever you like."

Dean's heart leaped, and he hurriedly asked,

"Will my mentor Sanderson's soul be eaten? Will I have a chance to rescue Mentor Sanderson's soul in the future?" Dean was somewhat anxious.

Part of the reason his mentor had strongly recommended him might have been to save his own soul.

Sanderson's body trembled as well, and he stared fixedly at Stavago.

That was right. This was what concerned him most. Even though he knew that after offering up his soul, it would no longer have anything to do with him, it was still his soul. What if... what if something bad happened?

"Hahahaha, of course it will be eaten by me. After I extract all the knowledge, I will eat it.

"Don't forget, I am the great demon Stavago, devourer of souls. Hahahaha." Stavago began laughing, as if he had heard something ridiculous.

"However, considering your request, I can make one concession!" Stavago spoke to Dean in a seductive tone.

(End of Chapter)