Aalam

 

With all his bonds suppressed, Aalam noticed something else. His connection to his Territory wasn’t restrained at all, but it was shrouded, and it had been since he’d arrived on the planet, the woman in front of him covering it with a whole lot of life element energy to the point it was completely obscured. The entire area of the Forest Cauldron’s base, however, was covered in life element energy, so he just hadn’t noticed.

At the time a couple of his minds were recognizing this, however, another of his minds was thinking about what the Alchemist of the Deep Woods had said. “What about if I don’t want you as a teacher? Shouldn’t I get to test you as well?”

The alchemist leaned back in her chair. “Alright. Let’s trade questions then.”

 

The Alchemist of the Deep Woods has sent you a contract request.

 

Terms:

1. All secrets revealed or realized during the current meeting between Aalam Alvaro and Joma La’Vordi will not be shared unless explicit permission is granted by the side whose secrets they are
2. No lies are allowed during the meeting

 

Punishment for breaking clause 1:

Death

 

Punishment for breaking clause 2:

Pain

 

Do you accept?

Yes/No

 

Aalam strengthened the contract with his Law Pupa of Bonds and then used some of Mila’s energy he still had flowing through his soul to accept it, making it nearly impossible to break without godly intervention.

He didn’t particularly think the Alchemist of the Deep Woods would try, but it took almost no effort on his part, so he figured he might as well.

“I’ll go first then.” The alchemist smiled at him as she laced her fingers together in front of her. “If you were going to become my apprentice, what name would you like to go by, given yours is already known to the universe?”

“Hmm.” Aalam thought about it for a few seconds, and his mind brought him back to a discussion he’d had with Mila before the integration, about the problems with translating names with actual meanings in their original languages. “I think Universe Guardian. No, World Guardian. My given name and surname are from different languages back on Earth, but that is pretty much what they would translate to in Universal Common.”

“Okay.” The alchemist nodded. “That type of name is quite popular in the universe, so it is a very good choice.

“Your turn.”

“What’s the food situation like here?”

“There are at least three members of the Forest Cauldron who survive on souls as well, so they can be easily bought.”

“No.” Aalam waved his hand. “Like actual food. I get to stop eating souls when I hit D rank.”

“Oh.” The Alchemist of the Deep Woods smiled slightly. “The headquarters is like a city. There are restaurants, work site cafeterias, and grocery stores. Mostly you’d be expected to buy your own food, but you could have it teleported directly to you. And there will be a lot of produce you’ve never seen before. Prices are on the higher end compared to most of the universe, but the quality available is much higher as well.”

“Cool.” Aalam felt himself start to salivate a little.

Then the alchemist asked her second question. “That knight of yours, who is he?”

“Isaiah?” Aalam wasn’t sure he wanted to answer, as Isaiah’s secrets weren’t his to share. “Why do you want to know?”

His not wanting to share, however, didn’t seem important to the Alchemist of the Deep Woods as her smile widened as soon as he said Isaiah’s name. “Oh, so he’s Isaiah Gale. His identity was the one thing about you I knew I didn’t know and it was bothering me.”

Then the alchemist started to frown. “But wait, he should be a cultivator, not a dragon. Did he use to be a Balance Dragon Hybrid?”

“No.” As she already knew Isaiah’s identity and his current race, it didn’t seem like there was much to lose by sharing more—and she wouldn’t be able to tell anyone due to the contract anyway—so Aalam answered the question. “War Dragon Hybrid.”

The alchemist just stared at him for a few seconds. Then she started speaking again. “That’s a two rarity level jump with a complete race change. And the only thing I could think of which would allow for that is if you fed him all the power of a B rank Harmony Dragon’s heart. Were you really so wasteful?”

“Yeah.” Aalam nodded his head. “At the time, we didn’t have any better use for the resource and I was in the Id state.”

The alchemist laughed out loud. “A Harmony Dragon’s heart has such gentle power that it has many, many uses. Are you aware of that?”

“I’m aware of 326 uses for such a heart, three of which would have been really helpful for my cultivation at E or D rank.”

“In hindsight, do you regret your decision?”

“No.” Aalam shook his head. “I didn’t know it at the time, but Isaiah has now become my best friend. And I like making my friends more powerful as it makes it more likely they will stay safe and allows them to live longer.”

“What about the decisions you made in this last instance of entering into the Id state? Do you regret them?”

And there it was, the question he’d been subconsciously avoiding since he’d woken up. But, as he thought about how to answer, he realized he was in a much, much better place than he would have expected. Being in a state without inhibitions for over a month, without the ability to hide from his own emotions, while not good for the Violet Mountain Sect, had been extremely useful for him, effectively equivalent to over a month of intensive therapy.

“Not as many as I should.

“I regret trying to commit suicide again and leaving my friends and family to deal with the aftermath. And, as I read through some of their records, I regret killing about a third of the Violet Mountain Sect. But that’s about it.”

Aalam looked up at the ceiling of the log cabin. Sure, the pain of Epecteos’s death still hurt. And, sure, given the sheer number of deaths he’d caused, he could no longer consider himself a good person. But, more than any other time in his life, he felt like he understood himself. And that would allow him to change if he wanted to.

As his Law Pupa of Tranquility advanced to middle grade, he looked back at the alchemist. “Do you have actions in your past that you regret?”

“Yes.” The alchemist smiled again. “How much do you know about my history?”

“Pretty much nothing.”

“Well, I was born as the princess of a C rank force. I had two great parents and three older siblings, all of whom spoiled me. And I was quite the brat.

“I didn’t treat any of the people who supported me early on very well, not my tutors, not my siblings, not even my parents. And, while I would perform the part of a loving daughter, I was terrible to those under me.

“A bit after I reached E rank, however, our force was destroyed by the princess of an A rank nation because she didn’t like the taste of a set of pills my mother had made for her, and I wasn’t saved by one of our clan guards or by my C rank parents, but by one of our G rank janitors.

“He got me out of there, risking his life, and I don’t even know his name because I didn’t show any thanks to him, instead just focusing on moving between multiple smaller forces and studying like crazy so I could get revenge.”

The alchemist looked up at the ceiling like he had done. “I really regret not thanking him. And I regret not learning his name, as, even when I grew powerful, I had no way to find his descendants and help support them in his stead. I also regret taking everything I had as a child for granted.

“I had such a loving family, but I didn’t appreciate how amazing they were until they were gone.”

The Alchemist of the Deep Woods looked back at him, her eyes a little teary. “I don’t judge your actions against the Violet Mountain Sect, Aalam. If I had your abilities back then, I would have done the same.

“But the real question isn’t whether you regret what happened, but what you’ve learned about yourself because it did, and how you will change yourself going forward.”

“What have I learned about myself and how will I change going forward?” Aalam gave it some thought and the answers came pretty quickly.

“I’m not a good person. I’ll put the wellbeing of those I care about above the health of billions of others at the drop of a hat. I will take revenge on anyone who harms me or mine. And I’m at this point pretty numb to the act of murder.

“But I don’t need to involve innocents.

“In the future, if I have someone I need to kill, I won’t use the sacrifice of others to do so. I’ll just train, grow more powerful, and take my revenge cleanly once I am strong enough.”

Something shifted inside Aalam’s soul, and all the extra primal energy it was holding started to convert into some new type of energy he didn’t recognize. The aura of the Alchemist of the Deep Woods was all around him, seemingly keeping that new type of energy from escaping from his body. And he felt his entire soul start to transform as the energy did something to him he couldn’t fully understand.

Then, however, a System message showed up in front of his eyes and he realized he’d just taken a step he’d thought completely impossible at E rank.

 

Congratulations!

You have established your first oath, transforming your soul and unlocking your path to B rank.

 

Oath of the Villain’s Clean Vengeance

You are not a good person, but you will hold back and wait so your acts of vengeance won’t harm the lives of innocents when you want to kill

 

Benefits:

Increase the speed of mastering skills by 100%

Increase the effectiveness of the Attunement stat by 150%

When training for revenge, the above two benefits are multiplied by a factor of 6

Should you complete an act of vengeance without harming innocents, there is a high chance of entering into a state of sudden enlightenment

 

Limitations:

Untargeted mass slaughter in the name of revenge will shackle your soul, the greater the slaughter the worse the shackles and the longer they will last

 

“Interesting.” The sad expression on the face of the Alchemist of the Deep Woods faded and transformed into a large grin. “By the feel of it, your first oath is one designed for training.

“Lucky.”

 

The Alchemist of the Deep Woods has offered to take you in as an official inheriting disciple.

Do you accept?

Yes/No

 

“Aalam, would you like to take me on as your master?”