CHAPTER 9

“The Summoning of Another World. Part 1”

 

[Do you want to survive?]

Kalysto was surprised, and not only by the screen. Looking around, not far from where she stood, she noticed a leaf that had been blown by the wind until a moment ago, and was now floating in the air, frozen.

It was like being part of a large photograph.

And the strangeness of it startled her a little, though she made sure not to let it show on her face.

What on earth? I’ve slept so little in the last month and I’m so tired that I’ve already started having hallucinations?

Then she turned her attention back to the purple box.

- Who are you? -she answered instead.

Silence, however, was her only answer. And another window was superimposed on the previous one.

[Do you want to survive?]

Understanding that she would not get an answer, Kalysto shifted her focus. Making sure to keep an eye on the orc, in case he suddenly started moving.

- If you get me out of here, yes... What do you want in return?

Another screen popped up again, followed by another one a couple of seconds later.

[...]

[Let’s make a contract.]

“What kind of contract?” A surge of pain crossed her left arm, but she forced herself to ignore it. It was never a good idea to show weakness during a negotiation. “Because if it’s anything worse than what I’m experiencing here, my answer would be something else.”

[Work for me.]

“What kind of work would I have to do?” she asked suspiciously. She had never heard of a system that offered employment in this way in any of the books or comics she had ever read.

They must be hiding something. She thought, squinting her eyes suspiciously.

“Because if it’s something sexual, my answer is no.”

[I assure you no such thing will be necessary. There are three things I need you to do and I will give you two human years to accomplish them.]

“...Two human years?” She frowned. “Why the clarification?” Kalysto questioned.

Is he not human?

But the “screen” did not answer her. Instead, the conversation continued when a new screen appeared.

[There are three things I need you to do in that time. First, the miasma has invaded the forests of my kingdom and brought the plague with it. I need you to purify my lands and create a magical barrier that will prevent it from re-entering].

Kingdom... how in a king’s territory... what kind of world does he live in? Kalysto was curious to ask, but it was better to focus on what was really important.

“Excuse my ignorance, but what is miasma? And what kind of plague are we talking about?”

[The miasma in a type of dark energy that infects and corrodes everything it touches, making the earth infertile, withering forests and crops.]

“I understand why that would be a serious problem,” she commented, trying to see things from the perspective of the one making the offer. “Lack of resources always leads countries, I mean kingdoms,” she corrected herself quickly, “to invade more prosperous ones. Or if your enemy sees that you are being weakened, he will think of taking the opportunity to start a war and take over your territory.”

[...]

[...True]

[Plague is the most deadly disease that exists in my world. And can only be cured by an individual with a certain ability that awakens in a specific class. Right now there is only one individual on the entire continent who has it].

“And why is it inconvenient to work with him? Wouldn’t it be easier to work with someone who lives in the same world as you and already possesses the ability?” she questioned.

Why go to all that trouble to hire someone who lives in another world if there was already someone more convenient? She couldn’t help but think, as the feeling that there was much more behind what they were letting her see grew stronger and stronger.

[She serves my enemy.]

“Oh!”

[Secondly, there’s someone I need you to heal...]

“Yes well, sorry to interrupt again, but as you can see, I also need to be healed,” she interrupted him/her, pointing to her left leg and arm. “Besides, I am not a doctor. I only studied medicine for one year and I had to abandon it for economic reasons. So I have neither the knowledge nor the skill level to heal someone.”

[The damage you have suffered can be easily healed with a potion. I will give it to you when you arrive in my world. Along with the power so you can heal my people from the plague].

A wave of pain spread through her leg, preventing her from thinking clearly for a moment. As soon as she could control her expression and speak again, she continued.

“I have no mana” if she was going to work for him or her for years to come, it was best to be honest from the start. The last thing she needed was to anger a powerful wizard who had literally stopped time to prevent her death from another world. Who can assure me that he can’t send me back in time and drop me right now and let me die, if he gets mad at me in the future just because I wasn’t honest or couldn’t keep my side of the bargain... Or worse yet, send me back to this exact moment and let me die when our contract ends?

[It is normal that you have no mana, since such a thing did not exist in your world before the portal was opened. Besides, you will have to live in the same world as me for the duration of our contract. When you reach Elinor, after responding to my summoning, you will gain one hundred mana points. So you don’t have to worry about that.]

Free mana, that’s good... At least now I can defend myself. She breathed a sigh of relief and her vision dimmed for a moment due to the pain. She opened her mouth to speak, but the pain in her left leg increased and she bit her lips to keep from letting out a scream.

She coughed several times, the taste of blood crashing against her tongue. And Kalysto waited a few seconds for the black spots in her vision to clear a little, concentrating on her breathing.

I can do this. She convinced herself. I can’t pass out now. I just have to hold on a little longer.

Kalysto was well aware of how desperate her situation was, but she didn’t want to make the mistake again of signing a contract that was very disadvantageous to her just because she was going through a time of need. And it had happened to her twice before. She didn’t want a third. But it was a little hard to concentrate when the pain seemed to be increasing by the minute.

She needed to get this over with fast.

“If you give me rest schedules, and respect them along with some benefits for work done... then I’ll do whatever you want as long as it’s nothing of a sexual nature, but get me out of here right now,” she said. She knew she was forgetting to negotiate something important, but right now, the pain was barely letting her think clearly.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but another window, a darker shade of violet, appeared.

[You are the one who is about to die and yet you dare to keep us waiting? Can’t you see we are doing you a favor? Others would jump gratefully at such an offer!]

Kalysto turned her head like a bird at the sight of the strange screen. That sounds like an annoying assistant, perhaps a personal secretary, debating with the new employee.

“And yet here we are, aren’t we?” she questioned them. “Look, I’m not looking for a fight, but it was you who approached me, which means you need my help with something, so why is the concept of helping each other so foreign to you? That’s what a job offer is all about, you know? You do something for your boss and he pays you for it. Besides, two years to cure someone when I don’t know how long it takes me to develop the skill or what state the patient is in is too little time. And if you add to that the fact that he seems not to be the only sick patient, just the one in the worst condition, in all honesty, it better be three years. You are asking me to study a disease that is totally unknown in my world and there are many factors to be taken into account, at least three years would give me enough time to prepare myself and accomplish the other two missions of the boss in that time, don’t you think?”

A new screen of a dark shade of violet appeared.

[How dare you...?]

Yes, definitely his personal secretary. Kalysto decided.

 

 

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