Hello All! This story and all my other fanfictions are available for free on my Patreon, alongside my other web-novels. It will have a very loose upload schedule, as I am focusing my efforts on seven chapters of Krypton Reborn: A Star Wars Story per week. If this web novel gains enough support in my monthly Patreon polls, it may move to the top spot in the priority list! Thanks to all the readers out there! All constructive criticism and comments are welcome!

 

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“This is UNACCEPTABLE!” Ran bounced off the sides of a rounded tank, about the size needed to keep a goldfish. Hal had filled the super-dense crystal container with water and a bit of sand, a temporary habitat for the newborn Elemental. “Release this Goddess at once, or I’ll curse you to be barren!”

 

“Quiet down, or I’ll cover you with a towel,” Hal shook his head as Ran blew raspberries against the glass. He definitely needed to use more caution with SCP-914’s ‘Very Fine’ setting. “I’ve still got work to do, but If you’re good I’ll give you a nice piece of fruit for your troubles.”

 

The little nymph wasn’t very powerful, only slightly stronger than King Kai at a guess. Whatever she was, her claim to Divinity had some grounds in reality. Her ki was as undetectable as a Kai’s, invisible under his perceptions.

 

“I have ignored offerings of human sacrifice by the thousands,” Ran puffed up her chest, eyes tinged red as she stood nose to nose with her reflection in the glass. “Your gift of fruit is blasphemy!”

 

“Really?” Hal floated the golden fruit that had been deemed too dangerous for his own consumption. Radiant energy drifted from its ripened flesh, accompanied by an aroma that touched the soul. “I’d say my fruit is worth more than a thousand human lives, if morality is off the table.”

 

“A true Divine Fruit!” Ran smushed herself against the sides of her prison, eyes wide as saucers. She pressed her arms against the glass, as if she could hug her way to the golden morsel. “It even contains a trace of the laws… deep earth and metal, sturdy and domineering!”

 

“Laws?” Hal withdrew the fruit and examined it more closely. A flick of his fingers sent forward a regular fruit, as well as one that had been improved with the ‘Fine’ setting. “What about these?”

 

“That red one is worthless, grown with the energy mortals,” Ran shook her head and turned to the transparent, refined version. “This is the lowest quality Divine fruit… filled with divine energy, but without a trace of the laws.”

 

Hal frowned, mind lost in thought as he ran the rest of the normal fruits through the machine on the ‘Fine’ setting. They could always be further refined, and the true divine versions were too volatile for his current strength.

 

“You keep talking about laws, but I’m not sure I know what that means,” Hal dangled a lawless Divine fruit next to the sealed top of Ran’s cage. “If you answer my questions, you’ll get at least one of these, maybe even one of the better ones if you’re willing to work with me in the future.”

 

Ran hesitated, bottom lip between her teeth. She eyed the golden fruit at Hal’s back and sighed. Hand extended, she painted a small series of runes into the water around her. They spiralled before her, then split in two. One set floated in front of her face, while the second passed through her cage and rested in front of Hal.

 

“This is a divine contract, an agreement between a God and a mortal,” Ran bit her finger and produced a drop of silver-gold blood. “We speak the terms expected of the other party and seal the oath with blood and spirit… we’ll both be bound to abide by our promises, or risk a true death of the soul!”

 

Hal slipped into his future-sight and observed the completion of thousands of different contracts. No matter the words spoken, the effect was similar. A bond formed between him and the little goddess, one that showed her heart was honest. The goddess was abrasive on the outside, but once connected to her mind he saw a different picture.

 

“What benefit would I get from such a dangerous contract?” Hal raised an eyebrow at Ran and shook his head. His position in the universe was stable, the course to the future well on track. “You may have knowledge that I don’t, but you’re not the only source of information.”

 

The Dragonballs, Master Zuno, even the gods and angels themselves. It may take a bit more effort, but it left his soul free of danger. If Ran wanted this kind of contract, she would have to offer him far more than a bit of knowledge.

 

“You’re such a peculiar mortal,” the little goddess rolled her eyes and added to the runic script that stood between them. “There, now you’ll not only gain my knowledge, but you’ll also be able to use some of my divine abilities… you’ll be able to sense divine energy and perceive the truth of things at a glance.”

 

“Still not good enough,” Hal shrugged, prepared to return to his work. The little goddess’ offer was interesting, but his future sight gave him access to enough truth and divine energy was something he could learn to detect on his own. “It seems to me that my fruit is far more valuable than anything you’ve promised.”

 

“But… I don’t have anything else to offer,” Ran’s eyes swelled with tears, almost imperceptible against her liquid skin. A wave of her hand cancelled her spell as she dropped to the sand at the bottom of her fishtank. “I’ve got less than a percent of a percent of my true power, and now I’m going to be kept locked up like a pet…”

 

A mighty sigh escaped from Hal’s lips as he strolled over to the tank, eye to eye with the miniature Elemental. He held her gaze and flipped a switch on a nearby consol. Ran’s crystal orb hissed, a rebalance of pressure as the hatch slid open.

 

“Stop being so dramatic, we both know that you could have escaped if you wanted to,” Hal rolled his eyes and left the woman’s tank open to the air. If he didn’t free her now, she would attempt a breakout within the next three minutes. “I have no interest in contracts, especially ones that affect my soul… why don’t we just get to know one another, build a bit of trust between work associates before we rush to extremes?”

 

“What kind of mortal are you, that you place yourself on the same level as the gods?” Ran poked her head out of the water bowl and shook her head. She hung off the edge of the glass like a swimmer at the side of a pool, chin rested atop her folded hands. “You lack a proper respect for the divine, and you’ve got such interesting tools…”

 

Ran’s gaze flicked to SCP-914 and the cauldron on his belt, while Hal shrugged his shoulders. It was hard to keep respect for the gods in the Dragon Ball multiverse. Very few of them had more power than the mortals they governed, and none of them seemed to be very invested in the operations of their universes.

 

“I respect strength, something that most of the local gods are lacking,” Hal picked up his bloodline pill, placed it into SCP-914 and took a glimpse into the future. ‘Very Fine’ yielded another elemental being, something he avoided as he set the dial to ‘Fine’ with a firm hand. “Mortals in this universe can surpass their deities, and the gods act more like managers than anything else.”

 

Even the Gods of Destruction and the Angels, alongside those above them, behaved very little like deities. Beerus and others like him had only one divine function. Beyond that the Destroyers seemed as petty and childish as any mortal. 

 

Steam erupted and SCP-914’s outtake door slipped open. The bright red pill was now a crimson-black, surrounded by a thick aura of beastial ki. Hal scooped up the refined pill and cast his vision into the future. 

 

A frown crossed his face as he exited his three-minute-sight. This thing would grant him amazing benefits, but there were no timelines where it didn’t hurt like hell. The refined pill would forcibly merge a bloodline to his own, a stable fusion that would carry a price in pain.

 

“What kind of blood pill is that?” Ran sniffed at the air, head tilted in confusion. She floated into the air and flitted to Hal’s side, where she settled onto his shoulder. “It smells like a primordial beast, an ancient Dragon or an Old One… much stronger than the one you put into the machine.”

 

Hal withdrew the teleportation key from his belt and inserted it into the air. A twist summoned a new door, this time connected to King Kai’s world. He stepped through, Ran seated on his shoulder as if he was a mobile recliner.

 

“Hal!” King Kai waddled over, face a mixture of worry and relief. “I wasn’t able to see much of your battle, but I can’t believe you defeated Lord Slug! Except for a select few, he was unrivalled in our universe...”

 

“What is this?” Ran flitted from her luxury seat and circled the Kai. She examined his rotund form, face pinched as she set her hands onto her hips. “Some kind of goblin from a lesser divine realm?”

 

***Power Levels and other notes***

 

Hal: 2,130,000 (Max kio-ken: 50x)

Ran: 11,000 (Varies based on the amount of water she is connected to)