Awakened: Evolving to Godhood

"Who was it?" Elliot's words fell heavily on its ears, and it also felt his finger tightening around its root-like body. It was no fool and could tell that not answering meant death, lying meant death, and giving an answer not up to his taste meant death.

It didn't have time on its hands either, as Elliot's grip on its body was tightening every split of a second.

"It was a human female with hair reaching just below the earlobes." When the horrifying mandrake said those words, Elliot's grip on its body slightly loosened. He released a breath of malignant air, one filled with anger, when he realized that it wasn't Theo nor John that died.

As that breath left his lungs and came out of his mouth, his anger died down, and his complexion returned to normal. A mask of calmness plastered itself on his face once again, skillfully hiding the surging madness beneath.

The destructive madness that lasted on his face for a few moments, it saw it vividly, causing it to realize that its captor was no sane man, but one dangerous than monsters.

"Bomb!" Right at that very moment, the floating piece of land dropped on the crater with a loud booming sound. The fingers in the sky descended towards Elliot. All the fingers turned into gases and entered him, increasing his essence of life.

[+5800 units of the essence of life]

"Umm, I know a lot about her. I can show her memories to you if you want to see them." The Horrifying Mandrake offered after a moment. True, it could transmit memories to the soul of another being, but it wasn't going to do that if Elliot accepted his proposal. Heck, it planned to use this chance to deal damage to his soul and make a run for it.

"No," in a calm voice, he declined to see the memories of the monster's victim, not only because the one who died meant nothing to him but also because he didn't trust the horrifying mandrake at all. "I will destroy you if I sense a shift in your spiritual energy. So, don't you dare circulate it in your body, alright?" He added, giving it a warning that said it all; one mistake meant death.

It bowed its head in submission, "Alright, I understand. You can trust that I won't dare take your words lightly."

"Let's talk business," Elliot said, and its ears perked up. "Serve me as your master and do what I tell you to do and I will let you live, or else, die right here."

He wanted to enslave this little monster as it lived and grew up in this place and knew more about it than him. Furthermore, it would be a good addition to his force and also a great helping hand in unearthing the treasures hiding in this forest.

The Horrifying Mandrake remained silent for a brief moment before shaking its head. "I prefer death over serving you for a lifetime."

In the end, it was a monster, one far more powerful than most, and it had pride in its very roots. How could it accept being at the beck and call of another for a lifetime?

It wanted to live, no doubt about it, but what's the use of living a life that was far worse than death? It didn't want to live for another, especially when that person destroyed its secondary body!

"Who said that you need to serve me for your entire life?"

Suddenly, it heard words so out of line that its beady eyes opened wide in surprise.

It raised his head, meeting his gaze.

"What do you mean?" The Horrifying Mandrake asked, bewilderment vivid in its eyes.

"Five years of servitude, that's all I demand from you."

The horrifying mandrake looked shocked, but this one was the opposite of negative. At first, Elliot gave it the stick. But now, he was giving it a carrot! It could live for thousands of years, and five years were merely a short part of its life. Accepting this deal was beneficial to it. It would get to live, and the price for that was serving Elliot for five years, a price it considered extremely cheap. Then, it will be a free tree!

"Only an idiot wouldn't accept this deal, I agree." It reluctantly agreed. Although it hurts its pride to do so, living was far important than that momentary pain.

"Good! You've made an excellent choice." Elliot said in a tone that a person would use to taunt another while praising them. Its eyes twitched in displeasure, but it didn't say anything. It silently endured this humiliation.

Immediately after, he pulled out a magic contract from his subspace. He handed it over to the horrifying mandrake.

"Sign it!" Elliot demanded, looking at it with narrowed eyes.

The Horrifying Mandrake read the contract, and after making sure that it only needed to serve him for five years, didn't hesitate before pushing out a small portion of its soul from the center of its root-like body and pushing it towards the magic contract. It was of an inky, black color, the bean-sized portion of the monster's soul. So, that's the soul of a corrupted existence, thought Elliot, who was seeing such an evil soul for the first time in his life, appalled and mesmerized.

It dropped on top of the magic contract before seeping into it, and after it disappeared, lines appeared at the end of the contract.

These lines then intertwined into a signature of some sort. Then, Elliot took it back and also signed it by using his blood.

The moment he finished doing so, both of them felt a mysterious power enveloping their souls. It felt threatening, a feeling that told them that they would die without a doubt if they were to not honor their end of the deal.

[Congratulations! You've enslaved a spirit monster in the Elite Stage for five years]

[You've bound yourself to a contract. Would you like to break it?]

A few notifications popped up in Elliot's mind.