Karim threw the magic contract back to Elliot, and his actions earned him a threatening glare from the person sitting opposite him.
Elliot's demeanor changed entirely. He was like an enraged king of the jungle.
Karim felt that Elliot would pounce on him if he didn't provide him a reasonable explanation for his previous actions.
"You see, I have a good reason for returning it to you," Karim said in a soothing voice. "You probably don't know, but magic contracts are outdated as they only work on people up to a certain level."
Since he didn't even know such common knowledge, Karim believed that Elliot came from a low-level civilization.
"And you're above that certain level?" Elliot asked as his expression eased and calmness returned to the tense environment.
Karim was no longer under threat of facing his newly learned demonic-ranked technique that could easily break everything, living or not, into pieces!
Karim sure was lucky!
"You guessed correctly." Karim said, "I indeed am far above that certain level."
Elliot already knew that Karim was a Sublime Emperor. Since he knew that, it was easy for him to conclude that magic contracts only worked on Magic Emperors and those who were below that level, but not on anyone more powerful than the former.
"Well, good for you," Elliot said as he stored the magic contract in his spatial storage device.
Karim pulled out a contract of his own and placed it on the table.
"I suggest we use this as it works on even me."
Elliot glanced at the thing Karim forwarded towards him. It was something like a magic contract, but Karim made it from materials obtained from the tree of evil and abyss ink. Both were something Elliot wasn't familiar with as he had never come across them.
"Sure, since it works and can bind us to targeted rules, why not?"
Elliot agreed to sign it. He could not trust anyone out here. It was too hard for him to do so. That's why he needed to use this contract even when establishing a give and take relationship with Karim. He didn't know about his intentions either, so it was right for him to not trust him.
Karim gave him a pot of abyss ink and a feather pen that wouldn't erode even after getting dipped in the toxic ink that could curse others to death. He also specifically warned Elliot not to get the ink on his fingers or else things won't end well for him.
Elliot took his warning quite seriously and wrote several conditions on the Eternal Contract. After making sure that there were no loopholes that the other party could exploit, he gave it back to Karim and told him to sign it.
Karim read it, and a shocked expression appeared on his face.
"Y-you, when did you find out who I really am?"
Karim was so shocked that he even stuttered.
"From the moment I laid my eyes on the fake you, I realized that it's you, Karim," Elliot said with a mysterious smile and an all-knowing glint in his brown yet somewhat golden eyes.
"How is it possible? I'm sure my disguise was perfect." Karim asked, "Just what gave me away? Can you please tell me?"
Elliot wasn't going to tell him about his mutated eyes. He was sure that if he revealed that, it wouldn't take long for people to start hunting him down, only to gouge out his Godly eye of wisdom after killing or imprisoning him.
So, he lied.
"The scent of your perfume. You forgot to rub it off."
"Uh!" The eyebrows of Karim raised. The perfume he was using was so famous that every ten out of 20 people use it. It's just that Elliot came from a lower world, so he didn't know how well-known the perfume was. What a ridiculous turn of events. If he knew that using a perfume liked by many would give away, he would have never used it in the first place.
Seeing Karim so shocked, Elliot realized that his lie was effective.
"So, are you going to sign it or not?" He asked.
"I am, I am."
Karim signed the eternal pact.
Elliot entered into a weird but valuable relationship with Karim. One was a space pirate. The other came from a low-level civilization that wasn't even exactly multi-planetary.
[You've entered into an information-sharing contract with Sublime Emperor Karim. Both of you're subjected to the following rules. Breaking even one of them would get you punished. Getting Party B killed or betraying Party B would result in you facing a calamity!]
Elliot's eyes narrowed in thoughts. No notifications telling him that he could break free from the Eternal contract popped up this time. Only a notification informing him that he had subjected himself to the limitations of some rules popped up. Elliot felt a bit taken aback. This was the first time that he realized the essence of life wasn't omnipotent. Anyway, he wasn't worried as the rules were only about not betraying or backstabbing each other.
"What do you want from me, really?" Elliot asked, wondering why he had started stalking him the moment he came to the second floor.
"I want you to become my teammate!" Karim exclaimed.
He was a space pirate but lacked worthy teammates. Except for himself—who was not only the captain of the ship, the best fighter among his crew, and the strategist responsible for coming up with plans to make troubles for the filthy rich and corrupt galactic bastards—there was only a navigator who knew how to drive a spaceship. His ship only had two people and several part-time workers that would come to clean and cook food once a week only.
Elliot didn't say a word and merely stared at him as if he was reassessing him. Karim felt that he was seriously considering his proposal, so he didn't urge or disturb him.
"How many companions do you have?"
Elliot started the interview with the question that poured salt into the other party's wound.
"O-only two, and that includes me.." Karim coughed, feeling a bit embarrassed.
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