Chapter 18: Welcome, Percival
When Percival saw the amount of money held out to him, he stared at Dean.
Everyone was focused on the money.
Percival, however, was looking at the young man standing before him.
Each of the Ghosts had once been a living person.
They were people who had existed not only within this Earth-Realm but also within the other, smaller realms, whose lives had come to an end, for better or for worse.
Despite all this, it had to be stated plainly.
Not every realm was as good as the Earth.
Many people died young, whilst those who lived longer either spent their days committing evil deeds, existed as slaves to the nobility, or struggled to survive in poverty.
It was VERY rare to see anyone of non-noble birth living a good life.
Percival himself had grown up and died in this way.
He was the only son of ordinary parents. He had lost his mother and father in his youth, and spent the rest of his life as a hunter, slaying monsters.
He had never quite managed to become truly powerful.
In the end, he had given his life at the hands of monsters to save his group.
He was a good soul.
He was one of the rare souls who had not spent his life in evil.
That was precisely why his soul had been deemed worthy of Heaven, of Aether.
Yet Percival was aware.
Not only during his time here, but even whilst he was mortal, no one had ever done him such a kindness.
Others might well have been eyeing the two million Nether and Aether coins.
Percival, however, had been able to focus solely on Dean.
Percival had thought that his worth was recognised, that someone truly believed in his potential.
And he was right.
Dean wasn’t exactly someone who understood what was good or recognised potential.
Had the system not indicated it to him, he would have been one of those people who would have glanced at Percival once, felt sorry for him, and moved on.
Yet that was not how things turned out.
Dean had noticed him and wanted him under his command.
Percival had swallowed hard. His heart and the depths of his soul were filled with great hope.
"I... will think about it, my lord," Percival had said. He had stood up and left the restaurant shortly afterwards.
Dean, meanwhile, had looked once more at the spot on the table where he’d left the money.
The money was still lying there.
Percival hadn’t taken it.
The young man smiled and, looking at Mirael, said, "It’s yours," before continuing with his meal.
The two days remaining in the dungeon would pass quickly.
To put it plainly, Dean had spent the whole time chatting and having fun with Nemesis.
At the end of this period, that is, on the evening of the fifth day, when the duels had finally come to an end, Nemesis had personally bid Dean farewell.
And of course... this time, the Ancient Goddess was wearing clothes.
Dean could not describe her beauty. It was simply impossible.
The only thing he could say about her was that she shone like a star and looked like the very embodiment of the boundless, beautiful universe.
Well... you could say he seemed able to explain it; some can suppose.
The young man had returned once more to the area where the Inn restaurant was located, just as he had done two days earlier, and had begun to wait inside the restaurant.
Mirael was standing beside him.
After waiting for nearly twenty minutes, the restaurant door opened, and Percival himself walked in.
Dean smiled and said, "I suppose you’ve made your decision."
Percival nodded immediately, stepped in front of Dean, knelt on both knees, looked up at him and said, "Allow me to serve you until the end of time, sir."
The smile on Dean’s face widened at that moment; the young man reached into his inventory and pulled out the Ghost Contract.
"I don’t know how this works," Dean said gently, looking at Mirael.
"You need his blood, my lord. After that, you’ll channel your energy into the contract and a soul connection will be formed," Mirael replied.
Dean nodded in agreement and turned the contract towards Percival.
Percival bit his finger straight away. It looked a little painful.
He pressed his fingerprint, along with a drop of blood, directly onto the contract.
All that remained was for Dean to transfer his energy... or rather, their energy, into the contract.
To be honest... Dean didn’t know how to do this.
When he looked at Mirael again, he saw the angel chuckling.
"Please imagine the energy flowing through your body, passing through you. That way, you’ll manage to use it. If it’s your first time, it would be much better to close your eyes and try," Mirael said gently.
Dean, for his part, tried to do as she said.
He closed his eyes and tried to feel the energies within his body.
He could actually see them.
He could see those two energies around his heart, merging yet appearing separate at the same time.
It wasn’t like sensing them.
He was actually seeing them.
These were two energies: one blue, the other yellow.
The blue one represented magic, whilst the other represented holy power.
As the young man sensed these two energies, although he did not fully understand how, he had subconsciously begun to manipulate them.
These two energies, gathering within his body, sprang into action instantly and moved directly towards the contract he was holding in his hand.
Within seconds, both energies had flowed into the contract, causing it to glow.
The energies leapt directly from the contract and enveloped Percival.
"CRASH!"
A cracking sound rang out, and the energies enveloping Percival vanished in an instant.
Dean, meanwhile, was faced with the system window:
[Low-Level Ghost Percival has been added to the summon list.]
[Percival
Age: 596
Race: Human/Ghost
Energy Type: Magic
Magic Energy Collected: 419 (81 to the next level)]
Dean examined the two system windows that had appeared one after the other, then smiled and said, "Welcome, dear Percival."
Percival looked at him, then placed one fist on the ground and bowed his head.
"Yes, master," said Percival.
Those two simple words stood there as if they embodied loyalty itself.
It was all over now.
There were barely twenty minutes left until the dungeon ended.
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