Chapter 49: Chaoter49-Blood Pact
***
Name: Michael Frostburne
Total Rules Broken: 0
Time: 5:30 AM
Date: 24th February
Year: 2130
***
5:30, huh?
I could get a solid seven or eight hours of sleep if I headed to bed now. But my stomach had other plans. It was growling loud enough that I couldn’t ignore it.
I left my room and made my way through the hallways toward the dining area.
As I walked, my mind wandered back to Eden’s invitation. I started wondering what kind of dungeon he’d picked.
Probably something manageable. Nothing too challenging.
There was no way he’d choose a high rank dungeon knowing I’d be coming along.
Right?
***
Nine hours later.
"You bloody piece of shit! Get back here! Stop running away!"
I was yelling at Eden, who kept teleporting from spot to spot like he thought this was funny.
At that moment, I was standing with Allen and Eden in front of the dungeon Eden had selected. And I was absolutely livid.
"Stop teleporting around, you bitch! I’m not entering this dungeon! I don’t care what you say!"
Eden’s voice called out from somewhere behind me. "I’m sorry! I won’t do it again! I promise!"
"To hell with your sorry! To hell with your promise! You’re a damn liar!"
So what had me this worked up? Why was I so angry?
Here’s what went down.
So, this afternoon...
After leaving the mansion, Allen drove me to Ashbourne, a city located in the F rank state. Once we got there, he took me somewhere I absolutely hadn’t anticipated.
The Aeredith Jungle.
The second we entered, dread hit me like a freight train. I immediately turned to Allen and asked if the dungeon Eden mentioned was actually located here. The second he said yes, I told him to turn the car around and drive me straight back to the mansion.
Why the panic?
Because the Aeredith Jungle wasn’t just some ordinary forest. It was the single most dangerous jungle in all of Ambrosia. Nearly half of the nation’s high tier dungeons were located within this single stretch of forest.
And Eden had chosen one of them.
At my current rank, this was the last place I should ever be. The survival rate here was abysmal. No one below Gold rank entered the Aeredith Jungle and made it back out alive. That’s how dangerous it was.
When I told Allen to turn the car around, he said it wasn’t possible. The government had set up a one way barrier around the jungle that morning. He didn’t know why.
The second I heard that, I wanted to cry.
A one way barrier meant anyone could walk in, but once you were inside, there was no leaving until the barrier came down. And according to Allen, nobody knew when that would happen.
I tried to steady myself and started hoping desperately that the dungeon Eden had picked wasn’t high rank. Maybe it would be something I could actually handle. Something survivable.
I turned to Allen and asked him point blank. "What rank is the dungeon?"
"C rank."
My last bit of hope died on the spot. I sank back into the seat, completely numb.
C rank. Of course it was C rank.
I felt like a complete fool for accepting Eden’s invitation. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. But my greed to rank up faster had clouded my judgment entirely.
I stayed frozen in that stunned state until Allen finally brought the car to a stop in the middle of the jungle. The vehicle descended gradually and settled onto solid ground.
I climbed out, still in a daze, and the first thing I saw was Eden standing a short distance away, waving at me with a big, carefree grin plastered across his face.
Fury exploded through me.
I yanked two swords out of my storage ring and sent them flying at him with a mental command. Eden’s eyes went wide. He immediately started teleporting from spot to spot, dodging each strike by a hair.
And that’s how we ended up in this ridiculous situation.
I was still yelling at him while controlling the swords, trying to land a hit. He kept vanishing and reappearing just out of range. Meanwhile, Allen stood by the car, calmly reading his book as if none of this had anything to do with him.
"Eden, get back here right now!" I shouted.
Eden let out a long sigh. "I’ll come over, but first you have to promise you’ll stop attacking me."
"I’m not making that promise."
The standoff dragged on for another few minutes before he sighed again.
"Huh... fine. Let’s settle this."
I frowned. "What do you m..."
Before I could finish, he disappeared.
A split second later, he was standing right in front of me.
"What the..."
Before I had a chance to react, he swept my leg out from under me.
I crashed onto the ground with a heavy thud. The impact broke my concentration, and the mental connection between me and the swords snapped instantly.
Both blades clattered onto the ground.
Eden walked over and held out his hand.
"I’ve apologized so many times already. Why won’t you listen? How long are you going to keep this up?"
I grabbed his hand, gave it a sharp tug, and pulled him down beside me.
"Until I kick your ass."
He hit the ground with a grunt.
I immediately reached toward the fallen swords. One of them trembled, lifted into the air, and flew straight into my hand.
The moment I caught it by the hilt, I pointed the blade at Eden.
"I don’t care what excuses you come up with. I’m not forgiving you."
After a moment, I lowered the sword and stored it away.
"And one more thing."
I folded my arms.
"I’m not going into that dungeon."
"Ehh?" Eden quickly pushed himself upright. "Mic, pleeease! I’m telling you, nothing’s going to happen. I’ll protect you. Just trust me!"
I snorted.
"To hell with your protection. I’m not setting foot inside a C-rank dungeon at my current rank."
"But..."
"No ’but.’"
I turned around, walked straight to the car, climbed into the back seat, and shut the door.
"I’m staying right here. I’ll sit in this car until the one-way barrier comes down."
The government would probably lift it within a day.
...At least, I hoped so.
"What about the essences?" he asked. "Don’t you want to rank up? Just imagine how many essences you could get inside that dungeon."
"I don’t care about the essences anymore."
Eden blinked.
"What?"
"Yeah," I said. "I don’t want to rank up. I just want to survive."
His expression slowly hardened.
"So... you don’t believe I can protect you?"
"No."
The answer came out without a second thought.
Eden stared at me as if I’d just punched him in the chest.
"Wh... what?"
I didn’t care how shocked he looked.
As for the essences?
To hell with them.
There was no chance I was walking into a C-rank dungeon just for a few extra essences. Even with Eden by my side, the odds of making it out alive were hard to believe.
Sure, he was the main character of this story.
That didn’t make a C-rank dungeon any less dangerous.
The reason was simple.
A C-rank dungeon usually contained at least a hundred Rare-rank monsters or around four thousand Uncommon-rank monsters.
At my current rank, I couldn’t even kill a single Uncommon-rank monster, let alone a Rare-rank one.
Eden, on the other hand, could handle both.
Maybe even without much trouble.
The issue wasn’t his strength.
It was the sheer number of enemies.
I couldn’t imagine someone at Gold rank taking on a hundred Rare-rank monsters or four thousand Uncommon-rank monsters alone.
And even if he somehow could, he’d also have to keep me alive the entire time.
How was that supposed to work?
It wasn’t.
Silence settled between us.
Five minutes passed before Eden finally pushed himself off the ground.
He walked over to me, and I let out a quiet sigh.
"See, Eden? There’s nothing you can say that’ll convince me to go into that dungeon with..."
Before I could finish, he suddenly grabbed my right hand and pulled it toward him.
"What are you..."
Without saying a word, he pulled a small knife from his pocket and made a shallow cut across my palm.
A sharp sting shot through my hand as blood immediately began to well from the wound.
"Ah... Eden, what the hell are you doing?"
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he turned the knife on himself and made the same shallow cut across his own palm. Blood quickly trickled down his hand.
"You... what are..."
He slowly raised his bleeding hand.
The instant I realized what he was about to do, my eyes widened.
No way.
A Blood Pact?
Panic shot through me.
"No, Eden! You..."
"Enough."
He cut me off before I could stop him.
"I, Eden Garcia, swear upon my life that if I fail to protect my friend Michael, if he suffers even the slightest injury inside that dungeon, then I will gladly lay down my own life."
The moment the final word left his mouth, the cut on my palm healed completely.
At the same time, a familiar holographic screen appeared before my eyes.
[Blood Pact Ritual Complete.]
[Host, your Blood Pact with Eden Garcia has been sealed. Its terms are now irrevocable.]
Fuck!
I grabbed Eden by both shoulders and shook him.
"Are you out of your mind?! Why the fuck would you make a Blood Pact with me?"
He just smiled.
"To make you believe I can protect you inside that dungeon."
"You fucking idiot!"
He simply laughed it off.
"So..." he asked, watching me carefully. "Will you come into the dungeon with me now?"
