Chapter 1018: Parchment
"Lord Morgan, you’re carrying six pieces of spatial equipment. That necklace on your chest must be the most important one, right?
Over eighty magic scrolls—the largest is a full meter long. It’s probably an Earth’s Shelter Scroll, the strongest earth defense spell below ninth rank…
Six level-forty fire elemental mana crystals, three level-forty ice elemental mana crystals, two level-forty wind elemental mana crystals, but no earth ones.
Hmm, these must be from hunting level-forty magical beasts outside the Blazeforge Battlefield. There should’ve been three earth mana crystals originally, right?
And forty sets of enchanted dark mage robes—all designed to boost casting speed and reduce spell time…
Plus over a hundred and eighty pairs of lacy underwear, all brightly colored and triangular, some even damp…
Wow, Lord Morgan, your tastes are truly… eclectic. Lacy triangle underwear—ah, I remember now, that’s the style noblewomen love most. The patterned ones must belong to magewomen, and the damp ones…"
Morgan’s face turned ashen as he hurriedly lowered his voice and growled.
"Stop! Stop! Master Leon, you win—just don’t say any more…"
As Leon spoke, several Henry Family mages nearby paused, staring at Morgan with awkward expressions. Some began whispering among themselves.
"I heard that a weird magical beast snuck into the family recently, stealing female mages’ underwear—especially the unwashed ones. If you weren’t careful, it would be gone…"
"Wasn’t it called the notorious panty thief? They caught it in the end, and the women in the family beat it to death—so brutally that even the corpse-eating black crows wouldn’t touch its body…"
Morgan’s face went pale. Thief-like, he cast a silence barrier, then glared red-eyed at Leon.
"Leon, you win. Three mana crystals from the Blazeforge Battlefield’s Sky Rank Beasts—just stop talking."
Leon smirked, holding up four fingers.
"Four. Three earth, one ice. No bargaining."
Morgan gritted his teeth, quickly realizing Leon wanted him to return the ice mana crystal from the last Ice Ape encounter.
"Fine, deal! But you have to say you were joking earlier—you got it wrong!"
Damn it, Leon is a total demon. His pet can actually see inside my spatial equipment—thirteen layers of secret wards couldn’t stop it.
No way, I can’t let him keep talking. If those women in the family hear about this, they’ll kill me—or worse. Those she-dragons are terrifying…
Dropping the silence barrier, Leon spoke with a trustworthy tone.
"Lord Morgan, I was just joking. Don’t take it so seriously…"
Morgan glanced around thief-like, wanting to hand over the mana crystals but hesitating.
No, I can’t give them up right away. If I do, everyone will think Leon was telling the truth and I’m just trying to shut him up. I’ll be dead when I get home…
"Haha, Master Leon, you really are witty. So you know about one of our Henry Family’s little anecdotes…"
After a couple of awkward laughs, Morgan dodged Leon like the plague, quickly retreating to the Henry Family’s side and sneakily handing a spatial ring to Arno.
"Arno, give this to that damned Leon. How did he even notice I swapped out three mana crystals…"
Morgan looked genuinely annoyed, putting on a convincing act. Arno stared at him, gave a couple of dry laughs, and said nothing.
Arno took the spatial ring, walked over to Leon, and handed it to him.
Leon glanced inside—three Mud Lizard mana crystals, one ice mana crystal (the one Morgan stole from the ice ape), the promised alchemy potions, even more than agreed, plus some rare materials.
Clearly, these were Morgan’s hush-money, a bribe just for Leon.
Leon pocketed the spatial ring and the three swapped level-forty mana crystals from earlier.
"Master Leon, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you."
Arno had delivered the mana crystals but didn’t leave—instead, he looked solemn.
Having scored all these benefits, Leon was in a good mood and nodded casually.
Arno chose his words carefully before speaking.
"Archmage Leon, you might not know much about the Blazeforge Battlefield. Humanity is at a severe disadvantage here.
The rivalry between your Andalusia Kingdom and our Odin Kingdom is just healthy internal competition among humans.
Honestly, we’re all just trying to get more benefits—no need to make it life or death. That’s why, for this Blazeforge Realm competition, we’re using a points system.
But with the Blazeforge Orcs, there’s absolutely no room for compromise. Those musclebound morons with magma for brains—if we meet, it’s kill or be killed. There’s no third option.
There’s simply no chance for peace between us and the Blazeforge Orcs.
Years ago, before humans arrived, this place was called Blazeforge Pasture. Every time it opened, it was harvest time for the orcs.
After countless years, they know this land better than we ever could—at least a hundred times more than all our human knowledge combined.
Most importantly, the Blazeforge Orcs receive some mysterious power here, making them even stronger than outside.
(Irrelevant system message—skip translation.)
Whether it’s Odin Kingdom or Andalusia Kingdom, if we don’t join forces, we’re no match for the Blazeforge Orcs. Even together, we’re still at a disadvantage here.
So we have to cooperate—only by combining everyone’s strength can we hold off the Blazeforge Orcs…"
Arno’s earnest persuasion lacked focus; Leon squinted and cut him off.
"Lord Arno Henry, what are you actually trying to say? Just spit it out."
Arno was caught off guard, gave a dry laugh, and finally spoke plainly.
"Master Leon, when I saw you fighting Mud Lizards, it looked almost effortless. Besides your team’s overwhelming strength, you seemed to use a special combat style tailored for those beasts.
And everyone was so skilled—each person’s role, attack rhythm, and spellcasting seemed strictly calculated.
If I’m not mistaken, this method could work against any magical beast in the Blazeforge Battlefield.
I’d like your combat method. Of course, I’ll pay you well—I’m not asking for it for free…"
A knowing look flashed in Leon’s eyes. Their tactics were designed for Sky Rank magical beasts—fast, efficient, and deadly. It would be odd if no one noticed.
Besides, Leon hadn’t planned to keep the method secret forever. It wasn’t that hard, and now someone was eager to pay—why not cash in?
"Sure, no problem. I can teach you the method."
Leon’s quick agreement left Arno speechless. He stared, dumbfounded, unable to grasp why Leon would accept so readily.
"You… you really will? Uh, Master Leon, just name your price. As long as it’s not outrageous, I won’t haggle."
Leon held up one finger.
First, after I teach you the method, for every five magical beasts you hunt, you must give me one mana crystal—one fifth of the total, rounded up.
Arno considered for a moment.
One fifth of the mana crystals isn’t unreasonable. With this method, our hunting speed will increase and our losses will decrease. Even if we’re besieged by six beasts again, we won’t be in such danger; safety will improve greatly.
Paying one fifth of the crystals, we’ll still end up with more than if we hunted alone, and with less risk…
Alright, we’ll give you one fifth of the total mana crystals we hunt, rounded up.
Leon held up two fingers.
Second, and most important: tell me everything you know about these mana crystals. Then our deal can begin.
This time, Arno hesitated. After three minutes, he finally nodded.
Alright, I’ll tell you. But you must promise not to spread these secrets—our Henry Family paid dearly to learn them.
After Arno finished, Leon produced a parchment radiating magical energy—a special contract parchment, its magic waves added by Lord Shaun.
It was a blank parchment, ready for the contract’s terms to be written.
Leon swiftly wrote out the contract terms on the parchment, then showed them to Arno.
We’re making a contract—the terms are as we discussed. You can rest assured, and so can I. If anyone breaks the contract, their soul will be sacrificed to the Abyssal Archfiend. I’m sure that soul-hungry Archfiend won’t let a tasty soul slip away.
Arno glanced at the parchment, relieved. He couldn’t cheat now, but he felt safer learning Leon’s methods.
Once signed, the parchment burned away, vanishing in flames. And somewhere distant, both men sensed a terrifying gaze—clearly, the contract had drawn the attention of the demon archfiend. If anyone breaks it, their soul will be claimed.