Dante frowned. "How many times can you fail before you're expelled?" Jurian answered without hesitation. "Twice. Fail a third time and you're removed from the academy."
Dante nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm." Aishwani continued. "I've also heard that those who graduate can return as apprentices, or join the Academy Guild."
Dante felt a headache coming on. His sister had mentioned something similar before, but he had never bothered asking about it. "Guild?"
Aishwani nodded, realizing this was a good opportunity to earn a little more favor with Dante. She still had the feeling that his shamelessness wasn't without reason. People like him usually possessed the strength to justify acting however they pleased... usually.
"Yes. Once you graduate, you can either leave and pursue your own path, or join the Academy Guild. The guild itself is called the Midvest Guild. It's affiliated with the academy, but it's separate from it, so current students can't join. Entry requirements are extremely strict, but the benefits are worth it. Members gain access to the guild's Voidships, allowing them to travel across continents, explore pocket worlds, dimensions, and other places that ordinary people would never be able to reach."
Dante nodded. "I see... that's actually pretty cool." Jurian smiled. "The academy is considered one of the best paths available. If you graduate, your future strength is almost guaranteed. You'll also qualify for the Midvest Guild, and potentially even the major sects."
Dante frowned. "Aren't sects supposed to be alternatives to the academy?" Jurian nodded. "Some are. Others operate on the same principle as Midvest Guild. They simply recruit graduates rather than train them from the beginning."
Dante nodded in understanding. Soon, there was little left to discuss. The ones who had benefited the most from the exchange were Dante and the two Sages. Still, something about Jurian and Aishwani gave Dante an odd feeling.
He looked between them. "I understand why the Sages were willing to gamble. They could gain information and possibly earn the favor of Mythical Beings. But what about you two?"
Aishwani frowned. I knew it... He's shameless, but he isn't stupid. She let out a quiet sigh. "I have enemies already attending the academy. Even if killing isn't allowed, suppressing someone until they fail to graduate certainly is. Being expelled would destroy my reputation."
Her expression hardened. "I need allies. Quickly." Jurian nodded, sharing the same concern. "Likewise. There are already people waiting to recruit me, though I've refused them. I'll likely meet them again once we arrive. Besides..." He hesitated briefly. "There are Mythical Beings from our generation that I've met—or at least heard about—that genuinely give me goosebumps."
Aishwani nodded in agreement. Dante looked curious. "Oh? Like that dwarf?" Jurian shook his head. "He's powerful for a different reason." He paused before asking,
"Have you ever heard of... the Nameless One?"
Dante shook his head, though he noticed Gorgan frown while Aishwani immediately shot Jurian a warning glance.
Careful.
Jurian continued anyway. "He's also a Mythical Being. I encountered him once... just once. He's supposedly only Level 1, but..." He unconsciously shivered. "He's terrifying. His Skill allows him to instantly teleport to the location of anyone who says his name."
Both Vexion and Lexa felt goosebumps crawl down their spines....How creepy. Dante, however, remained unimpressed. "What if you write his name instead?"
Aishwani shook her head. "I'm not stupid enough to try. From what I've heard, writing it is safe... though apparently he can still sense your location to some extent."
Dante clicked his tongue. Idiots.
"They're treating this guy like some sort of boogeyman. A Skill like that is definitely troublesome, but there's no way it doesn't have numerous activation requirements. It's not a tactical Skill—it's simply a special one."
He looked back at them. "He's coming to the academy, right?" Both Jurian and Aishwani nodded. "Then give me his name." They both stared at him. ...Are you insane?
Dante ignored their expressions. "Just give me the name." After a long moment, Jurian found a napkin. Taking a cautious breath, he wrote the name down before sliding it across the table. No reaction.
Dante accepted the napkin from Vexion, glanced at it for a second, then spoke.
"Qwarian." Nothing happened. Jurian and Aishwani instinctively looked around.
Still nothing. Dante calmly repeated the name a second time. Then a third. Silence.
He looked back at them. "Do you understand my point now?" Jurian was the first to nod. "...There's a requirement you didn't fulfill. Otherwise the Skill would've activated."
Aishwani felt strangely embarrassed, as though someone had just explained the monster under the bed wasn't real. "The Skill never activated," she muttered with mild annoyance. "Perhaps because you don't know what he looks like... or because we're on a different continent... or..."
Jurian finished the thought. "Or it activated but couldn't reach this place... or..." He looked at Dante. "...he's actually afraid of you." Dante shrugged. "He's probably strong." The two of them waited for him to continue.
"But matchups matter." Both gave him confused looks. "Skill versus Skill." Understanding slowly dawned on them. "So... another Skill could counter or completely nullify his."
Dante simply smiled. A faint chill ran down both their spines.
Jurian continued. "He isn't the only concern. I've also heard one of the Dragon Kings will be attending." Dante immediately waved the topic away.
"You two worry too much." He leaned back lazily. "If we meet, we meet. If we're going to be allies, have a little confidence in yourselves. Death comes for everyone eventually, so stop panicking." Jurian chuckled. "It's difficult to trust someone who admitted he barely knew anything about the academy."
Dante shrugged. "I knew enough."
Once Jurian finished speaking, Aishwani asked,
"The important matters have been discussed. But how exactly do we ensure this alliance actually means something?"
Dante shrugged once more.
"Trust each other... or find a Skill that can enforce it."
Eli finally found an opportunity to speak.
"I have a Mythical-Tier Contract Artifact."
Dante yawned, turning sideways on the couch before resting his feet across the opposite seat.
"An artifact, huh?" Jurian and Aishwani both looked toward him.
"...You know what that is?"
Dante didn't answer. Instead, he lazily pointed at Eli.
Understanding, she nodded and retrieved a rolled parchment from her spatial ring. The scroll looked surprisingly ordinary, its surface an aged ivory color with faint silver runes flowing along the edges. The moment it appeared, however, everyone could faintly feel the dense aura surrounding it.
"It works exactly as it sounds," Eli explained. "Each participant places a drop of blood onto the contract. We then recite the agreement together, stating every condition, each person's responsibilities, the duration of the contract, and the consequences for breaking it. Once everyone accepts, the artifact binds all participants equally."
She smiled gently. "This particular contract has a maximum duration of five years."
Dante nodded. Thought as much.
The group spent several minutes discussing the terms before finally settling on something simple. It wasn't an oath of absolute loyalty. It wasn't a life-and-death pact.
It was merely an alliance.
Each member would assist another member whenever requested, provided the request wasn't impossible to accomplish or completely unreasonable. No one could demand suicide, betrayal of their own people, or actions that fundamentally violated the purpose and point of the agreement.
Likewise, every subordinate officially serving a member would also be expected to honor alliance-related requests made under their master's authority.
Should someone intentionally violate the contract without legitimate cause, the artifact would impose its punishment. Their strongest usable Skill would be sealed for ten years.
If they possessed multiple Skills of similar strength, the artifact would instead seal two of them for the same duration.
Satisfied with the conditions, everyone placed a drop of blood onto the parchment. One by one, silver lines illuminated across its surface before quietly disappearing. The contract had been formed.
Dante accepted the agreement without the slightest hesitation. Lexa and Vexion remained equally unconcerned. They knew their Master.
There was almost certainly some scheme running through his head that would allow him to ignore the agreement without suffering any consequences.
...
The reality was far simpler. Dante didn't need a scheme. The moment the contract attempted to bind him, he immediately felt something strange. Nothing happened.
The binding simply... failed. It was as though the artifact had attempted to grasp something it simply wasn't capable of affecting.
Interesting.
He showed no reaction whatsoever. Pretending to be bound was still beneficial. Alliances were useful, and there was no reason to reveal the artifact's failure.
Besides, Dante wasn't naïve enough to completely trust it in the first place.
If Eli happened to be the only person who fully understood the artifact's mechanics, she could easily omit certain details or twist its conditions in ways that favored herself. There was no reason to blindly believe everything she said simply because she possessed the contract.
The System quietly supplied the explanation.
[ The artifact judged a Skill's Level separately from its actual Strength. It could seal Mythical Skills up to Level 3 without issue. Beyond that, once a Skill's true strength exceeded the artifact's binding threshold, the contract simply lost its authority.
Level and power were not always the same thing.
It was the same principle used by World Realms.
Many World Realms restricted entry based on skill level alone, yet someone whose actual combat power far exceeded their displayed level could often exploit those restrictions entirely.
The contract functioned in much the same way.]
There was no need to search for loopholes. The artifact itself simply lacked the authority and strength to bind him. Dante closed his eyes and ignored the rest of the explanation. If betrayal ever became necessary, he was free to do so.
Instead of listening to every technical detail of the contract, he simply left the System to record all of its conditions while he relaxed on the couch.