The Bargainer 2 (Patreon)

The Bargainer
Chapter 2

-VB-

After a good night’s sleep and then in a more secluded part of New York City, I sat down and asked the question that has been plaguing me all day today.

“Why am I here…?”

The Gate power under Binding category, which cost me all of my left arm’s skin that I had to regrow, opened a portal to the destination I always had in mind. It was not something subconscious or anything like that. It followed distinct choices I made.

So it confused me because I found myself in Worm not because of the location but because of the time.

Specifically speaking, I found myself in New York City in 2,000 AD, which was eleven years before the canon timeline and thus way out of my comfort zone.

Sure, I came to Worm out of my own volition, which was also kind of a stupid move in and of itself, but I was powerful fighter with not just experience under his belt but also knowledge of this setting.

But finding myself eleven years before canon was not what I considered “good” in my books.

Still, this could be worse (ie, dropping in right as the Golden Morning starts).

I reached into my back and pulled out a small cubic box. Ornately decorated in emerald green, gold inlays, and reinforced by some of the friends I made on my travels, this box represented everything I was.

Or rather this box was the source of my powers.

I squeezed it lightly, and the entire box enlarged. Opening it, I dropped all but two of my other items into it and then closed it.

See, other items - like the book, the necklace, and whatever - were all good and fine, but they needed a way to recharge. As I could not use mana directly, I needed an artifact to do it for me.

This box was that artifact. Without it, I would eventually run out of power on the rest of my items and that would be it for me.

That said, the box was probably the one thing that I could consider to be safe as well. The magical reinforcements it had weren’t just there for its keepsake; if the enchantments ever detected that it was not in the rightful hands for long periods of time, then it would teleport - using the same method as the book’s Gate - back to me, even if I was dead and six feet under.

… But I was in Worm. Having a secure source of my power wasn’t enough.

I placed the box on the ground, got on my knees, and placed my hands on it.

“Ardun.”

Almost immediately, I felt the eyes of my first patron stare at me. The scenery around me hadn’t changed. However, what few animals that were here - rats, cats, raven, pigeons, and dogs - all fled immediately. They ran as if they would be eaten on the spot.

It was the correct response to Ardun’s presence.

{?}

“I seek more power.”

{!}

I bowed. It was a reaffirmation of our relationship. I was the blessed, it was the blesser, and it could demand as much as it wanted for what little it gave.

“What would you have?”

{...} it paused. Then it grew … gleeful? {...!}

It wove reality and -.

It extracted something from the depths of the Abyss. I remained still even though I wanted to scream and run. I trembled as the “extract” dribbled over my soul.

When it ended, I no longer remembered my name, my soul felt heavier, and I knew how to prevent my own death. Ardun’s chittering presence disappeared along with the end of the transaction. I stowed the box away in the space of my soul and stood up shakily.

‘I guess I need to find somewhere to stay,’ I thought to myself as I walked out of the abandoned alley. ‘... How am I going to introduce myself again? I don’t remember it, so I guess I’ll have to make something up…’

---

The motel wasn’t bad. It was clean, if a little old. I made my way to my room, opened the door, and stepped in. I reached out to my left in the dark room, and found the switch. Flipping it, I flinched a little at the harsh light before I froze.

Turning my head slightly towards my right, I spotted a woman sitting on the bed and reading. I recognized her outfit immediately.

I stared incredulously at her as I slowly closed the door of the motel room I rented behind me.

“... Hello,” I greeted her.

Sitting on the bed, the fedora and suit-wearing lady met my eyes with her own stare before gesturing for me to sit next to her. She flicked the page of the book in her hand.

“... Can I help you?”

“Yes,” she replied as she licked her index finger and then used it to flip a page. “Your presence has altered many of our plans.”

I chuckled tiredly. “Yeah, a lot of people keep telling me that.”

“You will work for us to compensate for that.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And what would I get out of it?” I asked her. This was Contessa, the boogieman of Cauldron. I could probably fight her despite her Path to Victory’s tendency to win, but I didn’t want to fight if I didn’t have to. However, I would not just be someone’s servant because they scared me.

The remnants of the Battle Wolf still lingering in my artifacts took one look at the woman and rated her as a threat just below Mephistopheles’s level.

“Of course. We are not slave drivers. You will first see how your power can be of use to us,” she said as she closed the door with a soft clap and stood up. “Door me.”

I sighed as the infamous purple-rimmed portal opened. “I just wasted money booking this room, didn’t I?”

She didn’t say anything as she walked through the portal.