Chapter 44: Zac’s Contract (Part 1)
After Dante and his group discussed the contents of the journal with Camille, the handler said that she would keep looking for information and let them know when the next raid would happen.
Thanks to the warlock's latest mission, they captured one of the gang members and managed to save the women who were having their life energy drained before they perished like the others.
Luckily, the women remembered everything that happened to them and retold the story to Camille and her lackeys with the utmost detail.
Meanwhile, Dante and Zac gave their farewells to the two girls and went up to their apartment, where the warlock noticed a strange umbra flowing from his friend.
"What's wrong?" the warlock asked.
"Huh? Oh—nothing. I was just wondering why Miss Camille called me to her office too…" replied Zac, his voice mixed with confusion and sadness.
"Maybe she just sees you as part of the team, you know?" Dante commented as he sat down on the couch.
"But why? I haven't done anything. All my skills are useless when it comes to this type of thing…" Zac said, lowering his shoulders.
"I'm not a fighter, I'm not nearly as strong as you guys, and I've never shot a gun in my life," the redhead continued.
"Well, you do have other talents, but if you want, we could train together," Dante said casually.
"Dude, all of my bones would break if I got punched by you…" Zac replied.
"What the hell do you think I am? I wouldn't use any body-enhancement spells if we are practicing physical combat," the warlock clarified.
Still, Zac wasn't convinced about his offer, so Dante came up with another idea that could sway his opinion.
"What if you do a contract with me?" Dante asked.
"Huh? Like a legal contract? Or a demon contract?" the redhead replied with another question.
"I guess it would be like a demon contract, though I'm not a demon…" the warlock said with uncertainty.
"You guess? Is that even a thing? Can a person do a contract with a warlock? What would I even get from it?" the redhead asked incessantly.
"To be honest, I've never done it, but I think I can make it work…" Dante replied.
Explaining his train of thought, the warlock believed that he could give his blood to his friend and share some of his abilities with him.
He said that he had absorbed the soul of hundreds of demons in the past, which could be detrimental to someone who wasn't adept at controlling umbra.
Absorbing a demon's soul would bring torment and nightmares to whoever got it, but if they were powerful enough, they could reduce these effects.
Giving an entire demon's soul to Zac could kill him since he had zero umbra control. However, the warlock's blood wouldn't have that effect on him, considering that Dante was giving it to him willingly.
Wanting to put his idea into action, the warlock stood up from the couch and asked Zac to accompany him to the park where he had been practicing his magic the past few days.
The redhead was still hesitant about his friend's plan, but he still went along with him.
At the park, the warlock looked around to make sure that nobody was watching and pointed his palm at the ground, producing an arcane circle where a black column with skull adornments rose up to Dante's waist.
It was the same altar that he used to create the healthstones with his blood, and while Zac was aware of the effects of the stones, it was the first time he saw where they came from.
"This is called the Shadow Well," said Dante, noticing Zac's curious look.
"Is that the thing you use to make the healthstones?" the redhead asked, making the warlock nod in affirmation.
"Healthstones isn't the only thing I can make with it, though. Look at it as a material synthesizer…"
"A what?"
"Hmmm. Basically, I can offer the bowl different things that it considers a 'material' and produce something from it," Dante elaborated.
He wanted to create a small, pill-sized orb with a little bit of his power infused into it, but since he had never tried it, he asked his friend to wait for a few minutes while he figured it out.
After pouring his blood into the bowl numerous times, Dante kept waving his hand and fiddling his fingers, explaining to the redhead that the best way to develop a new product from the Shadow Well was to experiment.
"I see…" Zac muttered, nervously sitting down next to a tree as he spectated the warlock.
However, after more than an hour, Zac's nerves were replaced by boredom, wondering if Dante would finish his experiment that same night.
"It's done," said the warlock, grabbing a small orb from the center of the well.
"Wait, really?" Zac asked, hastily standing up.
"I think so—it feels like it's stable…" Dante commented as he detailed the red, shiny orb in his hand.
It was a perfect sphere, and its red, bright color and size made it look like a piece of bubblegum to Zac.
When the warlock handed it to his friend, he inspected it closer and noticed that it felt quite fragile.
"Yeah, don't drop it…" Dante said, urging him to eat the orb.
"Eat it? It's made of glass!" Zac exclaimed, explaining that normal humans couldn't digest crystal.
Dante responded by telling him that it wasn't the same type of crystal, but Zac still wasn't convinced and asked what kind of effects it would have on his body.
"You told me that if I was a warlock, then you were a warrior, right?" Dante asked.
At that moment, Zac remembered the day he found out about Dante's powers and how he jokingly said that he was a warrior, thinking that his friend was referring to a videogame at that time.
He never expected that the sarcastic comment he made would determine the ability he would get from Dante, and as he stared at the orb, Victoria appeared in his head.
Remembering the frustration he felt when Turner told him to get away from her, calling her "his bitch," and beating him up for simply having friends, the redhead made up his mind and hastily placed the orb in his mouth.
*Gulp* Zac forcefully swallowed.
*cough, cough* "Some water would have been nice…" the redhead commented with a small tear forming in his eye after coughing loudly.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone