Chapter Thirty-Five: The Blackstone Forest

Early the next morning, when Chu Yun emerged from his tent, the adventurers had already loaded the neatly stacked skins of the Thunderwater Ray onto his wagon. Everyone was preparing breakfast, and much of it was simply the meat of the Thunderwater Ray boiled over the fire.

Chu Yun still ate the divine berries he had crafted himself—not out of distrust for these people, but because he had developed a distaste for meat. Since arriving in this world, his diet had become predominantly vegetarian. The scenes he had witnessed at the goblin camp had left too deep an impression; he had no intention of eating meat again in the near future. Only those who have experienced such things firsthand can truly understand—this was not mere affectation.

“Lord Chu Yun, we owe our lives to you for last night. Without your help, we would likely have all been killed,” said a second-tier professional whom Chu Yun had healed with the True Word of Healing, stepping forward to greet him.

“I simply did what I had to in order to protect myself. You needn't make too much of it,” Chu Yun replied coolly.

The man, however, was not convinced. “With your strength, you could have left us to our fate and escaped on your own, yet you still took the trouble to heal us.”

His wounds had been severe; without Chu Yun’s intervention, he would likely have died.

“You are a valiant warrior, and such treatment is what you deserve.”

Chu Yun had healed only a handful of people the previous night—only those who had fought at the front and suffered serious injuries were deemed worthy of his aid.

“Thank you for your recognition. I am Barton, leader of the Obsidian Adventurers. If you need anything once we reach Blackstone City, you can always find me,” Barton said with a smile.

Several other adventurers also came to express their gratitude, but unfortunately, Chu Yun was unwilling to travel with them, and so they parted ways.

Chu Yun’s belongings were few and easily packed—besides the Thunderwater Ray skins he had already arranged, he only had his simple tent and a few odds and ends to gather up.

Most people in the camp chose to return to Rockstead; after the heavy losses of this battle, they needed to regroup and recover. Only a handful of teams continued onward, but they moved slower than Chu Yun and would likely not cross paths with him again.

---

After leaving the camp and traveling some distance, Chu Yun began to communicate with Paimon. To forge a monster contract, the other party must not resist; if the communication was not clear beforehand, the contract could easily fail. While it was possible to force the contract, mutual willingness was far preferable.

A monster contract was extremely unfair to the monster: humans could abandon them at any time, but the monsters, bound by the contract, could never betray their master.

There were also other forms of agreement, such as the equality contract, but such required deep intimacy between both parties. Most people preferred the more hierarchical monster contract or, failing that, the slightly less effective pet contract.

Paimon’s affinity with Chu Yun had risen to sixty points after last night’s battle. Once Chu Yun explained the details of the contract, Paimon agreed enthusiastically, nodding without hesitation. The previous night had shown it Chu Yun’s strength. Among monsters, the law of the strong prevails even more than among humans, and besides, Paimon was not a wild creature but one bred artificially, its loyalty to humans exceeding that of any hound.

“Let’s begin, then,” Chu Yun said.

He took a small vial of Paimon’s blood and began to draw magical runes on its body, using the blood as a medium, following the precise method for establishing a monster contract.

The runes themselves were not complicated—only ten in total. The challenge lay in constructing the spell model atop them. Even with his gamer’s expertise, Chu Yun spent considerable time perfecting the model.

“If things go poorly in Blackstone City, I could always help others with contracting monsters,” Chu Yun mused, finding another possible sideline aside from his healer’s calling.

Once the spell model was complete, Chu Yun began to chant the incantation. As the words flowed, the magical runes on Paimon’s body glowed a deep crimson, the light binding it as if with shackles.

Paimon howled in pain, but did not collapse or resist.

This was the benefit of Monster Speech: Chu Yun had already explained the process in detail, and with their cooperation, the chance of success was greatly increased.

Soon, the blood-red chains of light shattered Paimon’s soul defenses and sank into its very being.

A special connection was forged between the two—a bond of souls.

Paimon was left weak after the contract was sealed, so Chu Yun sent it to rest while he entered the Mirror World to observe the changes.

Chu Yun’s motives in forming the contract were not merely for secrecy; he also wanted to experiment.

As he approached Paimon’s mirrored self in the Mirror World once more, the result was just as he had hoped: the mirror double, which would previously attack him on sight, now instead approached and rubbed affectionately against him.

With the contract’s bond in the real world, the mirror double too was influenced. The soul contract meant that Paimon’s mirror self would likewise obey Chu Yun in the Mirror World.

Chu Yun was delighted. At last, he would no longer have to fight alone in the Mirror World—he could now use it to strengthen himself more efficiently.

He tried to bring Paimon into the Mirror World with him, but to his disappointment, failed. When Paimon crossed the boundary, it would simply reappear in the real world.

It seemed that, for now, Chu Yun was still unable to bring living creatures into the Mirror World.

With the monster contract in place, Chu Yun no longer needed to use Monster Speech to communicate with Paimon, saving valuable mental energy.

The journey ahead was calm. From time to time, Chu Yun would encounter stray monsters, but he dispatched them from afar with his newly learned Thunderbolt Spell. The monster rampage had made the creatures more aggressive and violent, but their numbers had not increased noticeably.

There were never many monsters along the main road to begin with; it was actually quite safe. Unless one went looking for trouble, peace was the norm.

After a full day’s travel, he had encountered only five first-tier monsters—still far from enough to fill up the remaining experience he needed.

Having abandoned the heavy red iron ore, and with the Thunderwater Ray skins now lining his carriage, Chu Yun’s speed had increased considerably. By nightfall, he had reached the camp closest to the Blackstone Forest.

Once he crossed the Blackstone Forest the next day, he would soon reach Blackstone City. If all went well, he might not even have to spend another night outdoors.

Looking at the meager amount of experience he still needed, and at the gathering of adventurers in the camp, Chu Yun felt a sudden urge to enter the Mirror World and unleash a massacre.

Fortunately, reason prevailed. Resisting the dark impulse, he entered the camp as any other adventurer would.

After the unpleasant events of the previous night, Chu Yun chose a spot this time where escaping the camp would be relatively easy. He did not pitch his tent but instead spent the night meditating in his carriage, shifting back and forth between the Mirror World and the real one.

Mental strength could be increased not only through attributes and leveling up, but also through repeated cycles of exertion and recovery.

As a blue-bar mage, Chu Yun was not limited by spell slots, allowing him to train his mental powers more freely by expending and replenishing his magic.

The night passed without incident. When he awoke the next morning, to his surprise, he saw the camp’s teams lining up to depart at almost exactly the same time.

“Isn’t that risky?” Chu Yun wondered aloud, a little puzzled.