Mage And Wolf
Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Chapter 83

Shocked silence fills the room, chains still wrapped around both of our wrists, half flat black, half dark gold.

"This can’t be? The favor of a true deity bound our agreement?" The Sect Master stammers.

"Can anyone explain?" I ask, looking down at our wrists. "Is this thing harmful?"

"As long as neither of you renege the deal, it’s completely safe." Elder Song reassures me. "There’s a few lingering effects though. You can’t kill someone you once had a divine binding with without incurring the wrath of the natural laws. And you can’t betray them either."

"All that for a few pills and a token?" I ask "That’s a bit much don’t you think?"

The chains have sunk most of the way into our arms now, leaving a Dragon and Sword tattoo. I wonder if that will fade or if I’m rocking in for life?

"It’s only supposed to happen between Deity level beings making a formal pact." The Sect Master says.

Oh, Fudge. The agreement must have invoked the protection of the Dragon Gods.

"You weren’t planning on double crossing me were you?" I ask softly.

"I mean, it did cross my mind, True Transmission tokens are quite precious. But I did decide to go through with it in the end" The Sect Master shrugs, thinking it no big deal, he does lead an evil sect after all. Getting shafted on your pay is fairly mundane level evil by any standard.

"I’m a Priestess on my home world, the fancy gown style robes I often wear instead of the Sect’s Taoist robes are my robes of office. I suspect your intention to betray your promise offended the God I follow."

"What is their name? Perhaps I can apologize after our deal is done, to ensure the safety of the sect."

"The God of Death must not be named." I shake my head and everyone turns pale.

Elder Po stares at me in shock. "So you cultivate Death Energy because..."

"Because I’m a Priestess of the Death God, yes. My cultivation path would otherwise have been a plain physical path"

"I’ve heard the Death God described as many things. A demon, A Primordial Black Dragon, A shadow without form" Elder Ming whispers.

"I suppose all could be true"

"Well, isn’t this fun. You really are the most evil one here" Elder Song laughs cheerfully.

"This is no laughing matter Song" Elder Po snaps. "How many souls must be offered to the Death God to even earn its attention, much less beg a favor? And she has earned enough favor to become a Priestess. All the followers of the God Of Death are said to kill by the thousands."

Hey, I’m literally standing right here.

"I’m still me, nothing has changed. I still came here from a world where cultivation is capped at Fortification. I’m still Elder Po’s personal disciple, and we still have a deal for Soul Forging Pills. There’s no need to freak out."

Everyone is starting to relax. Finally, I don’t want to end up dead out of fear.

"See, like Demon Cultivators, Death Priestesses aren’t really bad people." I smile at the Elders and Elder Song laughs.

"It’s hard to be mad at or afraid of that face. You just look so sweet and innocent."

"Except when you’re channeling power with that robe on and your eyes go black" Elder Po adds with a smirk.

"Alright, sorry for overreacting. The pact freaked me out more than any of you are allowed to ever mention again" Sect Master Sun commands.

"Yes Sect Master"

"Just one more question" Sect Master Sun looks at me strangely "What did you have to do to attract such a powerful beings attention on such a weak planet?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"It’s my duty to know every member’s background, and the token will make you an honorary Elder"

"Fair enough. I helped drop a high yield explosive on a city of over a million"

"I regret asking"

"I get that a lot."

"Now that you all have taken years off my life" Elder Song begins "I suppose I’m to be expected to make the True Transmission Token? Do we even have the materials?"

I wave goodbye at him "We’ll go make those pills, have fun with the token!"

Both batches of pills go smoothly and we’re done in time for the sun to go down. Elder Ming finally speaks after an uncomfortable day of her staring at me while I’m working.

"Elder Song knew didn’t he?"

"Yeah, pretty sure he recognized the robes the very first day I came in."

"No wonder he took a liking to you. You were hiding just as much as he does, but in plain sight" she sounds a little bitter about not knowing.

"I didn’t mean to offend, I just didn’t know if you guys would recognize the Gods of my world. Being executed as a heretic would really suck"

She smiles a little smile "This world isn’t religious like that. If a being has the power to be called a True God, it is. Only power matters."

"Good Philosophy"

We walk in silence to Elder Po’s pagoda and find the Sect Master and Elder Song, as well as Elder Ye already waiting.

"I’ll have dinner ready in an hour guys" I tease, but they cheer. Maybe they really are here for dinner.

Dinner ends up being a simple fish and veggies curry with rice, but nobody seems to mind, saying it is still better than cooking for themselves.

All talk at dinner is of the competition. We’ll be leaving 4 days early to give time to get there, with the anticipated ambushes by the Light Sects. It seems there’s an informal code to attacking rival Sects while they travel. You only attack opponents as strong or stronger in cultivation Realm than yourself. Immortals don’t attack Mortal Realm cultivators.

To violate it is to risk having their Elders kill off your disciples on sight. None of the Sects in the area are actively at war with each other. They despise each other, but there’s an uneasy truce.

Elder Song hands me the token, which turns out to be a small black dagger shaped necklace. I hang it around my neck and it vanishes with a prick of the skin.

"There, that’s done. The pills are good and passed to the Sect Master and the formal deal is done."

"So what pill do you plan to make for the competition?" Elder Ye asks me.

"The cursed Core Forming Pills." I tell her matter of factly and she chokes on her stew.

"That might not be wise. Nobody knows we have them, and you’ve made so many."

"So something more mundane?" I ask, hoping for inspiration.

"The aphrodisiac!" Elder Song shouts. "It’s 32 ingredients, complex looking and impressive, but cheap to make and of limited, specific use. We even have the antidote on hand"

Everyone else looks confused but I laugh. "That’s a rank 4 pill right? Even at mediocre quality it would win. How long is the process?"

"About 25 minutes, but you can draw it out to an hour if you want to be flashy"

Elder Ye glares at the both of us. "Explain"

"The pill is a long lasting aphrodisiac that if burned like incense spreads over a huge area and can have an entire Sect dual cultivating like crazed rabbits for an entire night". I barely get the words out through my laughter.

"That’s an evil pill of a sort best left undiscovered. Do we have the ingredients? The Light sects will never know what hit them." I knew that old lady had a sense of humor.