"He is coming... You can negotiate directly with him."
The Space Clone’s words hung in the air like a final verdict.
Junior felt confused.
"Who’s coming?"
But deep down, he had a guess. A terrible, sinking guess.
Before anyone could answer, the Wind Clone groaned loudly.
"Why ?"
The other clones turned to look at him. Their expressions were not sympathetic. They were gloating. Enjoying his discomfort.
The Wind Clone let out a heavy sigh.
"Fine."
Then he was gone.
One mont, he stood among them. The next mont, the space he had occupied was empty, as if he had never been there at all.
In his place, a new figure materialized.
The air changed instantly.
Junior did not see the figure clearly at first. His newly awakened mana vision was still recovering, still adjusting. But he did not need to see. He could feel.
The figure stood in the center of the room with a stillness that did not belong to a living creature. It was the stillness of a predator before the strike. The stillness of a blade waiting to fall.
Then the figure’s eyes fell on Junior.
Junior felt shivers run through his entire body.
Like a thousand predators stared at him at once. Each pair of eyes belonged to sothing ancient, sothing hungry, sothing that had been waiting for prey exactly like him.
Junior’s body locked up. His lungs forgot how to breathe. His heart pounded so hard he thought it might tear through his ribs.
But worse than the predators, worse than the staring eyes, was what he felt in the mana around him.
The Mana was twisting. Not randomly, but naturally. It twisted and bent as if responding to a command. As if it were bowing.
As if the very foundation of the world was greeting a higher entity.
Junior’s eyes widened. He had never, not once, seen mana behave like this.
The figure spoke.
"Tell ... what’s your na?"
The voice was calm, almost gentle.
Junior felt his throat close up.
He wanted to answer. He truly did. But the words would not co. His tongue felt like lead. His lips would not part.
He stayed silent.
His mind, which had been so calm and clear after the synchronization, began to race once again. Thoughts crashed into each other like waves in a storm.
’Why can’t I answer? It’s just a na. Just my na. Why is this so hard?’
But he knew why.
In front of this figure’s presence, he could not help but bow his head. Not out of respect. Out of instinct. The sa instinct that made prey freeze before a wolf.
The sa instinct that made the weak submit to the Apex.
Junior had a feeling. No, not a feeling. A certainty.
The person standing before him was a chosen of the pathway. Or maybe... sothing even greater.
A Celestial.
’But that’s impossible.’
Junior’s hands trembled at his sides. His breathing grew shallow. The confidence he had shown monts ago, the calm smile, the cold "try ," all of it had evaporated like morning dew under a blazing sun.
He was not in control here. He had never been in control. The figure before him is.
...
Across from him, Cael waited. And he was confused.
He had asked a simple question. A na. Nothing threatening. Nothing complicated.
Yet the blind boy on the floor had not answered. He just sat there, trembling, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly open but producing no sound.
’Was he that afraid?’
Cael turned his head slightly and looked at his clones. His ssage traveled directly to their minds.
’Did you do sothing to him?’
The Frostfla Clone shook his head.
’Nothing serious. We caught him. We talked. He tried to kill himself. We stopped him. That is all.’
The Black Lightning Clone added,
’He was fine a mont ago. Arguing, smiling, acting tough.’
The Space Clone nodded.
’His sudden fear is not our doing.’
Cael turned his gaze back to Junior.
The boy was still trembling. Still silent. Still unable to et his eyes.
Cael’s voice deepened as he asked again,
"Don’t make repeat myself. Tell your na."
The words pressed down on Junior like a physical weight. His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
Finally, a sound escaped.
"J-Junior."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"Junior... Steven."
Cael tilted his head slightly. The na ant nothing to him personally; he already knew it.
But to think this boy had used a ti elent, had regressed through death, had caused a mana eruption strong enough to attract diamond rankers.
Cael took a single step forward.
Hearing that, Junior flinched.
The clones watched in silence. They had seen Junior angry, desperate, amused, and defiant. They had seen him laugh in the face of slavery.
But they had never seen him like this. Broken and terrified.
Cael stopped a few feet away from Junior and looked down at him. His violet eyes were calm, almost cold.
"You wanted to negotiate. So, let’s negotiate."
Junior swallowed hard. His throat felt like sandpaper.
"I... I want a Mana contract."
Cael’s expression did not change.
"You are in no position to demand anything."
Junior’s voice grew slightly stronger. Just slightly.
"I know, but a slave contract requires my willing agreent. You cannot force it."
"True," Cael admitted.
"But I do have thods to make you submit."
Junior took a shaky breath.
"What do you want from ?"
Cael’s answer ca without hesitation.
"Many things. Information. Everything you know about the future or past. Every event, every na, every death. Work for . Beco my subordinate."
"And in return, you can state your terms."
Junior stared at him.
"You expect to just trust your word?"
Cael’s lips curled slightly. Not quite a smile. Sothing colder.
"That’s your problem."
Junior gritted his teeth.
"I need so ti to think about my terms."
Cael shook his head.
"No can do. I hate wasting ti or giving it, especially to a ti elent user."
Junior hesitated.
"Why are you being unreasonable?"
Cael let out a chuckle.
"Well... I am not the one who regresses through death to escape consequences. You are."
The room fell silent.
Junior looked down at the floor. His reflection stared back at him from the polished surface.
But his mind was clear.
He had no good options. That much was certain. But between slavery and trust, between pain and uncertainty, there was only one choice a rational person could make.
He lifted his head.
"Fine. I will tell you everything, and I will beco your subordinate. But I want sothing in return."
Cael raised an eyebrow.
"Na it."
Junior took a deep breath as his voice steadied.
"I... I will tell you when the ti cos, but I promise you that it won’t break the mana contract, nor will it hurt you in any way. If anything, it will also benefit you."
Cael studied him for a long mont.
Then he nodded.
"Alright."
Junior let out a breath he did not know he had been holding.
It was not freedom. Not really. He was still bound. Still trapped. Still at the rcy of soone far stronger than himself.
But it was better than a slave’s collar. And for now, that was enough.
Yes, Junior truly believed Cael had the ans to turn him into a slave. He did not doubt it for a single second.
True, he was going to beco a subordinate of soone younger than him. Soone weaker than his pri self.
But what of it?
In the end, he was lost. Utterly humiliated. His life was at the rcy of another party.
But that was not the real reason he agreed to beco a subordinate.
No. All he had ever wanted was to beco a celestial.
If the boy failed his path, he would live at most five hundred years. Junior would serve him until then.
Even if the boy beca a celestial, it doesn’t matter, as it only proves how talented the boy truly was.
And the boy was a chosen of the pathway, but the boy seed to be unaware of it; he was chosen nonetheless.
Junior was not being submissive. He was not being a pushover. He just wanted to beco a celestial. Whatever it took. No matter the cost. That was his obsession.
Cael took Junior’s hand in a handshake gesture and began manipulating their mana in a single flow.
Two interfaces appeared in front of them, visible only to themselves.
Cael checked his interface and saw one additional term.
Cael should not take things that belong to Junior unless Junior gave them.
But Cael didn’t think much about it.
And for safety’s sake, Cael also added a new term that Junior can’t regress back into the past beyond this point.
Both checked for loopholes. Neither was stupid.
Soon, they signed the mana contract.
Both felt a small pain around their right wrists as a white light glowed and then faded.
The contract was complete.
Cael was about to swap places with the Wind Clone when he stopped. He looked at Junior and said,
"By the way, my na is Caelir Vayne. Nice to et you."
________
[A/N: Unedited Chapter]
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