Nathan and Elia had turned the corner of a street when Nathan's perception suddenly tingled. He hastily tilted his head out of instinct kicking in, just as a kitchen knife passed inches from his face and embedded itself in the wall behind Nathan.
He jerked around to see a young man standing a short distance away from him with an evil grin on face.
On both his sides, stood two more men who, though they seemed fierce, had hopeless and downcast expression on their faces.
But the most peculiar being among their group was neither this young man or his two lackeys but a massive dog standing in front of the man.
The dog was anything but normal. It looked like a dog with wolf ancestry- sharp jaws, erect ears and long canine teeth. The dog was larger than any dog Nathan had ever seen; it stood taller than 4 feet. The dog was brownish in colour, and its large canines were visible to all as it panted with its long tongue hanging out of mouth.
The man had an arrogant expression on his face with a haughty body language. He was standing with his hands in pockets of his trouser.
"You are quite a strong fellow," the man grinned. Even though he was talking to Nathan, he was staring lecherously at Elia.
"And finally, a person of the opposite gender," he added as he licked his lips.
"I wonder if the both of you have heard of something called a contract?" he asked and continued, "and if you have not, I believe you have heard it now."
As the man's words finished, a message flashed to both Nathan and Elia:
[Ryan wants to establish a contract with Nathan Romantino]
[The terms are: 1. Nathan will loyally serve Ryan forever. 2. Nathan will forfeit his life into the hands of Ryan. 3. All orders will have to be followed without any questions asked.]
The same contract had been displayed to Elia.
"Look," Ryan continued with a shrug of his hands as if he were some merciful, kind hearted person, "accept the terms and you can live a good life."
"I may even allow you to enjoy a few of my playthings, obviously, after I get bored with them."
"And the second option you have is only death," he grinned. "And this lady is anyhow coming with me."
Nathan narrowed his eyes as he tried to gauge their strength. Through his experience in fighting the abarations so far, he could correctly guess their strength.
The two men with Ryan were probably level 1, while Ryan himself was level 2. But the most powerful of the four was the dog—level 3. And this dog was the source of the extreme confidence that the man had been showing.
Most probably, the dog had been Ryan's pet even before all this calamity, and somehow, the dog might have been able to absorb the force crystals. Maybe, it had killed one of those abarations which might have appeared suddenly in front of the dog.
And probably by thinking about how to control his pet dog, Ryan might have learned of the contracts.
Seeing Nathan remain silent, Ryan sighed in regret, "You do not seem very wise."
He was very impatient and he might have has shown some patience but now that he had found a lady, he could not wait to turn her into his slave.
The moment his words were complete, he nudged the dog on its back, and it sprinted and leaped at Nathan with its open jaw.
The dog was inherently strong and facing him at level 3, any normal human at level 2 would have been badly injured.
But Nathan was anything but normal.
He did not move as he spotted the approaching dog, and at the last moment when the dog was just about to bite his neck, he slashed with his dagger.
The dagger cut through the dog's muscles but was stopped by its bone- it was not strong enough to cut through the bone of a level 3 dog. The dog howled in pain as it tried to thrash its body towards Nathan.
But Nathan did not panic. He let go of the handle of the dagger, clenched his fist, and struck squarely on the dog's head. With a loud crack, the dog's skull cracked as it was sent flying and struck the wall.
When the dog slid along the wall and landed on the ground, it was no longer breathing. It was as dead as it could be.
Witnessing Nathan kill his powerful pet so easily, all the arrogance on Ryan's face vanished, and it was replaced by sheer terror and fright.
He tried to open his mouth, but before he could utter a word, Nathan had closed the distance between them and a punch landed on the man's jaw.
Like the dog, the man's head cracked open, and he was sent flying as he struck the same wall and he landed near the dog.
He turned to face the other two men, but both were already on their knees.
"Please… let us go…" one of them begged, "He forced us to sign the contract with him."
"He even killed three of our companions," the other pleaded with a frightful face.
"Fuck off," Nathan muttered—and though it was a curse, life returned to both of them.
"Thank you… thank you very much," they shouted as they ran away.
With Ryan dead, the contract had been nullified and they had gotten a new lease of life.
Elia, meanwhile, took the death of humans this time much better than previously. She now understood the reality that if it were not them doing the killings, it would be them being killed.
She, though, was affected a bit remained calm and very soon even this little effect would vanish.
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