Forbidden Arcana: Valaria Read online

  “You must think I’m some kind of idiot,” the man sneered as he picked up the contract and began thumbing through. “I’m reading it.”

  “Go ahead,” Jericho smirked. “It’s simply for my records and peace of mind.”

  Jericho glanced at Morgana as the curvaceous reaper tried not to laugh. The two of them worked extremely hard on the contract and were particularly proud of it.

  “All of this for my soul upon death,” the man eyed Jericho suspiciously. “What’s in it for you? Last I checked you weren’t our biggest fan, Owl.”

  “Simple,” Jericho said coldly. He tried not to smile as he thought of Owl’s face when he found out Jericho was doing business as him. “We share a mutual enemy. While I’m certainly not your friend I see no reason why we can’t work toward a mutually beneficial cause. I utilize the contracts so I have some assurance that we are in agreement as stipulated in article seventeen subsection nine which says that…”

  “I see what it says,” the man waved his hand. “We agree to attack Sin and any associated guild. But from what I’ve heard Jericho’s been kicking your ass up and down the coast. Maybe we should join him?”

  “I don’t believe that would be in your best interest,” Morgana chimed in. Jericho was impressed with how convincing she was. He was surprised to find that reapers weren’t only the ominous bringers of death he’d imagined. They were also highly skilled salespeople. “Have you met the man? He’s a vainglorious white knight. There’s no way he leaves you alone to enjoy yourself. Sure, you could join him as long as you become his obedient little lapdog and kiss the feet of elves and fairies. Owl on the other hand, has no interest in ruining your fun as long as it doesn’t bleed into his territory. Do you really wish to serve that narcissist with a hero complex instead of somebody who’ll leave you alone?”

  “Precisely,” Jericho said mimicking Owl’s emotionless tone. “I have no interest in your activities as long as they don’t concern me. Kidnap elves, dismember fairies, skin werewolves. It’s none of my business.”

  “And Jericho isn’t offering you the best armor and weapons in the game,” Talia added. The tall blonde time witch insisted on coming along to protect Morgana. Ever since Jericho acquired Morgana, the two lovers were inseparable. “With this equipment you’ll finally be on equal footing with those monster lovers. Imagine the look on his face when you tear his pets to pieces.”

  “Hm,” the warrior smirked. “Alright. If you put it that way, I guess I’m in.”

  The warrior signed the contract and moved to the waiting area.

  “Next,” Jericho said loudly as the line continued to move. Talia and Morgana both smiled like hostesses welcoming the next customer.

  Death magic was funny in that it was the only magic that required the agreement of all parties involved in order to function. Every other magic Jericho could use with complete freedom but death magic was like making a deal with the devil.

  Souls could be gained through trades, bets, or as offerings. Then there were the subcategories and nuances within those particular types of agreements. There was a basic underlying fairness to death magic that Jericho really appreciated.

  Jericho also found that it was almost impossible to trick a person with a handshake agreement because it required both parties to have a mutual understanding for the magic to take hold. Morgana said it’s why many reapers sealed their deals with a kiss. It ensured that neither party could deceive the other.

  With contracts though, the deals were very much buyer beware. Both parties needed to read through the contract and once they both signed the magic was cast. When the terms of the contract were fulfilled, the soul would become his. But even that came with stipulations.

  Jericho couldn’t lie in the contract and the specifics of everything down to what constituted a soul needed to be solidified. Fortunately, there was no rule against giving far more information than was necessary which was why his contracts were a masterpiece.

  They had so much unnecessary information that even if the reader understood all of the specifics it’d still take them hours to figure out which information was relevant to the deal. If that wasn’t enough, the way it flowed naturally caused the reader’s eyes to gravitate toward the rewards and responsibilities rather than the costs.

  Not to say they were perfect. A normal person would realize that anything too good to be true probably is. But he wasn’t dealing with normal people. He was dealing with narcissistic psychopaths who enjoyed cutting the wings off fairies. Hateful mental infants with zero impulse control. All he had to do was convince them he was Owl making a deal to hurt Jericho and everything made sense to them.

  “Next,” Jericho said as another person approached the station and signed without even reading. “Thank you.”

  Jericho tried to maintain his stoic expression but Morgana and Talia made no efforts to hide their smiles. The line was their idea. They said that once the signatories saw about a dozen of their friends sign the document, the rest of them would assume the document was fine and just sign without reading it.

  Gathering up all of the assholes who enjoyed torturing elves and fairies was the hardest part. Jericho had to create thousands of fliers that would entice the vilest of players. He filled the fliers with hateful rhetoric and offered to outfit players in orichalcum equipment as long as they used it to kill members of Sin. Sure enough, nearly a hundred players showed up.

  “Okay,” Jericho said as he double checked the contracts. He smiled at Morgana. “Want to get the equipment?”

  “Yes sir,” Morgana beamed as she opened up the nearby storage revealing a pile or orichalcum weapons and armor. She looked at the crowd. “As promised, orichalcum sets. Please make a single file line and select your preferred weapon and armor.”

  Jericho snacked on a chocolate bar as the players formed a line and began passing through the warehouse to pick out their items. The contracts began to faintly glow as each of the players picked out their gear. Finally, as the last player picked out their gear the entire pile of contracts emanated a mild golden light.

  “Mind double checking?” Jericho asked while handing Talia the documents. She checked the documents and nodded. Every single paper was magically charged signifying their end of the agreement was upheld. “Great! All you sweetheart!”

  “Finally,” Talia said while drawing her dagger. The blonde time witch smacked Morgana’s ass playfully as she walked toward the group. She grinned at Jericho. “About time.”

  Jericho chuckled as Talia vanished from his sight and within a second reappeared. Red slits simultaneously appeared on all of the players’ throats as they fell to the ground. As soon as they touched the ground, small glowing marbles slowly made their way up from the corpses and flew toward Jericho’s hands as each of the contracts burned up.

  “So, that was easier than expected,” Jericho said as he returned to his normal form. Unfortunately, his normal form was no longer what he’d call normal.

  After using cosmic overload his body went through a series of seemingly permanent changes. His eyes were red like those of a Nyxian and his veins looked like they were pumping mercury instead of blood. While he personally liked the look, he didn’t like how it made him stand out. Especially with Owl constantly hunting him.

  “I’d say,” Morgana stared at the pile of corpses. “This was a frighteningly efficient way to harvest souls.”

  “But it won’t work again.” Jericho examined a marble and selected an ability he’d like to learn before swallowing it like a piece of candy. “They’ll spread the word about the contracts. We’ll need to think of another trick.”

  “Good thing we gathered so many then,” Talia smiled.

  “Honestly,” Jericho smiled as he swallowed another marble and felt a small surge of power. “Morgana’s idea for getting them to all do it at once was great.”

  “Morgana’s idea?” Talia glared at Morgana. “That was my idea! You didn’t tell him it was my idea?”

  “My lov
e,” Morgana smiled playfully. “Let’s not argue over whose idea it was…”

  “That’s how you know it was my idea!” Talia gestured accusingly at Morgana. “If it was really her idea she wouldn’t want to share credit!”

  “I honestly don’t remember whose idea it was,” Morgana said teasingly. “But if you want credit you can absolutely have it.”

  “Now it just sounds like you’re giving me credit as charity!” Talia stomped. “It was my idea!”

  “Alright,” Jericho laughed. “I believe you.”

  “Really?” Morgana crossed her arms. “You just believe her?”

  “Probably because I’m telling the truth,” Talia said smugly. “And you’re always going out of your way to aggravate me.”

  “Can you blame me?” Morgana wrapped her arms around Talia and squeezed. “You are just so adorable when you’re aggravated! You just have the cutest angry face my love!”

  Jericho rolled his eyes at the playful lovers and went back to examining his souls. Most of the players were warriors but there were a few rangers and assassins in the mix giving him a wide variety of abilities to choose from.

  He’d already acquired souls from a large number of non-player characters in the game. But while they worked to increase his stats, their abilities were basic. Actual players, especially those who focused on player killing, had a plethora of high-level abilities to choose from.

  Most skills and abilities were useless because of the stat differences between mages and other classes but Jericho still enjoyed collecting them. Sure, even with the stats he was gaining from devouring souls his strength and agility were a far cry from those of a warrior or ranger but that’s why he prioritized evasive, defensive, and supportive skills.

  “Anything good?” Morgana asked while staring at the pile. “Oh! Since you have so many can I have one? I want to acquire the rebirth ability. It’ll drive Eberis crazy!”

  “Here,” Jericho tossed a soul to Morgana. She looked at it and clapped excitedly. “Can I really have it? Remember, you have to say the words!”

  “Morgana, I offer you up that soul. Do you accept it?” Jericho chuckled.

  “Yes!” Morgana said as Jericho kissed her hand. Instantly the soul changed owners. The reaper quickly selected the ability she wanted and gulped it down. “Ha! He’s going to be furious!”

  “Oh,” Jericho gestured at the pile of corpses. “Can one of you gather up all the armor and weapons? Raven would kill me if we lost that much product. And we should start heading back. There’s no reason to stick around.”

  “Got it,” Talia sighed as the armor vanished from the corpses. “I feel like I’m doing an awful lot of the work here and not getting anything out of it.”

  “Hmm,” Morgana rubbed Talia’s shoulders. “Are you feeling unappreciated? Do you want some extra attention my love?”

  “It’s not you who I feel doesn’t appreciate me,” Talia said while staring at Jericho. “Our master has been so infatuated with death magic and skill acquisitions that he’s completely neglected his other duties.”

  “Talia,” Jericho smiled. “If you want some quality time all you need to do is ask.”

  “Jericho,” Morgana walked up to Jericho and tapped his nose. “You know better than that. If we have to ask, then you’re not doing your job.”

  She was right. Jericho had a lot of bad habits but one of the worst habits was his obsessive drive to master magic and acquire new power. Death magic in particular played into this obsession perfectly by allowing him to obtain skills normally unavailable to a mage.

  Naturally, Jericho spent hours figuring out how the abilities of other classes interacted with magic and now that he’d acquired souls from players, he was going to have even more to test. Using evasive magic in conjunction with wind barriers, earth magic in conjunction with shield blocks, there were so many combinations to try.

  But his obsessive behavior had a tendency to leave some of his familiars feeling rather neglected. He often forgot that not all of them had Jinx’s assertiveness and confidence. Not only that but even he had to admit there was a big difference between needing to ask for attention and being offered it.

  “You’re right,” Jericho said apologetically. “I’ll make it up to you when we get home,”

  “Don’t feel obligated,” Talia said as if it suddenly didn’t bother her. “If I’m a chore…”

  “I don’t feel obligated and you’re absolutely not a chore,” Jericho smiled pleasantly as he stared at the curvy blonde and her buxom partner. “I want to. I miss spending time with you.”

  “Pfft,” Talia laughed at the mention of spending time. “Goddammit.”

  “You are just too cute,” Morgana practically mauled Talia and hugged her tightly. The raven-haired reaper glanced at Jericho, “So, it seems we have something to look forward to at home. Open that portal up!”

  Jericho swallowed another soul while pulling out a portal scroll. He infused the parchment with elemental magic and a large red portal leading to the roof of the Dayrose citadel opened up. Morgana and Talia quickly rushed through.

  Jericho smiled as he snacked on another soul. He was a little disappointed that the trick was only likely to work once. All of the players he was killing would run to the forums and warn everybody else not to sign any documents.

  Fortunately, they were also likely to report that Owl was the one that did it. He laughed as he walked through the portal.

  Chapter 3

  Showing Appreciation

  Jericho arrived on the large platform on top of the citadel. The manor had evolved dramatically and could no longer be called a manor. It couldn’t really be called a palace either since the area was so heavily fortified. So, they landed on citadel.

  The upgrades that transformed it into a citadel were both completely unnecessary and absolutely amazing.

  First, there was no gate, only various portal platforms. The one they arrived on was right outside of the massive king’s chamber and Jericho and his familiars were the only ones in possession of scrolls linked to that platform. The others were primarily used by Raven to organize supply and manufacturing routes but a couple of platforms were used by others who resided in the castle.

  With the size increase Jericho didn’t really have an excuse not to invite both Raven and Diana to move in with him, especially since they were part of Sin. Additionally, Carrot had somehow managed to earn herself a small bedroom on the second floor. And although Eberis wasn’t permitted to live with them his priestesses came and went at their leisure.

  The citadel was a testament to Eberis’ architectural mastery and was easily the most striking structure in Forbidden Arcana. Rather than a traditional cubic design, the citadel consisted of a series of large spires surrounded by gardens. The seven outer spires were connected by a large circular stone path. It was bordered by water features and gardens while the inner spire connected to their top floors of the seven outer spires via stone bridges.

  The outer spires were primarily treated as massive crafting centers for various artisans. One of them was focused on alchemy and another was focused on blacksmithing. Ocho, Huit, and Acht made their home in the spire devoted to tailoring. But each of the spires was outfitted with the absolute best crafting equipment.

  The central spire served as the primary residence and had over twelve stories and more rooms than they could ever need. The base floor was separated into great rooms, ballrooms, a theater, and any other type of room that could be used to entertain guests. Any of the main party rooms also opened to the outdoors to ensure the dragons could attend any functions, a feature Ariel insisted on. All of the other floors were devoted to completely unnecessary bedrooms, storage rooms, and game rooms.

  But really, his bedroom which opened into a massive floating garden, a rooftop pool, and its own private teleportation pad was the most impressive. Eberis pulled out all of the stops ensuring an environment that rivaled Olympus itself. It infuriated Terra whose room was the entire floo
r beneath it.

  “So,” Talia smiled playfully while quickly grabbing Jericho’s arm. “You said something about making it up to me?”

  “Us,” Morgana said while snagging the other. “He’s making it up to us.”

  “But mostly me,” Talia said smugly. “I had him first.”

  “But you have me too,” Morgana insisted while tugging his arm toward her. “And you’re kind of a selfish lover so I deserve his extra attention.”

  Jericho found that waiting the two lovers out was always the best option when they were arguing. Whenever he inserted himself, he was accused of taking sides which only seemed to exacerbate the confrontation. Although sometimes he managed to make himself the enemy of both of them.

  “Selfish!” Talia snapped while tugging Jericho’s arm back toward herself. “How do you figure?”

  “Remember three days ago when I woke you up?” Morgana scowled. “I made you cum five times and you didn’t even offer to return the favor.”

  “You went down on me for two hours,” Talia said defensively. “I was going to be late for my training session with Jericho.”

  “What about when it was over?” Morgana said smugly. “I don’t recall you offering to do anything for me.”

  “I was tired,” Talia blushed. “Our training session was rather intense.”

  “I bet it was,” Morgana growled. “Selfish.”

  “Fine,” Talia said as they headed toward the bedroom. “I was selfish one time.”

  “One time?” Morgana laughed. “How many examples do you want? I have plenty more.”

  “I do things for you too!” Talia objected.

  “I never said you didn’t,” Morgana said. “And I show my appreciation for those things, don’t I?”

  “I suppose,” Talia grumbled guiltily.

  “You suppose?” Morgana raised an eyebrow at the beaten blonde. “You don’t sound very sure.”