Chapter 10: The Netherforge Contract

Her gaze drifted down from Aelian’s face, sweeping over the black-and-white Lolita dress. Layers of lace hem shimmered softly under the light. The cinched waist perfectly outlined a slender figure, and the puffy petticoat gave the skirt an elegant curve.

Aelian turned away shyly, like a true young girl, long silver hair falling to his waist.

There was no doubt. The person before her was a girl.

For the first time, Mia began to question Aelian Celestis’s gender.

“Have… have you looked enough?”

Mia had been staring for a long while. Only when Aelian spoke did she awkwardly scratch her cheek. Staring at someone like that was rude, especially for the Saintess.

“I didn’t expect Aelian to look so good in women’s clothes.”

Mia held back a smile and gently stroked Aelian’s hair.

“Why not keep this look from now on, Aelian?”

“Don’t… don’t tease me, Lady Mia…”

“Why aren’t you calling yourself ‘this young master’ anymore? You’re usually so arrogant.” Mia looked at the shy girl before her with amusement. Compared to this fake girl, even she, the Saintess, seemed to pale. “From now on, when you wear women’s clothes, call me Lady Sister.”

Mia commanded, her tone leaving no room for argument, though a hint of playfulness lingered.

“Mm…” Aelian still didn’t dare lift his head, only giving a soft hum.

‘Wahahaha! I’ve built a special bond with a beautiful girl!’

Aelian felt he could barely contain his excitement.

“Come, let’s go out.”

Mia spoke down to Aelian, treating him as her possession.

Could he be deliberately presenting as a boy, when he was actually a girl?

The two walked down the academy street, Mia holding Aelian’s hand like a pair of close girlfriends.

Of course, each had their own excitement. Wasn’t this a win-win?

Mia enjoyed controlling Aelian’s shy, flustered reactions, while Aelian enjoyed the thrill of being controlled by a beautiful girl.

What excellent matchmaking!

‘The opening banquet hasn’t even happened yet, and I’ve already gotten this far with Mia.’

Aelian secretly rejoiced. Once he became a beautiful girl, he would give Mia the greatest love.

“Lady Saintess! Please wait!”

Suddenly, a hurried call came from behind.

They turned to see a girl in a school uniform with a red armband running toward them.

“Lady Saintess, the Church has arranged something. You need to go to the Student Council now.”

Mia’s expression remained unchanged, but Aelian noticed a flicker of impatience.

In fact, he was also unhappy that the Church had interrupted their private outing.

“Thank you, classmate. I’ll go now.”

Mia smiled the smile Aelian knew well. So this was her business smile, Aelian thought.

“It seems our private time ends here, Ellie.”

Mia spoke with a smile, but Aelian sensed a trace of regret in her voice.

“Mm… go ahead, Lady Sister.”

With a third person present, Mia deliberately avoided Aelian’s real name, and Aelian adjusted his voice to sound as feminine as possible.

The girl who had come to deliver the message stood there, studying the Lolita-clad girl twice. She had no idea she was part of the two’s little play.

She had no particular impression of Aelian, but hearing how Aelian addressed the Saintess, she assumed they were sisters.

After Mia left, Aelian didn’t return to the dormitory either. Still in the Lolita dress, he headed straight for the Tarend Museum.

***

Tarend Academy held three terms.

After completing the first term’s general courses, students could choose their own specialization in the second term.

If you had high wood element affinity, you could specialize in wood element magic, and most such students also took a course in potion-making.

If you were better at close-quarters weapon combat, you could specialize in physical combat.

The academy was divided into many schools, mainly Evocation, Enchantment, and Conjuration, along with a few scattered minor schools.

Fireball, Hold Person, and Warp Step were the most representative third-circle spells of the three schools.

The Tarend Museum stood in the northeast corner of the academy. Few students ever went there.

The exhibits were all under magical wards, so normally no teachers were stationed there either.

Netherforge was sealed beneath the Tarend Museum.

In the original story, no one but Aelian knew Netherforge was there. The weapon was practically tailor-made for Aelian.

Aelian stealthily checked his surroundings to make sure no one else was around.

He carefully recalled how Aelian had obtained Netherforge in the original story: extinguish some torches, turn some levers.

Though his memory wasn’t clear, after several attempts, a hidden underground door clicked open.

As the door opened, a wave of stale, moldy air rushed out. Aelian frowned, cast a first-circle Light spell, and walked deeper with a small light in hand.

A stone staircase descended underground. The walls on both sides were covered in dense runes. Some were blurred, while others still gave off a faint dark red glow.

Aelian couldn’t read the runes, but he guessed they were a sealing array for Netherforge.

“This is the place…”

Aelian took a deep breath and suppressed his nervousness. The original story had described this part only briefly: Aelian found Netherforge beneath the museum, formed a contract with it, and became the final boss.

He walked down the stone steps, one step at a time.

The deeper he went, the colder the air became. The runes on the walls grew denser as he descended, from a sparse few at first to patterns covering entire walls, like some kind of seal, or some kind of warning.

Aelian felt unsure. Was he being too reckless? After all, this was completely taking what belonged to the original protagonist. What right did he have…

Just as Aelian hesitated, his vision went black, and all sound around him vanished.

He knew what was happening. In the original story, this was the moment Aelian was pulled into an illusion by Netherforge.

“Mm… how long… how long has it been since I saw a living human? And a female? Though it doesn’t matter whether male or female… of course, a female is still best.”

A low, hoarse voice spoke. A shapeless black shadow appeared before him.

“Not as good as Raphael, but still a high-quality vessel!”

Aelian couldn’t move at all, but he wasn’t panicked, because he knew Netherforge was about to force a contract on him.

That was how it went in the original story. Even Netherforge’s lines were the same.

Aelian’s mind grew hazy. Netherforge turned into black energy and merged into his body. A snake-shaped mark appeared on the back of his left hand.

It wasn’t just a physical invasion. He could feel the power passing through skin, muscle, and bone, penetrating into the very essence of things.

Netherforge’s power could affect the soul.

In the original story, Netherforge was confirmed to have a soul. It wasn’t merely a weapon. From this moment on, Aelian’s body held two souls.

“Wait! You’re a man?!”

When Netherforge discovered Aelian’s true gender, it couldn’t help but shout.

“So what if I’m a man? Our contract is already bound. You can’t run even if you want to! Hahahaha!”

At that moment, their relationship underwent a small change.

“You bastard! What are you planning?!”

Netherforge, renowned throughout history, felt panic for the first time in its long life.

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