The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Chapter 97

Aden was assigned to a spacious and luxurious room owned by the Maedala Guild.

Not only Aden but everyone received one of these guest rooms, being treated as high-ranking guests within Maedala.

Aden ensured that no one could enter his room and locked the door.

It was to check the gift given by the Hat Merchant.

– Are you finally going to check what’s inside? I was getting tired of waiting.

“She’s always thorough with her calculations.”

So, since she helped solve this case, there should be an appropriate reward inside.

However, not knowing what it was, he proceeded cautiously.

When he opened the pouch, inside was…

“A stone?”

There was a stone.

But it wasn’t just any stone.

Colorful lights swirled inside the glass-like ore, appearing and disappearing repeatedly, emanating a strange aura.

At that moment, Curse’s astonished voice was heard.

– It’s a contract stone…

“A contract stone? What’s that?”

– Hmm, it might be a rare item in the human world, so it’s understandable if you don’t know. In short, it’s a stone that allows you to form a contract with a spirit or a magical beast from the spirit realm.

To form a contract with a spirit, high spirit affinity was required, and learning how to handle that affinity through long training was the only way to summon a spirit or wait for one to come, like Shaura.

But with this stone, even the slightest affinity could enable forming a contract with a spirit, and it was possible to summon higher-level beings than the contractor’s ability.

– You just need to infuse your mana into the stone. With your current level of affinity, you should be able to summon something quite useful.

“I see.”

The ability to borrow a spirit’s power was a significant advantage.

Of course, Aden already had the egg of the black magical beast discovered at the Sacred Fire Order.

‘Though it hasn’t hatched yet.’

As Ent Ehad had instructed, Aden infused his aura into the egg.

But this message appeared:

– The aura’s level is lower than the target, ‘Magical Beast’s Egg.’

– Hatching failed.

No matter what kind of egg it was, it couldn’t hatch despite consuming an enormous amount of aura.

‘Level must refer to the stage of aura.’

It seemed a sword master-level aura was necessary to hatch that egg.

Since the egg was currently useless, he stashed it in his subspace pouch.

“Are there any restrictions from forming a contract with a spirit?”

– Except for the small consumption of mana and mental strength while maintaining the summoning, there’s nothing special. As long as you have the mental strength, you can keep the summon.

Mental strength…

His mind was protected by the system, which was the power of the dragon.

Moreover, the divine relic around his neck, Florence’s relic, also had the effect of restoring mental strength.

With such minimal restrictions, there was no reason to delay further.

– However, I can’t say which spirit will appear. It will likely be one with an affinity to you, so it will be either fire or poison.

Fire or poison.

Both attributes could significantly influence combat. They would be very helpful in the future.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Aden infused his mana into the contract stone.

Buzzzzz.

The contract stone began to vibrate finely as the light inside intensified.

Fwaaaa!

The surface of the brilliantly glowing stone cracked, and light burst out, momentarily blinding Aden.

As the light subsided…

Fwoooosh!

From the shattered stone, a huge burst of red flame erupted.

“…Ugh!”

Startled by the fireball emerging from his hand, Aden quickly withdrew his hand and shielded his face with his right arm.

The enormous fireball filled the air in the room.

‘Fire.’

A being with the fire attribute had been summoned.

The blazing heat made it difficult to keep his eyes wide open.

It wasn’t just a fireball.

It exuded a massive presence and an overwhelming sense of power, and Curse’s shocked voice was heard.

– Such power, at least the highest level! Could it be…!

The massive fireball, which had been summoned, formed into the shape of a giant bird of fire, spreading its wings of flame.

Aden’s system responded.

– The mythical fire magical beast, ‘King of the Undying Birds,’ has appeared.

A mythical fire magical beast.

The king of phoenixes appeared before Aden’s eyes.

* * *

In his previous life, Aden occasionally saw people who formed contracts with magical beasts and carried them around.

But they were all lower-level or at most mid-level.

However, at this moment, Aden encountered for the first time a magical beast of the ‘mythical’ level.

The bird made of flames opened its beak and spoke with the resonance of mana, a voice from the spirit realm.

– You’ve summoned me in a surprisingly small space, human child.

Aden barely managed to keep a composed expression as he replied.

“…I didn’t expect such a large being to appear.”

Curse muttered in a bewildered voice.

– The king of phoenixes… How could a supreme-level magical beast…

Aden questioned the king of phoenixes.

“Are you the king of phoenixes?”

– Indeed. My title is ‘King of the Undying Birds.’ I am the mother and king of all phoenixes.

The king of phoenixes spoke like an elderly woman speaking to a child.

In truth, there was no need to ask. The enormous presence itself made it clear how extraordinary this phoenix was.

An unexpected, incredible being had appeared.

Thus, he couldn’t understand.

Even though he was a novice in spirit magic, he knew that the current situation was unprecedented.

How could he summon a being of such rank so easily?

“How did I manage to summon you?”

– To be precise, I came out of curiosity, human child. I wanted to see the benefactor of my child.

“Your child?”

At that moment, a small flame popped out with a ‘poof’…

– Piiiiik!

With a cute cry, a small phoenix emerged.

The little phoenix flapped its wings happily as if it recognized Aden.

“You are…?”

– You saved my child from being eaten by a wicked troll, didn’t you?

Aden remembered that he once tore open the belly of a High Troll Shaman that had attacked Attila Fortress and saved a phoenix.

After a brief consideration, he decided to release it instead of eating it.

– Thank you for saving my child. It’s been a while since a human received the blessing of fire from a benefactor, so I came to express my gratitude. And now that I see you, it’s surprising.

“What’s surprising?”

– That you possess such diverse powers. Regeneration, poison, dark magic, and even the power of a banshee… Yet, you manage to handle them all. Moreover, human child, you carry a rather dirty curse.

– Is this birdhead looking for a fight?

Ignoring Curse’s outburst, Aden calmed his excited heartbeat and asked the king of phoenixes.

“Will you form a contract with me?”

A mythical-level magical beast.

Aden couldn’t help but covet it the moment he saw it.

It was an almost reflexive desire.

– Normally, an ordinary being wouldn’t be able to handle me, so forming a contract would be useless… but thanks to the stone in your chest, it’s possible.

“…!”

Aden’s eyes widened slightly at those words.

“You know what this is?”

The stone he had accidentally absorbed in the Forest of Death.

Although he hadn’t shown it, having an item created at the cost of numerous Ents and humans inside him was quite unsettling.

Not knowing the potential danger it posed was very unpleasant, so Aden was curious about its nature.

– Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly what it is either. However, in the distant past, there were beings who possessed similar stones. They had vessels capable of freely commanding beings of my rank.

Beings with stones…

It was the first time Aden had heard such a story.

It must have been an ancient race or tribe that had gone extinct.

The phoenix king continued.

– Although it’s far weaker than those vessels, you can still handle me. Will you form a contract with me, human child?

A contract proposal from a king-level fire magical beast.

Aden had only one choice.

“I will. What should I do?”

– Just tell me your name. Then I will reveal my true name to you.

“It’s not about giving you a name?”

– That’s only for beings of lower rank.

“It seems complicated. Anyway, I just need to tell you my name? My name is Aden Remes.”

Now it was the phoenix king’s turn to reveal her true name.

However, after closing her eyes for a moment, the phoenix king tilted her head in puzzlement.

– Hmm? Strange, the contract is incomplete. Human child, do you have another name?

“Another name?”

Aden frowned, then suddenly realized.

Another name. There was one.

It was the same name but different, and it carried a different weight.

“…Aden Albireo.”

– Now it’s complete. Having two names, you’re a peculiar child.

The phoenix’s eyes curved gently as if amused, and a ring of flames swirled around her.

Fire was the phoenix, and the phoenix was fire.

– Aden Remes, also known as Aden Albireo. A human child with two names. My true name is ‘Pyroness.’ As the firstborn of the primordial flame, I shall form a contract with you.

Aden felt a strange power form within him and then disappear.

– You have formed a contract with the mythical fire magical beast, ‘Pyroness.’

– You have achieved the title of ‘Contractor of the King of Phoenixes.’

He had obtained an unexpectedly powerful summoning creature.

* * *

About three days later, Aden and his party were ready to leave Kartan City.

They had eradicated

Chaos’s influence within Kartan City and recruited the Maedala Guild Leader.

Additionally, they gained a promising spirit mage.

‘And there’s the reward from the Hat Merchant.’

He hadn’t expected to receive something like that. An unforeseen asset.

Of course, there were some limitations.

With his current mana, Aden couldn’t summon the mythical creature, Pyroness, for long.

At most, about five minutes.

‘But in battle, five minutes can be crucial.’

Complaining about limitations while controlling a mythical creature would be foolish.

It seemed that Pyroness would be a significant help in dealing with Sylbeta in the future.

This was more than enough.

Through the dungeon, they had thoroughly assessed the party’s strength, and the Maedala Guild Leader’s daughter had recovered her health, so there was no need to stay any longer.

The Maedala Guild Leader and Shaura came to see them off.

In a short time, Shaura had become close to Elise, hugging her tightly.

“I’ll miss you, priestess sister! And Choco too!”

– Woof woof!

“Let’s eat ice cream together next time! Promise!”

“Yes, sister!”

“…Can you call me sister one more time? No, about ten more times.”

Meanwhile, Marcus personally handed over the mercenary badges to the group.

“These are your new mercenary badges.”

Lowe and Cassie received silver badges, indicating B rank.

Priest Bali and Elise received gold badges, indicating A rank.

And Aden received a platinum badge, indicating S rank.

This wasn’t just a gesture of gratitude from Maedala, but a precise assessment by the guild leader based on their capabilities.

“With this platinum badge, you won’t face much trouble. Where are you heading next?”

“We’re going to Syres first.”

Their first goal was to contact the local branch of the Sacred Fire Order in the Grand Duchy of Syres.

Marcus bowed deeply to them.

“Please visit Kartan City anytime. I wish you a smooth journey on your pilgrimage.”

“See you next time! Bye-bye!”

With the guild leader and his daughter seeing them off, Aden and his party boarded the magic carriage and left the dungeon city.