LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 2: Care to Sign a Contract to Feed and House Me?
'Habika?'
Viktor was slightly taken aback as memories from the game began to surface in his mind.
This was one of the many deities in the game's lore.
It was a character that only appeared in the game's background, merely mentioned in the story books of collection quests.
No one had ever seen its true form.
According to the game's lore, whenever Habika appeared, it would bring either natural disasters or human calamities.
The most severe recorded incident was when Habika's appearance once reduced the world's human population by half!
This was a sinister and terrifying deity indeed.
"Of course, you can also call me by my current name, Vega."
The crow, calling itself Vega, very politely placed its wing on its chest and bowed.
Unable to grasp the other's intentions, Viktor didn't respond.
Seeing Viktor's silence, Vega fluttered its wings and adjusted its posture.
"Interesting, it seems you've heard of me."
Viktor: "I don't know you."
He understood clearly that being entangled with a god was no good thing, this was a universally acknowledged fact among players.
Especially this kind of evil god existing in the background lore, it looked very dangerous.
But why would an evil god that had never appeared in the game's plot seek out Viktor in advance?
Vega opened its beak, and its voice, hoarse like a crow's, spoke before him:
"You're not Viktor, your soul isn't filthy enough."
Its single eye stared at Viktor, trying to discern a trace of 'panic' on his face, but Viktor's ever-present poker face disappointed it.
"Gods can see through souls."
It said.
"But it doesn't matter, I'm here for you."
Vega shook its feathers, and a long black feather fell onto the table, transforming into a black paper. White stripes began to twist and form a bunch of text, resembling a demonic contract.
Viktor looked at the contents on the paper, feeling a bit of a headache.
He had just arrived in this world, hadn't done anything, and in one day he had already received two contracts.
I'm a power leveler! Not some poor wage slave.
He took the paper, reading while mockingly saying:
"Aren't you a god? Fallen on hard times?"
He hadn't thought that even gods would come out to sign clients.
This contract was an agreement that if he signed his name, he would have to provide this crow with food, clothing, shelter, and even help build a church to develop followers for this evil god.
The contract stated that the more followers, the stronger its power would become.
And then, nothing else.
Viktor: "..."
Even a leonine contract wasn't this outrageous. Feed you, house you, and even find followers for you, and as a result, you get all the benefits while I get nothing?
He silently looked at this crow, which was elegantly preening its feathers, just like a noble bird.
If one could ignore its single eye.
"Most of my power has been sealed, I can only seek the protection of others. If you take this deal, you'll gain the friendship of a deity."
"It's worth it."
Vega cawed while continuing to preen its feathers.
Viktor was speechless. The friendship of a god? What use was that?
The crow glanced at him with its single eye, seemingly seeing through his thoughts, and said flatly: "It can save your life."
"Deal!"
Viktor signed his name on the contract with a flourish.
He wasn't too worried about being tricked, because gods always kept their word.
Even evil gods.
After signing the contract, he felt a very subtle connection form between them.
It seemed that with just a thought, he could find this crow wherever it was.
The crow flew to Viktor's shoulder and pecked at its feathers again.
Just as Lia had said, keeping a crow as a pet indeed showed no good taste.
But he was new here, and the contract was already signed, so he might as well treat it as keeping a pet with no taste.
After all, he only needed to provide it with food and shelter.
As for the church, he could just spend money to build one later.
He turned his head to look at the other contract nearby, which also required his signature.
This was a contract from the Advanced Magic Academy, sincerely inviting the protagonist to become a teacher at the academy, and promising him the title of professor.
He then remembered that although Viktor was a villain, he was also a magical genius.
While countless aging mages were stuck at the second rank, Viktor had already reached the third rank at the age of twenty.
And converted to the game...
Viktor mentally recited, and a game panel appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Viktor Kravina]
Lv: 39
HP: 1000/1000
MP: 4900/4900
A standard fragile mage.
This confirmed his guess, he had indeed transmigrated into the game.
A third-rank mage corresponded to levels 30~39 in the game, and so on.
And in the background story, Viktor hadn't progressed for nine years, his reputation as a genius long forgotten by the world.
Only after transmigrating into Viktor's body did he realize, he had been hiding his strength.
The experience bar for leveling up had accumulated who knows how much, he could easily cross the threshold of the third rank and leap to the level of a fourth-rank human saint mage.
But Viktor had never done so, he had always been plotting something.
Although his character was not good, his genius was real.
This contract, he had to sign.
Not to mention that this title was obtained by his sister and fiancée.
Having a professor title was equivalent to having the protection of a magic academy, the Duke's side couldn't easily cause trouble for him.
At least, on the surface, he needed a reasonable excuse.
An underage daughter being confessed to by a scumbag? This reason wouldn't hold up.
Everyone has a heart that loves beauty, is your daughter never going to marry?
Viktor picked up the pen and signed his name on the contract, had a servant send it to the magic academy, then stood up and walked towards the mansion's backyard.
Vega finally stopped preening its feathers and asked him what he was going to do.
Viktor didn't turn his head, telling it:
"I'm going to be a teacher at the school tomorrow, need to practice some magic so I'm not out of practice."
"Take me with you."
Vega stood on his shoulder, chattering incessantly.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the training ground, where several huge stone targets stood.
Viktor looked up at these towering stone statues, feeling a bit surprised.
In the game, players' home backyards also had such magic giant stones, used to improve skill proficiency.
The giant stones would display damage numbers, and based on the different damage numbers, one could discern the skill proficiency and one's own attribute levels.
Now seeing the same thing in Viktor's mansion's backyard, he couldn't help but feel emotional.
Vega saw him pause, thinking he was intimidated by the targets after not practicing for so long.
Then it really started to chatter like a crow.
"Magic, you know, is something that requires a lot of skill"
It went on and on, telling Viktor many things, such as how to cast efficiently, how to increase power.
The crow shook its well-preened feathers: "If I had my power, I'd show you some powerful high-level magic."
Viktor didn't say anything, letting it continue to ramble.
He glanced at the skill list, and the result made him quite satisfied.
Some of the magic Viktor could use, he was already proficient in.
As the final boss of the second chapter story [Kingdom Chaos] in the game, he was a hurdle all players had to overcome.
As a power leveler, he had memorized Viktor's skills by heart.
When the boss raised a hand, he knew exactly what move was coming.
Vega was still rambling: "There are many things to pay attention to in magic! Drawing magic circles, chanting speed."
Before it could finish, Viktor raised his hand, and with a bang, a black lightning bolt burst forth.
[First Rank Spell: Black Lightning Lance]
Viktor's face didn't change at all, as if casting magic was as simple as eating, drinking, or going to the bathroom for him.
Then, various second and third rank skills, like fireworks, continuously left marks on the giant stones.
As if in a frenzied bombardment, the entire backyard was dazzlingly bright.
Vega stood on Viktor's shoulder and stopped talking.
Viktor looked at his depleted MP, feeling unsatisfied.
The boss's constitution was just too weak, casting just a few skills and he was out of mana.
If it were a player wearing a bunch of equipment, their mana would easily exceed ten thousand, why worry about conserving magic power?
"You cast spells without drawing magic circles?"
Viktor didn't answer him.
The mage profession was known among players as a spell machine gun.
Because in the game settings, players didn't need to operate the magic circles at all.
They just needed to click a hotkey, read a short incantation, and the skill would be cast in a flash.
And for someone like him who had played all professions, he was already proficient in the skills of any profession.
Casting a spell? That was a piece of cake for him.
Seeing that he could perfectly control the release of skills, Viktor prepared to leave.
Vega suddenly spoke: "Don't be in a hurry to leave, your method of casting spells interests me, can you cast a few more?"
Viktor didn't want to pay attention to it.
You think this is fireworks? Cast whenever you want?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, his gaze swept over, and he saw Vega's single eye light up with a dazzling blue, enveloping his body.
He felt as if a rope had been tied between himself and the crow.
Viktor brought up the panel and looked again.
HP: 999850/999999
He looked down at Vega.
I want to report this! This guy is cheating!