"Alright, let's go through it, then. What are you actually offering me? And what do you want me to do in return?"
[[Observer in the Veil] says that...]
[[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] explains...]
[[Executor of the End] promises to...]
"One after the other, please. Just send over the whole thing, I know that you have your own separate display for this stuff. Observer? You've been around the longest, so go ahead, please," Ashton crossed his arms.
This part was genuinely annoying to deal with. Frankly, he wasn't planning on getting sponsored. Of course, it was useful, but it also was pretty binding. The more power a constellation gave you, the more they were able to restrain you.
They could forbid you from taking certain classes. They could seal up skills they didn't like. Hell, if they wanted to, they could even put filters on what you were able to say or not.
[Sponsorship Agreement]
[The Constellation [Observer in the Veil] has made an official offer to be your sole and exclusive Sponsor.]
[Receives]
[Full Knowledge of the World formerly inhabited by Ashton Garling]
[Ashton Garling promises to exclusively use abilities of magical nature]
[Ashton Garling promises to consult with the Sponsoring Constellation before forming further contracts]
[Bestows]
[Skill - Spell Construction]
[Financial Subsidy - 10.000 Weekly Coins - Increase by 5.000 Coins every subsequent Main Quest]
[Stat Bonus - Increased Contract Capacity]
He let out a loud laugh, "There's no way you're fucking serious, mate. So you want to know my biggest secrets and to decide my future in this fucking world? Yeah, sorry, not gonna happen."
Obviously, the things being bestowed on him weren't too bad either. A personal skill of all things? The money was pretty good as well, though frankly, wasn't close to enough long-term. The increased contract capacity was neat, but if the Observer could decide what he could form these contracts with, that felt like a bit of a trap.
[[Observer in the Veil] asks what the problem with their offer is]
[[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] laughs at the Observer and tells them to step aside]
[Sponsorship Agreement]
[The Constellation [Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] has made an official offer to be your sole and exclusive Sponsor.]
[Receives]
[Ashton Garling chooses to attain a class of the Sponsoring Constellation's choosing]
[Ashton Garling makes regular sacrifices to the Sponsoring Constellation in the form of slain monsters]
[Ashton Garling promises to not tarnish the Sponsoring Constellation's honour]
[Bestows]
[Skill - Physical Strengthening]
[Financial Subsidy - +10% bonus to coins from slain monsters]
[Stat Bonus - +1 growth to physical statistics]
That was... shockingly not that bad. Physical strengthening was a decent skill. A guaranteed growth to each physical stat was pretty neat too, and the subsidy surprisingly scaled better than the Observer's.
This agreement did confirm some of the rumours that Ashton had heard. The Daughter was a battle maniac. And the 'sacrifices' also told him a bit about her nature. She was probably some sort of demonic entity. As for the last thing that she asked for, it was so vague that it could really mean anything. It was probably just made to force Ashton not to embarrass himself, but honour was such a stupid concept that Ashton couldn't give a single shit about it.
Either way, not that any of it mattered too much.
"Again, I don't exactly like being told how to act and what to do. And there's a reason why I don't want to get an additional class right now. So, no, sorry. Executor, what about you?"
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[[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] scoffs and claims that it is your loss]
[[Observer in the Veil] tells the Daughter to not be such a sore loser]
[[Executor of the End] ignores the other two and faces you again]
[Sponsorship Agreement]
[The Constellation [Executor of the End] has made an official offer to be your sole and exclusive Sponsor.]
[Receives]
[Ashton Garling pledges to stay focused on combat and growth through to the end of the Questline]
[Ashton Garling swears to seek the Death of all that stand in his way]
[Ashton Garling will devote himself to take the life of any who are designated by the Sponsoring Constellation]
[Bestows]
[Skill - Aura of Death]
[Additional Bonus - One-Time Complete Resurrection]
Ashton tried to respond. He tried to show his disbelief at what was offered to him. A resurrection. A. Resurrection.
The Executor of the End was a constellation that ruled over the domain of death. And a powerful one at that. A complete resurrection was not something that anyone could give. Most constellations could give something like 'instant death protection', but a resurrection?
By far... the Executor of the End was the most powerful of the constellations following him around. Maybe even more powerful than the Guardian of the Innocent.
"... No."
[[Executor of the End] shrugs and claims it was worth a try anyway]
[[Observer in the Veil] stares at the Executor with confusion]
[[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] is flustered at the Executor's domain]
Hold on, even constellations didn't know who the others were? That was almost as surprising as learning what kind of being the Executor was.
Ashton looked at the notifications. "Alright, calm down, you lot. I'm not going to take on any sponsor. Frankly, you could've promised to bring me right to the end of the quests, and I wouldn't have agreed. For a very simple reason." He stood up as the smile disappeared from his face. "Accepting a sponsor is the same as becoming someone's fucking toy. And I refuse to let that happen. Got that?"
[[Observer in the Veil] hesitantly agrees]
[[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] is glad to hear the bluntness in your voice]
[[Executor of the End] smiles]
Ashton knew that this wasn't going to be the end. Constellations weren't as easy get off your ass. However, the system restricted the constellations here and there as well. They had to wait a couple days before making new offers. The exact period did depend on the strength of the constellation, of course. He figured he would hear the next offer from the first of these three in two or three days.
That was, if they decided to stick around. Though, these three seemed particularly stubborn, so Ashton doubted it was easy to get rid of them. However, there was something that interested Ashton about these 'sponsorship agreements', now that he had them right in front of his eyes.
Obviously, they were just contracts between two individuals, that was something that was clear even before Ashton saw them. But as he looked at them, he knew that there was a way for him to twist things in his favour.
He might soon be the first person to have a contract with multiple constellations.
But for now, Ashton had absolutely no idea how he would even do that. He knew how contracts with gods or other higher divine beings worked. Even the Summoner couldn't force them into submission, so Ashton was able to see them form some other sorts of shrewd contracts with them. Same with higher devils, the Summoner was always annoyed whenever they had to deal with either of these sides, so they didn't do so often.
However, it was enough for Ashton to learn that every single one of these higher beings had their own unique summoning circle. They followed similar patterns in what they asked for, sure, and certain shapes appeared commonly in these circles, but they didn't have the same level of similarities as the summoning circles from other systems.
Or at least, they weren't similarities that Ashton could exactly grasp. The good part was that Ashton didn't actually need to summon or reach out to the constellations. They were right here in front of him.
He just had to find the right format for the contract circles, and then the summoning circles to actually call on the constellations' 'representative', if those contracts worked similarly to other higher beings'.
Now, it might be a bit hard to convince the constellations. Plus, Ashton had other priorities. Sure, his contract capacity went up a bit after instantly completing the second main quest, and it would go up again once he reached level 10 over the next couple days. But he still didn't have enough capacity for a lot of the really important contracts.
There were a few that he really needed. The Living Abode, for one. It was just a quality of life thing for now, since he could just sleep wherever he needed to, and could probably stash some things at Calibur when necessary. But at some point, he couldn't go without the Living Abode.
Then there was the Salesman. A hell of an important spirit contract that Ashton needed to form, but the lowest contract for a Salesman was 'Low' grade as well, so it would take up a lot of capacity and take a ton of ingredients. Plus, a shitton of money, more than Ashton had at the moment.
The Drunken Bear would be a great addition as well. At least that would be a lowest grade contract, but they were more of a pure utility summon that wasn't as directly useful for Ashton as the Backpacker. The Catsmith would be great, as well... then there were some other elementals that he would love. Sylph and Gnome contracts for sure, maybe even a Carbuncle.
"Oh man, there's so many contracts that I need..." Ashton rubbed the bridge of his nose. He wasn't even sure if he had the space for a contract with the constellations anytime soon. At the very least, higher beings were usually open to scaling contracts, so he should be able to convince them to the terms of a lowest grade contract.
With a long sigh, Ashton looked over at the window that was still hovering near him. It was about the quest reward for the second Main Quest. 'Beginner Gear'. Of course, it was all going to be gear for the class that people attained.
Ashton turned toward the edge of the fountain and tapped on the screen. The items were all quickly constructed out of wisps of light.
This was exactly what Ashton remembered being in the 'beginner gear' set when the Summoner opened it.
A quill-pen, a pot of ink, a stack of paper kept together by some string, a small leather material bag, and some extremely rough-looking robes.
Ashton grabbed the material bag. It was square, probably big enough to fit a phone, and around three fingers thick. Frankly, not even close to good enough for his purposes, but it was good enough to keep a few small things in. He quickly attached it to his belt by his hip. The ink actually had a fair amount of magic in it, so it would be pretty good for drawing magic circles. And then, looking at the quill... It had a fine nib, a good grip, and was balanced well.
He might as well keep this around. At some point, the Pen of Insight might be able to be conscious permanently and wouldn't like being handled while awake. So, this was basically a backup.
As for the robes. Dark brown, butt-ugly, an incredibly rough material, and not a single pocket. This was just a mundane item that the council gave with the rest of the items so that Ashton could 'look the part'.
He rolled his eyes, and walked over to the racks of clothes that people were sorting through, and threw the robes on top.
Now, Ashton picked up all the rest of the stuff that was on the edge of the fountain, including the now filled-up random box. He had the Backpacker put away most of it, and then helped Poppy up. With the bandage on her wing, she wasn't quite able to fly right now.
Ashton threw up the random box and smiled, starting to walk down Market Street.
"Then let's see if what we get now is useful against some Marked."
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