Chapter 178 - To Find Strider

[The Foolish Devil's Favor]

By intentionally accepting the Foolish Devil's wishes, you have successfully formed a contract with the Foolish Devil. It now shares a portion of its strength with you.

At least, that's what the window said as Oliver reconfirmed the message.

Regardless, Oliver needed to make sure that whatever Xiled did to him wasn't anything detrimental.

===

[Foolish Devil - Equal Contract]

With the establishment of the Equal Contract, you have access to the following abilities:

Active Skill: Black Whips of Longing

- Creates tough and heavy black whips upon activation. The user has full control and accuracy of these whips. The number of black whips created is intended by the user.

- Cost: 5 Mana upon creation; 1 Mana per 3 minutes sustained. Current Black Whips Active: 0/5

- Warning: The more whips are active, the lesser the control and accuracy will be.

Active Skill: Seeking Shadows

- Upon activation, Shadows will be sent out to a target. The Shadows can do one of the following at any given time:

- Attack: Upon reaching its target, the Shadows will produce dark spikes, dealing piercing Dark damage to the target.

- Scout: Upon reaching its target, the Shadows will send out a Mana pulse that senses anything in a fixed radius. The user will receive information in real-time.

- Decoy: Upon reaching its target, the Shadows will create a Decoy similar to any object the user intended. The Decoy lasts for three hits, five minutes, or upon deactivation of this ability.

- Cost: 20 Mana per Shadow, max 3 Shadows active

- Cooldown: 120 Minutes per charge (Currently: 1/4)

Passive Skill: The Foolish Devil's Advocate

- With the Foolish Devil's presence more prominent within you, you now passively intimidate any creature weaker than yourself.

===

"Let's see...," Oliver thought to himself. "A Conjurer-type Magic, an Enchanter/Conjurer hybrid Magic, and a passive skill. Huh, it's more than I thought it would be."

Who was Oliver kidding? The benefits were insane!

Both of the active skills were powerful, very much so. Both of the spells had the versatility that Oliver severely lacked. Not only that, but these two spells were able to expand Oliver's current strength to higher levels.

However, Oliver still couldn't help but let out a slight hint of disappointment. Well, it's mostly because Oliver thought it would've boosted his physical capabilities. To help increase his proficiency as an assassin.

"Well, what did you expect?" the devil chimed in. "I am a Conjurer, after all."

"Right."

Oliver nodded as he accepted these new strengths as his own. But, even with this newfound strength, there was still a glaring problem.

He still had to find Strider. He just wasn't sure if these new powers would help him. Or in this case, how these new powers would help him.

But, before that, there was something in the room that Oliver had to address first.

"Hey!" Oliver turned around as he called out, "You still okay?"

The question was directed at the gnome who was cowering behind cover. Even though Oliver's sentiment was rather pleasant, the message was still ill-received.

"Stay back!" the gnome said as it retreated, the expression of terror and panic on its face. "Whoever you are, stay back! Do not come any closer!"

"Hey, hey. It's me," Oliver reassured as he put on a friendly smile, "I'm not going to hurt you. I've never even touched you. All I need is your help. Remember? That's what you were offering?"

Thinking that would've done the trick, Oliver was surprised the gnome still had the same look on its face. It might've gotten worse with Oliver's last statement.

Wondering what was going on, Oliver suddenly recalled the passive skill included in the Equal Contract.

'Shit,' Oliver thought to himself as he realized what was happening. The passive skill was the reason why the gnome was terrified.

And, the worst part of it was that he couldn't turn the passive off.

'I guess this is my life now,' Oliver thought as he tried to convince the gnome once more.

And, after numerous times of complete buffoonery, Oliver succeeded. As the gnome lowered its guard, Oliver wondered if this would've worked a third time.

Watching the gnome relax, Oliver shook his head of any other unimportant thoughts. He had to focus on the reason why he was here in the first place. After many tangents and distractions, Oliver had better come up with a solution and fast.

In an attempt to figure out Strider's sudden disappearance, Oliver decided to try Xiled's plan out. So, with that, Oliver quickly briefed the gnome of the plan, and the two left for where Oliver had first landed.

Swinging through corners and running through halls, Oliver and the gnome finally got to the place where it all started. Well, close to it anyway.

"Stop!"

The devil suddenly shouted, making the voice rattle in Oliver's head. But, he heard the message loud and clear and stopped before a crossroads.

"Why should I stop? The exit's right there."

Having an internal conversation, the gnome watch as Oliver seemed to be deep in thought. But, in truth, Oliver was discussing with Xiled.

"Send a Shadow Scout over there. I've got a bad feeling that something's down there that might explain your pet's disappearance."

At first, Oliver thought that Xiled was kidding. But, as the next few seconds passed, the devil didn't reclaim its sentiment.

Raising his hand after the awkward delay, Oliver cast the newly received spell.

Imbued with Oliver's intent, the shadow beneath his feet suddenly produced a separate shadow that seemed alive. It moved on its own as it raced towards Oliver's determined target.

As the shadow moved towards the dark and gloomy corridor, Oliver could sense what the shadow was sensing. This, undeniably, was the real-time tracking the Shadow Scout provided. In which case, Oliver thought to be rather useful.

With that, Oliver stood still as he focused on the Shadow Scout's whereabouts. And, soon enough, the Shadow reached its predetermined location and pulsated a ring of Mana.

"There's nothing there," Oliver said as his face relaxed a bit. He was weary of Xiled's warning but, as it turns out, there was nothing to be worried about.

"No." The devil, however, seemed to be reluctant to let its guard down that easily. "I'm certain there's something there. Check again. Don't let a single thing out of your sight."

With the Shadow Scout still in its place, Oliver paid closer attention this time. The brows on his upper face seemed to contort as he entered into deeper focus.

The Mana kept on pulsing as the Shadow Scout remained in place. Oliver tuned out everything around him and kept his sole focus on the Shadow Scouts Mana pulse. And, soon enough...

"There's really nothing there," Oliver said as he opened his eyes. "I can something dripping but, otherwise, it's not something that we should be worried about."

As Oliver calmed down, the devil still reserved some hostility. It couldn't let its guard down when it sensed something amiss down that corridor.

"Keep your eyes on it," Xiled warned Oliver, "There's something there. Trust me on that."

"I told you. There's nothing the-"

Suddenly, something from within the dark corridor moved. Oliver couldn't tell what it was, but the dripping seemed more frequent than before. How come? That was the question that popped into Oliver's head as he stood on guard.

"What is it?"

"Can't say for sure. But, whatever it is, it's waking up now."

Oliver's eyes narrowed as he extended a hand towards the gnome. It was a hand meant to tell the gnome to stay back. Because, whatever this threat was, it was growing by the second.

Then, out of nowhere, the ground started shaking, violently. Its magnitude wasn't anything Oliver had seen before. And, unlike the Earth Magic the gnome used before, this was worse. Much, much worse.

As the magnitude of the earth shaking increased by the second, Oliver soon struggled to maintain his footing. Luckily, the gnome caught sight of this and immediately helped out.

Raising a stone platform and making it float mid-air, Oliver breathed a sigh of relief as he stood on it. And, now that he was in the clear, he quickly looked around the immediate surroundings.

'What the?'

Not only was the ground shaking, but also everything around him. The walls, ceilings, and even the very air around him. The vibrations freaked Oliver out as he stared into the dark corridor, wondering what creature awaits him.

With the Shadow Scout long gone, Oliver could only rely on his vision.

"Do you have any idea what's causing this?" Oliver asked the gnome who was standing right next ot him. But, without even waiting for an answer, Oliver already knew what the gnome would say. The terrified expression on its face seemed to say it all.

"Nevermind," Oliver answered his own question as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Drawing both [Devil's Laceration] and [Dreadful Rending] out of his inventory.

Now equipped with both daggers, Oliver felt his heart pounding as he trembled in anticipation. Was it fear he was feeling? Oliver wasn't quite so sure as his expression lit up and formed a smile.

Adrenaline was pumping in his veins. Oliver wanted to fight. Not once did it occur to him that this creature might be too powerful to fight against. That is, until it was pointed out so eloquently.

"You need to leave," the devil suddenly warned Oliver as it realized what the human was planning to do. "If my intuition serves me right, there's no way you could fight against anything like that."

Having had its fair share of battles, Xiled seemed to be aware of the situation. It was safe to say that, out of the three of them, the devil was the only one who was thinking clearly.

"Just watch me," Oliver said as he brandished his daggers.

"Dumbass! You'll die as soon as you try something here. The very moment you see that thing, you'll freeze and die!"

Xiled wasn't playing around, even Oliver knew that. But, despite the very obvious warnings, Oliver didn't want to leave. He was rearing to test out his newfound strength. So, when the opportunity presented itself, Oliver just had to jump on it.

However, no matter how eager and enthusiastic Oliver was about this, nothing could possibly prepare him for what he was about to see next.

As the tremors continuously grew, something slowly came out of the dark corridor. That something was wide and tall enough to cover most of the corridor.

'Is that a snout?'

Having a fair share of his experience with pets, Oliver knew what he was looking at. But, he had to question the very appearance of a snout since there was no way it could possibly be this large.

"Get out of here! Now!" Xiled's voice echoed within Oliver's head. The sense of urgency could be heard from the devil's warning as Oliver stood in a daze and watched the creature reveal itself.

From the snout then came its entire head and neck. The ground kept trembling around the creature as its scaly body seemed to crush anything in its way.

Naturally, Oliver wasn't an exception from that.

With a spring in his step, Oliver grabbed the gnome by its abdomen and jumped from the floating rock platform. From there, Oliver ran straight towards the hole he used to get underground. The one where Strider's tracks had led to.

By some sheer dumb luck, Oliver landed safely at his destination. He had barely made it there as he was almost run over by the creature as it headed towards the other direction.

As Oliver caught his breath and let the gnome down, he took this time to calm himself down. Looking around, the hole was the same as he had left it.

The smooth to the touch walls with barely any marks on them. The hollowing darkness that seemed bottomless. Although there was nothing much around, Oliver felt some sort of comfort in this place.