Ash appeared in his Eidolon form when they got into the room so that Tyler didn’t have to have an awkward internal dialogue about this while he was looking into more details about his system. It still blew his mind that he had never decided to look at the original contract with Ash, but he pulled it up with his system menu.
It took him a few minutes to read through all of it, and he noticed why everything had been able to go so smoothly.
"Well, there it is." Tyler smiled. "In the event the host gives Seraphim his own volition, he is allowed to act of his own free will."
"So Mom put in a fail-safe. Nice. How bad is the actual contract, though?"
"Terrible." Tyler frowned. "There are so many restrictions on you. It’s like they tried to purposely trap you inside your host and only do what he or she allowed you to do and you have to follow every command no matter what or you permanently die. It’s messed up man."
"Figures. She took a gamble, and it paid off. Fuck, that could have been really bad. No wonder I’ve had so many shitty tamers and stuff. It really required a summoner who was kind like the Sanju family line. She knew it wasn’t going to be a Sanju either. That’s what makes it even more unbelievable. I wonder how long this has been around."
"Doesn’t have a date, but it’s even in a different text than the contracts I’ve been forming and signing. You are free to keep acting on your own volition." Tyler smiled.
He wanted to ensure the contract and gods understood this, especially because Ash was finally in his most powerful form.
"I wish I could talk to Athena again." Tyler sighed.
"Well, I could help you with that. It would just hurt again," Ash chuckled.
"I’m not going to push myself to the brink of death again just for a conversation with a goddess. That might start annoying them anyway. Well, let me try to make a new contract," Tyler suggested.
’System, create a new contract for Ash.’
[Error. Contract already exists.]
"Fuck," Tyler sighed.
"Can’t do it? Damn, well, thank you for trying," Ash said while recalling himself back into Tyler’s chest.
******
Amanda was still talking to Zack, and everyone else remained inside, having a good time, mostly. The war and the deaths of the elves were fresh on everyone’s minds. Tyler rejoined the fray and finally asked Zack if he could have a minute with his wife.
"Yeah, sure man, no problem." Zack smiled.
"Thanks again for being a good friend for her, I just want to steal her for myself for a while," Tyler laughed.
Amanda blushed. "Thanks Zack! We’ll talk soon, ok?"
"Yeah! Sounds good. See ya both later."
"So, what’s up mister!" Amanda said excitedly.
"Just wanted to talk to you about that interview. Are you certain you want to do it?" Tyler asked politely. "I feel like I kind of talked you into it. If you want to do it, you should, but if you don’t, we should cancel."
Amanda thought about it for a minute. "I don’t want to do it anymore Tyler, I’m sorry."
"You don’t have to be sorry silly. I love you and we’ll just make a donation and say something came up. Don’t stress, ok?"
"I love you too and I won’t. I really wanted to, but after talking to Zack, I don’t know. My heart’s not in it." She frowned.
"I understand. She’s also a younger streamer. Who knows what she would have asked you and you’re popular! People love you." Tyler said while giving her a kiss.
"Thanks babe. You are too!" She smirked.
"I hope so... sometimes I wonder." Tyler said while kissing her cheek.
Amanda sighed. "Yeah, me too."
Tyler was glad he wasn’t the only one that sometimes felt out of place. His wife did too.
"What makes you wonder?" He asked, genuinely interested in her viewpoint.
"We’re not vampires and you’re a prince and the rest of us are nobles. Do they really all accept us?" Amanda asked with a small smile.
"It’s impossible to have one entire group of people accept anyone. I’m sure even the King and Queen have people who don’t like them. My worry is how big is that number? We already have a war going on... we don’t need more drama."
"Yes, the drama worries me too. Anyway, let’s enjoy the party!" Amanda said while taking his hand.
"Yeah... that’s a good idea." He agreed and they got back to the people.
Tyler’s interview made him more popular than he already was, but for the first time, it finally drew out the people who couldn’t stand him. People driven by envy and jealousy and those who thought beasts were meant to be tamed started banding together in opposition, which was exactly what Vexarra didn’t need.
The vampiric people were the first to pick up on this. In the slums of Vespa, some of the noble vampires working undercover started witnessing new groups, gangs, and even some smaller factions forming.
"Yo... vampire dude. Come over here." A man in a kabuki mask waved over one of them.
The undercover noble walked over to him.
"What’s up?" he asked casually.
"What other abilities do you have? If you’re useful, I might have someone you can talk to about joining us."
The vampire showed off a blood ability that he was able to combine with ice. The masked man turned his head, clearly impressed.
"Come with me?" he asked.
"Sure... let me go let my wife know, if that’s okay?"
The man put a knife to his neck quickly. "Tell her what?"
"Chill, bro. That I’m going to head off with someone I know," he said calmly, holding back his anger and abilities. He could easily overpower this thug and end him quickly, but he wanted the intel.
"Never mind. Get lost, and we never talked. We only take people without baggage." The masked man let him go and pushed him away.
"What the fuck, man? I thought you wanted useful people."
"You are no longer interesting. Go run to your wife before I change my mind about letting you leave peacefully."
Not wanting to blow his cover, the vampire walked away, intrigued.
He grabbed the female vampire’s hand, which took her off guard, but they were well trained. She smiled and grabbed his hand, kissing him on the cheek before they turned and walked away.
’What a shame. He could have been useful,’ the masked man thought, eyeing the rest of the street. ’So many useless fucking people. We need someone powerful for the boss.’
"What was that about?" the female vampire asked.
"Not now, Rox. Once we get back to the throne room."
"Okay, Damien, let’s get somewhere safe," she whispered.
They walked through the slums of Vespa. Once they got to the outskirts, they found an alley and were able to teleport to the throne room.
The vampires returned to the throne room and explained the situation to the King and Queen, who were not pleased.
"This is upsetting news. So people underground are recruiting, and we don’t know why? Thank you for not overreacting and staying undercover. We will send two others in your place to try and be recruited. Do you know who you met with?" King Atwood asked.
"No, but it’s on the southwest outskirts of Vespa. He wore a strange kabuki mask that was black and purple. I could see his teeth. He looked like a werewolf," Damien explained.
"That’s excellent information, it’s a shame you couldn’t get more," the King stated.
"I agree. The comment about no baggage doesn’t make sense. What would you like us to do?" Damien asked.
"Indeed. I wonder if it’s family based or because it suggests you might have children? You two have been undercover for months. Take some time off. Go back to your families."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." They both bowed before smiling and walking away.
The King and Queen discussed what their next move was while Damien and Rox hugged, thanked each other, and eagerly went back to their families. This was an easy decision. They summoned two younger vampires to head to the southwest slums to try to get recruited to the little group. If they were looking for people without baggage, two young, talented vampires should suffice.
The two vampires teleported to the outskirts and made their way to the slums, but no one with a black and purple kabuki mask was around.
"Guess we play it cool and try to fit in around here?" one whispered to the other.
The other male shrugged. "There’s a shitty inn over there, Zed. That’s where we’re staying."
Zed sighed and looked around the slums. They were still crowded.
"All right, Dak. Let’s start getting to know the locals. We’re brothers and orphans who got kicked out of the military."