A chill ran down Axel's spine, a sensation unlike anything he'd felt before. It wasn't physical; it was… internal. A voice echoed in his mind, not spoken aloud but clear as a bell. 'Well, hello there, roommate.'
Axel stumbled back, his hand instinctively going to his head. 'Who… who said that?' he whispered, his voice trembling.
'Up here,' the voice chuckled, a low, resonant sound that seemed to vibrate through his very being. 'Or rather, down there. Depends on your perspective, I suppose.'
Fear warred with a strange sense of curiosity. 'Are you… the entity Gizmo was talking about?'
'The one and only,' the voice confirmed. 'Though "entity" feels a bit impersonal, don't you think? You can call me Kaelen Veridian.' Kaelen's tone was playful.
'Kaelen,' Axel repeated, testing the sound on his tongue. It felt… weighty like it carried a history he didn't know.
'Why haven't you spoken to me before?' asked Axel, his tone annoyed.
'Circumstances,' Kaelen replied, the jovial tone fading slightly. 'Lilith's presence was… disruptive. Any direct contact could have alerted her to my existence. And trust me, that was a party neither of us wanted to attend.'
'But what about before? You were there even before my contact with Lilith. Why didn't you try communicating back then?' Axel asked, still suspicious of Kaelen.
'I had to be sure that this bio-engineering tool you carry with you could be trusted—or if it was a ploy of some sort. You get the cynical nature, right? I inherited that from you,' Kaelen answered playfully.
'You made contact with Gizmo, meaning you now trust it, right? But what about you? How can we trust you?' inquired Axel.
'Bro, you need to chill. I am a product of your primal skill, "Seven Star-Legend Creation." As Gizmo might have told you, I am the only thing in this universe that you can trust blindly. The whole purpose for which I exist is your safety and growth—nothing else,' said Kaelen, his tone now somewhat serious.
Upon hearing the name of the skill, fragmented memories began surfacing in Axel's mind—flashes from the time he had been in a trance while obtaining the skill. Yet, he still couldn't make sense of the scattered images and emotions flooding him.
Axel was still a bit confused, but hearing the skill's name instilled a sense of familiarity and faith. He decided then to trust Kaelen and treat him as someone who would aid him in his conquest.
'From now on, I'll be calling you Kael (Ka-el). You have a lot of explaining to do, Kael. Tell me about the skill that birthed you and the events that transpired with Lilith. How did I come out on top in that whole terrifying exchange?' asked Axel.
'Kael sounds like a cool name—I like it. Well, as far as I know—and you might have guessed as well—this skill of yours will create others like me. Now, I don't know what the others will be like. As for Lilith, as Gizmo told you, it was this extraordinary being that saved your sorry ass. But no need for flattery,' replied Kael playfully.
'Don't irritate me. Give me the details, Kael,' said Axel.
'Okay, boss. Well, the thing is, although I've been born recently, I have memories of someone who has lived for centuries. I also know all about your memories and experiences. And the memories I have are mostly knowledge about a huge library where a single person goes, picks a book, reads it until it's finished, then picks up another—and the same goes on and on, forever, for centuries.'
'Just talking about it is making me bored, so you can imagine the horror I've had to endure with such memories. The good news for you, however, is that I possess knowledge of almost all the languages in the universe—and the power that words hold. Now, you might think that's trivial since you were born on Earth, but let me tell you, it's not.'
'Well, that's just about the memories I have. But by nature, I'm sort of a blood demon—something similar to Lilith. Oh, and I also have an eidetic memory. So, that's all about me, folks. Hehe,' said Kael, laughing gleefully.
Axel was glad to have acquired an eccentric yet powerful ally. But he doubted how much Kael could truly help him without a real body.
'Now, care to explain the events that took place with Lilith as well? Gizmo said you modified the Soul Contract,' Axel said, his brow furrowed. 'What exactly did you do?'
'Let's just say I added a few… clauses,' Kael said with a hint of amusement. 'Nothing Lilith can undo. It's a done deal. Consider it a… preemptive measure.'
'Preemptive against what?' asked Axel.
'Against her controlling you, obviously,' Kael said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 'She had basically drafted a Soul Contract with superficial terms while hiding the true essence with blood magic and ancient demonic scripture.'
'But I merely changed the master and slave annotations using my vast and superior knowledge. The real challenge was hiding the changes using your puny elemental energy compared to hers. I carefully substituted the current prevalent symbols in the demonic scripture with ancient, lost symbols—and some other tricks to confuse her. And voilà!'
'Now, she's your slave, and within a few years, she'll be brainwashed by her own magic. Isn't that a work of beauty?' said Kael.
Axel was shocked by the revelation. But he needed the whole picture before he could celebrate.
'You said something to Gizmo,' Axel continued, remembering Gizmo's words. 'In Spanish. "Hasta la vista, baby." What was that about?'
'Ah, that,' Kael said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. 'A little… Earth humor. It simply means "until we meet again." In this case, it's more like "until we properly start working together." It's a promise, you see. A promise that we'll be seeing a lot more of each other.'
Axel didn't find it particularly funny. He rubbed his temples, trying to process everything. He had a voice in his head—a powerful entity named Kaelen Veridian—who had altered a Soul Contract and spoke in Earth slang. The world had just gotten a whole lot stranger.
'So,' he said slowly, 'what now?'
'Now,' Kael said, a sense of anticipation radiating from him, 'we begin.'