69 The Abilities of a Higher Rank

"Known information regarding President rank Contractbounds? Now that's an interesting title," said Graham excitedly. He continued reading the page with the utmost focus with the light from the candle.

'President-rank Contractbounds are significantly stronger than Earl-rank ones. Their spirituality and vitality are boosted a lot, and their body is already stronger than the average adult males even without their power. They are also now able to cast the abilities from the lower-ranked Deities without chanting, although mediums are still required if the ability asks for one. The abilities that they are granted can achieve amazing results-- even law-defying, that is why the sacrificial materials for their contract rituals are much harder to get.'

'There are eleven Deities with the rank of Presidents, with their corresponding titles and abilities. The titles that are given to the Contractbounds are strictly human convention, to make it easier to identify them. I didn't come up with the names, however, as they have been known by those names since forever.'

'A Malady is someone in contract with the Deity of Illnesses and Shape-shifting. They are dangerous individuals well-versed in diseases that seek to spread malice to their surroundings. Maladies have the ability to afflict someone with a difficult to detect seed of a disease that will grow into something lethal with time. Because of that ability, Maladies are perfect assassins. However, they need a ritual to accomplish the Plague Curse, which is the name of their ability. If detected early, it can still be treated, but when it's too late, the disease can spread to anyone the target is close to. Besides that ability, they are also able to spread a mild illness to their surroundings, which serves as their means to control the battlefield. Maladies have a shape-shifting ability which makes them even more dangerous assassins, but it requires a lot of preparation, and they cannot turn into another human being; they can only turn into animals of similar sizes to their own body.'

'A Tincture is someone in contract with the Deity of Potions and Medicines. They are the opposite of Malady, in that they seek to heal the injured and cure illnesses. They have a broad knowledge of both medicines and poisons. They can create concoctions with various effects depending on their expertise and power, which can aid their allies, or weaken their opponents in battles. Because of the title of their Deity, their body naturally becomes healthier and it is more difficult for them to get sick. A tincture doesn't have any offensive or defensive abilities, but by using their concoctions, they are able to do both of them effectively. They are usually one of the richest or poorest Contractbounds, depending on their sales ability, because of the need for concoction materials.'

Graham turned to the next page after reaching the end of that one.

'An Unseen is someone in contract with the Deity of Invisibility and Treasures. Just like their name, they are the unperceived, whose ultimate goal is to discover treasures without being noticed. They are granted the ability to become permanently invisible, although by doing so they are unable to interact with any humans or objects, including clothes and ground, so they float several centimeters above it. The moment they try to come into contact with something or cast certain other abilities, their invisibility will go away. A Contractbound with a strong perception can still detect them even if they have gone invisible, however. Unseens are usually good at martial arts since they cannot carry weapons while being invisible; their bodies are their only weapons. Besides invisibility, they also have a strong spiritual sense of valuable items, especially while being invisible, where they could see an imaginary line leading them to their targets.'

Graham stopped reading for a while and thought about the last Contractbound mentioned. An Unseen was basically walking naked the whole time. It was a peculiar Contractbound since it didn't say that they got another ability besides being invisible, so the person had to either become a nudist or get no benefit from the Deity at all. The thought of it amused him.

'An Ignoramus is someone in contract with the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred. Contrary to their name, they do not lose intelligence by forming a contract with this Deity. Their abilities, however, are curious. They have the ability to lower their target's IQ for their next action, increasing the likelihood of them making a mistake. They can also ask their opponents 'a quiz', with every wrong answer taking away their intelligence a little for a duration, which is why an Ignoramus must be knowledgable in the first place. They can prepare a ritual and use a medium to create a Zone of Hatred, where people in the area will be more inclined to act based on emotion rather than logic, and be made more irritable. The effect of this zone is very subtle and the targets won't notice the abnormality.'

'A Deceit is someone who is in contract with the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts. I couldn't gather information regarding this Contractbound because every time I did so, they tempered with the information I have. That is most likely their bread and butter ability.'

Graham stopped reading again. It was the Deity that he thought would suit Valentine, but unfortunately, there was not enough information.

"Val, it is unfortunate that the author doesn't have anything else on a Deceit, but the description itself is a clue. Judging by the name of the Deity, I think the power is related to concealment but much stronger than yours. It reminds me of Luuk's professor who got him to become a Contractbound and then strangely disappeared without anyone having any detailed memory of him at all," he said ruminatively, then flipped the page to continue reading.

'A Transmuter is someone in contract with the Deity of Wisdom and Transmutation. They are granted a vast knowledge of magical trinkets and the ability to transmute materials into an item of their desire. Their wisdom enables them to understand how an item works very quickly and how to recreate it using the appropriate materials. However, Transmutation requires a lot of preparation and spirituality, so they are not really suitable for combat. However, the items they create can aid their allies tremendously in battles. They are one of the few Contractbounds able to create talismans and other spiritual items that are effective against certain supernatural creatures.'

"This is definitely Cadhla's Deity," said Graham while nodding in self-confirmation, "This means she is a strong Transmuter since she could create twenty bullets and talismans in less than a day," he concluded.

'A Contention is someone who is in contract with the Deity of Dispute and Animal Languages. They are another peculiar one, in that their allies are usually animals instead of humans. Their power grants them the ability to communicate with more intelligent animals to some extent, although they cannot have a conversation with them. This enables them to ask their animal allies to accomplish incredible tasks like scouting and infiltration. They are also able to sow discontent with just their words in their enemies' hearts, making them distrust their allies. Contentions are dangerous in a group fight because they can make allies turn against each other in a short time, turning the tide of the battle quickly.'

'A Guile is someone who is in contract with the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation. They are sly foxes who use their intelligence to manipulate their enemies. Guiles have the ability to plant a thought inside their enemies' brains which will manifest slowly with time. Once the thought has manifested, their enemies will think that it is what they believe in. They are also able to read their enemies' memory to some extent, and using said memory, transform into someone they are familiar with to further misguide them. A Guile's transformation ability only works after they have extracted a memory of a person from their target. Once they have the memory, they can keep transforming into that person in the future unless they choose to forget the memory to make room for another one. While transformed, their voice and smell also change to match the memory of the person whose identity they are using.'

After reading that information regarding Guiles, Graham became more convinced to take that part. The powers were very compatible with what he specialized in. He turned to the next page again. It was no wonder the book was thick; the messy handwriting took up so much space.

'An Astrologer is someone who is in contract with the Deity of Astrology and Familiars. They are another Contractbound with a divination ability, and their medium is a crystal ball. They need blood to perform divination and depending on the amount of blood they sacrifice, they can get an incredible result. Astrologers are not very suited for combat because of the lack of offensive abilities, but they can summon a familiar when in need, and aid their allies by divining their enemies' weaknesses. They must first find a willing familiar and form a contract with it before they can summon it in battle, which is not an easy process either, but their divination ability helps them find the most suitable one for them.'

'A Gore is someone who is in contract with the Deity of Wit and Blood. They are the bloodiest among all Contractbounds of President rank. Their Deity grants them the ability to manipulate their blood to their will. They can create a blood weapon and control it remotely using their spirituality or use their blood to shackle their enemies, both of which require a large amount of their own blood. Stronger Gores can even create a cursed blood weapon that can draw their enemies' blood to replenish their own. They also have the ability to use Blood Purification to destroy evil spirits. Gores can consume blood to replace theirs that they use for spells, which makes them a formidable opponent, especially if you start bleeding. It makes it very easy for them to turn into cold-blooded murderers.'

'A Demise is someone who is in contract with the Deity of Serpents and Death. They are the masters of curses and snakes. They can perform various curses with ritual and appropriate materials, which will create incredible effects on their enemies. One of their well-known curse if the Death Curse, which will instantly kill the target, except if the target is much stronger than them, and the Nightmare Curse which will give their targets horrible nightmares every time they sleep, slowly depriving them of their sanity. They are also able to conjure an illusory snake to immobilize their enemies and turn into countless snakes to avoid attacks.'

Graham turned to the next page but it was blank. All the President rank Contractbounds had been listed there and the next page seemed to contain sealed information. He analyzed all the descriptions that he had just read and spoke in that dim hotel room.

"This is a whole new level of supernatural. Just one rank higher and their powers are already very dangerous. It's a good thing we decided not to fight with that Pravitatem killer just yet; otherwise, we might have been dead right now. Not that we have any clue to their identity anyway. We have to be very careful when we see a Demise or a Malady. In fact, we have to be careful when we see any of them, Val." Graham concluded.

He didn't continue reading the book because it was getting late in the afternoon. He had to get back to Sloten as not to spend any more time in that nameless town. Although he alone had no problem with that, he was there with Egon, who had a wife and a child waiting for him at home. He also needed to double his payment because they had stayed longer than expected. Graham put the ancient book back in his briefcase and put out the candle flame.