Chapter 113: Bigger World

The demon shouted with anger and red threads started to wrap around him inside the mental plane. He tried to break free but the system was keeping a firm grip around the demon. 

It couldn't move freely due to the pressure the system was giving it and the threads started to grow larger and covered his entire body.

[Finish him now.] 

"Wait! I need to ask him some questions?" Kieth opened his eyes and looked at the demon.

The demon stared at Keith with hatred for putting him in that situation.

"When you said you were a demon, what did you mean? Is there a demon race on this continent?" 

It was something Keith wanted to confirm from the very start but he was occupied with restraining the demon. Now that the demon was restrained by his threads and the system's pressure, Keith found the opportunity.

"If I told you there was a bigger world than just your tiny continent, would you believe me?" The demon taunted Keith.

Keith smiled.

"Would you believe me if I told you I come from a different world, where there are no vampires and no life energy?" Keith asked back sarcastically.

The demon showed a visible confusion with Keith's nonchalant attitude as he seemingly was not able to grasp the meaning of his words.

"Are you mocking me? This is the truth, if you believe me or not, is entirely up to you." 

"Oh I believe you, but what kind of world are you talking about? I am not interested in other worlds unless there are better opportunities in that place." Keith replied.

"The Reinez continent is not the only continent in this world. The council is hiding the information from the vampire society. Well, I could say that they don't care about the outside world. Most continents never heard of this continent either.

"At the border of the Reinez continent, the vampires made a toxic bloody fog made by your extremely talented blood ritualists. Then on top of that, there are several hurricanes that revolve around the continent in a cycle. So how can the residents of other continents come here?" The demon looked at Keith, raising his eyebrow.

"Get to the point." Keith snapped.

"Isn't that obvious? We are brought here by the same ritualists that are trying to block us from getting in." The demon revealed.

"What do you mean?" Kieth asked in surprise.

"You think every vampire wants to protect the vampire society. There are many factions that want to overthrow the council even if that means destroying the continent. There are also foreign powers that want to take over this continent and send their forces here to infiltrate."

Keith took a deep breath and stroked his chin. All of this was too much overwhelming information. Just a few days ago he learned about the ancient wizards and now there were other races and continents outside this place.

Still, it was not too far-fetched to him considering he came from another world. He also wondered if there was another place beside this continent. He tried to find information about the outside but there was not a single mention.

The only thing that stood out to him was the ancient history when the originals took over this continent. Were they from this place or did they come from another place? It was so far back that Keith didn't find any lead previous to that.

Here, in front of him, a race totally different than his, never seen on this continent was saying there are several continents throughout the world. That intrigued Keith as he wanted to know the true nature of the world.

He looked at the demon, who was expecting Keith's response. The threads were restraining him so he couldn't do anything besides waiting and hoping Keith would side with him.

"You said there are many continents in the world. How many continents are there? How big are they?" Keith asked.

"Before I tell you more, I want you to promise me something." The demon demanded.

Keith's eyebrows twitched for a second but he contained his frustration.

"Speak." 

"I want you to take me to the sacrificial chamber after I answer all of your questions. I promise I will not harm you."

Keith really wanted to know the information, but still, he found the demon to be very sneaky. He was having trouble coming to a conclusion.

[ Agree for now. We will think about that later.] The system said.

"Alright. I agree. But if you lie or give me wrong information, forget about the sacrificial chamber. I won't let you out of this place." Keith warned with squinted eyes.

"Do you think I will believe your words? We have to make a soul contract. If you back down from your words, a portion of your soul will be taken. Depending on the severity, you might lose your life." The demon laughed hysterically.

"What makes you think I know what that means? I don't want to do stupid shit that I don't know." Keith waved him off.

"Are you seriously asking me that? Which remote place do you come from?" The demon looked at him as if he was some kind of weirdo.

"Trust me. If I don't know something, the majority of the vampires also don't know. It looks like the vampire council hid a lot of things. Can you tell me what a soul contract is?" 

"A soul contract is a contract signed with your mind. It is different from the contracts you have that use the life energy of the person. Here, if you violate the contract, you will receive severe backlash. In the worst-case death is a mercy." The demon said.

"What do you mean, mercy?"

"Well, sometimes when you are unable to pay with your mind or the terms of the contract are too overwhelming for you to fulfill, your soul will be trapped inside the contract for eternity." 

"You keep talking about mind and soul, are the two things different, or are you referring to the same thing?" Keith was having problems grasping the terms.

"Soul, mind, it's all the same. You have three levels of being. Your physical being. Your life energy that supports your life. And the third, your mind or soul. In the ancient tongue it was called the soul, so the term stayed. The mind is the same thing but it's the newer term.

"So the soul contract is the contract between minds created by the wizards to make the most secure contract in this world." The demon said.

Keith suddenly jerked up by the mention of the wizards, so he immediately stopped him.

"You know about wizards?" Keith asked.

"Of course, all the things we have today are because of them. The runes were first created by them and…" The demon struggled to say the next words.

"And what?" Keith inquired.

"The wizards were the first life energy users on this continent. Their disappearance from this continent was orchestrated by the vampires but they still thrive in another place. Another continent." The demon said slowly.

"You mean, there is an entire continent full of wizards? Where is that continent?" 

Kieth was curious about this mainly because the wizards were as powerful as vampires. And if they were present equally in number as the vampires, it would create quite the turmoil inside the vampire council if they find out.

Plus, he hoped Rena would learn the way of the wizards and become as strong as him. He didn't know if it was possible until this moment. There was hope, a way to strengthen Rena, the most trusted person he had in this world. 

The demon paused for a bit then continued,

"I think the distribution of wizards is the same as the high-level vampires. There is a very small fraction among humans. But they do control the continent like the vampire council does."

The series of discussions opened Keith's eyes to new possibilities and he was more interested in the wizards. He also felt that the demon was hiding something, but he couldn't read his mind. He forced him to spill this much but if he didn't say anything he didn't want, Keith couldn't force that out.

"I said enough. You need to show your sincerity by making a soul contract with me." The demon reminded him sharply.

Keith wanted to know more about the outside world and how he could get out of the continent one day if he needed to. He hesitated for a while but soon complied with the demon.

"What do I have to do?" he asked the demon.

The demon smiled and opened his hand. A glowing scroll materialized out of nowhere and floated between them.

"As a bonus, I will teach you how to perform soul contracts. These are the runes you have to carve with your mind. It doesn't need life energy and.." As the demon was explaining, Keith stopped him.

"Hey! I don't know how to make runes… So this is useless to me." Keith couldn't understand the procedures.

"It's the basic rune inscription. Don't tell me they don't teach you that now?" The demon asked.

"They stopped doing that because the council banned it, so now… only one academy can teach the nobles the advanced blood-qi techniques," Keith replied with a disappointed face.