Legendary Architect of Apocalypse-Chapter 58: Soul Beast

"I want you to fulfill two of my requests," Elias said, wasting no time.

"It will depend on the kind of requests you have, but go ahead," the Painter replied. He had already accepted that he would have to offer this child something in return. After all, it was much easier than incurring the Ashborn Family’s wrath.

Still, he didn’t want to promise anything without knowing what it was, or if he was even capable of fulfilling the requests.

"My first request is that, no matter what happens in the future, you will not hurt me, or use anyone else to hurt me," Elias stated his first request, being as clear as possible to avoid any loopholes. "Also, trapping me in a painting counts as hurting me."

The Painter had been wondering what kind of requests Elias would make. Did he want some kind of treasure? Or preferential treatment? He was quite surprised by the first request.

"Just that?" The request seemed too simple. In any case, he wasn’t going to try to hurt Elias after learning about his family, especially since he had no reason to.

He didn’t realize that a reason was waiting for him, but Elias wasn’t giving him the chance to find out.

"Fine. I promise you. Unless you, or your family, try to hurt me, no matter what happens in the future, I won’t hurt you in any way, shape, or form," he agreed, looking forward to hearing the second request that was tugging at his curiosity.

"What is your second request?" he asked. If it was as simple as the first, he really didn’t mind this deal.

"I want you to remove this poison from me," Elias said, pointing to the scars on his body, which were turning darker, seemingly due to poison.

"The corruption of fables?" The Painter frowned, even more surprised. "It’s not something I can remove, as it’s part of the process. Your other classmates will have it too. Think of it as a ticket that grants you entry to the true Land of Fables."

"Weren’t you informed about this? I thought the Ashborns would tell you, since your brothers had quite good luck in the Land of Fables when they came here."

He was puzzled by Elias’s ignorance, despite being a member of the Ashborn Family. However, he didn’t dwell on it. The Ashborn Family was unorthodox, so it was beyond his understanding.

"Part of the process?" Elias touched the scar on his face. Even though the bleeding had stopped, he could see that the corruption was still spreading.

............

Material Composition: Elias Ashborn (88%), Bones of Ancient Dragon (9%), Corruption of a Lost Constellation (3%)

Material Stability: 4.8%

Extraction Possibility: Very Low

.............

The stability had decreased further, making him wonder how long it would be until it reached zero.

"Just like the Creator Class begins by obtaining a Beast from the Land of Legends, the Destroyer Class begins by obtaining a Soul Beast from the Land of Fables. That’s why you were brought here in the first place."

"Living beings can’t enter the true Land of Fables, which exists outside this forest. That’s why we use the corruption of fables. As long as you obtain a Soul Beast and successfully establish a contract, the Soul Beast devours the corruption from your body."

The Painter explained, realizing that Elias knew absolutely nothing about this. Even the descendants of the ordinary families knew something about the Soul Beasts of the Destroyer Class, but Elias seemed completely uninformed.

"And what if I can’t establish a contract with a Soul Beast in time?" Elias asked, feeling as if he were infected with a ticking time bomb.

"Then the Fable will take over your body, erasing your true self. In that case, we generally kill the infected person, since there’s no possibility of reversing the corruption at that stage."

It was just like Elias had thought when he saw his percentage decreasing in his material composition while the corruption’s percentage was increasing. Even though it was barely noticeable, this living poison was trying to take over him.

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"I can’t fulfil your second request, but I can help you in another way." The Painter pulled out a scroll from his pocket, waving it before Elias. "If you consider the second request fulfilled, I will give this to you."

Elias didn’t even know what was in that map. He waited for the old man to explain more, but when the man simply kept waving the scroll, he was forced to ask, "What’s in that scroll?"

"It’s the map of the Land of Fables that I have personally created. It’s more detailed than any map that the other major families might possess. It also has a Protection cast by me, which can save your life only one time, no matter what kind of attack you are faced with."

The map was a treasure that was personally created by the Painter. It was something that many people had begged him for, so their descendants could use it when they entered the Land of Fables, but he never gave it to anyone.

Elias also knew that the map was a very useful thing, when he knew basically nothing about this place. His lack of knowledge was his biggest disadvantage at a place, but if he had this map, he might remove that disadvantage to some extent.

"I will take it," Elias took the scroll from the man, which marked his second request as completed as well.

"That’s perfect!" The old man seemed pleased with Elias’s decision. "Now tell me, what is the meaning of life? What is my painting missing?"

Elias had only told him a vague thing, to get help from him. Now that he had received the help, he had to give some answers while trying to make sense of them. As for how successful that answer was, he could only try and then hope for the best.

"Life is growth, be it physical, mental or psychological. Your paintings are a frozen snapshot of time. It might be artistic in your eyes, but if your paintings are alive, shouldn’t there be growth in them?" he asked the Painter, trying to be as vague as possible.

Even if his answer was wrong, he couldn’t be caught. He just had to give a vague answer, and leave the other person to make sense of it in their own way. It was the advantage of philosophy, after all.

"There you are." The Painter was lost in thoughts, when footsteps resounded in surroundings.