John stared at the vampire before them numbly. His instincts screamed at him to run, but he knew it would be useless in front of the power that this vampire contained. He listened carefully, taking in as much information as he could.

‘This guy seems to mean business. I can feel Amelia’s uncertainty, and it’s a bitter pill to swallow. She feels like she’s doomed us all, but I haven’t given up yet.’

The vampire from before could understand him, so he wondered if he could try to communicate with Amadeus. Even to his ears, he sounded as though he squawked and cawed randomly, but the vampire paid John attention when he spoke. “You’re powerful, Overlord, but you haven’t killed us yet. Is there any reason?”

“Oh, what do we have here? You wouldn’t happen to be a drafted soul, perchance?” Amadeus rose a brow and waited for John to respond, making it clear that he wouldn’t respond until John answered his inquiry.

“Yes, I am.”

“What an interesting turn of events. This is very unexpected. It doesn’t explain your strange manifestation. What of that?” John could see the curiosity burning within the eyes of the Overlord and decided that total disclosure was better than death. He didn’t know if Amadeus could detect lies or not.

“When my body left my world, I entered a strange land of darkness. It tore away at my body until I reformed.” John paused to consider what he was going to say next. “I spoke with two gods and they said I had been Void-Touched. They said I’m infected with a parasite, and that’s why we’re here. I needed to grow and my Contractor needed to restore her energy. Why is it that we’re still alive?”

“You can tell I’m powerful, so what is it that makes me stay here?” Amadeus responded with a question of his own.

“I can only think of two reasons. The first is that there’s something stopping you from leaving. The second, something outside threatens you. Seeing how strong you are, I doubt it’s the second,” John responded after brief consideration.

“Bah, like anything in the realm could threaten me. My father punishes me unjustly for a crime I didn’t commit, but that is history. I’m sealed inside, doomed to fade into obscurity and suffer from hunger pangs until I finally fall into eternal slumber.” He walked forward, each step slow and deliberate.

The brutish ape rushed forward, stabbing toward Amadeus with his blade. The Overlord caught it between two fingers and glared at the buffoon. “You are not befitting of this blade. Tell me, why shouldn’t I kill you right now for disturbing the adults while they talk?”

The brute could only stare on in open-mouthed horror at the ineffectiveness of his attack. He looked back towards Amelia, absolute terror frozen on his face and eyes begging for them to help.

“Spare him, please,” John asked for mercy on behalf of the brute. He didn’t want to see the man die before him. Monsters he could kill and didn’t care for, but the fool was a human. A little special in the head but still human, and John was still a human inside.

“Don’t ever say I never did anything for you,” Amadeus said as he stared at John. “Now, in exchange for your friend's life, I think we should discuss my issue.”

Amadeus kicked forward and sent the fool flying through the air where he unceremoniously tumbled head over heel until he skid to a stop. John stared at the body, looking for any sign of life. He heard the sound of gargling blood, but he was still alive. John turned his head and looked at his Contractor, tilting his head in the direction of the man.

She understood what he tried to convey and rushed off to heal his wounds while John returned his attention to Amadeus. He had to fight back the anger and bitterness of their situation to speak again.

“Thank you for sparing him,” John said and tilted his head in respect.

“Maybe he’ll think twice before attacking an unknown foe next time. You never know, maybe this lesson will save his life in the future. Now,” Amadeus’s eyes narrowed and he began to walk around John, “I need you to remove the seal keeping me here. You have the ability to nullify magic to some extent as a Void-Touched, though you might not have known that.”

John stayed still, feeling as though he were a timid mouse standing before a mighty dragon. He didn’t even know if that comparison could be made, as even the red dragon hadn’t given him pause before.

“What will that take?” he asked, hoping that he could find a way out of the dungeon that didn’t involve actually agreeing to release the Overlord.

“Well, I’m going to bind you to an Oath. A neutral Oath, mind you, but even those have consequences if broken. I want this to be a mutual relationship. A partnership, if you’ll have it.” Amadeus chuckled. “Thought, the alternative is death and I wait for someone else that can help me to come along, though, I don’t fancy waiting another thousand years for someone to stumble across this place that has what it takes to break the seal.”

John really considered his options.

He could decline and then all three of them would more than likely end up dead at the hands of Amadeus.

He could attempt to fight the Vampire Overlord and die swinging.

Or he could fulfill the Oath and release Amadeus from his prison.

He thought of Elaine and Lily, and made up his mind. He didn’t know how many would damn him for his choice, but his goal was to see his family again. He couldn’t do that if he died here so early into his adventure.

“You don’t give me a real choice. I can’t die here,” John reluctantly admitted.

Amadeus stopped in front of John and assumed the thinking position with his arms crossed and a single brow raised. “I know you don’t have a choice, but I prefer the carrot over the stick. If you agree to the Oath, then I’ll fill you with enough Essence to gain a Rank. Complete my request and I’ll do it again, no matter what Rank you are when you fulfill it.”

John’s eyes widened and he looked over his shoulder at Amelia tending to the brute’s wounds. He considered the offer for what it was and then turned back to Amadeus, “I’ll accept, but I need more information about the process and some answers to some questions I have.”

“Reasonable enough,” Amadeus responded with a shrug. “The more you know, the easier your mission will be. We both want things from one another, so let’s further discuss while I prepare the Oath.”

Amadeus waited for John to continue speaking while raising his wrist to his mouth. With a quick bite, he sliced open the vein in his wrist and began dropping blood on the ground around them. John watched on curiously, but a quick prompt from Amadeus had him blurting out everything on his mind.

“First, I need to know more about what it means to be Void-Touched. I don’t know enough about my capabilities or what I can do to remove the parasite inside of me. Second, ultimately my goal is to reach Rank-Ten Boss so that I can go back home to my family, so gaining Rank is very important to me. I don’t know enough about Ranks or how to get to that level.”

“Oh, you poor fool. The ignorant truly do fumble about the world like blind children, listening to every adult that wants to ‘help’ them,” Amadeus splashed blood about haphazardly as he made air quotations with his fingers. “You don’t know what you’ve signed up for, so let me educate you.”