Amos and I worked out the official wording of the contract, including a clause that would release him after two weeks regardless of the outcome, just so he wouldn’t be stuck on this plane if something went incredibly strangely, and then we bound one another with the contract. Given that the contract was capable of binding beings roughly equal in power to fourth circle, I was surprised when I struggled to bind the entirety of Amos’ essence within the magic. I managed it with a small flicker of my own fire to empower the contract magic, but if I hadn’t been able to do that, then I’d have had to rely on Amos’ will and interpretations of the contract. Not that I didn’t trust the snake, I did, it was just a bad habit to get into, and one that I was going to be breaking soon enough. There was no need for pointless risks.

  With the names Amos had given me, I summoned and negotiated with his friends, and each of them were bound without the use of my fire, though they were all stronger than a simple third circle spell would normally be able to call. It seemed to be proof of concept as to what professor Toadweather had mentioned – even with ordinary summonings, outside of contracts, building a web of connections was important and allowed you to summon beings stronger than the spell would normally call at random.

  “And now… it’s time to be incredibly stupid.”

  I knelt and began casting worldmerchant within the final contract spell. I wasn’t capable of casting a spell to summon a saint normally, but worldmerchant bent that rule, since it wasn’t a combat spell. In conjunction with lesser planar contract, I was hoping that I’d be able to establish a contract allowing me to gain access to power well beyond what I had any right to harness at my current power.

  It wasn’t nearly as useful or original as it seemed on first blush. For one, if I wanted to safely do this, then I’d need to limit the summon I was calling to a fourth circle level of power. Maybe more, if I infused my dragonfire into it, but it wouldn’t let me summon a god onto the battlefield safely or anything like that. It did, however, have a great deal more flexibility than a standard summoning. Second, there were practical limits to who would be willing to answer a worldmerchant spell. A true divine would likely be too busy to answer, and even if they did, the power of having them in the room with me would likely kill me in a way not too dissimilar to Elaine of the Loud Crackle had. Third, deities were bound by their creed, as well as rules passed down by Magyk herself, when it came to enacting their will upon the world directly. That was the reason that they used priests, saints, avatars, and all that, though I didn’t claim to truly understand just what the differences and limits between all of them were. No, I wouldn’t be summoning a god. But I’d be doing the next best thing. Or rather, the third best thing.

  “I call upon saint Hykym!” I called, slamming my hand into the worldmerchant spell. The power began to flicker and fizz, and then the white bearded form of the old saint appeared in front of me, his arms crossed and scowling.

  “You’d best have a good reason for interrupting me,” saint Hykym said. “I’ve already told you everything that I could about working with divine powers in a ritual.”

  “They’re going to be doing the actual ritual in only a few days,” I said seriously. “I can’t stop it from happening. I’m going to put my sealing spell to attack her god if he breaks it, but I’m not able to do more than that. If my spell fails – or even if it succeeds – there’s a good chance that things will turn violent. And there are dark sects, and…”

  I rambled on for some time before the saint raised his palm, cutting me off.

  “Which is why a someone not even twenty-five winters old is leading a bunch of his fellow children into war with cultivators four times their age,” Hykym said. “I understand. But I’m a saint. This spell won’t work on me. You could likely manage it with true planar binding, but you’re still a long ways from there, kid.”

  “That’s… not entirely true,” I said. “The spell could, in theory, work on any level of power. Even someone like Elaine of the Loud Crackle.”

  Hykym squinted at me and looked at the spell on the floor, raising an eyebrow.

  “Now, I’m no wizard. But I’m pretty certain you wouldn’t be able to bind me with a rope this weak.”

  “I didn’t say it would bind you, just that it would work,” I said, taking a deep breath. “It would be your intentions and meanings that shaped the binding instead of mine. If we agreed you wouldn’t harm me, you could define harm, and thus let me come to harm through inaction, for example.”

  “What?” the saint snapped. “You should, under no circumstances, be making that kind of deal, kid.”

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  The next words were hard for me to admit. I had my issues with authority and with the divines. I liked Jackson, and I’d worked alongside Effervesce before. I’d even be willing to again. Even so, my confession still took a lot out of me.

  “I trust you. Or rather, I trust Effervesce. I don’t think that one of his saints is going to be the kind of person to kill kids. But I do think one of his saints is going to be the kind of person who saves them from a dark sect and dark god.”

  The saint looked at me, then spat a curse in a language of demons, spitting on the floor as he did.

  “You shouldn’t,” he said. “That kind of trust is going to get you killed, kid.”

  I said nothing, just watching the saint carefully. His jaw worked for a second before he continued talking.

  “Even though you’re being stupid enough to hand over the control of the contract, there’s going to be a limited amount I can do,” Hykym warned. “I am a saint, sure, but that doesn’t mean I can call upon all of my power all of the time. It fluctuates, as I’m sure you’ve seen with Jackson.”

  I still didn’t say anything, but I didn’t pull my eyes away from the saint either.

  “There’s a chance they’ll kill me before I have the power to step in and save your friend, and if they really have a god of their own backing them, then my power is really going to have a difficult time. Divines can block other divines.”

  I nodded slightly, but otherwise made no motion to banish Hykym back to Effervesce’s realm.

  “Thousand hells,” the saint sighed. “Fine. Let’s talk terms.”

  “Effervesce forbids the harming of innocents, and encourages the protection of his allies,” I said. “Remain bound by your creed, act to protect Yushin, Salem, Jackson, and myself, and work to stop the Traitor Wyrm and his agents. We can also agree on a two week time period for this, so in the worst case, you’ll still return and not be sealed here.”

  “Fine. What about payment?”

  “I can’t offer faith to your god,” I said. “I trust him, but that’s not the same thing as having faith in him to guide all of my actions. But I can offer three days of ether and fire to your god, after Yushin is safe, paid after the battle and the debts to the wadjetktt of your realm.”

  “A good start. But I should inform you that the more sacrifices you offer, the faster and easier it will be for me to tap into my full power.”

  I sighed, not having expected that, though it made a certain amount of sense. I removed a bag of coins from my locker. Henry had been true enough to his word, and through selling the literal dozens of third circle components as well as the several fourth and fifth circle components, we’d made quite a mint. Even splitting it in four, I’d received a bag with almost three hundred platinum coins. In silver, the unit people actually used, that was nearly thirty thousand. Enough to buy several sixth circle components if I was judicious about picking less commonly sought after ones. It could let me commission a great deal at the student market, or even double the amount I’d tucked away in Cendel National Bank bonds.

  I counted out one hundred of the shimmering platinum coins and pushed them over to the saint, who examined them.

  “Those meant a lot to you, far more than the days of fire and ether did,” he said. “You’re not nearly as rich as your family is, are you?”

  “Not even close,” I admitted. “I don’t want their wealth. Even if Gerhard opened up access to accounts and let me have it, it would forever come with strings. Whatever money I earn will come from me.”

  “A single bent copper coin from a beggar with nothing else to give has far more value to Effervesce’s divine spirit than a polished platinum coin from a man to whom it means nothing,” saint Hykym said. “Keep your fire and ether. This will be sufficient.”

  I bowed my head to him, thanking him, and he swept his hand out. I reached out and took it, and felt as my magic rose up to try and bind him. Even with the intensity of my fire, it wouldn’t be enough to bind someone like him, though I thought that if I fused my pool and fire properly, using the ritual I was working on, it might be close. That… surprised me. A large part of me still viewed my spirit as permanently damaged, after all.

  When the saint’s power overtook my own, I felt my control over the contract slip away and slide into his hands. Light flared around the room, and strange symbols used in the prayers to Effervesce appeared along my arm, as well as his. I thought that I heard the laughter of a warm, kindly soul, and then all of the effects faded away. Saint Hykym stepped forward, and a golden blade appeared at my throat.

  “You who have shed man's blood, are not innocent,” the saint said. “If I so desired, I could kill you. I am bound to protect you, but by cleansing you of your sins and sending you on, I am protecting the most valuable part of you: your immortal soul.”

  My heart started hammering in my chest, and for a second I was convinced that I’d made a terrible mistake. Professor Toadweather had warned, repeatedly, about the dangers of trying to do something like this. The saints blade faded away, and he gave me a grim smile.

  “Fortunately for you, I think you’re mostly an alright kid, and your immortal soul’s not in much danger. But I wanted – needed – to make that point to you. You’ve made a dangerous choice by setting me free into the world like this. I’m not a terrible person, thank Effervesce, but you won’t always be so lucky.”

  “I’ll bear that in mind,” I said seriously. “I don’t want to make a habit of it. My teacher told me something along the lines of ‘you can be correct about who you’re binding a hundred times, but it’s the one time you’re not that kills you’. I take that pretty seriously. This was just a desperate situation.”

  Saint Hykym nodded his agreement, then folded his arms over his chest.

  “At least you take this seriously, even when you’re bucking the rules. Onto the real reason you summoned me, though. What’s the plan?”

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