Several more days passed.
After casually dismissing the Naga who had been following him around for days, freeloading and trying to cling to his coattails, Olthagia closed his eyes and immersed himself in the consciousness space connected by the Abyssal Contract...
This time, compared to the last, he had far more options.
He could clearly sense that the offerings from the other side were more abundant—and more chaotic. Many of the offerings were things even he couldn't identify.
Perhaps they were rare minerals or precious spellcasting materials, but Olthagia had little interest in such things.
Holding to the belief that souls were the most practical—at least they could be converted into Evolution Points as a baseline—he casually selected a Summoning Ritual that offered a large number of souls as tribute.
Within the spatial passage, feeling the flow of time, Olthagia idly thought, 'Seems this world is quite remote.'
Last time, he had arrived in just over ten seconds. This trip had already taken half a minute, and he still hadn't reached his destination.
After a while longer, sensing that the target was now close, Olthagia opted for his usual approach—sending an Avatar or similar entity ahead to scout and avoid walking into a trap...
Watching the Summoning Ritual before him, Hawthorne Shield wasn't entirely sure whether he had succeeded. But in front of his numerous subordinates, he maintained an expression of absolute confidence.
This Summoning Ritual was something he had obtained from an ancient civilization, and this was his first time using it.
Just as he was considering whether to try again, the ritual circle on the ground faintly glowed red.
Hawthorne immediately knew he had succeeded. Now, it was time to verify the next step.
Amidst intense crimson flames, a distorted spatial gate appeared at the center of the ritual circle.
Accompanied by a strong metallic scent of blood, a tall figure clad in armor (or so it appeared to others—in reality, it was an Exoskeleton) stepped out.
The moment they saw him, many of the weaker instructors instinctively felt a primal dread.
They reflexively summoned their powers, adopting defensive stances.
Ignoring their reactions, Olthagia fixed his gaze directly on the person closest to him. He could clearly sense that this individual was his summoner—and that this person was far from weak.
Though the summoner appeared human, there was something distinctly non-human about them, making Olthagia uncertain of their true species.
Feeling the binding force of the Summoning Ritual, he understood that he needed to form a contract with this person to gain the right to act freely in this world.
Unlike the half-baked, defective ritual from last time, this one was properly executed. Thus, he had to fulfill his obligations accordingly—he couldn't act as recklessly as before.
Lowering his head slightly, Olthagia calmly stared at the summoner and asked, "What is your purpose in summoning me?"
Looking up to examine Olthagia's powerfully built form, Hawthorne replied with evident satisfaction, "I need you to guard my academy for a hundred years."
Hearing this request, Olthagia was momentarily stunned.
He truly hadn't expected that to be the reason.
Puzzled, he looked at Hawthorne and reconfirmed, "...You want me to guard your academy? You're asking a Demon to do this—are you sure?"
Seeing Olthagia's puzzled expression, Hawthorne felt somewhat confused, not understanding what was wrong with his idea, so he repeated, "Yes, is there a problem?"
'It's probably the same as letting a wild wolf into your home and expecting it to guard the place.'
Having a demon act as a security guard was truly a stroke of genius!
'As a demon, doing something like this is really beneath my dignity.'
With that thought, he glanced at the offerings beside him and immediately felt that as long as the price was right, it wasn't entirely out of the question.
After a grueling deliberation lasting 0.3 seconds, Olthagia asked Hawthorne, "I need to ask you two questions before I can make a decision."
Though still confused, Hawthorne replied, "Go ahead."
In his view, not only was Olthagia incredibly powerful, but the Summoning Ritual also came with an unbreakable contract function, making him the perfect candidate.
Facing the visibly satisfied demon, Olthagia posed his first question: "Are there any records about demons in your world?"
Hawthorne answered, "No. I only learned of your existence through this exchanged Summoning Ritual."
No wonder he could come up with the genius idea of hiring a demon as a security guard...
Nodding in satisfaction, Olthagia asked his second question: "You mentioned an academy earlier, right? So, what kind of academy is this?"
Since it wasn't a particularly important question, Hawthorne answered promptly, "Silent Heart Academy—an institution dedicated to training Wizards."
'Wizards? A variant of mages?'
Though somewhat puzzled, Olthagia detected the strong residual Spell energy on the man and quickly formed a rough understanding.
The Multiverse held countless paths to extraordinary power, and this unfamiliar spellcasting-oriented Extraordinary Profession academy piqued Olthagia's interest to some degree. Having never received formal training himself, he had mostly relied on inherited memories for self-study, making him something of an outsider.
"In that case, I've grasped the situation and have no further questions."
He then proposed, "However, I have an idea. While serving as this so-called guardian, I'd like access to your knowledge. In return, I'm willing to offer other knowledge or material compensation in exchange."
After some thought, Hawthorne agreed to Olthagia's request. While knowledge was precious to Wizards, they never minded earning extra if the price was right.
Thus, the two smoothly reached an agreement. Under the influence of the Summoning Ritual, they signed an Abyssal Contract.
Olthagia would accept the offerings before him and collect a fixed number of souls annually as payment for guarding Silent Heart Academy for 100 years.
During this period, he would act solely as a guardian, with no hierarchical relationship to any academy member beyond his guardian duties. Additionally, he was forbidden from harming the academy's members or property without reason but retained the right to exchange knowledge with them.
From that day onward, Silent Heart Academy gained a guardian hailing from the Bottomless Abyss, and deep within the academy's Forbidden Forest, a breathtaking crimson sea of flowers bloomed.
In the years that followed, after several academy members accidentally ventured there and returned half-dead, everyone came to understand that the master of that place was not hospitable. Unless necessary, it was best not to wander around there. Though the master couldn't harm them without reason, the definition of "reason" was always subjective—if you thought it was, then it was...
Seventeen years later.
Sitting on a withered tree branch in human form, Olthagia flipped through the pages of a book, carefully absorbing the knowledge recorded within.
He sighed sincerely, "What a peculiar plane. The internal worlds are divided into clusters, interconnected yet entirely distinct—much like the galaxies in the universe of my previous life. Only when combined do they form a complete plane."
Over a decade had been more than enough for him to gain a deep understanding of this world.
In his eyes, this plane was undeniably a high-level one, completely different from the previous plane devoid of supernatural forces.
If the last plane was a fragile trinket, this world was a spiky metal orb—difficult to handle.
This plane was composed of various world clusters, each made up of numerous worlds. Here, wars between worlds were commonplace. The world Olthagia resided in was known as the Wizarding World, once the leader of this cluster. In the distant past, it had even united the entire cluster to launch an expedition against another.
Now, after several upheavals, it had declined, its former glory long gone.
Historical records exuded an air of twilight, a setting sun.
But after all, their ancestors had been prosperous—a starved camel was still larger than a horse!
Olthagia could easily guess that they still retained some remnants of their former power. Otherwise, their old enemies wouldn't have allowed them to live in peace.
Did they think everyone ran a charity?
In a plane where worlds could invade one another, thriving on plundering other realms, these Wizards had surely made no shortage of enemies. The fact that they still existed meant they had real capabilities.
Thus, Olthagia had no intention of stirring trouble here.
The deans of these Wizard academies, in his eyes, were nothing special—at best, on par with him. But who knew what hidden trump cards they had? Accidentally provoking one might drag out a bunch of other troublesome old-timers, and that wouldn't be ideal.
In a world with such ancient heritage, defeating the young only brought out the old, and defeating the old summoned an even older crowd—this was no empty talk.
"Deep waters hide many turtles," as the saying went.
Olthagia had no desire to test the depths.
Unless he had absolute confidence in his strength, the certainty to crush everything in his path, it was better to stick to the contract...
Otherwise, even with a contract signed, Olthagia would find a way to indirectly undermine his target. After all, a Demon who followed contracts to the letter was a joke in itself.
Just then, a massive wooden whale suddenly emerged from the clouds above, swiftly approaching.
Olthagia casually waved his hand, and a gap instantly appeared in the mist above the Forbidden Forest, allowing the other party to enter.
This was his job—beating up intruders and letting his own people in, just like a gatekeeper.
He silently thought to himself, 'Speaking of which, isn't security work more suitable for middle-aged men? Why am I, still so young, stuck doing this?'
Then another question occurred to him: 'As a Demon, I have an innate immortality trait. At what age would I even be considered middle-aged? Will I ever face a midlife crisis in this lifetime?'
While he was pondering these meaningless questions, the enormous wooden whale slowly descended not far from him.
A staircase extended from the whale's belly.
Several uniformly dressed teachers and nearly a hundred Knight Attendants carrying knightly swords led thousands of children, around seven or eight years old, down the steps.
The lead teacher, upon spotting Olthagia sitting on a tree, stiffened slightly and greeted him with cautious respect, "My lord, good day."
The new students, seeing their usually aloof teacher now too nervous to even breathe loudly in front of Olthagia, couldn't help but cast curious glances his way.
Olthagia didn't make things difficult for the teacher. He simply waved his hand dismissively, signaling for him to carry on without minding him.
Relieved by Olthagia's gesture, the lead teacher exhaled in relief.
Without lingering any longer, he promptly led the group away…