Tavren continued, his voice steady but carrying an edge. "Ezraphor's ignorance made him try to take the soul key directly from his target. But what met him was the true obstacle to claiming any soul—the soul guard."

He turned back to the board and wrote in bold strokes: SOUL GUARD. "There are five tiers." He tapped the chalk once for each name. "The Watchers. The Analysts. The Reactors. The Zealots. And the Sanctifiers." Each word landed heavy, as though he was hammering them into the room.

"In the early grades, you'll only be assigned to souls guarded by Watchers and Analysts. Reactors come into play once you reach grade five. So for now…" He wrote again, firm and deliberate: WATCHERS.

"The Watchers respond only when the threat is direct and immediate. Raise a blade against their faith-holder, or attempt visible soul harm, and they will strike. If you do not act recklessly, they remain still."

He went on to explain the dos and don'ts of dealing with human souls, the perils of the pit of hell, the use of beasts, and the weaving of side contracts—all tools in pursuit of the soul key. Soon after, the lecture drew to a close.

As they stepped out of the lecture hall, Baro adjusted his hat and leaned on his cane. "So, Renny boy," he asked with a smirk, "what'd you think of the lecture, eh? Felt like I was back in my youth again."

Renny gave a small shrug. His youth had been robbed from him long before hell... Progeria had seen to that. But here, he had been given another chance, one he intended to use fully.

Baro's tone shifted, his eyes glinting. "Something caught my interest back there. They gave me my starter funds... one thousand contract points, five hundred mark points. Said it's all I need to finish my contract." He clicked his tongue. "But if demons are still failing left and right… then it ain't enough, true?"

Renny shook his head. "It's enough. The problem isn't the size of the funds... it's how you use them."

Baro let out a deep laugh. "Resource management, eh? That's what poor men tell themselves. The ones with abundance don't worry about management. They test faster, fail faster, succeed faster. Me?" He tapped his chest with his cane. "I ain't here to scrub my way through hell like some beggar. Look at me... old bones, weak frame. You think I got time to toil?"

Renny gave him a skeptical look. "Old man, your appearance doesn't match your strength. Not at all."

Baro chuckled knowingly. "Doesn't matter. I like to look the part, live the part. But for that, I need abundance. And the only way to get abundance in this place…" His grin widened as he raised his hand, rubbing thumb against his fingers in that universal money sign. "…is to make more contract points."

Renny raised a brow. "Oh… so that's it. You're thinking of taking on side contracts? That's what caught your interest?"

Baro nodded without hesitation.

Renny frowned. "That's tasking, old man. Side contracts aren't a walk in the park. Some of those beasts… trust me, they're not to be fucked with. I know."

Baro smirked, leaning on his cane. "That's why I've got you, eh? With your experience, we can take 'em on together, split the reward right down the middle."

Renny hesitated, weighing it. It wasn't a bad idea. Truth was, he probably would've tried his hand at side contracts last year if he hadn't been chained down by misfortunes, and if he'd had someone reliable to partner with. Everyone else had been too busy handling thier own contracts.

But if old man Baro was offering an early collab… why not? It would stack up his contract points faster, give him a shot at better demonic weapons. And with all the royal problems waiting on his plate, the stronger he became, the better.

He finally gave a small nod. "Alright, old man. Partnership it is."

***

Renny and old man Baro went straight to the bureau and each pulled a side contract. Two jobs total. If they cleared both, they'd walk away with 1000 CP apiece. Not much in the grand scheme, but more than enough to make the risk worthwhile.

For Renny, the reward wasn't even the best part. The contracts meant he didn't have to rush headlong into his fight with Druvash. With any luck, the work would stretch past the 20th, keeping him occupied long enough to spoil Seraphine's plans.

The only real problem was his lack of a demonic weapon. That meant relying on hand-to-hand combat and whatever spells he could muster. So, he did the next best thing—he invested in demonic spells. Cheap, flexible, and perfect for a Grade 1 who needed every edge he could scrape together.

He decided to double down on the fracture path. By now, he'd grown adept at spotting fracture potentials within destructive cause-energy, and it only made sense to lean into that strength until he was ready to test new paths. For 150 MP, he picked up three spells:

Kraveth Shyrr – a spell that takes a single crack and forces it to spread violently, bursting outward like an explosion.

Dreznar Vohl – a spell that makes the target fractures into cascading pieces, each breaking further as they drop away.

Zereth Krynn – a silent fracture with no outward sound or light, but spreading deep inside until the structure suddenly collapses.

They sounded brutal, but Renny knew the catch—fracture spells only worked if the potential for breakage already existed. At Grade 1, their destructive power was still limited. He'd find out soon enough whether they were worth the MP.

Even after the purchase, he still had 330 MP left. Not bad. Enough for seeds or minor tools if things went sideways. For now, this was as equipped as he was going to get.

The plan was set. They'd begin their side contracts on the 10th. On that day, as agreed, Renny and Baro met at the Pit entrance.

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