The Glorious Evolution

Auxiliary Chapter.

The Nightcrawlers: Tiers 1 to 9.

Tier 1: basic intelligence, follows instinct primarily.

Tier 2: a child-like intelligence, but still follows instincts primarily.

Tier 3 to Tier 9: Adult Human Intelligence, and it increases as the Nightcrawler keeps evolving.

The Daywalkers Ranks:

Rookie Daywalker(Tier 1) → Junior Daywalker (Tier 2)→ Pathfinder Daywalker(Tier 3) → Warden Daywalker(Tier 4) → Solarbound Daywalker(Tier 5) → Blazewarden Daywalker(Tier 6) → Ecliptic Daywalker (Tier 7)→ Radiant Daywalker (Tier8)→ Eternal Daywalker(Tier 9)

Daywalkers Summerized Power System:

Daywalkers are born after a human signs a beneficial contract with a nightcrawler, giving them full control over their destiny.

The early Ranks have three stages, split into three checkpoints; each checkpoint represents 5% of the seed's growth. Once 100% is reached, the system changes.

Each 5% rewards the owner of an inherited ability called Innate Abilities.

The first 5% allows the Daywalker to transform his contracted nightcrawler into a signature weapon.

To break through next rank, an evolution is required.

Evolution can happen through three choices: Limited, Remarkable, or Perfect.

Each one provides a different quality, with perfect evolution providing the best evolutionary path for the Daywalker...After Evolution, a Daywalker is awarded with an ultimate ability.

...

Nightcrawlers' Nests grades.

Twilight Burrow (Tier 1)→ Obsidian Den (Tier 2) → Midnight Dominion (Tier 3) → Shadow Castle (Tier 4) → Abyssal Lost City (Tier 5)

....

The CRS Platform:

The CRS Platform is a multi-dimensional platform that involves almost all races within the Chained Universe and the realms surrounding it.

It's a platform that rewards live-streamed dimensional conquest, raids to plunder territories of riches, and lastly, the saviors' guardianship of protected territories.

// The Conquerors (Path of Dominion):

Philosophy: "Expand or be erased… and corrupt or be consumed."

Conquest without corruption is hollow... a barren trophy. Only by defiling land, life, and light can the Conquerors truly prove their supremacy and serve the Tree of Death's insatiable hunger.

Rank Structure:

Invader → Warmonger → Warlord → World breaker → Oblivion King/Queen

Promotion Criteria:

Territories corrupted... Armies crushed... Duration of rule.

Rewards per Victory (against Raiders or Saviors)

Evolutionary Materials

Evolutionary Recipes

Artifacts

Natural Dimensional Treasures

Minor Territory Grants (in the Boundless Expense)

Yearly Stability Rewards (for each full year without losing any territory)

High-Grade Artifacts, Dimensional Treasures, Evolutionary Materials

Unique Evolutionary Recipes

Nocrix Credit

Major Territory Grants (in the Boundless Expense)//

The Saviors (Path of Guardianship):

Philosophy: "The shield is mightier than the blade."A creed of steadfast protection… true strength lies in preserving life and land, even at the cost of one's own.

Rank Structure:

Sentinel → Bulwark → Lightbringer → Paragon → Celestial Warden

Promotion Criteria:

Territories defended… Lifeforms rescued… Sacrifices made (Lives traded for victories).

Rewards per Victory (against Raiders and Conquerors):

Evolutionary Materials, Evolutionary Recipes...Etc

Yearly Stability Rewards (for each full year without losing any territory)

High-Grade Artifacts, Dimensional Treasures… etc//

...

//The Raiders (Path of Plunder)

Philosophy: "Take what burns brightest."

A faction focused on quickness, ferocity, and the shine of newly acquired riches. Progress is achieved by collecting valuable treasures and destroying enemy bases.

Rank Structure:

Marauder → Reaver → Pillarlord → Ravager → Chaos Harbinger

Promotion Criteria:

Treasures looted.

Territories sacked.

Speed & efficiency (Fastest Raids recorded).

Rewards per Victory (Against Conquerors and Saviors):

Evolutionary Materials, Evolutionary Recipes, Artifacts, etc. //

....

The Nocturnal Ring: An underground individual-based platform backed by millions of races across the realms, spectating the Death Games for their enjoyment like a sport.

It's a sub-branch of the CRS Platform, where individuals from all realms can join in death games for glory, riches, honor, authority, and territory within the Boundless Expense.

Ranks:

Homeless → TeraOwner→ Baron → Viscount → Count...

Points Allocation:

Match Victory … +50 pts

Finalist Bonus … +20 pts

Title's Boon … +100 pts (once a game)

Participation … +10 pts

Defeat … −20 pts

...

Levi Larson, A Blind Child in A World Ruled By Darkness.

"I CAN'T SEE!!"

"My Eyes!!! MY EYES!!!"

"MOMMY!! MOMMY!!"

Inside a half-destroyed living room, a little child was seen sitting on his knees, screaming at the top of his lungs. He had his hands grasping tightly into his face, which was covered in blood, seeping from his eye sockets...

He was in so much pain, the only thing he could do was wail until his breaths became ragged and short.

His reaction was understandable as his eyes had just gotten ripped out of their sockets by a tall man with a dignified stoic expression.

He dangled them from his hand as if they were nothing more than ripe fruit plucked from a branch.

Although he was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a blue tie, not a single drop of blood tainted its fabric. On the other hand, his white-gloved hands had turned crimson, dripping with blood on the wooden floor, drop by drop...

This was the result of the massacre he committed in the living room.

Besides the wailing child, two bloodied corpses were seen lying a few meters away from Levi...Their bodies were mangled beyond recognition, filled with massive bite marks, leaving torn flesh all over the place.

Yet, both corpses had their hands stretched toward the little boy, leaving a scene of two parents desiring to protect their child, but falling hopelessly to their mortality...

"Silence him, but leave him alive...It won't take long before he becomes a Sleepwalker." The tall man ordered expressionlessly.

In an instant, a shadowy figure appeared right behind the child and landed a straight chop on his neck, silencing his whimpers...Then, he waved his hand once in front of Levi's empty bloodied sockets and they were sealed shut.

All of this happened in less than a second.

Thud!

As Levi's face landed on the wooden floor, feeling his blood running cold and his consciousness fading away, a single image surfaced in the darkness filling his mind...Two nightmarish creatures walking away from him, one bigger and scarier than the other.

Seemingly sensing being seen somehow, the bigger monster turned his head around and smiled devilishly.

His smile was so sinister, it started to get bigger, and closer until...

Beep! Beep! Beep!...

The irritating sound of the alarm engulfed Levi's mind, collapsing the entire nightmare and forcing him to sit up straight with a shaken visage.

As drops of sweat flowed down his forehead, Levi didn't even bother to clean them. He held his beating heart and kept his head lowered as he tried to regulate his breathing, taking deep breaths with pauses in between.

The moment his agitated heartbeats died down, Levi said expressionlessly, "The same nightmare again...You guys are losing your touch."

"Tsk, the rumors were true, you are a tough nut to crack, boy."

Suddenly, four monstrous creatures appeared around Levi, leaving a few meters of distance between each other.

It was like he was at the center of pitch-black darkness and the only thing he could perceive were those nightmarish creatures.

If someone else was in the same room, he would see nothing but Levi, sitting on his bed, murmuring under his breath like a crazy person.

Levi turned his head to face the one speaking, and then said calmly, "I will say the same thing I said to the ones before you...If you want to sign a contract with me, then it has to be through official channels."

"Official channels? Do you mean you want to become a Daywalker through me? You? A crippled useless blind! Ha, hahaha! You guys never told me he was such a jokester."

The nightcrawler laughed, his gaping maw widening immensely, exposing a throat filled to the brim with shark-like teeth.

"What can I say, it was funny at the beginning, but now, it's just getting sad." 

The other nightcrawler, who resembled a floating skinless golden fish, could only shake its head in annoyance.

It knew that Levi wasn't joking and if one of them were to suggest commencing with the Daywalker contract, he wouldn't hesitate to accept it in a heartbeat.

But, that's the thing...

"I would rather choose an old man with one step in the grave before I link my legacy with a worthless cripple like you." The first nightcrawler sneered coldly, "A human with no eyes desiring to become a Daywalker, truly, the joke of the century."

As the last sentence resonated deeply in Levi's mind, the nightcrawler turned around and left, no longer having interest in tormenting him.

"Let's get out of here, Ash'Kral will be here soon."

The rest of the nightcrawlers went away too, knowing that Levi's house was a hanging spot for quite a powerful nightcrawler in this area.

"Your loss."

After they left, Levi didn't seem too bothered by their words.

He reached out with his hand to the right nightstand and opened the first drawer after a couple of attempts. Then, he picked a small key that was placed in the rightmost corner, seemingly marking it there.

After picking it up, he sat down on the side of the bed and lifted his trousers, exposing two metallic cuffs tightened around his ankles.

The cuffs were connected with two small chains, which were linked to the wall. 

He reached down and entered the key in both holes, freeing his legs at last. As he gently massaged his ankles, Levi sighed after touching a black monitor that was secured tightly on his right ankle.

Metallic cuffs and an ankle monitor, such extreme measures might seem bizarre, but in the case of Levi, they were a must to ensure the safety of the people close to him.

After the Great Fall of Civilization a hundred years ago under the invasion of the Nightcrawlers from the Shadow Dimension... blind individuals, traumatized victims, mentally unstable people, and such, all became considered a national threat to the safety of the citizens.

All due to the Nightcrawlers' ability to invade people's dreams if their minds were spiritually linked to the Shadow Dimension.

The way to link it was quite simple; they had to be exposed to pitch-black darkness for more than two hours straight...In other words, they had to be asleep, completely blind, or willingly close their eyes for a long time to establish the link.

Thus, anyone with a high index of mental instability under the new rigid laws was forced to wear this ankle monitor to keep them within the confines of their designated Holy Regions.

It helped the governments get instant location details if they ended up getting manipulated or seduced by a Nightcrawler to sign a contract that would give away their bodies for a price.

In the case of Levi, he was just shown a nightmare by those nightcrawlers of the worst memory of his entire life...The memory of his parents getting slaughtered and having his eyes ripped out of their sockets.

Such a traumatic experience was all the fuel the Nightcrawlers needed to attempt and seduce Levi to sign his life away, for the price of getting his revenge...

Since he was completely blind, linking him permanently to the Shadow dimension, he was under their constant harassment daily for the past decade.

Unfortunately, hundreds, if not thousands of nightcrawlers had given it their best, but not a single one of them managed to break Levi's mental defenses and get the best of him.

It wasn't because his mental fortitude was indestructible; he simply was wise enough to understand that signing such a contract would never get him the answers he wanted, his family's retribution, and his sight back...

Of course, there were bound to be some close calls, but still, he pushed through.

If he knew those nightcrawlers had it in them, he would have signed those horrible contracts in a heartbeat even if it meant becoming a Sleepwalker running amoak.

Unbothered by the familiar crowd of distant nightcrawlers roaming in the infinite darkness, Levi picked a small device that resembled a silver hearing aid piece on top of the nightstand.

This was NeuraLens, the most used device across the globe in all Holy Regions due to possessing all the qualities of a smartphone and the ability to produce holograms.

Usually, it came in pairs: an earpiece and a thin contact lens made out of hydrogels placed on a single cornea.

The earpiece was the main device and was connected to the contact lens, allowing the user to tap into the services of a personal Astra AI assistant and the ability to create tiny holograms that only he could see unless he wanted to expand them.

Unfortunately, Levi could only rely on AI services through sound.

After picking it up, he wore it on his right ear, hiding it under his messy curly black hair...With a single press of a small button at its side, a feminine robotic voice resounded in his ear.

"Welcome back, Sir Levi. What can I help you with?"

"Please enlighten me with today's news in Tamara's settlement." Levi requested politely as he started walking towards the bathroom, keeping his hand affixed to the nearest wall to him.

Although he could use the NeuraLens AI to guide him to the bathroom, Levi preferred doing it on his own by counting his steps.

He only relied on the device's services in unfamiliar places so that he wouldn't always be reliant on it for every simple task.

"In Tamara's settlement: The Sunstrike Agency has succeeded in its twentieth major expedition, conquering a Shadow Castle and reclaiming more than fifteen kilometers of surface area."

"Interesting, they succeeded in less than three days." Levi smiled a little in awe, "As expected of a tier 5 agency with a 97% clearing rate...They don't mess about in their expeditions."

One of Levi's biggest dreams was to join the ranks of a high-tiered Daywalker agency and also be part of the expeditions to reclaim their planet from the infestation of the Nightcrawlers.

He knew that besides saving his planet, if he were to succeed in joining those agencies, finding out the truth about what happened a decade ago would be much easier.

That's because those high-ranked agencies might be private, but they have significant authority in their respective holy regions.

Alas, just as Levi started daydreaming of such a bright future, a low-pitched snicker suddenly assaulted him from the rear.

"Boy, remove that foolish smile of yours, it ain't happening, not today, not tomorrow, not ever."

Without needing to turn, Levi knew that it was Ash'Kral speaking, one of the few nightcrawlers who had spent years hanging around him.

Seeing that Levi continued wiping his face with a towel, not bothering to address his snarky remark, Ash'Kral moved in front of him, edging closer to his face.

"Boy, haven't I warned you not to ignore me?"

Levi slowly lifted his head and gazed directly into Ash'Kral's massive singular eye that was dominating the center of his head.

The eye glowed deep crimson and had a resonating slit pupil that seemed to ripple like liquid fire, creating a bizarre hypnotic effect.

There were cracks in its leathery ash-gray skin around the sunken eye, making his head resemble a deep volcanic crater on the verge of eruption.

He had three worn skin-like wings that extended asymmetrically from his thin body.

With his veined greyish skin that clung tightly to his skeletal frame, it made him resemble a fiendish nightmare that would make any child faint at first sight. Even Levi had taken more than a year before finally getting used to his terrifying appearence.

This was quite telling, as he had seen tens of thousands of nightcrawlers in the past decade; Some were terrifying, some were mystique, some were taking beautiful humanoid forms, and some were even cute.

Yet, Ash'Kral was still one of the few ones giving him the creeps every time he saw him. It wasn't just his appearence, his entire atmosphere screamed of sinisterness.

Still, after spending years in each other's company, some familiarity was bound to be born.

"Ash'Kral, will there ever be a day, where you will stop hating?" Levi sighed exasperatedly as he started brushing his teeth.

The moment he said this, the ominous mood collapsed immediately as Ash'Kral let out a faint chuckle, "Is it hating when it's fact?"

Levi paused to bubble the toothpaste foam in his mouth before spitting it in the sink. Then, he wiped his lips and said calmly, "It will be a fact when I fail."

"Truly, your delusion never ceases to amaze me."

Ash'Kral floated on his back while resting his head on his long, gruesome claws...Then, he threw a question at Levi, a question that always seemed to shatter Levi's dreams.

"You have yet to tell me how you are supposed to become a Daywalker and absorb light when you are lacking the most important organ to make it happen."

With a cruel smile, Ash'Kral pointed at Levi's eyes.

"..." Levi went silent in front of the mirror.

He knew there was a mirror there...He knew that his reflection was gazing back at him, showing him an image of a teenage boy with a sharp jawline, fair skin, messy, wet curly black hair reaching down his neck, and most notably, two hideous, scorched scars in place of his eyes...

Levi reached out with his hand underneath his wet hair and gently caressed the scars with a soft smile playing on his thin lips.

Then, he uttered softly, "I know that in this era, light is worshiped and darkness is avoided...I know that everyone thinks of me as a walking time bomb, capable of turning into a sleepwalker and causing havoc at any moment...I understand that without my eyes, I can't grow as fast as the others, and my chances of signing a daywalker contract with a nightcrawler are slim to none. I understand all of this."

With the same smile, he turned to Ash'Kral and said, "You think I am delusional, but I am simply trying to make the best of my unfortunate situation, nothing more, nothing less..."

After hearing this, Ash'Kral neither mocked Levi nor teased him if even a little. Instead, his eye gleamed for a split second.

But soon, the look disappeared, and Ash'Kral chuckled, "Boy, for a child of your age, your maturity always freaks me."

"I know, I am a genius, you should strike the iron while it's hot and sign a contract with me."

"You wish."

"Tsk, useless." Levi clicked his tongue and went to the kitchen to prepare his breakfast, uncaring about Ash'Kral's chuckles in the background.

Ash'Kral

However, just as Levi opened the fridge, his ears twitched, picking up on the thundering noise of footsteps coming from the direction of the apartment's front door.

Recognizing the owner of those footsteps, Levi could only sigh and close the fridge.

Knock Knock!

"Big bro! I am coming in!" 

Before the burly, unpolished voice could finish echoing in the apartment, the front door was already opened widely, exposing a hunk of a man, 6,6 feet tall, and built like a walking tank!

Although his size wasn't really the biggest out there, he was still a universal wonder as he was merely sixteen years old!

A year younger than Levi, yet looking like a divorced middle-aged man with a white wife-beater tank top on, tightened black shorts, and a pair of plastic slippers.

His age wouldn't be questionable if it weren't for the hint of pure innocence on his face, three precise hair strands on his chin, and his lustrous dark ponytail.

He was holding a grocery bag filled to the brim with protein-related ingredients in one hand, and in the other, he was carrying a black gym bag.

Since the apartment was merely slightly bigger than a studio, Arthur saw Levi standing in front of the fridge the moment the door was unlocked.

Immediately, his eyes lit up.

"Big bro, cooking breakfast for us?" Arthur grinned widely as he put a heavy emphasis on 'us'.

"I am fasting today."

Levi walked away from the kitchen, instantly losing his appetite. He went to the closet and put on his training shorts.

"Tsk, you don't have to act like this, I have already eaten on the way, I just wanted something light."

Arthur looked upset as he closed the door and went to the kitchen, placing the groceries on the counter.

"Light, yea right." Levi's eyebrows twitched under his thick curly hair.

While he knew his little brother was a genetic anomaly to reach this size and build this kind of muscle without being a daywalker, it came at the price of him needing to eat ten times the average daily.

In other words, if Levi were to make breakfast, he would be cooking for the next hour to help him hit his morning protein target.

"Ahh, I even bought you some SR pills, you can't even cook breakfast for your little brother...How sad."

Arthur sighed loudly to fish for sympathy while pulling a small orange bottle. Then, he threw it in Levi's direction.

"To your right, catch."

Levi's ear twitched, and in an instant, his hand flashed, catching the bottle with uncanny precision.

Yet, neither Levi nor Arthur showed much of a reaction to this incredible scene.

"I checked our balance sheet last night, we have just enough to last until the end of the month before we receive the monthly welfare check." Levi asked sternly as he tapped his finger on the bottle, "How did you afford an entire bottle?"

"I did some coaching at the gym to a weird rich girl," Arthur replied casually while emptying the grocery bag.

It was filled with ground beef, chicken breasts, salmon, bananas, yogurt, eggs, rice, and some vegetables...The only snack was a package of sugar-free biscuits.

"Weird? How so?" Levi raised an eyebrow, knowing that his brother was always the weird one in any room. For him to call someone else weird was quite intriguing.

"She is bald."

"..." Levi went silent for a moment.

Sensing that he was being judged, Arthur chuckled and said, "She isn't sick or anything, she is bald by choice and keeps telling everyone to refer to her as Monk Jojo."

"Monk Jojo...What's a monk?" Levi tilted his head in confusion.

"Who knows?" Arthur shrugged while cracking eight eggs into a massive cup, "I rarely associate myself with her; she always makes a scene in the gym with her peculiar exercises."

"I see," Levi smiled faintly while putting a training pad in the center of the living room, "If the money is good, who cares?"

"Preach, she paid me one thousand lumen credits for a single one-hour session." Arthur snickered, "What a fool, I would have done it for one hundred to get in an extra training hour."

"One thousand? Not bad."

Levi was quite satisfied with the payment as he knew that one thousand lumen credits were enough to pamper themselves until the end of the month.

Although he wasn't eating as heavily as his brother, he was also training with calisthenics and on a healthy protein-based diet.

In this era, natural food was quite expensive primarily due to the great fall of civilization and the nightcrawlers' insatiable hunger to feed on natural light from any source.

It didn't matter if they were plants, animals, or humans...Any living being capable of absorbing direct sunlight was in the crosshairs of nightcrawlers.

Nightcrawlers fed and evolved on this type of light, but ironically, they could not absorb it directly as the sunlight was able to burn their skin off during first contact.

While humans could not store and transform light into energy as plants do through photosynthesis, nightcrawlers still primarily targeted them.

It was for a simple reason...They could possess their bodies through a Sleepwalker contract, bestowing them the ability to expose themselves directly to sunlight without needing protection from the Shadow dimension!

Fortunately, for a nightcrawler to transform into a Sleepwalker, they could not force the host into signing any bullshit contract.

That's why they wait until humans sleep and invade their dreams, seeking to manipulate and seduce them to sign the contract.

"Here, I only need a couple of pills to earn me some extra hours for training." 

As Levi sat on the training pad, he poured five pills into his palm and threw the bottle back to his brother, knowing his location through sound.

Arthur caught the bottle and started gazing at his brother in silence, taking in the sight of him dropping to the ground and hitting push-ups with immaculate form.

Levi was wearing only a pair of shorts, exposing his fine-attuned body, which would make any other man absolutely jealous.

If Arthur was considered a pure bodybuilder, then Levi could be called an aesthetic athlete.

But, Arthur wasn't relishing his big brother's physique, but the three clawed scars on his back.

As he stared at his brother's scars, his heart couldn't help but feel heavy.

Levi paused mid-set and without lifting his head, he said calmly, "Your heartbeats have slowed down...Haven't I told you to stop feeling guilty over something you weren't responsible for?"

"I know, but it still doesn't make me feel less shitty." Arthur smiled bitterly.

During that horrible night, Arthur was left with his uncle in the capital city of the Holy Heliodor Region.

Meanwhile, Levi accompanied his parents to Tamara's settlement as his father had a business venture that would have substantially helped grow his Nightwere company.

While it was fortunate that Arthur wasn't with them, it crushed him every single day to know that he wasn't there for his brother, for his parents...

Although he knew he was merely six years old at the time and could do nothing but be added to the victims' list, it still didn't alleviate his guilty conscience.

"Well, feel shitty somewhere else, you are interrupting my workout," Levi shooed him away with one hand and continued doing his push-ups single-handedly.

"Harsh as always, big bro."

Arthur picked up their breakfast and placed them on the table next to Levi. Then, he sat down and sighed.

"Why are you so stubborn? I told you just to live peacefully, you don't have to force yourself to avenge our family." He narrowed his eyes coldly, "I will handle it on my own and will make sure to retrieve your vision back regardless of the cost."

Levi froze in his position while in the middle of a one-arm push-up.

Then, he slowly raised his head, his hair covering his scorched marks, and uttered expressionlessly, "I lost my peace ten years ago."

As he was saying this, the scene before him reflected more than six new nightcrawlers crowding the entire house, each of them gazing at him akin to a fresh meal.

They had been talking and bothering him ever since his brother arrived, but he had already mastered the art of zoning out their voices.

"..."

Arthur went silent for a moment, knowing that no one truly could understand what his brother was going through daily.

It was a miracle he hadn't already lost his sanity living such a life.

Arthur understood that everyone in the world could see nightcrawlers. All they needed to do was keep their eyes closed for more than two hours, exposing themselves to pitch-black darkness.

This was the reason humans created a drug called Sleep Replacement Pills/Drops. Once taken, the consumer would enter a short period of hibernation that lasted for less than two hours. Yet, when he woke up, he would possess the energy of someone who had slept for more than six hours.

However, such pills were made out of ingredients harvested from a specific species of nightcrawlers' blood and other natural dimensional materials.

Thus, they weren't available for everyone at all times, as the only ones capable of harvesting and collecting those materials were Daywalkers.

In simpler words, sleeping every single day was exclusive for Daywalkers and the rich, as those pills were more precious than gold in this chaotic era.

"How many?" Arthur asked coldly.

"Six."

"Gotchu."

Without question asked, Arthur closed his eyes and started eating his breakfast, desiring to connect his spirit to the Shadow dimension and join his brother and the nightcrawlers crowding their home.

"No need, I am planning to head out after an hour." Levi stopped him with a faint smile, knowing that his brother always had his back.

"You sure? I just want to give them a piece of my mind." Arthur cracked his knuckles.

"They aren't worth anyone's time. If they had anything better to do, they wouldn't be here." Levi replied calmly as he gazed directly into six floating nightcrawlers surrounding him.

'Talking crap about us to your brother again?' One of the nightcrawlers smiled sinisterly while facing Levi.

Just like how humans couldn't see nightcrawlers unless they established a spiritual link with the Shadow dimension, the nightcrawlers also couldn't see or hear humans.

They had to emerge physically into the world, and the only way to gain such access was through either Stygian Gates or establishing a contract with humans.

Before Levi could reply, another nightcrawler shaped like a rotten eggplant with thousands of worms biting into its surface jumped in and said menacingly, "Boy, don't mistake our inaction for weakness."

"Am I wrong? You being here instead of pledging your allegiance to any Nightcrawlers' Nest makes you nothing but jobless bums." Levi fired back, unbothered.

"Hahaha, he got you there." Ash'Kral's amused chuckle echoed from a distance.

Heated, the nightcrawlers all glanced in the direction of Ash'Kral, watching him lie on his side while scratching his buttcheeks with his ominous claws, not even looking in their direction.

The eggplant nightcrawler floated in the direction of Ash'Kral until he was merely two meters away from him. Then, he uttered with a murderous grimace, "Aren't you laughing a bit too much?"

Ash'Kral's chuckles died off slowly until silence invaded the spiritual bridge of darkness. The veteran nightcrawlers, who were used to hanging out around Levi and Ash'Kral, didn't bother to educate their newest member about the hierarchy in this space.

Seeing that no one spoke after him and they merely kept looking at him, akin to a dead man walking, the Eggplant nightcrawler sensed that something was wrong.

"Bastard, look at me when I talk to you."

Yet, he doubled down, knowing that he couldn't be harmed in the spiritual bridge of darkness. After all, his physical body was in a different location in the Shadow dimension, and he was here purely through spirit, just like Levi.

It was like Earth and the Shadow dimension were two physical planes while the bridge of darkness was a spiritual plane connecting them through darkness.

'How impolite of me.'

Ash'Kral slowly turned his head until his massive dreadful crimson eye faced the eggplant nightcrawler.

The moment the eggplant nightcrawler looked at Ash'Kral's sinister eye, he heard his voice whispering near his ear.

"Can you handle it though?"

"Aaaa, AAAA, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

In an instant, the eggplant nightcrawler fell on his back and let out the most ear-screeching wail he could muster.

Even the thousands of worms came out of his surface and crawled away from him like he was infected with the black plague!

'PLEAAASE!! PLEAAASE!! MAKE IT STOP!!!'

'Hmmm? I don't understand?' Ash'Kral tilted his head in confusion while still staring at him. 'I thought you wanted me to look at you?'

'MERCY!! MEEERCY!!!'

The Eggplant nightcrawler screamed for a few more seconds before finally caving in, to whatever agony he was put in...

Levi and the other nightcrawlers could only watch in silence as the eggplant nightcrawler faded into nothingness.

As Ash'Kral's gleaming crimson eye snapped at them, no one dared to share eye contact with him.

Even Levi kept his head lowered, continuing with his push-ups like the whole situation didn't involve him.

"That's what I thought."

Seeing this, Ash'Kral returned to his relaxation session...

The Sun Disk Towers.

After Levi was done with his daily workout routine, he went to take a quick shower, uncaring that a crowd of monstrous nightmares was seeing his private parts.

As for what happened earlier? He was already used to it.

Levi wasn't given the creeps by Ash'kral for no reason...He had seen him do unspeakable things to nightcrawlers provoking him quite often until he built a reputation around him.

Unfortunately for the Eggplant nightcrawler, he knew no better...

On the other hand, while Ash'kral always teased and bothered Levi, he had never invaded his dreams or assaulted him.

When Levi was done with his shower, he walked to the closet with one hand stretched forward, counting as always.

His hand touched the automatic closet and with a press of a button, it opened to a specific set of clothes that were identical to each other. Black pants and a white T-shirt with a baggy hoodie.

It was like he had no interest in fashion and just wanted to be as comfortable as possible.

After putting on his clothes, he wore standardized white sneakers, which had become somewhat dirty. Then, he put on black sunglasses with a circular design and closed the closet.

As he reached the door, he slid his hand to the side and picked up an average white cane. 

However, the moment he unlocked the door, Arthur was already next to him in the same outfit and a half-eaten banana stuffed in his mouth.

"Wher...ar we goin..?" Arthur asked with his mouth full, seemingly uncaring about hijacking his brother's alone time.

"Seeking a recommendation letter for the Contract Ritual Assembly." Levi answered calmly.

"This again, ahh, aight."

Arthur wasn't in the mood to argue about this subject again. He had already said and did everything to stop his brother from participating in the Contract Ritual Assembly with him.

It wasn't that he didn't believe in him, but he knew that one of the main prerequisites of becoming a Daywalker was to have eyes that possessed a great resistance to sunlight.

There was a fine line between having great resistance to light and being completely immune to it. 

In Levi's case, the only way to absorb light was through his skin or by eating Growth Totems. Both methods were quite inconsistent compared to using one's eyes to stare directly into the sunlight.

For humans, light was just well, light, but for Nightcrawlers? It was their main source of growth and evolution...It was everything to them.

However, they were cursed to desire it but have no resistance to it directly. In other words, if they wanted to feed on light, they had to do it in four ways: Feed the light absorbed by plants, feed on humans or animals directly, or sign a contract with a human to possess his body.

While the first parts were self-explanatory, the last one was where it got tricky as nightcrawlers could either sign a beneficial contract for both parties or a one-sided contract in favor of each party.

Of course, it was almost impossible for a nightcrawler to sign a contract that disadvantaged it.

This left us with nightcrawlers attempting to seduce the mentally weak humans to hand over their bodies for a cheap price of either quick revenge, destruction, or such evil desires.

Those sorts of contracts gave birth to Sleepwalkers, humanoid monsters with the ability to shapeshift and move in both light and darkness.

But, when a beneficial contract for both parties was signed, a Daywalker was born.

In Levi's case, he was considered a muggle just like every other blind person in the world, having the worst possible 'talent' to grow as a Daywalker.

"Brother, even by some miracle we obtained a recommendation letter from an established agency and you were allowed into the ceremony, what are you going to do at the last part of the ritual?" Arthur smiled wryly, "You know that at the end of the day, it's the nightcrawlers who are choosing their potential partners, not us, at least, for the less talented. In your case, the nightcrawlers won't see much value in the amount of light you absorb daily. I would hate to see you get rejected by those ugly f*ckers in front of everyone."

"If I get rejected, so be it, but one step at a time, one step at a time…"

Levi seemed unbothered by this many odds stacking against him…Odds were enough to break even a normal citizen down and force him to quit before starting.

But not Levi…For him, he would never rest in peace until he met the two nightcrawlers of his nightmare.

"By the way, shouldn't you be in school by now?" Levi's voice suddenly turned stern, sending shivers down Arthur's spine.

He might be 6,6 inches tall and built like a tower, but before Levi, he was always the little brother even when there was a mere one-year difference.

"Come on Levi, we have only one month left before the semester ends, and also the Contract Ritual Assembly is in two months. With my sexy physique, I am bound to pass the trials and become a certified Daywalker." Arthur tried to appease his brother, "School will be useless then as I will be joining the Grand Daywalkers Training Center."

Levi went silent, knowing that his brother was speaking tons of sense. For normal commoners, high school and college were still a must to secure some resemblance of a good future.

But, for those aiming to become daywalkers? They got trained from birth on almost everything; sometimes, it still wouldn't be enough to become one.

One would wonder why was a Daywalker's occupation so coveted.

It was simple, Daywalkers were the heroes of today's age, the guardians of humanity, the only ones slowing down the encroachment of darkness, and most importantly, the most authoritative beings in the entire world.

Almost all the Holy Regions' Governers were powerful Daywalkers capable of creating miracles with a snap of a finger.

In this age, there was no such thing as a commoner politician.

Thus, becoming a Daywalker would set anyone apart from the herd. Yet, the biggest upside of becoming a Daywalker was their ability to sleep whenever they needed to since the contracted nightcrawler would protect them from others' invasion.

While Arthur's words made sense, Levi still said with a lowered voice, "Arthy, don't argue with me. I don't want you to stay in school for a grade, I just want you to gain knowledge."

"Don't forget, there is also a trial for intelligence in your precious plan." 

"Are you insulting my intelligence? Huh?" Arthur seemed annoyed, "Just because I have big muscles doesn't mean I am dumb…"

"What's seven multiplied by eight?" Levi asked with a serene tone.

"This…Cough, one hundred and…"

"Maybe you should stop hitting weights and start hitting'em books. You will bring shame to our family name during the assembly." Levi interrupted with a vexed sigh.

"Not if you were there." Arthur roasted back with a wide grin.

"Asshole, you know it's frowned upon to abuse the disabled?" Levi chuckled, "So be it, go wear something else, we might be out for a while."

"Hmm? Where are we going?"

"Borders."

"Borders?" Arthur laughed, "Smart, we have already gotten kicked out of every private agency in the settlement. We might as well visit their Daywalkers at the borders."

"But, how are we going to enter the outposts?"

"Don't worry, I have it covered."

"Aight."

...

As Arthur walked outside of the apartment complex, feasting his eyes on the breathtaking scenery of Tamara's settlement, Levi was met with a sea of nightcrawlers floating all over the place, hunting down new traumatized victims and waiting for any Stygian Gates to open up.

Unfortunately for them, there wasn't an ounce of darkness in the settlement as it was entirely built to limit the nightcrawlers' access.

That's because portals linked to the Shadow dimension opened up only after fifteen minutes passed in an area completely pitch-dark.

This pushed all the holy regions to design the cities with glass roofs on buildings and place synthetic protective light in every nook and cranny.

This ensured that during the day, it was nearly impossible for any stygian gate to open up and cause an invasion right at the heart of the settlements and capital cities unless there was some foul play.

Of course, there was an entire department responsible for supervising the quality of the synthetic light network across each city.

As for the night and underground's darkness? For now, let's say humans were protected by divine intervention.

Meanwhile, Levi and Arthur rode on an electric dirt bike and drove towards the borders, skiving off cars and pedestrians, unbothered by their curses at Arthur's reckless driving.

After driving for a short while, they reached the outskirts of Tamara's settlement, traveling on top of beautiful yellow wheat fields while the sunlight shone brightly on their skin.

A few people were sitting on top of trees or the center of the fields in a meditation position while having their eyes affixed on the radiant sun.

Levi and Arthur paid them no attention as it was a common occurrence for Daywalkers to absorb direct sunlight in open natural fields.

The peace, the wind, the smell, and the lack of buildings helped them be more attuned to their bodies and their Shadowlife Seed.

"It must be a clear sky today."

Feeling the warm light, Levi couldn't help but raise his head, seemingly wanting nothing more but to gaze at the breathtaking blue sky.

But, all that was reflected was eternal darkness and the ugliness of the nightcrawlers crowding the skies...

Although the noise buried Levi's voice, Arthur held Levi's hand and pointed his finger at specific places in the sky.

Then, he started describing with a foolish happy smile, "There is a cloud there that looks just like a massive sword. Right next to it, another cloud resembled a headless turtle. The other one, it looks, wait, it looks like that thing we use to unclog toilets and sinks...What is called..."

"Plunger." Levi smiled.

"Plunger! Yes, it totally escaped my mind."

Arthur laughed and continued describing anything interesting that he saw on the way. While his vocabulary was weak, his brother always guessed what he meant, seemingly reading his thoughts.

Levi might have gone blind at seven years old, but this didn't stop him from reading and knowing about the world...In fact, it made him focus on nothing but reading, knowing that it was the only way for him to draw the world in his mind.

...

After a short while, the Larson brothers arrived at the borders of the Holy Heliodor Region.

Tamara's settlement was one of the few settlements in the region situated extremely close to the borders.

That's why it was populated with many branches of high-tiered Daywalkers' Agencies in the capital.

"We are getting close to the Sun Disk Towers." Arthur shared as he gazed at tens of tall towers, reaching up to two hundred meters each.

Each tower was separated from the other at a great distance, surpassing many kilometers. Levi and Arthur knew that those towers surrounded the borders of the Holy Heliodor Region in a massive circle, mirroring the movement of the Holy Pillar.

Those towers were powered by sunlight and possessed gigantic mirrors able to reflect concentrated beams of sunlight in 360 degrees, turning them into killing machines for nightcrawlers at the borders.

Arthur drove to the nearest tower and was forced to stop at the heavily guarded gates of the outpost surrounding the tower.

There was already a long queue, awaiting their turn to be checked by the guards, as no one was allowed entries to those outposts unless they were certified Daywalkers or approved citizens.

Levi and Arthur were neither, leaving them to park their dirtbike at the side of the outpost walls and watch the moving queue.

While Arthur was scanning the daywalkers from the citizens, Levi was eyeing the contracted nightcrawlers, each hovering in a small radius, staying near their partners.

Before long, Levi's presence attracted the majority of the nightcrawlers and they all switched their attention to him.

A rocky hog with gleaming green cracks, piercing blue eyes, and two thick tails moved towards Levi and wondered with a hint of scorn, "Is this the infamous Soulless Gaze? He doesn't look the part, were the rumors inflated?"

"Doubtful, there is only one infamous blind kid in this area."

A hulking insect-like beast with a hardened exoskeleton and amber eyes commentated calmly as he kept floating around Levi.

While Levi was surrounded on both sides, he didn't bother to glance at these two nightcrawlers.

He kept his indifferent sockets affixed on a hazy serpent-manta hybrid with shimmering red scales and a long tail seeping with blood.

"Soulless Gaze, a child with an unbreakable mental and a gaze as hallow as an abyss." The serpentine nightcrawler uttered near Levi's ears, "I heard you were begging for any nightcrawler to make you a Daywalker...Is that still the case?"

"Why are you asking? Are you planning to refer me to your friends?" Levi whispered with a faint smile.

Arthur saw his brother talking to himself and knew immediately that he was conversing with nightcrawlers.

Although his brother didn't tell him what he planned on doing, he trusted that he had it covered.

It was for a simple reason, Arthur had never met with someone as shrewd and smart as his big brother.

That's why he respected him and listened to whatever he told him to do, knowing that it would always be for his good sake even if he didn't understand it at the time.

Meanwhile, Levi's comment left the three nightcrawlers to chuckle in amusement.

"The rumors told no lies, you have no shame when it comes to securing a contract."

"Shame doesn't pay the bills." Levi still had the same smile, "Shame won't get me my peace and vision back. So, how about we drop this meaningless shakedown and get to business."

"Business?" Blee'der narrowed his eyes menacingly but with a hidden hint of intrigue, "What does a hairless child know about business?''

"I know that your partner is trying to help you evolve to Tier 3 through a Remarkable Evolution." Levi's tone became serene as he gazed straight into Blee'der's eyes.

The chuckles died off and the amused expressions melted away.

The three nightcrawlers all stared at each other with a tint of surprise before finally looking back at Levi...This time with penetrative cold gazes.

The Nightcrawlers' Evolutionary Paths.

"Boy, you have three seconds to tell me your source of information before I slice your neck off." Blee'der's voice turned sinister.

Levi knew that his threat was for real since he was a contracted Nightcrawler, which meant his partner wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if he/she found out that their private information was leaked.

Still, he was unfazed.

"Calm down, I have deduced your plight on my own." Levi clarified with a relaxed tone, "This outpost leads to the Harrowing Forest, the only place in the entire Northern Africa District with a compatible soil for the Blood Crystal Flowers to grow in."

"I know that your species requires either Blood Crystal Seeds for a Limited Evolution or the Blood Crystal Flower for a Remarkable Evolution." He paused, "While the seeds can easily be obtained, the Blood Crystal Flowers sprout only at the depths of the Harrowing Forest."

"It was off-grounds before due to being ruled by a Shadow Castle, but with the Sunstrike Agency clearing it, the forest finally became somewhat safe for rogue and low-ranked Daywalkers to explore it."

"I believe the three of you are part of the same Daywalkers' squad on a mission to locate the flower, as you don't seem interested in having a mere limited evolution."

"Do I need to say more?" 

When he finished, the three nightcrawlers were left somewhat dazed, realizing that Levi had hit the nail on the head about almost everything.

Seeing their reaction, Levi went silent for a moment and leaned closer to Blee'der until his mouth was next to his ears...Then, he whispered, "What if I told you that I know a way with a high chance of helping you secure the unattainable Perfect Evolution?"

"Get the f*ck out of here." Blee'der immediately pulled away from Levi like he had just heard the worst joke to grace his ears.

"Perfect evolution? Boy, you don't have to bullshit us, we ain't going to help you get contracted."

"Hahaha, perfect evolution he said, Blee'der and Shia are struggling to even pull off remarkable evolution."

The other two nightcrawlers also snickered at Levi's remarks, not taking him seriously in the slightest...Their reaction was understandable.

Nightcrawlers were believed to be separated into nine tiers, starting from Tier 1 and reaching their final form at Tier 9.

Since nightcrawlers were considered a race with an unknown number of species and variants, some were born as low as Tier 1, and some were believed to be born straight as Tier 9.

Though no one could be certain about the latter.

The only certainty was that every single nightcrawler was capable of evolving to its final form, whether it ended at Tier 5, 6, 7, or even 9.

The little evolutions along the way controlled the final form's limitation.

Those mini evolutions occur between each Tier and could range from a Limited Evolution to a Remarkable Evolution and, finally, a Perfect Evolution.

In simpler terms, if a Tier 1 nightcrawler evolved to Tier 4, using nothing but limited evolution each time, his final form might have been completed at Tier 4 forever.

On the other hand, if a Tier 1 nightcrawler grew using nothing but perfect evolution between each Tier, there was a strong chance that its potential would be finalized at Tier 8 or 9.

The only problem with the second method was the difficulty. It was so high that only a select few dared to follow this treacherous and unknown path.

"You can laugh all you want, but you guys do realize that I have been associating myself with thousands, if not tens of thousands of nightcrawlers across a decade?" Levi replied with his known unprovocative smile, "Don't you think I might have heard something useful here and there?"

Blee'der and the other nightcrawlers shared knowing glances, realizing that Levi had a point. The main concern with perfect evolution was the lack of knowledge.

While limited and remarkable evolutions also required many trials and errors before a known evolutionary path was discovered, perfect evolutions were on a whole different level.

For instance, Blee'der's species were of the Blood Half-Mantras, and they were known for requiring Blood Crystal Seeds as the main material and a couple more secondary materials to succeed in limited evolution for the first three Tiers.

The Blood Crystal Flowers as the main material for the remarkable evolution.

Both evolutionary paths were discovered by the greatest evolutionist, Dr Isaac Mendel. He was also responsible for discovering many of the evolutionary paths for thousands of other nightcrawlers, helping the Daywalkers grow more powerful than ever.

However, even though he was one of the brightest minds in this era, he had found only one hundred perfect evolution paths in total...Those evolutionary paths usually last for three tiers or fewer.

This spoke volumes about how difficult a process it was.

"Why are you telling me this?" Blee'der narrowed his eyes, "Let's say you are being truthful, what do you gain from this? If you want my help to get you a contract, then forget it, I don't have that much sway."

"Don't be jumping to conclusions." Levi said calmly, "All I want is a written recommendation letter to participate in the Contract Ritual Assembly."

"Recommendation letter? You want our agency to sponsor you in the assembly?"

Blee'der and the other nightcrawlers raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"Yes."

Realizing that Levi was as serious as one could be, the three nightcrawlers couldn't muster a single bad remark.

There was a point when mockery lost its value...

"Soulless Gaze, I don't know if you are simply crazy or a fool, who has yet to be slapped in the face." Blee'der shrugged his wings, "To be honest, I don't give a shit. If your information is right, I will get you the recommendation."

"That's all I want." Levi smiled.

Blee'der gave a slight head nod to his buddies, and then they returned to their partners, relaying the news to them.

"Arthy, check for a three-member squad in the queue holding their weapons and tell me what they are doing."

Levi requested while leaning against the dirt bike, gazing at the three nightcrawlers, who had just disappeared out of his sight and turned into humanoid hazy auras.

He knew that contracted nightcrawlers could jump between the Shadow Dimension and the real world whenever they desired.

However, they could not coexist in both of them simultaneously...Their current spiritual aura forms implied that they had taken their physical weapon form to join the conversation.

It wasn't like they couldn't speak with their partner without being in the Shadow dimension, but they could only converse telepathically.

As expected, Arthur swiftly located two men and one woman huddled in a small area, conversing amongst each other while looking in their direction.

All three of them had their signature weapons out.

"They keep pointing at us while talking." Arthur described, "The two men don't seem too pleased while the woman looks like she is trying to convince them of something."

"I see."

"What did you do?" Arthur asked, curious. 

Levi informed him about the details of the deal, leaving his brother with his eyebrows raised in surprise.

When he finished, Arthur asked him again, "Do you really know his tier 3 perfect evolutionary path?"

"Of course not, if I did, I would have sold it long ago." Levi replied, "Mom's textbooks never went into exact details on each nightcrawler's evolutionary path."

"..." Arthur stared at his brother's speechlessly.

Knowing that his little brother was questioning his decisions, Levi turned to face him and said calmly, "Sometimes, a risk has to be taken to move forward."

Nocturnal Contract

"Risk...Brother, if you were found lying to three Daywalkers while already being under surveillance, no one would care if you got killed." Arthur said with a hardened tone while eyeing Levi's beeping ankle monitor hidden under his trousers.

"I know, but don't worry, if I didn't have it covered, I wouldn't have included you."

"You know I don't give a shit what happens to me." Arthur narrowed his eyes at the approaching squad, "Do your thing, I gotchu."

Before Levi could reply, Arthur tapped him twice on the shoulder, silencing him immediately. This was their signal of people being too close to Levi's comfort.

A moment later, a delicate short girl stood in front of Levi and Arthur while being accompanied by a tall dark-skinned man and a short man with a big belly.

The girl had short hair that resembled a crimson blood drop and was wearing thin orange sunglasses.

She had a skin-tight red suit, covered with a half-open black jacket. She had her hands inside her jacket's pockets while sucking on a lollipop with a white plastic stick.

While Levi couldn't see her appearence, the smell of blood on her was too stenchy, he couldn't help but scrunch his nose.

The girl saw his reaction and didn't seem bothered. In fact, she was amused by it.

"Not a fan of my smell?" She asked, her voice was as lovely as her face.

"My apologies, my nose is a bit sensitive," Levi said politely.

"Understandable for someone with your condition,"

Shia spoke as she kept moving her head from side to side, seemingly incapable of believing Levi's condition.

When she saw that his head was affixed in its place, she couldn't help but utter with a hint of marvel in her voice.

"How interesting, I thought everyone with complete blindness had already gone extinct or had eye replacement surgery," Shia murmured to herself, but Levi heard her as loud as thunder.

"Shia, we have no time for this, night is fast approaching, and if we want to reach the depth of the forest before sunset, we have to move now." The short man spoke coldly as he gazed at the Larson brothers, "From first sight, I can tell they are full of it."

Suddenly, a crimson crescent-bladed glaive with a curved blade came out of Shia's black jacket, exuding an ominous bloodthirsty aura.

The moment everyone's eyes affixed on it, Blee'der's mouth and eyes manifested on the weapon...He didn't seem pleased one bit.

"Fatty, are you questioning my judgment?" He asked coldly.

"Yes, when was your judgment ever right?"

Just as Blee'der was about to snap back at him, Shia intervened, "Sergio, Blee'der, we have already discussed this, let's find out what kind of information he has, and then we can make our judgment."

Uncaring that Levi and Arthur heard her, Shia showed them a pleasant smile and said, "We don't have much time, so, let's carry our conversation inside."

"Please lead the way." Levi smiled back.

...

A few moments later, Shia's squad had gotten inside the outpost and brought Levi and Arthur with them.

The guards allowed them in since they belonged to a quite well-known agency in the Holy Heliodor Region...Of course, they had to pay up a 'fee'.

"Woah, this place is packed with Daywalkers..." Arthur exclaimed as he kept spinning his head all over the place, leaving no area unscanned.

Meanwhile, Levi was also receiving information from his NeuraLens' AI as she was able to scan a ten-meter radius and give Levi detailed descriptions of everything in the radius.

With her help, he was able to envision the appearence of the Outpost.

It wasn't anything special as it resembled a small town with mostly transparent glass-based buildings arranged in a perfect structure that allowed all the streets to meet at a single point; the center of the outpost where the tall Sun Disk Tower was built.

After a short walk, Shia and her companions brought the Larson brothers to a motel room for some privacy.

Then, Shia sat on the bed while the other two stood near the corners. Levi and Arthur were offered chairs and a herbal tea while facing Shia directly.

"Now, will you kindly tell us how you plan on helping Blee'der achieve perfect evolution to Tier 3?" Shia asked with a kind smile.

In the hopes that Levi's information would be correct, she was respectful, kind, and understanding. However, Levi knew that her nice attitude was a mere facade.

"Hold on now, how will be assured that you will keep your end of the bargain if I spill the beans?" Levi asked.

"Fair enough." Shia brought out Blee'der and placed it in front of them, then she said, "I am willing to sign a Nocturnal contract."

Sergio and Jamal's expressions immediately turned gloomy.

"Shia..."

Before they could say anything, Shia silenced them with a hand wave. Then, she turned back to Levi and smiled, "If your method checks out, I will risk my own neck and reputation to ensure that you participate in the Contract Ritual Assembly. We will have this written in Nocturnal contract."

Levi corrected her with a similar smile, "Not any Contract Ritual Assembly, I am only interested in the upcoming one in two months."

"Of course, that's what I meant." While she said this, the thoughts in her mind were different. 'He might be young, but he isn't easily fooled.'

Without further ado, Shia tapped once on her signature weapon, and a pitch-black spiritual piece of paper manifested before everyone...It floated at the center, turning the atmosphere quite solemn.

This was a Nocturnal contract, the sole reason nightcrawlers and humans had a chance of coexistence.

No one knew of its origins besides a false name for its creator, not even high-tiered nightcrawlers had a clue.

The only thing known was that its terms must be respected at all costs as the moment both parties signed the contract, their souls were bonded by it.

If a party were to void a term, the contract would deliver the written penalty instantly.

It possessed such an overwhelming and mysterious authority, that its presence always commanded attention.

Just as Shia was about to write the terms, Levi interrupted with an apologetic smile, "Before we sign, I have to confess something."

"God damn it, I knew he was full of shit." Sergio snapped instantly.

"Boy, were you lying to me?" Even Blee'der's expression turned sinister.

"Hold on, give him a chance."

Meanwhile, Shia still had hope in Levi, halting her partners from doing something that would jeopardize the deal.

"Thank you." Levi nodded politely and then explained, "First of all, I have never guaranteed that my method will succeed 100%. All I said was that I have a method to help him achieve the unattainable perfect evolution. Whether it succeeds or fails, it depends heavily on your cooperation."

"What do you mean?" Shia held her chin in intrigue.

"I have my ways and at the moment, I have no interest in sharing details." Levi said calmly, "If you truly desire perfect evolution, all you can do is put your trust in me."

"Trust..."

Shia stood up and walked to the reflective glass wall.

As she gazed at the rogue Daywalkers forming exploration squads in front of the outpost's exit, she shared with a serene voice, "In our world, trust has lost its value. Everyone and everything requires the addition of Nocturnal contracts."

"Even the lifelong partnership with our contracted nightcrawlers can only work when our life and death are bound together."

She turned to face Levi and added, "You also know this. Otherwise, you wouldn't have accepted the use of a Nocturnal contract."

Levi nodded in agreement.

"So, I can tell you right here, I don't trust you, but I do trust that you will give it your all if you put your life on the line." With the same kind smile, Shia asked, "So tell me, are you confident enough in your method that you are willing to sign off your life to me in case you fail?"

"..." Levi went silent.

He understood that Shia wanted him to sign off a lifelong subordinate contract, which was nothing but a fancy name for a 'Slave'.

With the introduction of Nocturnal Contracts and their absolute power, slavery became quite rampant in the world.

Of course, since the term was frowned upon, it was changed to a lifelong subordinate.

Since only entities with Shadowlife seeds could summon the Nocturnal Contract, most Daywalkers had several lifelong subordinates under their name.

'Brother, you won't sign such crap, right?' 

Suddenly, Arthur's solemn voice resounded in Levi's ear, coming from the earpiece.

Since it was attached straight to the ear, the messages sent were heard solely by the owner. Unless there was someone with extremely sensitive ears nearby.

Levi merely showed him a comfortable smile, unfazed.

Arthur knew that his brother couldn't use holograms, so he was unable to send a message or a vocal without being heard by their company.

'Okay...'

Although Arthur was quite bothered by the whole deal, all he could do was put his trust in his brother.

Facing straight ahead, Levi asked, "May I ask why you want me to work under you?"

His question resonated with Sergio and Jamal as they also gazed at their friend Shia, wondering what she wanted from a blind kid.

"I don't know yet, consider me intrigued." Shia licked her lower lip, "It's quite rare to find someone with complete blindness still alive and sane."

"..."

"..."

While her answer left her partners somewhat speechless, realizing that she was seeing Levi as a plaything, it didn't bother Levi.

"Fair enough." He replied calmly, "I am willing to approve these terms."

The moment he said this, silence engulfed the motel room...Even Shia was a bit taken aback, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

She expected him to negotiate the contract, understanding that her terms were quite extreme.

She knew that securing a perfect evolution was nothing but simple. She had low hopes that a blind teenager would help her achieve it even if he were to hear something from the nightcrawlers hanging around him.

After all, how would he know for sure that it would work?

But now? Everything changed.

"Your confidence gives me hope." Shia's eyes gleamed in excitement under her sunglasses.