Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 282 Employment Contract (First Update)

Salomon's magical contracts have always been fair, and those who have signed them all say they are good.

Look at Nick Fury, he's signed so many contracts and he's still alive and kicking, even able to jump up and cause trouble for Salomon, finding loopholes to exploit with great pleasure. A sorcerer can't add unequal clauses to a contract just because they're unhappy. Contracts are based on Vishanti as proof, so basic fairness and justice are essential; after all, Vishanti isn't some evil god.

Of course, if Dormammu is used as the voucher, then the more evil the better. A contract of servitude is the most basic; Salomon would be at a loss if he didn't cram the terms into every punctuation mark. However, he can't do such things openly. The Vishanti is very strict with his sorcerers, and only the Sorcerer Supreme can make the Vishanti more lenient.

To be honest, that's too lenient. Salomon believes that Vishanti knows what the Sorcerer Supreme is doing for Dormammu, otherwise, just based on the fact that he absorbs magic from the Dark Dimension, the Sorcerer Supreme's source of magic would be questionable. Salomon believes that although he can also absorb the power of the Dark Dimension, the contract formed by the three rings is rather unclear.

If the punishment is unknown, then its power is unpredictable. The vague terms of the contract made him very uncomfortable.

Take, for example, the time he summoned the magic of Vishanti to try and cover the gates of Hell. The White Magic God, Oshtu, insisted on inflicting a minor injury on him. Although that injury was insignificant compared to the price that should be paid when summoning magic, it showed that Oshtu was not so friendly towards Salomon.

Therefore, Salomon generally does not test Vishanti's attitude too much. If he must, he prefers to talk to Agamotto, who has a relatively high opinion of humans. The Sorcerer Supreme should be responsible for the entire material universe, but the Sorcerer Supreme is biased towards humans, which greatly annoys Oshtu and Hogos. Otherwise, Vishanti would not have been so insistent on the Sorcerer Supreme handing over the title to Strange.

That's why the Sorcerer Supreme separated his titles and gave one part to Salomon to ensure that Kamar-Taj would always stand on the side of humanity.

That said, while the Vishanti's covenants emphasize fairness and justice, how a covenant is written depends entirely on the writer's skill. The covenant Salomon presented to the Sora Redwood Order was an extremely strict one, including but not limited to restrictions such as hiding the secrets of the Immortal City within one's soul and being forbidden from revealing his name. At the same time, the rewards he offered were also very generous; his promise to help these druids complete their lineage was not just "overly sweet talk" (in Shakespearean terms), he was serious.

Druid magic originates from nature, and the four elemental spells that constitute nature are all Druids' strengths. The arcane mage can provide some evocation spells as options for these Druids to learn. While he cannot complete the spells of Wild Form, he can still deduce some spells through Polymorph. As for other abilities Druids should possess, such as slowing aging, and other unique Druid spells, Salomon can only ask Balthazar; he believes Balthazar will not refuse him.

Mariana Stern, as the High Priestess, was the first to receive the contract. She glanced at it briefly, then looked at Salomon, who was sitting on the old sofa writing other contracts by hand. She immediately felt that the contract in her hand, written in dark green ink, was incredibly heavy, and the dust in the air made it hard for her to breathe.

All of this happened too suddenly, and the Druid Order was divided on whether to accept the recruitment. The arcane mage suggested that they take them to see their future workplace first, which temporarily put their differences aside.

"Your contract doesn't require us to fight for you, why?" the high priest asked after handing the contract to his companion. "We can exorcise demons, we can divine..."

"You're too weak." Salomon's eyes were still fixed on the parchment; writing a contract required utmost concentration, not a single letter could be wrong. "That's right, very weak. You can't even use the Raymon Gadon Magic Circle properly. In the world of magic, weakness equals stupidity, and stupid spellcasters always cause trouble." The arcane mage's expression didn't change as he belittled these druids. "I need you as research assistants to help me refine my mutation potion alchemy research. You'll know my requirements once your colleagues in the bioscience department return."

Gerald seemed quite displeased with Salomon's disdain, or perhaps he simply disliked Salomon's London accent, or perhaps he was just an arrogant American youth. Whatever the reason, he seemed eager to test Salomon's abilities—but the arcane mage merely waved his hand, and he vanished. Moments later, Gerald was wildly flailing his limbs, howling as he plummeted from the towering stone ceiling of the Immortal City.

He stopped abruptly just before hitting the ground, as if an invisible hook had caught him.

"Knowledge is power, and that's not just an empty phrase. Your order has lost too much of its heritage. I don't even know how much your order learned from Merlin in the beginning, but it seems far from enough." The sorcerer placed the newly written contract into the hands of Gerald, a stumbling, panicked blond youth who had just re-entered the building. Unbeknownst to Gerald, he was incredibly lucky that his weight hadn't exceeded the spell's limit; otherwise, his forehead would have hit the floor. Salomune had no idea how much he weighed beforehand.

The others in the cult were clearly somewhat intimidated by Salomon's spell, which was far more visually striking than seizing control of the Madoka Magica in the mansion. However, for High Priestess Mariana Stern, who was far more learned than the others, seizing control of the Madoka Magica made Salomon appear even more powerful.

"You need to learn. By signing the contract, you can break free from your past petty squabbles and truly come into contact with the essence of this world. You will gain knowledge and... life. Believe me, I have seen druids who have lived for over a thousand years. Even if you are the worst, you can still live for over a hundred years."

"I agree!" Mariana Stern's thick glasses reflected the pale yellow light. Although her tone was calm, her excitement was undeniable. "I agree," she emphasized again, "provided you agree to everything in the contract!"

"Of course, the contract is binding on both of us. Now, choose your accommodations in this building, one room per person. You can use the teleportation array to go to Philglin Hall. Please be punctual for work hours. The protective spells here are no joke. You may not be able to detect them, but absolutely do not try to touch anything you shouldn't."

"What would happen if you touched it?" Karim asked.

"It's nothing, just a matter of dying. It's dangerous here, don't explore unstable areas. I won't rescue you, because that's a private matter, not an employee's obligation." The sorcerer shrugged. "Also, there's another contract to sign tomorrow, that's the employee handbook. What we signed today was just the employment contract and confidentiality agreement. Oh, I almost forgot, you have a boss—Merlin's apprentice's apprentice, the rightful heir to the Merlin Wizarding Order. I'll bring him to meet you."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Dave shook his head frantically, so fast he was almost a blur. "I don't want to go to some dungeon! Look at me, I'm studying environmental science now, how much more do you magicians want to disrupt my life?"

"You're a spellcaster too, Dave," Salomon said patiently, leaning against a folding desk in the lecture hall. "Can you honestly say you haven't touched the Holy Sword? Have you forgotten the duty Balthazar gave you?"

"I know who the Holy Sword custodian is." Dave put down his book. "Look at me, I have a girlfriend. I can't work in your secret base. Besides, do you know how expensive dating is? I need to work for a normal company!"

"I'm not asking you to go right now. You haven't even learned many druid spells yet. Don't look at me like that. Your learning progress is too slow. Balthazar has complained about it several times already. How's your polymorph skill coming along? And alchemy? Balthazar is expecting your spellcasting skills to surpass his—not to be as versatile as Merlin, but at least you should be able to transform into an animal, right?"

Dave looked helplessly at the sorcerer's face. He felt that his acne had started hurting again ever since he learned magic.

"I've found a Camelot wizarding order that's been scattered far and wide. You should lead them; you could become the High Priest of the Druids. Perhaps Merlin the Supreme was just a joke, but your talents aren't that bad."

"I'm terrible compared to you."

"Except for me..."

"Okay, tell me what you want to do?"

"Human mutation..."

"Oh my god! I studied environmental science, not biology!" Dave scratched his head in frustration, so much so that Salomon could smell his nerdy vibe. Yeah, that's so druid-like.

"The Druid tradition also has some research on diseases. I need you to accurately induce diseases in my test subjects in order to form an immune system."

"Wait, are you conducting human experiments?"

"It hasn't even started yet; we haven't even done any animal experiments."

"But your goal is human experimentation, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"You know what you're doing, right?"

"Yes, I know exactly what I'm doing. Perhaps Balthazar hasn't told you what the job at Kamar-Taj is like, but it's time for you to accept the harsh reality: the magical world isn't a fairy tale."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)