I walked with Caster back to the city.
I had a few options, some better than others.
Firstly, I could use him to help in hunts—but that was out of the question, since he would only slow me down. I mean, Beast was more useful in combat for me, since he could act aggressively without fearing death.
But that also gave me a few other options. The main one I really liked was using Caster as a spy to infiltrate the castle and give me information. But first, I needed to know his information. What if his flaw was something like "he cannot lie"? Such a stupid flaw. I bet anyone who has that probably has a weak Aspect… probably a dormant Aspect. Definitely not supreme like me.
Anyway, time to ask.
"So, Caster, what is your Aspect ability? Any interesting attributes? And if you don't mind, share your flaw as well?"
I saw Caster's heart rate increase at the mention of his flaw.
"Ah, yes. My Aspect allows me to increase my speed, and my innate ability lets me perceive time slower while I'm sped up. No interesting attributes."
I raised an eyebrow.
"And your flaw?"
Caster looked at me, clearly thinking deeply.
"How about you share your Aspect, flaw, innate ability, and attributes first? And maybe explain that echo of yours."
Caster pointed at Beast, who was being his usual cute self (a horrific monster made out of flesh that melts off and sticks back on—a beast of blood and flesh, mostly blood. Definitely not cute to anyone other than Al).
"Well, that doggo is called Beast. He's my echo—an awakened devil—"
Caster looked at me like I had just said I banged his sister without protection.
"As for my Aspect, it's blood manipulation. Oh, and my innate ability is that I'm a walking corpse. My attributes are just the usual ancient gifts from long-dead gods—well, one is still alive. I actually slept at his place for a day. He's an asshole. I even saw him kill over ten thousand saints all at once. Oh, right—I should probably continue with my flaw. It's that I'm a spooky vampire!"
Caster stared at me for a good minute, clearly regretting every life choice that had led him here.
Finally, he spoke.
"You'd be really good friends with this one weirdo I met in the academy."
I was curious.
"Really? What's his name?"
Caster paused for a moment, then answered:
"Sunless. But everyone called him a mix of degenerate pervert and brainless."
Huh. This Sunless guy sounded weird to me. I felt like it wasn't the full story, like this Sunless person was hiding something. I wondered if I would ever get the chance to go against him. He also strangely reminded me of Rain… I guess his mother must have also been a creative soul? Weird. Why was I thinking so much about him? It was a strange feeling, like I should know him, but I either forgot or it must have happened a long, long, long time ago.
Strange. I don't often forget people, let alone someone with such a unique name. Maybe I'm overthinking it? Probably. But who knows—maybe it turns out he's my long-lost brother or something. Or maybe we met in a past life. Just a strange feeling all around when it comes to him—like fate tightly wraps the two of us together, despite me never meeting him before.
But I had bigger issues at hand. Firstly—what the hell was Caster's flaw?
"I told you my flaw, Caster. Now, you don't want to betray my trust by not telling me yours, right? Who knows—maybe I can help you with it."
Caster's heart raced again, but it didn't matter. I knew he wasn't an idiot, and with how I phrased the question, he'd think that not telling me would count as betrayal. It didn't. But why should I tell him that?
After a long while, he finally answered.
"Whenever I use my Aspect, I… rapidly age."
Oh. That was bad. Horrible, even. My first contract was a doomed one. Judging by the fact he looked at least twenty-nine-ish when he should be around sixteen, I doubted his power drained him slowly.
"Ugh. Do you have any way to counteract this?"
Caster nodded and summoned a charm into his hand.
"Yes. This charm… it reverses my aging and slows it down as long as I'm wearing it. But it takes around a week to fully charge. And when it's fully charged, it can de-age me around ten years, give or take."
Oh, okay—that was great news. I had just the gift for Caster then.
"Alrighty. Well then, Caster, I have the perfect gift for you. Here, take this."
I summoned a bracelet and showed it to Caster.
"This bad boy allows you to increase the effects of a charm depending on how fast you run. Since you run very fast and probably for long distances, this should let you run longer without becoming dust. Heads up—the enhancement isn't that good, but it's better than nothing."
I transferred the memory over to Caster, who tested it by running very fast from one end of the alley all the way back in the blink of an eye. He didn't look that much older—maybe a few months? Yeah, something like that.
"Ah, it does decrease the rate at which I'm aging, but not by enough to make it smart for me to use my ability nonstop."
Caster was about to run again, but I stopped him.
"Listen up. Since we're now allies, I need you in top condition, which means I need you to be at a very young age. That means you are forbidden from using your powers unless absolutely necessary. Understand? Unless it's life or death, or I order you to run, you shouldn't use your Aspect at all. You should focus on going back to around sixteen years old. Alright? How many years do you have stored up?"
Caster looked at the runes on his charm and said:
"Around six or seven years, give or take a few months."
"Alright. Use it all to become younger. Understand?"