Shadow Author

Having a dying man literally at my feet with his only hope of survival depending on me I felt a range of emotions.

However out of everything I was feeling there was one emotion that stood above them all, empowerment.

All my life, mainly based on my previous one I was always hiding, specifically when it came to matter evolving James. Then when I finally wanted to fight for myself I ended up getting killed.

I haven't forgotten that moment and every second I've spent in this new world has been directed so that I would never have to go through something like that again.

Now I was finally taking my first real step of action.

Paul was not some random run of the mil obese man like I had originally thought. It was only after I learned of his name that I called who he was. However, I couldn't be sure because the Paul that Elijah met later in the was an extremely muscular man who was described as looking like a Greek god.

Remembering that description of him I figured that they were two different people with the same name but if there was even a slight chance of him being the person I believed him to be I couldn't give up the chance.

Therefore I used one stone to kill two birds. I got to have some fun with Evelyn improving our relationship and found out that Paul was the man I expected him to be because of his gift.

Later in the when Elijah was stealing the gifts of people he comes across Paul who managed to fend for himself for quite a while which was unheard of due to Elijah's power at that time.

Yet the reason he was able to do so was that his gift made him an unstoppable tank. As Paul conquered the ranks he became able to better manipulate the density of his mana to the point he could change the tiniest amount.

For example right before he would get hit with an attack he could move all the mana stored within his body to that one spot and receive next to no damage. But what truly made him frightening to his opponents was that he could do the same when attacking.

He could put all his mana at the tip of his finger and vaporize someone from existence.

These two combinations used together meant that he couldn't get hurt and if a single part of his body touched you at any point you would die.

If I didn't have Aether which served as a counter to him I would also be terrified of his potential.

Nonetheless, I planned to have him under my wing that way there would be zero chance of having to fight against him and I would have a powerful bodyguard.

"Great, now hold on there is another thing I have to take care of first."

Like last time Paul moved his eyes every which way in an attempt to get me to stay but I once again left him behind to chat with Evelyn for a second.

Although I doubted Paul would betray me even if I was being rude once he was up and running I was sure he would forgive me. However, I wouldn't be taking such chances as I learned my lesson to never trust anyone.

Walking over to Evelyn I gave her the brightest smile I could muster.

"Hey, want to make another deal"

She looked skeptical but agreed to hear me out.

"Let's hear it."

"If you give me the Mana Contract you have in your possession I'll be your friend."

She immediately dropped her head and a frown filled her face.

"I-"

"Let me make myself clear first, I still want to be your friend no matter your answer."

"But-"

"The curse is nonsense, what happened here today to those people happened because it's what fate had in store for them. It had nothing to do with you."

'I lied, it is someone's fault, mine.'

"If-"

"I don't care, there is nothing bad that will happen to me, do you want to know why?"

She didn't respond.

I too didn't respond as I looked at her expectantly, when she realized how childish I was being she opened her mouth and I immediately cut her off

"Ye-"

"I can see the future. Remember how I told you that I was the only person you didn't know the gift of, I was telling the truth. I can truly see the future."

'Although it's a stretch as I can only see an hour ahead once a day, she doesn't need to know that.'

"That-"

"That means that even if you are cursed and something bad happens to any person you interact with, I at least will be able to avoid it."

That was also a bit of a stretch because the curse might be able to bypass my ability and there might be other conditions at hand but it was logical enough for Evelyn to believe it.

There was a long period of silence after that point and I knew better than to disrupt her thoughts as this might be the first time she may finally have someone to talk to and be comfortable around.

Minutes passed as the only sounds came from Paul who was breathing ruggedly and squirming around in pain but neither of us focused on him as I waited for Evelyn to make up her mind.

Finally, she looked up right into my eyes and said:

"I have a question to ask first."

This wasn't the answer I was expecting but I was more than willing to answer anything she might be curious about.

"Do I accept?"

I paused for a second trying to understand what she meant and when I realized it I couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at?"

But I blocked her out and continued to laugh at her question.

Once I finally got it out of my system I had a huge smile on my face and said:

"You accept of course!"