Bro, I'm not an Undead!

A lengthy explanation finally concluded to which Silrat’s face had turned into a few different expressions of distraught throughout.

He honestly hadn’t expected to hear such a tale. The fact that were so many victims already was rather disturbing (Skullius lied) with the case of the Paladin Champion offering her help to Skullius causing her to keel over shocking him to his core.

When he had heard this account before, he had pictured something different.

Killing a Paladin Champion wasn’t a joke. After all, they were peak fighting forces that were rarely deployed.

Ultimately, his opinion over this curse that Skullius described was… very concerning.

The details were rather specific but that made it even more menacing as the effects, as explained by Skullius, seemed to be sure-fire and extremely deadly even to victims at higher stages of power.

“So… you mean to tell me that everyone who helps you, with only your benefit in mind, will all die without exception?” Silrat asked with a troubled expression.

“Yes,” Skullius gave a succinct reply.

“And this creature you mentioned, is the one that causes this if you do not heed its instructions?”_.

“Yes.”

“I see. That is rather troublesome.”

Silrat had begun to wonder if he would fall to the curse since he had the intent to assist Skullius but the Discount Human had reassured him that obviously this wasn’t true as both parties were privy to the fact that they were in for their own benefit.

Silrat had made it clear that his help required something in return.

“I can now understand why you resorted to such drastic actions without batting an eyelid if this ie what you’re dealing with. However, you must understand that your follow-up feat of lying to Terian and Damilla back then has sowed some seeds of distrust to your later actions. The ways in which I can help you are limited, especially when it comes to the City Lord’s authority. I would have to use external factors… like a particular talented young man,” said Silrat as he stroked his chin.

‘Huh?’ Skullius raised a brow in confusion.

Who would that be?

Silrat shook his head lightly as if dispelling his current thoughts.

“Now. Before we move on to the next item of discussion, I would like to know one last thing. How did you come to learn magecraft?”

“Huh?”

“I mean to say that I have a fair share of experience with Mages and all of them, despite having quirky personalities and odd behaviours, they tend to have vast wells of knowledge along with a stable mana core of blue or higher that already has a Reflective Sigil Matrix. You lack both of these things. Terian noticed and so did I. Which is why I ask, how did you come to learn Magecraft without the basics?”

Skullius was utterly confused.

Reflective what?

Vast wells of knowledge?

Well…

“Hmmm,” Silrat hummed as a big grin etched itself deeper into his face. “You’re a natural Mage aren’t you?”

Skullius was stunned.

That was one way to put it.

All things considered, he really was a natural Mage… with a cheat that allowed him to learn skills more than 10 times faster than everyone else and more.

There was no way he could pose as a true Mage under experienced gazes it seemed.

Just how many requirements were needed for one to become a Mage?

“Uhm… yes?”

“Ha! I knew it! You’re the catch of the century! I’m glad I battled those fools to have you under my custody! To think they’d let you go after having assumed this fact!” Silrat exclaimed.

Indeed, Terian had actually thought about bringing Skullius under his wing if the latter was proven to be innocent. The reason he had entertained this thought was because he had seen that Skullius had but a mere white core and a crude foundation which when combined still worked for him to do some impressive things.

However, having a disciple who was convicted of multiple crimes, including murder would be a stain on his record.

‘This is a strange situation…’ Skullius thought.

He was entertaining the idea of potentially partnering with Silrat, IF, what the man needed him for wasn’t too outlandish because he had no choice.

It was either that or death by Doom Factor 2 at the hands of that… that…bitch…yes, bitch, Damilla.

The choice was relatively easy.

“What exactly do you want from me exactly?” Skullius asked.

“In all truth, there is a wide variety of benefits that come with nurturing someone like you. One is to have you owe me big time while giving you enough resources to consolidate your strength as a Mage. Or I could simply send you off to a big city with a larger branch of the Guilds Association which would also bear its own perks for me including protection from the repercussions of your crimes. Those are only the more obvious benefits. I am yet to decide,” Silrat replied as he stroked his hands like a villain.

“Alright. And what do I get?”

“I can tell you what you can’t get, well.. that’s easier to identify. Freedom is out of the picture for now, even though I’ll give you a sufficient amount of privacy with no surveillance. That will be a different situation when the Capital service goons come to question you though.”

Only freedom was barred.

This meant that Skullius could ask for anything else?

That was quite a heavy declaration.

“I always make do on my promises. This isn’t a charity, young man. Its a trade. I can even arrange for you to get your money’s worth with the lessons you had paid for at the College of Battle Arts. You could continue with your sword lessons, as you had before… weird as that may be for someone like you.”

“Oh… that doesn’t sound bad at all. But still… how will you keep your word?” Skullius asked.

“What better way than the old fashioned one?” Silrat said as he smiled.

“A Tie of Exchange of course.”