The Mysterious Black Magician

"S-So strong…" Aspe uttered.

She was astonished to see the young man, apparently as young as her; he was beating all the scary people with ease.

"I couldn't even land a hit to one of them. But that person singled out even their leader. And he beat him using his raw strength!" She exclaimed with a mixt of admiration.

"Hey, girl! What did you do? Take this shit or you will regret it!"

Aspe was startled when one of the two people who were currently entangled by the spider web yelled at her.

She subconsciously jolted back. In any case, it wasn't her doing. Those black spiders on the ceiling were the ones responsible for it.

"Don't get afraid. They can't do anything now." Aspe heard Miss Ella said in assurance. 

"Y-You know him, Miss Ella?" Aspe asked.

"Aaa-- ahem! Just a friend of mine," Rea replied out of a sudden but it only made Aspe doubtful of her as she sounded defensive. "Wait, wasn't that person saying 'My Girl' a while ago? Could it be…" Aspe remembered the young man's words recently.

"Uh, eh… I think you misheard him, Aspe! Regardless, there's nothing between us!" Rea strongly denied it. But the more she denied it, the others would find it more suspicious.

"You guys! You heard it too, right?!" Aspe asked the two people who were entangled by the spider web.

"We heard it very clear!"

"Yeah! That person said, My Girl!"

Rea's eyes turned blank.

 "Right! And we will report it to our young master!"

"Thomas help us!"

'Why do many people want to claim me as their property?' Rea whined inwardly.

Regardless, Aspe wanted to laugh at their call to their leader. "Uhm, sorry to disappoint you. But is that person who is lying on the floor like a corpse is your leader named Thomas?" She pointed out.

They glanced back and saw all their comrades together with Thomas, all of them were lying on the floor like drunkards.

"What the heck happened!?"

They both exclaimed. They also noticed the young man bend his knee in front of Thomas. No, the young man was staring at Thomas's Deity. Seeing his wide grin on his face. They could guess that he had a bad intention towards it.

'Poor Thomas…' they thought. "Get up there, Mr. Thomas! That guy is eyeing your toy!" They screamed.

Yman and Sistela disregarded their shouts.

<Partner, did you wish to steal him?>

Sistela asked.

Upon hearing her, the little Imp System Deity pressed himself to his unconscious owner.

Yman grinned at it. "Do you need to question, Teacher?" He replied with a little tease.

Sistela thought she overdid on teaching him. Now he was addicted to it!

Based on one of their lessons with Miss Pai, the System Deity's body is just a shell. So if one lost his System Deity, he just needed to buy another one.

They already shared information through resonance. One only needed some verification to reuse his System Deity's previous information.

To be verified again, one needed fingerprints and face verification; he/she also needed to feed it with his/her mana and blood. All of these were needed together with signing to his previous account. Just then, the new shell of the Deity would start to verify the owner. If an existing account had matched the one being verified, then the DatS of the Deity would rebirth to the new shell. Though all his previous upgrades would be gone as the previous body was lost or stolen. Only the level remained the same as the level wasn't from its shell. It was from the System Deity's DatS or Soul Data.

The most important thing about the pact was that the System Deity and the owner had the final say. It's up to them if they wanted to partner again with their previous owner or Deity. If one disagreed to reunite, then the other one could not do a thing about it. It was the right time for them to find a new partner and started a new connection.

If the connection or Like Value between them wasn't so high, it was easy to breach the pact or the contract between the user and the System Deity. So one must be mindful of their Like Value.

After Yman took the Imp System Deity, the green lights that were trailing on its body died down. 

Seemingly, it intentionally blocked his DatS.

"Looks like this man was loved by his Deity," he muttered in regret. Although he looked like a thug, he must be following what his Deity likes.

<At least we can dismantle the shell!> Sistela stated. They could sell some parts of it. Seeing that it was modeled into an Imp Series, the parts of it must cost a lot.

But what excites him the most is the items inside his White Box. The White Box was the part where the main storage of it was located.

After Yman took the shell of Thomas Deity, he also took all the spatial rings and equipment of the Demihumans he defeated. 

Aspe gawked at him while Rea looked away from him. She already expected that it would happen. She just needed to turn a blind eye to it.

The two Demihumans who couldn't free themselves from the spider web had quickened their heartbeats. 

As expected. They felt a strong force at the back of their neck which caused them to blackout.

"Are you okay, My--"

Rea shot a glare at him.

"...Rea?" Yman said while scratching his face. He almost slipped again.

However,

"My-My-My… Rea?" Aspe was the first one who reacted. Not just he called her 'My', but he also called her in a name that only a person with a close relationship would do!

"I-I know it! Miss Ella is truly dating him!"

"Ehhhhh!" Rea cried out. "Noooo!"

She wasn't sure if he did it on purpose or not, but this person was just too mean. 

<Looks like it's getting worse, partner.>

After several minutes, Aspe finally understood when Rea and Yman explained to her that he was her bodyguard. And what he said a while ago was just a little teasing. Aspe calmed down. Though she was still doubtful of the two.

Right after everything was settled, the door of the shop made a creaking noise. They all glanced at the same time and saw a middle-aged person with dog ears come in.

But soon he stopped and gawked when he saw some people lying on the floor. "W-What happened here…?" He muttered.

"Father!" Aspe shouted.

The middle-aged man looked to where the voice originated. He saw his daughter together with two young visitors. 

"Young Miss!" He called out to Rea upon seeing her.

"Uh, Uncle Ronnie, sorry about the mess,' Rea said with a sorry face.

"Eh, anyway, are they from the Red Gargantuan Village?" Ronnie asked directly.

"Perhaps, Father!" Aspe replied.

After the village guards took the unconscious people, Rea introduced Yman to Ronnie.

Ronnie stared at him.

"Oh, so you wish to learn how to synthesize a medicine. Sure thing, I was looking for an apprentice but you must pass some test if you wanted me to accept you."

He wasn't expecting anything from this young man who looks like not the type who would wish to learn alchemy. But since it was the young miss who recommended him. He could at least show respect to her.

Rea and Aspe sighed. They both knew that Ronnie wasn't the type who easily took an apprentice. Many experts from the younger generation tried to apply as his apprentice but none of them were able to succeed.

Well, it depends on Crimson now. Rea thought so. At this point, she could not help him anymore. 

Yman felt relieved when he heard him. Based on how Rea talked so-so about this man. He must be an expert Alchemist in making medicine. But he was a little skeptical.

'Wasn't the Elder or Professor in the Magic Academy was the best-suited to teach the younger generation who wish to learn the way of mixing medicine?' He thought.

"Yes Mr. Ronnie," he replied calmly but they noticed he was a little skeptical.

"Uhm, Crimson, Uncle Ronnie is a professor in the Encantasia Magic Academy," Rea told him.

Upon hearing her, "Sorry for being a little doubtful to your excellence, Teacher! Please, accept me as your pupil," He bowed towards Ronnie a second after he heard her words.

Yman could only grip his hands. It was regretful for him to show presumptuous action.

"Hmm, even if I accepted you, I can only teach you on weekends. As I am mostly in the academy from Monday to Friday."

Ronnie said.

"Uhm, don't worry about it, Uncle Ronnie…" Rea explained to him about Crimson.

He understood Ella's situation. He even knew her real identity. Ronnie could only turn a blind eye to their situation.

Though he was surprised that this young man in front of him was a gold rank adventurer. 

Aspe was surprised as well. "No wonder he was so strong," she mumbled.

"In that case, find me tomorrow in the academy lab," Ronnie said.

"Uhm, teacher, should I buy the beginner Alchemy skill for medicine creation?" Yman asked.

Though it was a beginner skill scroll, the price is mostly a thousand GP or 1000 gold royals in Empire's currency.

"No need, the academy will grant you for free."

"I see."

He felt relieved when he heard that it was for free. 

After the talk about being an apprentice was done. Rea handed the Repeller Herb to Ronnie.

Yman asked Rea about the use of it. Although he already knew that it could repel monsters, what he wanted to know was, what they needed it for.

However, instead of answering his question, she questioned him instead. "What do you think of the village?"

Yman frowned. He wasn't able to understand her meaning. "It was a peaceful village. That one can sleep unbothered," but he managed to squeeze a reply based on what he felt about the village.

However, he noticed Rea's change in her countenance. "That's how it looks like before the Monster Repeller Perfume waned off."

"Monster Repeller Perfume?" He repeated.

It was the finished product of the Repeller Herb.

"Apprentice, come here!"

Before Rea could answer him, he heard Ronnie called out to him and beckoned him to follow to the next door.