Since Purple couldn't shake Joseph of his shock, the Agent decided to simply slap him out of it. And it definitely worked.
Joseph looked at Purple with eyes full of excitement, and Purple sighed. Most people were like this after encountering their spirit, simply because they would see their inner world and be awed by it. Also usually the spirit of a person would appear to them as an older version of themselves, a version that had wasted their potential, which would push the person towards greatness. If you saw how your life would turn out if you wasted it, you definitely wouldn't do it.
Except this situation was quite abnormal, Joseph had seen three people. One of them most certainly being his benefactor. When Joseph explained what had happened to Purple, the man's eyes lit up and he immediately hugged Joseph, lifting him off the ground.
" WOW, the heck are you doing ?!"
" Hahaha ! This is truly a good thing ! Joseph, you are definitely interesting." Said Purple after letting go of Joseph.
" What do you mean by that ?"
" Well you encountered the person who granted you your powers and you even saw the second stage, the one that you need to go through to ' evolve ', though you will only go through it in a long time. Most people don't even reach that second stage before their prime. And since you are a human, your prime will come way too quickly. As such !.....We need to train you. I won't let your potential go to waste, Hamagiri would kill me if I did." Said Purple.
" Huh ? Purple, what's your relationship with Hamagiri ?" Asked Joseph, though regret hit him when he saw Purple's sad expression.
" He is an Agent like me, nothing more. It's just that he's the first Agent I met, so he's much more important to me than the others."
" Um, okay...And so, how do you want to ' train ' me ?"
" Fufufu....Training is a vaste term, I will simply give you an opportunity to gain some experience ! With your power you can grant wishes like a demon would, right ?"
" Well, yeah basically." Said Joseph, not willing to even mention the system.
" Perfect ! Demons usually take souls as payment, they use them to get more powerful, however you seem to have another way to get more powerful. I won't search to know what it is, but since it's pretty much the same, we just need to find some good soul, and the job's done ! You started with some easy clients, people with minor troubles who became desperate too fast because they were weak. That is why they are only lost or wandering souls. Weak people cannot possibly be more than that, atleast I think so. When we find a good soul, you'll need to grant it's wish. But you are not powerful enough to do so. As such you'll need to tell the client to be patient, and then you'll find a way to turn their words against them ! You'll take the reward, and well the client won't have what they asked for, but that's too bad for them." Said Purple, his excitement rising.
" Well it's settled then, although I am not completely sure about it. I mean.....It sounds great but a little bit difficult. I literally have to find a way to completely manipulate my client, and I am not so good at that." Said Joseph, but Purple merely put a hand on his shoulder and grinned slightly.
" I was like you at first, but it's not that hard. There is a little trick actually. A human soul can be a pure one, even if those at the pure level are gods and higher beings, and that's because humans have an incredible small potential. So someone who exceeds that potential will become a chosen, immortal or pure soul. If we take some incredibly successful person, with strong mind and heart, then it's perfect ! They will have good potential and would've achieved great things, in terms of what human can do." Said Purple. Joseph was thus reassured and departed on a hunt for a good soul with Purple.
He was quite happy when Purple told him that normal people couldn't seel them, since the both of them really stood out. Purple for obvious reasons, but even Joseph had some 'special' clothes. Hamagiri had actually left an outfit in his closet. It was an extremely expensive black and red suit. The whole outfit looked like it was made for someone of the high society, not some random 19 years old french guy who came to Japan on a whim.
Purple looked like an agent from a special task force, while Joseph looked like someone who had way too much money.
" Remember what I told you, you need to find a way to manipulate the person. Find out their dirty secrets or weaknesses. Also don't try to use any of your abilities on this person, if they have atleast a chosen soul, they could a bit dangerous even for you. Not in terms of fighting ability, but in terms of mental capability. If the client detects any attempt at ' cheating ' , you won't be able to continue the contract." Explained Purple, going on to full ' Professor Mode '. Joseph just nodded and let Purple talk. He wasn't stressed or anything, he was actually a but excited. He wasn't aware of Purple's current thoughts.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
' Joseph you are still incredibly too naive. After this contract you will slowly come to understand why those who dare to call demons are truly the lowest of the lowest....The value of a soul don't have any link to their morality. Given that you will need to complete lots of contracts to get stronger, you will indeed slowly but surely get to see why we are monsters.'
After a whole day of just randomly walking around, Purple suddenly pulled Joseph in a dark alley and put a hand on his mouth. A man passed in front of the alley and Purple smiled.
" This one, it's a chosen soul and I can detect some despair inside of him. He won't be able to see me, but he'll see you. Work your magic Joseph." Said Purple as he pulled the man inside the street and Joseph got to work.
The man himself was a bit lost currently. He was standing alone in a dark alley after something pulled him there. Though he couldn't see anyone.
' What the hell dragged me here ? I definitely felt a hand pull me inside !'
The man was about to get the hell out of this alley when two red orbs appeared in the shadows. Night had already fallen, so the man could only see those two blazing red eyes in the shadows, he couldn't see the person behind.
" Who are you ?!"
" Well, well, no need to get so worked up mister. I am not a villain, of that you can be sure. I am actually good guy, a good guy who grant wishes." Said Joseph, speaking in a dark grave tone as if he was the boogeyman himself. It had quite the effect since the man seemed terrified, unfortunately the man quickly got back to his normal self.
" Grant wishes ? Did you seriously dragged me in a dark alley to scam me ? How dumb some people can be." Said the man, shaking his head. However his whole bearing changed again when the red eyes suddenly found themselves behind him.
' How ?!'
" Ummm....I can sense some despair in you Mister....Maybe you do have a wish that you want to see granted ? What could it be ?" Asked Joseph.
" I-I wish....I wish that someone could kill the stalker that has been following me for months !" Admitted the man. He then quickly clasped his hands over his mouth, his eyes widening in shock.
Two rows of white, sharp teeth appeared in the dark as Joseph smiled.
" Something this simple can be done quite easily. You only need to get back to your home, go to sleep like nothing had happened, and then the stalker will magically disappear."
" But....What about payment ?" Asked the man.
" Oh payment ? You must be a businessman if you instantly think about this. Fortunately for you I won't require any payment....Now go." Said Joseph, his voice now completely cold. The man quickly kodded and left the alley.
Purple then reappeared as Joseph dropped to his knees.
" It was easy, see ? Now let's find that stalker."
" Wait a second ! When I was talking to that man...I felt so powerful....I felt like I was the master of the situation. Like nothing could stop me, the man was like an ant in front of me...What happened ?!" Joseph roared as Purple sighed.
" When you grant a wish some powers are given to you, maybe this feeling is also given....Or maybe it's your benefactor messing with your mind....Ahhh, who knows. I certainly don't"
".....Forget about that. I'll just complete this contract....It seems easy as hell." Said Joseph, overlooking the fact that he had never killed before.
The two departed from the alley and followed the man while looking around, searching for anyone suspiscious. Sure enough they found someone taking pictures of the man. The person was wearing a black sweatshirt with a black pants and had a facemask to conceal their identity.
" Typical stalker, a bit cliche, but then again cliche are based on reality aren't they ? Now Joseph, complete the mission !"
Joseph was unsure as to how he was going to kill the stalker, but then purple murmured in his ears.
" You have that spiritual energy now ? You can feel it if you concentrate. Since you are invisble, just sneak up on the stalker, call upon this energy, and smash their face on the concrete." Explained Purple, as if he was talking about the weather, he was all too used to killing.
" Okay, okay, sheesh."
So Joseph did just that. The stalker was still taking pictures of the man so they hadn't moved. Joseph walked up to the stalker, lifted his head and....
* BAM !*
He brutally smashed the stalker's head on the ground. Though the result was a bit more impressive than he thought. He was able to actually kill a human being, though he had needed to convince himself that this stalker was most certainly a trash before he could pull something like that. Joseph wasn't exactly the most villainous person afterall.
" See ? I told you spiritual energy would do the trick. It's easier done then said !" Said Purple, and Joseph had to concede that point. It had been easier than he had thought it would be. Now he just needed to go see the man and tell him it was done, but he was a bit curious.
Under Purple's surprised gaze, he turned the corpse around and then....
" What the hell ?! It's a high school girl !" Exclaimed Joseph.
" Well, umm...Cool ? Now you need to get back to that man, he should still be around. Move before someone see the corpse." Said Purple, though it was clear that he didn't wanted Joseph to do that. Those words were only said to tempt the young man.
" No, no, no. I have that gut feeling....The one that's telling you when something is very wrong. I need to see that man, maybe I'll know a bit more. Maybe that girl was just after him for his money. That seems unlikely, but other than that, I don't see why a high school girl would stalk a business man like that. Especially since given that his soul is a chosen one, he should be pretty damn rich." Said Joseph, but Purple knew he was only saying that to convince himself.
Anyone would see that something was wrong with this situation. Purple knew what was going on, it was obvious in his gaze, but he kept silent.
Thus, Joseph, after taking a picture of the girl, went to search for the man while Purple stayed behind. The Agent then took out his phone and looked at the file he had received. Said file contained two profiles, the profile of a businessman and the profile of an high school girl.
" Kusakabe Suhara and Chizuru Oibara. A victim and.....A rapist. One family is sure to get offended after that. Maybe I should involve Joseph in this as well, it would give him some experience, as well as some scars....."