‘What do I expect? Of course, fate will screw me over. Sigh. Well, not really. It has always been that way. Being chosen, she gave me many powerful abilities. To balance it all out, she also gave me a curse to establish equilibrium again. This outcome is predictable in some ways, but still, it sucks. Fate sucks!

Why do I always curse fate, as if it were some nagging habit I couldn’t resist? It has now become a stress reliever in some ways. Maybe, I should really stop. Just as that old woman said, fate is blind. Maybe she’s blind but not deaf. She hears all my complaints and, worst of all, she hears me cursing her name. This might be the reason why she dislikes me. Yup, that might be the case.

Sigh. I had better shut my mouth. Maybe, she will change her opinion of me.’

image [https://i.imgur.com/DKWSyFL.png]

‘F*ck, what the hell! Is the serpent trying to make me a killer?

Well, I’m already a killer, so killing isn’t really the problem here. The problem is that I need to kill every week so that the curse doesn’t take effect. Damn it, I would never kill anyone just to meet the demand of this curse. I only kill those who really deserve it.’

BloodShade noticed the frustration on the boy’s face, and she asked, “Is there a problem?”

“Hmm…” Elysian glanced at the woman before sighing. “Yeah, a big one. It seems being Xipilcoatl’s chosen gives me a curse. Tsk, I don’t like this. It’s compelling me to do a weekly sacrifice or else I suffer some debilitating sickness.”

“Ah, that one,” BloodShade responded, confused by the noble’s reaction. “Yes, a curse. It’s always troublesome to deal with curses but I don’t see a problem in your case.”

“What do you mean, ‘not a problem?’” Elysian retorted, scowling at the nonchalant reaction of the woman. “Did you not hear me? I said the curse is asking for a weekly sacrifice of a sentient being. It seems this Abyssal entity is nudging me in a direction I don’t want to go.”

“Yes, I know that,” BloodShade replied, her confusion still evident on her face. “But you seem to have a knack for killing people. Before the end of this week, I’ll be surprised if you don’t get your hands bloody again.”

“Sorry to say this, but that’s a compliment I don’t appreciate,” Elysian said, shaking his head before expanding his point. “As I said earlier, I only kill people who deserve it.”

“Well, you should kill some criminals in your land then,” BloodShade bluntly remarked. “Ironspire should be teeming with those who deserve death, right? It’s a backwater land at the fringes of your kingdom. You can find some rapists or murderers that need some culling to clean your territory.”

Elysian sighed before growing quiet for a long moment. Glancing at the woman, he said, “You’re right, but I don’t want to be forced to kill someone just for the sake of evading a curse. I don’t trust myself if I’m faced with such a situation. My judgment might be impaired without me knowing.”

“Whether you like it or not, it’s a situation that you must face,” BloodShade said, not fully invested in the discussion. Death for her wasn’t really a big deal. Well, not entirely. Since she had met the boy, her view of death regarding those who were innocent compared to the vermin who needed to die slowly began to change. Before, all death to her was the same, whether it was a child or a criminal. Though change was slowly happening, she still needed time to revert from the creature they had made her into to find her humanity again. “Don’t worry, I trust that you will eventually find the solution that you want.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Hopefully,” Elysian whispered, nodding to her in gratitude before shifting his attention back to the active abilities he had yet to see.

image [https://i.imgur.com/E8nR1Ai.png]

‘A mental manipulation and a psion-specific ability. Well, this is expected since this is related to the mind. Hopefully, I don’t get any mana or qi-specific abilities, as that would really be problematic. If it’s mana-intensive and uses more than the meager thirty percent of my capacity, it will be unusable after I use up all of BloodShade’s energy. Tsk, this is the problem when you can’t pick which ability you get.

Well, whatever. For now, I’m lucky to have this ability. This isn’t surprising since BloodShade had shown the ability to influence my mind at the beginning. She seems to be quite proficient at it since she was using it all the time. It would have been better if this was a passive ability because it would be quite useful in a fight. Even though I’m using BloodShade’s energy to power this ability, her capacity isn’t limitless. Using other combatant-related abilities would be more preferable.

Though this seems not geared for combat, this doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. On the contrary, this is quite useful to me. As a merchant, I can already imagine plenty of scenarios where I can use ‘Ravenous Whisper.’

Is this similar to Amara’s? Hmm… If I remember correctly, her ability is called ‘Alluring Presence.’ From the type of ability, they are similar since both of them are related to the manipulation of the mind. Their names, however, suggest different purposes. Mine is more inclined to stroking the greed of men, while hers is their lust. Both are useful but designed for different purposes.’

image [https://i.imgur.com/tkFTPfT.png]

‘Now, we are talking. This is the ability I want and need. It perfectly fits with my fighting style. Also, it has an epic rating. Good, good, the only problem I see is that it uses mana as one of its energy sources. Tsk, I can only use it twice on my own without BloodShade’s reserve. This just means I need to be conservative in using this ability.

Well, good things usually come with a cost. I should just be thankful that I got something very useful here.’

image [https://i.imgur.com/gPUxcPa.png]

‘Another useful ability. I have seen similar abilities before, though with a different name. This is usually used by the sneaky kind. This would be quite useful if I want to escape. Great, I can use this as a life-saving measure. Since this uses mana again, I must only use this in case I’m faced with a dire situation.’

image [https://i.imgur.com/HE3ocOx.png]

‘What’s this? ‘True Emergence,’ is this what I think it is? Does this mean I can call BloodShade to my world? Isn’t this too powerful? Well, it’s reflected in the requirement and the activation cost of this ability. Luckily, I’ve gotten two boons from the great serpent which give me two of the necessary elements. Did it know that I needed this, and that’s why it gave the two elements? Well, I won’t be surprised if it did. But, it’s likely just a coincidence.

The other problem I see is the ‘Blood of the Fallen.’ What does it even mean? Is it implying the quantity of blood needed? Or the other, much worse, possibility?’

“Why are you frowning?” BloodShade asked. A teasing smile appeared on her lips as she carefully studied the boy’s face. “Are you dissatisfied with the abilities you’ve received?”

“No, I’m very satisfied with them,” Elysian responded, his mind still at a loss, thinking about the meaning of the words he just read. “Very satisfied.”

“Then why do you look unhappy?” she asked, raising a brow.

“Not unhappy but confused,” Elysian clarified, glancing at the woman. “What do you mean ‘Blood of the Fallen?’ Does this mean the amount of blood?”

“Ah, that one,” BloodShade said, chuckling upon understanding the boy’s reaction. “Aren’t the words self-explanatory? You just need to kill seventy people to activate this ability.”

“Sh*t!”