Inside the black castle, precisely by the throne room, the black silhouette sat, relaxed in the all-black throne. Beside him, a young man can be seen sitting in a lotus position. That person is, well… is me. A few moments ago, the black silhouette who declares himself a demon king propose to me his deals.
"How about we make a deal?" The demon king extended his hand at me. I squinted eyes, "What are you planning?" still wary, I sceptically asked him. "Heh…" he clicked his tongue, pulling back his hand, putting both of his arms behind his back before turning his back towards me. "It will only be beneficial to you, I guarantee it" he used one of his hands to rub his chin. "Besides…" he turned his body, "You're currently not in a position to refuse", he stressed his last sentence.
His aura pressed on me, making my breath heavy. The black sword also was struggling under the demon king's pressure, causing it trembles nonstop in my hand. I gather what little aura I have left, coating myself and the black sword, trying to resist the demon king's pressure. I lifted my head up, glaring at the demon king hatefully. "So, how about it? Do you accept?" the demon king get his featureless face right in front of mine.
I shudder for a bit before smiling towards the demon king, "Why should I agree? If I don't, the worse that could happen is that you kill me." The demon king's eyes widen in surprise, "Hooh, you're not afraid to die?" the demon king pulled his head back, then he walked backwards with his hand behind his back. "I seek death many a time, and each time I never fear them. Why should I be afraid to die now?" my lips curled into a smile as soon as I said that.
"Hahahahaha!" the demon king lifted his head, laughing out loud. "You're really are interesting, as expected from my descendants."
"Descendants?" Shock filled my eyes when he said that; my thoughts conflicted while my mouth gaped wide. "Haha, surprised? I like the face that you're making right now", he giggled, "Well, it's not surprising that you didn't know. Before me, there are no humans in the world who had black hair and black eyes." I touch my hair with my left hand, "No, you're capping."
"Capping? What's that?" the demon king tilted his head. "Lying. It's a saying from… You know what? it doesn't matter." I tried explaining, but it's going to be long, so I refrain myself, "You're lying; there's no way that would be true," I stubbornly deny the demon king's statement, "I don't believe you."
"Believe what you want, but the evidence was plenty. Look up the history of the world, and you'll see. I left many children in this world", the demon king smiled smugly, "For some reason, the woman here like my charm a lot and willingly offered themselves to me." I rolled my eyes, "They're all idiots", I said to myself. "For more proof that you're my descendants…" the demon king let out his aura, "Can you feel the similarity?"
I tried feeling his aura more closely than before, and yes, there was a similarity between our aura. "Convinced yet?" the demon king's naughtily smirked. "Not one bit. Yes, there are similarities, but so what? Mine and my father's aura were similar too." I provocatively smiled. The demon king's lips and eyes curved, "You think so? Doesn't your sentence sounds weird?" he asked, feeling smug about himself.
"Yeah, me and my father's aura were si…. Shut the front door!" realization dawned on me. That makes so much sense. I wondered why my father and I possessed a pretty similar aura while everybody's aura was different from mine. I once asked my father about this, he said, "I don't know. Maybe because we're related?" That's what my dad said that day. If this was true then….
"No, no, no…. Why am I related to a guy like you?" I bang my head left and right, "I refuse to be related to a guy like you!" I pointed at the demon king before my antics caused my sore muscle to ache. "Ouch, ouch, ouch", I struggled in pain while the demon king just laughs heartily. "You're a bigger idiot than me", the demon king laugh out loud, nearly falling to the ground. I can tell from his eyes, if it's not for his pride, that he wanted to go to the floor and rolled on the floor laughing.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh at me, would you," I said, irritated. "Sorry, sorry. I'll get serious now. My offer is simple. Stay for a while and let me trained you", the demon king explained. My eyes gaped wide, "I'm sure you realized by now, you're still weak. I can help you get stronger; I want to help you get stronger," the demon king said. "Why? Why do you want to help me?" I cannot help to ask, "I'm just a nobody, someone that you briefly met; why do you want to help me?"
The demon king pondered for a second, "I just wanted to help you; what do you mean why?" I glared fiercely at the demon king before he gave up and scratched his head, "Fine, fine. First off, you're my descendants. Helping a younger member of your family is a must, right? Especially if that younger member is a weakling", the demon king's lips curved into a smile, "Second, well, I'm obligated to."
"What do you mean, obligated?"
"This Trial Ground purpose is to nurture a Fate Master. A few decades back, I made a deal with the person that constructs all of this, promising him to nurture them."
"So, you know I'm a Fate Master?" I asked, not a little bit surprised that someone of his calibre didn't realize what I am. "Of course, kid, I knew. You, an aura master capable of using magic? Only two kinds of beings can do that, and you're not the other. Who do you think allowed you to go inside that gate?" the demon king looked at me as if I'm some sort of dimwit. "Uhm, I don't know, the Trial Ground spirit? At least, that's what the system told me."
"System?" the demon king tilted his head, "Ah, the helper?" I nodded. "A helper managed to survive? How marvellous!" the demon king joyfully said. "Can you make it appear here, boy?" he asked. "How? I thought it was just a voice within my head…." The demon king shook his head, "Didn't you listen to its explanation? The Fate Master helper is something bound to your soul once you've become a Fate Master. Honestly, how dumb are you?"
Somehow, his tone pissed me off. Veins popped in my head, "Tell me then, how can I make it appear here?" I especially emphasized the word 'appear' in my question. "Sigh…." The demon king sighed, "Just focus your fate energy and released it just like what you did earlier when you're fighting me." I pondered for a second, "How do release fate energy?" I asked.
The demon king eyes go wide, "Then, how did you use that explosion spell earlier then?" the demon king was truly dumbfounded this time. He thought, ' I've met quite a few Fate Master along the years, but I never met a Fate Master like him before.'
"Well, I just use my RP to cast the spell." I shortly explained. "Rp?" the demon king was honestly confused. "What is that? What are you talking about?" I sighed, 'This is going to take a long time.' I explained how my abilities and power worked to the demon king. The more the demon king listened, the more shocked and surprised he was.
After a while, I finished explaining to the demon king about my power and abilities and how they work (while keeping some things to myself, such as Equipment Card, Champion Card, or the system shop). Suddenly, the demon king excitedly grabbed my shoulder tightly, his eyes sparkling. "You've struck jackpot, my descendants, you've struck jackpot", he passionately said.
"What?" I tilted my head in confusion. "You've struck gold. The Fate Master Helper, how your power works. You struck gold" the demon king kept repeating what he said over and over as he shakes my body back and forth. "Stop it! Damnit, do you want to kill me? My body's still hurting all over because of the Dragon Force Technique", I complained at the demon king's antics.
Seeing my pathetic state, the demon king cough before calming himself down. "Don't you know, boy? With your abilities, you have the potential to become the most powerful being in the world. You told me that you can get, what did you say earlier…. Fate Points by finishing mission given by the helper, right?"
"Right"
"And those Fate Points can be used to empower yourself? And those Fate Points can also be used to steal a spell of your choosing? Although the requirements that needed you to get hit by the spell first and survive is annoying. When you get powerful enough, though, it's a non-existence side effect", the demon king theorized, "To cast those spells, you need to have…. RP? How do you gain RP again?"
"Converting it from Fate Points." Or by buying a World Card of the specific elements from the system store, I said to myself.
"Right, converting it from Fate Points. So, in summary, you need Fate Points for everything?"
"Yup. You're forgetting something; I can also gain Fate Points by getting stronger the old fashion way." I remind the demon king. He nodded, "How interesting. Fate Master in the past has a different way for them to access Fate Power, but all of them tends to be the same. Yours though, boy, is unique", the demon king nodded, feeling happy to himself, "All the more reason for you to accept my offer."
I closed my eyes, thinking whether I should accept it or not. However, the demon king has no intention to wait for my reply, as he spoke immediately after I closed my eyes. "So, how about it, boy? Do you accept my offer?"