Meanwhile,
Just as Lorien was waiting patiently in his own domain, Maki who had been sent on a journey by the reality warper was currently experiencing one of the worst 'Adventures' in her life.
Experiencing it all from a first-person's perspective, Maki watched from the moment when Fushiguro Megumi became the head of the Zen'in clan, albeit for a brief moment of time, until Mai's death.
Her powerlessness, her family's cold-heartedness, and her younger sister's sacrifice; She experienced everything vividly.
It was as if those events have really occurred, transpiring in front of her eyes as all she could do was watch powerlessly, unable to change anything.
Moreover, to add insult to injury, the experience ended with Mai's death, not showing her revenge that burned the Zen'in clan to the ground.
Additionally, that wasn't the only thing that she didn't see as there was obviously a lot of information that was intentionally removed by Lorien so as to not affect his future plans.
This included information about the Shibuya incident, Gojo getting sealed, and many other miscellaneous information.
However, Maki didn't care about any of this right now as with this nightmarish experience ending, she suddenly sat up, gasping for breath.
*Gasp*
*Gasp*
Taking large breaths of fresh air, Maki's body shook as the events she had just seen kept replaying in her mind.
Right now, she didn't even pay attention to Lorien who was currently sitting a couple of meters away from her.
'This...'
'What just happened? What did he do?!'
'Was it an illusion?!'
'No, no, no, it didn't feel like it...'
Instinctively denying the inevitable, Maki tried thinking of other explanations for the events she just went through, however, she soon gave up, finally accepting reality.
After all, there was this 'voice' in the back of her head that kept telling her that this wasn't a lie...and she chose to believe it.
'Is that the future?'
'It's...dark.'
Taking a deep breath, Maki immediately restored her calm under Lorien's appreciative eyes as she then looked at the latter and spoke, her voice filled with resolve.
"You said you could help me, How?" Said Maki, knowing that was walking straight into the trap that the man in front of her has clearly laid, not hiding his intentions.
However, while knowing this, she also knew that this was her only chance at preventing the scenes she had just seen from becoming reality.
After all, she couldn't think of any other method to quickly improve her strength; As for asking for outside help, she denied this as she knew that her future self would have done this if it was possible.
'There is a lot of missing information...'
'Where was Gojo-sensei when all of this happened; If he was still there, the clan wouldn't have dared to do such a thing...'
Taking a deep breath, Maki calmed herself as she thought of all the possibilities.
However, she still couldn't determine anything as her experience didn't contain any important information.
Understanding this, Maki couldn't help but look at the man in front of her as she suppressed the urge to punch the shit-eating grin out of his face.
'I...There is not much I can do...'
'I should have previously agreed...'
'Why did I disagree again?'
'Ughhh, damn pride and arrogance!'
'Now, I am going to get ridiculed'
And indeed, things went as she expected as Lorien who was watching amusedly as her facial expressions continued to flip like the pages of a book finally responded with a wild laugh.
"Ooooooh, You want my help? Didn't you just say that you don't want it?"
Looking at the wide grin on Lorien's face, Maki continued to suppress the urge to punch him as she replied while bowing slightly.
"I apologize for that, so, could you please help me?"
"Hmmmmm."
Humming lightly, Lorien then proceeded to silently observe Maki, causing the atmosphere to suddenly stiffen.
Doing this for a couple of moments, he scanned her up and down before finally smiling gently and responding.
"I refuse!"
"Huh?!"
Hearing this, Maki's heart instantly sank as she opened her mouth not knowing what say.
However, after seeing the teasing look on Lorien's face, she immediately realized that he was playing with her which caused her to immediately respond.
"Stop playing with me, Please respond seriously!"
Hearing this, Lorien started scratching his chin as he contemplated on either continuing to make fun of her or just getting things done, however, Maki didn't know about this as she became more nervous by the second.
But, thankfully for her, Lorien's positive side somehow took over as he finally smiled and asked playfully.
"Alright! I can help, however, don't expect it to be free, so, what can you pay?"
"What can I pay..."
Hearing Lorien's question, Maki immediately became silent as she didn't know what the other party wanted as payment.
'Money? He doesn't seem to be the type that needs it, moreover, even if he wanted it, I don't think that I have enough money for that.'
'Pay him by helping him do odd jobs? Well, I can't think of anything that I can help him with...'
'Or maybe...'
'Ughhhh, this is annoying!'
Thinking of all of the possible options, Maki felt her head expand and contract from the pain.
Even after thinking about it for a couple of minutes, she still got nothing.
So, realizing that she was going nowhere, She finally decided to throw the ball back to Lorien's side of the court.
"Before that, what kind of level of strength can you help me achieve?"
Hearing this, Lorien felt a bit surprised seeing her calm demeanor which he greatly appreciated.
After all, it would be hard for normal people to immediately calm down after experiencing what she did and then reasonably thinking about getting all of the details before making any deals.
A normal person ''might'' have jumped on the opportunity and paid whatever he could before knowing what he was really getting.
'This girl really does have potential! Now I am curious as to what kind of power she will awaken after giving her the dream path.'
Thinking of this, the smile on Lorien's face grew bigger as he finally responded to her question.
"I can help you to immediately reach the Special-Grade level, I can also help you with Martial arts allowing you also reach that level only based on them, and finally I can give you the opportunity to walk on a new power system which will allow you to gain power similar to cursed techniques and even better!"
Saying this, Lorien took a couple of steps toward Maki as he then leaned forward and said lightly.
"So, what can you pay, and please note that you will gain all of those in a very short period of time!"
*Hiss*
Hearing this long list of *benefits*, Maki's eyes instantly widened in shock as she took a deep breath of air as a reaction.
'Is he for real?!'
While she expected the 'ships' on Lorien's side to be quite sizable, she didn't expect him to give her such a 'surprise'.
As for the possibility of him lying to her? That is very minimal! After all, such lies are very easy to pierce as all one needs to do is wait for them to unfold.
However, this wasn't the main point of Maki's attention right now as she started thinking once again about the price she needs to pay.
Now, not only did her choice not become easier, it became even harder.
'Ughhh, I really want to punch myself in the face for previously not accepting the offer.'
Shaking her head, Maki immediately extinguished the feelings of regret that were emerging as she knew that she needed to make a choice as soon as possible.
So, after thinking about it for a couple more moments, her eyes were suddenly filled with resolve and a bit of madness as she then raised her head and looked Lorien straight in the eye.
'Whatever, I don't care anymore!'
'The reason I lived so long is to prove myself, however, there is need for that anymore!'
'All I want to do now is end that cold...family.'
The more she thought about it, the more resolved and irritated she became; So, unable to hold her emotions, she finally said something which she somewhat immediately regretted.
"If what you said is correct, then, I am willing to pay everything!"
"Everything?"
"Yes! Everything! After I deal with the clan, you can do whatever you want with me!"
Saying this, even with the slight feelings of regret, Maki relaxed slightly as she observed the man in front of her.
'Well, in the end, this might not be that bad!'
--Note--
You can read the next chapter '194' for free on - P a t r e o n - Go check it out there!
---Author---
P a t r e o n . c o m /AuthorHoussem (Support me there and get to read up to 15 advanced chapters or more)
You can also find me now by simply typing: 'Houssem'