Lind's words surprised Alisha.
"What do you want this for?" Alisha asked with a suspicious expression. "To use this skill, you have to pay the price of your lifespan. You mages already have extraordinary power. Do you still need to use such a thing?"
Lind shrugged and said, "As you know, I'm from that place. We crave knowledge, desire to understand all the mysteries of the world. We have a fanatical pursuit of all supernatural powers…"
Although Lind didn't say anything, Alisha understood.
The "that place" that Lind was referring to was naturally the capital of the Republic of Free Federation, namely Dawn City, also known as the City of Progress. That was the birthplace of the mage civilization, and the headquarters of the Bayes Continent's mage guild was established there.
Lind's knowledge about the Republic of Free Federation had come from books. It was perfect for hiding his identity, and it would explain some of his strange behavior.
Alisha did not see that Lind was lying. It was very reasonable for a Spellcasting Mage to claim that he was from Dawn City.
No one could find any fault with it.
Alisha looked at Lind and said, "I can teach you, but this skill can only be used if you believe in the Shadow God. Can you change your faith?"
Lind shrugged and said, "We mages believe in aether and the laws of everything in the world. As long as it works for me, I can believe in it. It's no big deal."
Lind's words weren't made up. They were from a book.
Among the mages of the Republic of Free Federation, there was a group of self-proclaimed believers of all things. Their creed was "Faith is Anything and Everything". Simply put, as long as it was useful, they would believe in it.
It was simple and crude, but it was exceptionally useful.
As the princess of the Tulip Empire, Alisha was naturally knowledgeable. She knew that Dawn City had such a group of mages.
In her heart, she had already classified Lind as one of these mages.
Since Lind had already said so, Alisha no longer refused.
She held out her hand to Lind. "Give me your hand."
Lind hesitated and Alisha added, "If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have saved you just now. I paid three years of my life for you."
When Lind heard this, he stopped hesitating and placed his hand on Alisha's.
Alisha grabbed Lind's hand in the next second. Their fingers intertwined, tangling tightly.
"I am Alisha Dean Pandoragon. In the name of the Shadow, I invite you to be a new believer of the Shadow. Do you accept?"
Lind felt as if a huge eye had appeared above his head when Alisha finished speaking.
That eye was spying on him in the void.
Lind took a deep breath to calm himself, then said, "I do."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt as if there was a flame burning in his palm.
Alisha let go now. Lind looked at his palm. A dark sheep's head appeared in it.
Then, the mark entered the flesh on Lind's palm and disappeared.
However, Lind could feel that he could summon the Shadow God through this mark.
However, there was a price to pay.
"Lend me your knife," Lind said to Alisha.
"What are you going to do?" Alisha asked, confused, but handed her knife to Lind.
Lind drew the knife and cut his palm, then laid it on the ground. "Shadow God," he said. "I want to make a deal with you!"
Hearing Lind's words, Alisha's expression changed drastically. "You're crazy. You have to use honorifics when dealing with the Shadow God."
Lind didn't answer Alisha. He looked at the ground under his palm.
As expected, in the next second, his palm became hot. Blood flowed on the ground, drawing the mark of a goat's head.
In the next second, the black fog attacked, and Lind was swept into the black fog again.
However, unlike the last time, Lind was the only one who was consumed into the black fog this time.
In front of Lind, the goat skull burning with purple flames appeared again.
Still looking down at Lind, it whispered like an ancient god, "Are you the one who summoned me?"
Lind smiled and replied, "That's me."
The goat skull stepped forward and sniffed Lind's scent. The flames in its eye sockets burned brightly. It asked in a dissatisfied voice, "Why didn't you ask your king for help? Instead, you came to me to pray for strength?"
"It's a deal anyway. Does it matter who the target is?" Lind asked.
"It's different. Lifespan is too cheap for you guys. I'll suffer a loss if I trade with you," the goat skull replied.
"But the Shadow God didn't stipulate that a vampire couldn't become its believer," Lind said.
The goat skull looked at Lind as if it had admitted defeat. It let out a long sigh and said, "You're right. There's indeed no such rule. What do you want me to help you with?"
Lind said, "That companion of mine. Help her recover her strength."
The goat skull heard Lind's words and asked in a daze, "You called me out for such a small matter?"
Lind shrugged and said, "I have a long lifespan and I can do anything I want!"
Lind had realized this the moment Alisha had first summoned the goat skull.
To humans, summoning a goat skull with their lifespan required a huge price.
However, for a creature like Lind, whose lifespan was close to eternity, exchanging his lifespan for something else was simply the biggest bargain.
To vampires, using this skill was almost free. That was why he pretended to be bad-tempered and forcefully took the skill from Alisha.
Lind looked at the goat skull, wanting to verify his guess.
As expected, although very unwilling, the goat skull still said those four words.
"The deal is done!"
In the next second, Lind was teleported out.
He looked at Alisha to see if his deal was really done.
Alisha, who was still on her last breath, quickly regained color in the next second.
Her sickly appearance was swept away, and she immediately became energetic.
Seeing Lind return, she immediately stood up and asked, "What did you do just now?"
But the next moment, she looked at herself and realized that her strength had completely recovered.
She looked at Lind's side profile in surprise and couldn't help but ask, "Did you make a deal with the Shadow God to restore my health?"