{Godly-like claps with echoes from the heavenly realm.}
"My, my, oh my. I didn't expect to see you so soon, Anabel, or should I call you Natsume Okashihara?"
The thing before me looked strange: a man-like silhouette with no face or body. He was kind of just present without being at the same time. If I had to describe him better, I would say he gave off Godly vibes. He looked exactly what a God would look like.
As for me, I was back in my former forty-year-old body, but it looked distorted. I was my former self, but some parts looked more like Anabel's body than my own, like my hands. They looked much younger.
"What? Why am I a loser again!? Did I die!?"
"No, you're not dead yet. I stopped time and snatched your soul up here where we can have a little chat." Said the thing.
Was he for real? Could he really stop time? No, that was the least of my concerns. If all the manga was to help me, these types of Gods are often the bad guys, so I had to find a way back to my body soon.
"Don't try to run from me. I only want to help you! In exchange for your skill, of course."
"My skill? What could you want from a useless skill like Fenix? Aren't you all-powerful anyway?"
The creature chuckled as it projected images of me dying soon, but then he showed me other images where I'm instantly healed after the girl "Successfully" Heals me. Tsk! So it wasn't an option to refuse!
"Listen, I find you rather entertaining to watch over, and so I have taken a liking to you."
"Why do I still look like a loser then?"
"That's just your soul form. I'm indeed powerful, but even I can't change the shape of your soul. This projection of you is how you currently view yourself. I have nothing to do with it."
"Does the Goddess know about this?"
"She doesn't need to know, but just to be sure, I'll curse you so you can't talk about my existence outside my realm! Ahahaha!" Dam it! I blew my only escape from the devil! Why did I even say that?!
"Now, what do you say? You take my help, and I steal your unique skill in return! How does that sound?!" The creature seemed eager to snatch my skill away, but as it stood, I had no options, did I? It wasn't like the Goddess was about to lend me a hand any time soon.
"Fine! You have yourself a deal! But please allow me to keep living and remove my magic curse!"
"I will, but I shall only remove the support ban; I won't revoke your magic ban anytime soon; that shit is way too funny to stop it now!"
You little shit! I requested that the ban be removed from the entire system, not only the healing sector! Hey, you jerk, don't send me back down just yet! Wait! I have way more questions for you! Wait!
As I was falling back into my body, I saw a message popping into view at the forefront of my vision. It read.
[Do you agree with the skill surrender? {Yes/no}]
Tsk! What other option did I have? I had to trust that he would hold his side of the deal, so I chose to surrender my skill, and another message popped.
[Sucessfully surrendered skill "Fenix." Now, we are permanently revoking the support magic ban from the system. Support magic may now be allowed for the previously banned user.]
{Sight} Well, I could at least now receive healing magic without the need for the cursed series. I was worried, though, just how powerful that skill was. Why would God want it!? It couldn't be for anything good, but oh well, I had no option.
My soul soon crashed into my body, and time resumed when I got back in there, suddenly opening my eyes. Oh, great heavens, what a fantastic sight! Two beautifully crafted melons so near my face! I wanted to touch!
Just like the creature had promised, my body instantly recovered at the next healing attempt by the girl. So he hadn't lied; I suppose he couldn't be that bad after all? No, he was still giving bad vibes. It sounded more like the devil than God.
As far as the situation, I had to act like I was assaulted by the now Knocked out David. The adventurers would not even suspect me as a possible cash price, so I should be safe with a little lie.
As far as Alexander was concerned, I had to return for him or the palladium. I was sure he had collected it, at least. Without a blacksmith thought, I would have no way of making a gun by myself.
"Are you okay, kiddo?" Said the tall adventurer who had beaten David to a pulp for me.
"Ye- Yes, I think I'm all fine now, thank you."
"Why was he trying to kill you? Do you need protection or something, Kiddo? Who is after you?"
"I- I'm just trying to leave the city safely. I can handle it on my own."
"You sure Kiddo? We deal with these types of problems all the time. You sure you don't want our help?" He was insistent, and since I still had no fucking idea how to escape, I had to think before rejecting his kind offer again.
"If you insist, then I shall take your help. I don't have much money, but I can assure you my parents can pay for your services."
"Don't worry about it, Kiddo, Eclaire! She is clearly being persecuted; hide yourself with her already."
"L'arc, you should stop getting us into trouble so randomly!"
"Oh, calm down! I'll buy you your favorite okonomiyaki when we finish
the job!"
Eclaire sighed as she began to cast an illusion spell on herself and me. We were soon somewhat invisible. I didn't know where she was leading me, so I eventually told her I had to go back for Alexander, but she ignored me and kept pulling me along.
"We don't have time or resources for somebody else. I'm sure they'll be fine." Dam, Sorry, Alexander Sama!