Paul glanced at Reign and Aethion, at first wondering just who the hell the old man that was standing in the space of consciousness he and Ilumar shared was, before recognizing Reign. His eyes widened as his mouth opened as he pointed at Reign before looking at Ilumar.
Ilumar sighed, he knew just how much Paul respected Reign, it was borderline worshipping.
He nodded at Paul whose mouth was still open, his mind churning, not knowing what to say, nor what to do.
He remembered his previous actions, how he was yelling and screaming while jumping around. His face turned red from the embarrassment as he knew that Reign had heard and seen everything.
He collected himself, gulping loudly before stepping forward and nearing Reign.
"Hi, my name is Paul," Paul said in a voice that sounded almost robotic. The poor guy was stiff, his hand extending slowly as his eyes were slightly shaking.
Aethion could see just how nervous the boy was and sighed inside.
'It seems you have gained quite an interesting follower today, boy.' Aethion told Reign telepathically as the latter shook Paul's hand and smiled at him.
"Nice to meet you, Paul, I'm Reign."
Paul simply smiled dumbly as he stared at Reign and nodded numerous times, for a moment, Reign even though he was having a seizure.
"I know, I know, it's nice to finally meet you, boss."
"I am 21 years old, my blood type is O+, I'm quite a good explorer, and am not bad in a fight."
"I also have a strong weapon, oh, and my skills are highly ranked, I am right-handed, my middle name is-"
"For crying out loud, stop with your babbling, Paul!" Ilumar suddenly shouted before placing his palm over his head, feeling embarrassed just by looking at Paul and how he was acting. It was as if a schoolgirl had managed to meet her idol and was unable to form normal sentences and speak correctly.
Paul froze upon hearing Ilumar's shout, and upon realizing what he was talking about, he blinked several times and had a nervous smile on his face.
'Good job Paul, now he will think you are a moron, good job, you're never going to be fighting alongside him and the others, hell, he might just decide to kick your crazy ass out of the territory now."
Paul went down on his knees and placed his palms in front of him before suddenly looking up.
"Please don't kick me out of the territory, I'm normal, I swear, I'm a normal guy, it's just that I'm feeling a bit bad after the evolution!"
"I can fight, I can explore, and I will definitely be of help to you and the others!"
Reign looked down at Paul, he had no idea what to say or what to do now. From the moment the boy looked at him, his actions had become increasingly weird. First the robotic movement and voice, then the rambling, and finally he was actually on his knees, begging Reign to not kick him out.
'Why the hell would I kick a Tier IV combatant out of the territory?' Reign thought as he did his best to calm Paul down and help him get up from the ground.
The boy was a wreck emotionally, that was at least what Reign believed as he looked at Paul's face. The guy was a nervous wreck and it was visible to all of them.
'I take it back, you gained a fanboy, not a follower.'
'I know, this will be a bit weird, I never had anything like this happen to me before.' Reign said as he looked at Paul who was getting yelled at by Ilumar for his previous behavior.
'But hey, don't you think this is a bit weird?' Reign suddenly asked Aethion who glanced at him.
'How do you mean weird?'
'Well, a guy like him is a member of the territory, he slowly starts doing his best to help out and become stronger, but fails at even evolving the first time, only to later find a dagger that luckily has the soul of a Saint in it.'
'Thanks to that, the Saint and the guy bond while the soul starts teaching him, allowing him to become much stronger and then do what is almost impossible, evolve and become a Tier IV being without going through any evolution beforehand.'
'A person nobody ever suspected of being strong managed to do all of that, always exceeding expectations and doing what nobody else could do while having the help of a much older and wiser soul inside his dagger that is definitely a powerful weapon.'
'Dammit, he's a protagonist of a story, isn't he?!' Reign yelled inside his mind, making Aethion sigh and put his palm over his head.
'No, I'm serious, that's how things go in most novels I read, the main character is at the bottom at first, always being underestimated, not having a good talent, and the like.'
'Then they suddenly gain a peerless treasure, go through various trials, and quickly become stronger and stronger until they're at the very peak of their universe, hell, even the dagger and the soul matches the old teacher archetype that can be found in many of them!'
'Usually, it's a ring that is taking your energy and making who was once a genius a talentless bastard where the old man is, sometimes it's a lantern, a necklace…'
'This guy, he is definitely a protag, there is no other way to explain what he has gone through and how he was able to become a Tier IV being.'
'Keeping him at our side is definitely the right thing to do, if my thoughts are correct, he will become as powerful as I one day.'
'Kid, your imagination, although it's thanks to novels and stuff, is quite something.'
'He will become as strong as you are?'
'His teacher is a Dragonkin, which although not a weak race, is nowhere near as powerful as your own, the Nephilims and the Immortal Army are at the very top of the universe, being led by the one that everyone still considers to be the strongest in the universe, no matter how much the Dragonkin helps this kid out, he will never be able to reach you.'
'That's because you don't know what I know, his luck, as well as misfortune should be off the charts, probably the same as Beast's, whom I also thought to be a protag type for a while, there's just no other way to explain his immense luck.'
'If his story unfolds as it should, he will gain many benefits, being able to find places where one can gain a lot regularly, and that will help him narrow the distance between him and the most talented people.'
Aethion simply sighed and agreed with Reign, but he only agreed so that the latter would stop talking.
"Alright, so you want us both to swear on our souls, right?" Ilumar asked Reign who nodded at him, and he and Paul did as he wished.
Suddenly, Ilumar's body started going back to how it was.
Ilumar simply sighed before glancing at Reign and Paul.
"This form is still unsustainable, you will need to become more powerful so that the dagger can improve, allowing me to regain at least the original look of my soul before anything else."
Paul nodded seriously at Ilumar, he knew that everything he had managed to accomplish was thanks to him. Just like Reign had previously said, Paul was one of the people that started leveling up quickly back when Reign managed to get the warehouse. He improved as fast as the other top players, but it was when he reached the peak of the realm and was given a challenge that things changed.
The challenge was far too difficult for Paul to clear, even after attempting numerous times to do what was asked of him, he never succeeded. Forced to skip the challenge, Paul decided to do whatever it took to evolve next time, only for him to fail once more.
His mind was nearly broken after attempting the challenge, and it was by luck that Paul had fallen through a hole in the ground and managed to find the dagger, of course, that happened after he was forced to battle a bunch of monsters for about 30 minutes.
Upon getting the dagger and forming the connection with Ilumar, the two slowly bonded over time and Ilumar started teaching him, fully certain that he would be able to make Paul strong enough to overcome the challenge and reach Tier II.
That was not his fate, however.
Paul started training a bit too late, and the most powerful things that Ilumar could teach him needed him to be younger, his body to not be filled with mana and so developed. He could have potentially gotten him through the third evolution, but he told Paul of his plan.
If Paul only evolved at the fourth evolution, Ilumar was certain that he could use his powers from the dagger and change his body, turning him more like a Dragonkin and boosting him even further.
That would not only make Paul's body stronger but would allow him to learn a lot more from Ilumar. Upon thinking about it for over a week, going through the incredible risk and high chance of death, Paul decided to agree.
He wanted to be strong, he wasn't content with only being a background character, always having to rely on others to do what the territory needed. He was helped in the beginning by Reign and the others who liberated Doncaster and allowed them all to start leveling up and going outside without fear.
The city was liberated completely later by them, and from that moment, it was Reign and the others that did everything that people needed, without them, the city would still be controlled by the monsters, and the people would slowly die thanks to that.
He wanted to be one of them, he wanted to be someone powerful that could not only help others, but who could deal with his own burdens without having to rely on others, so he went through the fourth evolution, nearly dying, but becoming much more powerful and talented that he previously was. What Ilumar did was change his body, and with that, his talent was changed as well.
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