Pairing

'Ugh… Why does my head hurt so much? Did I lose consciousness? What's that annoying sound?' James's slowly regained consciousness.

The loud screeching echo forcefully disorganized his thoughts. However, James had no intentions of waking up just yet. The strange mummification he witnessed earlier still weighed heavily on his mind.

"System, what happened?" James mentally asked.

Unknown User request!

"What the fuck? Tell me what caused the System Error?"

Unknown User request!

'What the hell is this? I couldn't have imagined it, right?' James blankly stared at the system's message, unable to believe his eyes. Just then, a sudden thought filled his mind. Sending chills down his spine.

"System, show me my User Interface." James demanded. The anxiety in his voice clear.

Age: 14

Rank: Student.

Level: 28 (7,701,840.89 Exp needed to upgrade to the next Level)

Current Exp: 0.00

{Stats}

Intelligence: 4000. Wisdom: 1100. Strength: 5. Endurance: 4301. Luck: 100. Agility: 2252.

Defense: 2252. Charisma: 200.

{Skills}

Mana Manipulation.

Death Magic.

Dark Arts.

Undead Physiology.

Rot Inducement.

Curse Inducement.

Hell-Fire Manipulation.

Shadow Barrier.

Blood Magic (Locked. Level 30 Required)

{Titles}

Necromancer.

Grim Reaper.

Netherworld Survivor (Branded).

{Items}

-Odon Alloy Ring.

-Golden Six Clover Orchid.

-Mask of the Dead.

-Nightbane, Warblade of Dark Souls.

-Army of the Fallen.

-Lesser Demons (Refining Incomplete).

-Damned Souls.

-Corpses.

{Bloodline Vault}

-??? (The user's Rank is too low to access this information)

- Blood Essence of unevolved beasts.

- Blood Essence of a demon.

{Status}

-Transitioning.

'How can my Exp be zero? What's with my current status? What's that supposed to mean?' Different thoughts filled James's mind. He didn't even bother with his new level; instead, he had to know why his Exp had returned to zero. Especially with his curse still active. His status also bothered him, however, finding out about his Exp farms was priority.

'Wait… don't tell me someone uplifted the curse.' James's body shuddered as the thought filled his mind.

"System, scan the targets with The Soul Parasite Curse." James ordered.

Scanning…

Scanning completed!

Targets with The Soul Parasite Curse Detected: 0!

Involuntarily, James's eyes snapped open. The bright lights in the familiar room instantly assaulted his eyes, however, they quickly adjusted to the intensity.

'Huh? Where's the rest of them?' James's eyes narrowed as he stared at the youths. Although he couldn't take a proper count of their numbers, he knew their numbers had significantly reduced.

'Did all of them turn to dust?' James flinched as the thought filled his mind. He could never forget the sight of the youths mummifying.

Just then, James felt something striking his head.

'Now what?' James brows furrowed. The strikes he felt had intensified. Although he felt no pain, it made him uncomfortable.

Wasting no time, James adjusted his head to the origin of the strikes. There, a miniature Goopi had been violently punching him with her little hands. James's sudden actions surprised her. She let out a low shriek while running away.

'Does she think I won't harm because she is like that?' James had no intentions of letting Goopi go. Stretching his right hand, he quickly covered the distance. Just before he could catch the fleeing slime, however, a delicate hand intertwined with his.

"Hehehe… what do you want to do to my Goopi?" Aebalar teased with an uncharacteristically slurred voice.

Goopi instantly climbed her hand, before disappearing into her robes. Aebalar, on the other hand, couldn't stop herself from laughing. She had been watching the little slime since she started her assault on James's head. In fact, she gave Goopi the go ahead after confirming James wasn't pretending to be unconscious.

'Her again? It's better not to find trouble with this crazy bitch…' James slowly shook his head. Since he couldn't crush Goopi, he fell back. However, Aebalar had no intentions of releasing his hand just yet.

"What do you want?" James asked. A scowl distorted his face.

Saying nothing, Aebalar opened her mouth. Pointing at the incision on her tongue.

'Don't tell me she was awake… shit! This will make things complicated.' James mused. However, there was no change to his facial expression.

"What am I supposed to be looking at? Release my hand, I don't have time for your games," James said. Using a bit of his strength, he yanked his hand away from Aebalar's clutches.

"Oh? Are we playing that game now? I know what you did… hehehe…" Aebalar teased. Smiling knowingly at James.

James, however, stared blandly at her. One would assume he stared at a crazy person.

"I don't have time for this. Where's Henriksen? Where are we?" James said. Slyly changing the subject. Naturally, he would never admit he was responsible for Aebalar's injury. He was ready to call her bluff. Since he placed the Soul Parasitic Curse earlier, he was confident that none of the youths knew what he did. And if by some miracle she knew it was him, he would continue to deny it.

"If it wasn't you, who would cut my beautiful tongue? It hurts so much… I can't even talk well," Aebalar muttered. She pouted as she slowly rubbed her tongue.

'I knew it. There's no way she was awake.' For a moment a smile flashed across James's lips.

"Where's Henriksen? What about the Caretakers? Hey, stop rubbing your tongue and tell me what you know," James said. Unlike before, he had shifted to a sitting position. However, he donned a slight frown. From where he sat, he could see various groups staring at him and Aebalar with hostile gazes. Since he had never seen most of them, it made no sense to him. From James's point of view, something must have happened while he was unconscious.

Like before, Aebalar completely ignored James. Now, she used her left hand to fan her tongue.

Just then, James grabbed her by her shoulders. Stunning the young demon.

"Hehehe… are you planning on taking me in front of all these people? I didn't know you like that. I too shy, but I don't mind if it's you… hehehe." Aebalar wore a brilliant smile as she winked at James. She seductively leaned towards him, instantly drawing the attention of everyone in the vault.

"What are you—?"

"Shh… Henriksen, a giant and a sickly fellow came while you were still unconscious." Aebalar whispered ever so lightly, then she continued. "They said something about a rights ceremony. Apparently, since we survived the Odon Forest, we are the most valuable survivors from the Selection. According to the giant, our status in the Village will be higher than those from the other locations. However, since it's unfair to the others who survived the other locations, they would have the chance to challenge us for our rights. Long story short, they paired us into groups. Rowan and Yoz. Ibane and Solheim. For some reason, they said nothing about Firmaha and Lilis."

At that moment, a sudden realization dawned on James.

'No way! No. No. No. Don't tell me…' James's eyes subconsciously narrowed as he stared into Aebalar's eyes.

"It seems you have figured it out. We are the last group. Hehehe…" Aebalar whispered. Seductively biting James's ear.

"That's why I asked Goopi to wake you up. Hehehe… Since she hasn't recovered yet, she can't take part in the ceremony." Aebalar explained.

"Are they expecting us to fight all of them?" James asked. Although the current situation displeased him, he believed it was inconceivable for only him and Aebalar to fight off several people in their rank and higher.

"Hehehe… that's the same question I asked. But, Ceferiri, or was it Cefefifi... ummm... the giant said only two people could challenge us. They will pair up like us." Aebalar explained. She inched closer towards James, playfully resting her head on his shoulders.

'That doesn't make any sense either. How long would it take them to choose who has the right to challenge us?' James mused.

"Unlike us, the others formed large teams in order to survive the other locations. They clearly know who's the strongest amongst themselves." Aebalar said, as if she could read James's thoughts.

"Did they say when and where it would take place?" James asked. He didn't expect to face such a situation so soon.

Still resting on James's shoulders, Aebalar slowly shook her head.

'I don't want to reveal my power in front of so many people. This could become a problem...' James thought.

Unless absolutely necessary, he would never showoff his abilities. He didn't want a situation where he would draw unnecessary attention to himself.

While different thoughts filled James's mind, he suddenly felt Aebalar's hand on his chest. Before he could say a word, her slurred voice filled his ears.

"Do you know how I knew it was you?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Adam retorted, still whispering.

"Hehehe... the cut on my tongue. I know you did it," Aebalar said. She sat upright staring into James's eyes.

James equally stared back, showing no reaction. He couldn't be bothered with Aebalar's words.

"I don't know how it happens, but something strange happens whenever I'm on the verge of dying. When it happens, it usually takes a while before I wake up, but when I do, I can vividly remember the face of the person who tried to kill me. For some reason, they always disappear. This time, however, I saw more than five faces. Why would people I have never met try to kill me?" Aebalar said, she continued to stare into James's eyes.

"How would I know?" James retorted. Causally shrugging. However, his mind had gone into a battle ready state. Never would he have expected such a turnaround.

"I guess that makes the two of us..." Aebalar said with a teasing grin. "But you know what, I probably would have believed you if you hadn't taken my blood. I don't know how you found out about it, but I'd advise you not to have any intentions of consuming it. Believe me, I'm telling you this for your own. There's something inside of me, and you pissed it off. I don't know when, but I'm going to fucking kill you. And I'm sure it's going to feel so good. Hehehehe..."