Collaboration

I had just gotten ahold of information that very much broke my heart, information that contained way too many implications.

"So, you are some kind of apostle of this Theia?"

The story that James had told me wasn't something that blew my mind, it was very much in line with how the stereotypical hero was often portrayed.

Getting a divine intervention from a God could almost be said to be the bare minimum as a plot point and explanation as to why he was so powerful.

Inspecting the blonde man, he absolutely looked like someone who would be supported by a holy goddess.

"Yes. Theia has been reaching out to me for a long time now, ever since my family lost their lives."

'Tragic backstory, help from a God... That's about right, I guess...'

"She is one of the reasons why I'm almost at a 4-star grade already. Ever since I was young she has acted as a pseudo essence, supplying me with mana in order to speed up my cultivation. Of course, as you know, that is not enough for the body to acclimate and get stronger so I also had to train hard, but the support has helped me greatly."

"Get to the point..."

I didn't care too much about his personal circumstances, I still just wanted to know what the point of this conversation was; just what did that have to do with me? He flinched a bit at my words, not expecting me to not care about his explanation as to why he was so strong, something most people would likely have a lot of questions about.

"Well, first I think you need to know just why she reached out to me..."

"Let me guess. In the past the gods were strong and omnipotent, thus they had no problem going against the evil gods. However, something changed, and now the dynamic is reversed or the demon god is rapidly gaining power, meaning that was is inevitable between humankind and demonkind. In an attempt to try and protect humanity, Theia reached out to you and granted you power in order to be strong enough to fight against evil, which is also the reason why you feel a need to be the strongest. Am I missing anything?"

James's mouth opened wide, most likely thinking I was either something akin to a mind reader or a seer, "How did you know?!"

It wasn't all that hard for me to predict what he was going to tell me. As soon as the existence of gods was confirmed, I had already created this little thesis in my head. Although it might have sounded casual, it wasn't that the situation wasn't a complete mess, or that I didn't have to worry about it. It was just so cliché. The most tragic part about this was that my perspective had been off.

I had viewed the war as something more akin to political strife between two nations, something that would happen maybe because of geographical or economical reasons, not because there were gods that set everything in motion. This meant that my view of power also had to change.

Before this conversation, I had assumed it to be safe if I could reach maybe a 7- or 8- star grade, but that might not be the case anymore, as this new information stated that there were omnipotent beings behind the scenes.

Not wanting to tell James that I was partially from another world, I just shrugged, "Just a guess."

His eyes looked incredibly skeptical at my half-truth, but he digressed and carried on.

"Well, you are right. I don't know how or when but sometime in the future, a war will occur between humans and demonkind, and it will require all of the different Districts to be a part of it. That's why I want your help."

His earlier meek aura was now completely blown away, and his face was deadly serious. However, there was something incredibly weird about all of this.

"Why do you need my help and why do you think I would help you?"

My questions caught him off guard. He acted as if my questions weren't completely reasonable and logical, as he started fidgeting again, and his confident demeanor was blown away.

"Well... You are strong... And it's about the survival of the world, you know?"

Both of his points made sense, but only when looking at the surface.

First of all, my strength wasn't necessarily effective if one were to look at the logistics of war. How much of an asset would I be in a crowd of enemies and allies? I likely wouldn't be able to do much before either my body gave in from using my skills, or get caught by a stray attack, which, because of my physique, would likely end my life instantly.

Secondly, and much more importantly, why would I want to help James? Why should I risk my life unnecessarily as his party was supposedly going to be strong enough in the future anyway?

"Sorry, but I'll need more than that. What can you give me that would make it worth risking my life."

The blonde man started thinking about what other reasons he had that could convince me to help him.

"I'll do anything you want. Maybe not right now, as I don't have any money, power, or connections, but in the future."

'Bingo!'

"I accept!"

Once again I managed to surprise the golden boy with my instant change of heart, but I didn't care.

Having the man who would likely become one of the strongest beings in the world do anything for me, no matter what was invaluable.

Though it had to be questioned, what kind of mentality did he have to be able to switch his focus so fast? From desperately searching for a way to unite our classmates, to now, bearing no hesitation to ask the one he had made to look like a villain to help him. It was somewhat scary as if as long as he reached his goals, he didn't care what he had to do.

"Umm, great? I guess that settles it..."

I didn't even need to hear what he was going to require from me, I already assumed that he pretty much wanted me to be a part of his military force in the war.

In the end, I wasn't about to risk my life needlessly, but if it was just helping him win the war, it was something I was going to have to do anyway to survive.

So this pretty much meant I got a new pet for free, a strong lion at that.

"What was the second question you had for me?"

We had still only discussed his first question, but there had been one more thing that he had wanted to ask.

He once again had to take a breath to steady himself, but this time he didn't manage to compose himself, which was revealed by his fingers that were still dancing with each other.

"I know that I have made a lot of mistakes, Miren... And I know that it will be hard... But isn't there any chance for us to go back to how we used to be?"

'I guess Sarah has explained what actually happened that night... But did he also find out that I was attacked and acted in self-defense? Why would he otherwise accept me?'

I didn't know why he had changed his mind about me. It might have been Sarah that convinced him or he might have attained information about why I killed. Nevertheless, none of that mattered to me.

The only thing that mattered was that he had given me another chance, showing that ultimately, he had been the one in the wrong.

"There is no way we can become friends again."

Sadly for him, even if I could say "maybe" to Sarah when she asked the same question, I couldn't say the same to him.

I was content if we could have a relationship more akin to business partners, but there was no way I could trust someone like him.

There was a major difference between us, something that had ultimately led to our fallout; our priorities. My priority was the safety of myself and the ones I held dear, while his priority was the safety of the world.

Although these could coincide, acting as the basis for our current plan of cooperation, they could also differ enough to make him throw me away again if there was a need for it.

There was no way I would want to be friends with someone like that.

"I will help you when the time comes, but there is no going back to how we used to be."