Michael stood there with one eyebrow raised as he thought of the implications of what she could've meant, by making a contract with her. He preferred to remain alone, and build his own skills on his own, and if she meant what he thought she meant, then he would be forced to work beside someone, even more so, someone he hadn't even known, until no less than an hour ago.
"Contract?"
"Yes, a contract. It's not a strange thing to make, granted it's been thousands of years since one's been formed, but needless to say, it would be beneficial for both of us."
He tilted his head slightly as he looked at her, then he spoke in a calm tone.
"How so?"
"You see a contract would strengthen us both, allowing me to get back to my former strength and allowing me to guide you on your own path."
He thought about for a moment, and so far he didn't like what he was hearing. This power he gained was his own, and he wasn't really looking for someone to guide him, if possible he wanted to learn everything om his own and build on it in way no one would've thought possible. But even so he wanted to hear her out.
"What does this contract entail, how does it work.?.?"
She stood up and began to pace around the room as she explained.
"A contract is a bond between two individuals, it connects our minds bodies and souls, empowering us both and allowing us to reach new heights of power, more so for you than for me. It would give you access to some of my abilities while and allows me to help you grow."
He held a deadpanned expression, as he looked up at her.
"And the trade off."
"Well every bond is different, but for me it would be away for me to attain more power through you, and strengthen myself beyond my previous self before I was locked away."
He understood her words, but couldn't she do that on her own, now that she was free, she should be able to obtain as much strength as she needed. As he thought about it, there was no doubt in his mind that she would've been able to easily beat the moon archangel on her own. So why would she need a contract?
"You're free now, why not just get your strength back, I'm sure you don't need me for that. Besides I only just awakened, I'd only slow you down."
She tilted her head in confusion, she looked him up and down, she tried reading his expressions and body language but everything told her he was serious, that or he was a really good liar.
"I'm confused."
He raised an eyebrow at her words.
"By what?"
"Well... I assumed you'd been an awakened for a while now, you know since you're at the second stage, only a hair away from breaking through to the next class."
His other brow shot up to meet the first. This was news to him, he had only been this way for around a week, and now he was being told, he not only skipped ahead a stage but was a step away from the next.
Then he thought back to the fight in the cathedral and the fight against the archangel, it was true he had done better than he should've but that didn't mean he was at the next stage, right?.?. So when did it happen, how did it happen, could it have been when he faught Eris... maybe, but she said that was only to boost his souls' bond and increase the mastery of his ability, or something like that....
Then it hit him..., there was something calling out to him in the cathedral, and only after touching it, did he end up standing infront of Lamia., could that have been it.?.?
She watched as he was lost in thought, and realized, he really didn't know, meaning she was wrong about him from the beginning, he really did just awaken.
As she watched him curiously, he placed his palm upward, and dark smoke began to swirl around it merging together and becoming a beautiful amulet with a blood red jewel with a dark ominous star at its center.
Activating his eyes, he looked deep into the amulet and found the information he was looking for, but not only did it answer his question it raised a new one.
"Dark Star Amulet"
Rank: Divine
Ability: Transcend ( The Dark Star Amulet was forged using the infused aura of three archangels, whom infused the power of the ominous black sun, that devoured planets to feed its undying hunger. The amulet ascends the user by one rank and increases the strength of their ability.)
His eyes widened at the description, it was true, he did ascend further, and this amulet was the cause. Finally having his answer, he was about to dismiss the amulet, until he saw something hiding within its center.
There indeed was a dark and ominous sun at it's center, and surrounding it seemed to be a universe of its own, but as he looked closer in the background hiding behind one of the shining stars seemed to be some kind of dark force moving around. Everytime he tried to take a closer look, or find a different angle, the force would move, as if it were dodging his gaze.
As he tried to get a closer look, a small pain entered his temple, it last for only a second, but the pain felt like it could last forever. He winced at the pain, and once it subsided he looked back to the amulet, but when he did he rubbed his eyes, and tilted his head, he brought it closer to his face, he was a little confused, he could've swore it had gotten a little bigger.
Then as he stared at it there was an indistinguishable whisper in his ear, it was soft and low, the voice rung in his head, before disappearing into nothing.
"What?"
He mumbled under his breath. He looked up at Lamia, whom was still watching him. Meeting her gave, he repeated himself.
"What did you say?"
She looked at him in confusion. He slowly lowered his head and peared back into the jewel once more, this time he could feel it for sure..., something was staring back. Only after realizing this, another description manifested itself, below the original.
(Curse)
'What? A curse... what does that mean.?.?'
He said to himself before reading it.
Curse: Voice of the Universe ( The more the artifact is used, the louder the voice gets, soon breaking the mind of the user completely and becoming the new host.)
His eyes widened.
"What the hell.?.?"
He tossed the amulet from his hands, and stared into them for a moment. He was in disbelief of what he had read, now it made sense, it wasn't the amulet the called out to him and drew him in, it was whatever was lurking behind the stars.
"Mine."
Another whisper entered his ear, clear enough for him to make out its words. As the voice reverberated in his head, he could see glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked like himself, except there was a sense of wrongness about him. He stood up and walked closer, Lamia still observing him, closely.
There in the mirror, his reflection wore the amulet around its neck, and when looking into his eyes, there was a tinge of darkness hidden beneath them. Yet to her, everything seemed normal, aside from the sudden shifts in his expressions.
For a moment he could've sworn he saw something attached to the amulet on the reflection, but it was gone before he could see it. What he did see instead was a new description on the mirrored amulet that he hadn't seen on the original, and this one made him take an involuntarily step back.
(The Dark Star Amulet, once forged by the divine and stolen by the "Withering Phantom of Decay" now rest in the soul of the young "Prince of Calamity", seemingly merging itself with his vast and dangerous soul. The amulet offers the young prince the beautiful corrupted wisdom of the universe, and its dark power.)
'Damn it. It's bound to my soul, corrupting me with knowledge, that means the voice I heard.... was the universe!?!?'
In hindsight Michael saw it as a good thing, for the sake of his own goal, which was to learn about the world around him, but even still to be unknowingly corrupted by something that bound itself to him and for said thing to latch itself onto him wishing to take his body for itself, that by itself was more of a deterrent than anything. And yet a smile slowly crept its way onto his face.
The fear he felt just moments before had already receded into the depths of his minds as he thought more about it.
At first he was afraid not just because of the silent voice that seemed to infect his mind, but also at the thought of it one day taking over his body. But the more he thought about it, the less afraid he became, because the description also said the the voice would infect him with the forgotten information he had been looking for, further pushing him towards his goal. His fear lessened even more, changing into resolve as he realized, that voice was just one more thing trying to take his body from him, he had already faught one person whom threatened the same thing, Eris, and had already decided to fight against the young boy in his soul if the time arose, and now the voice was just one more nuisance trying to take his goal from him.
He smiled at the thought, he had alway loved a challenge, of course it was frightening, thinking of something taking your very lively hood away from you and making it their own, even so it made him even more excited. The stronger he became, the more and more people would challenge him, further pushing him to grow stronger.
Turning back to Lamia he looked at her with a spark in his glowing eyes, and made his decisions right then and there.
"I'm sorry Lamia, you can stay in my body for as long as you need but I'm doing this on my own. My strength is mine alone and I don't plan on giving that up anytime soon."
But the moment he spoke those words an unexpected voice entered his ears once more.
[Contract formed, assistance disabled] [Entering the third evolution].