Is this really a Game?!



"A bind." The soul of the dagger said as he stared at Reign who nodded at him.

By binding a promise to his soul, it meant that if he was to break it, the system would punish him, severely injuring his soul.

Reign had just learned of such a thing thanks to Aethion who told him that something like that would probably be necessary in order to placate the soul in the dagger.

"Who are you, no, what are you, boy?" The soul suddenly asked as he stared at Reign.

"From what Paul and I were able to find the time he had acquired the dagger, you are a powerful warrior with the lightning element, as well as a person marked by a god, you and your teammates are all great talents that have managed to gain the attention of powerful beings, but I have never heard of you being able to use your soul in such a manner, not to mention having a Transcendent soul bound to you." The soul, a thin man that had a blue robe covering his body asked Reign.

A formless kind of pressure could be sensed from the soul, and even Aethion was looking at the man with vigilance. If a soul was bound to a weapon, it wouldn't be as powerful as it once was, but this man was still able to threaten even him with the pressure, which made it clear that he had been at the peak of the Transcendent realm in the past, at the very least.

"I see, so you have been with him for quite some time now, huh?" Reign asked as he looked to the side, where the ethereal body of the young man was lying.

Even though the soul was bound to the dagger, it seemed that thanks to the bond it had with the boy, they were able to share a consciousness, just like Reign and Aethion.

"But still, to have him go through the evolution like this, weren't you worried that he would die?"

"Stop trying to change the conversation, answer my question, or we are finished here." The soul said, bringing an even larger pressure down at Reign who smiled before using his four abilities at once.

Black and white lightning flickered around him, this time full of power from the light and darkness that Reign was able to manipulate. The soul manipulation, on the other hand, brought a couple of souls in front of Reign to take the pressure off him.

"What?!" The soul asked with great shock as it stared at Reign.

'Soul manipulation, light … and darkness.' 

'There is no mistake, only one kind of being could utilize all three powers with such ease and low power.'

"I see, apologies, Nephilims are rare and difficult to recognize, at least when you are not using your true forms." The soul said as the pressure disappeared.

The soul never had any hostile intentions for Reign, at least not after he had sworn on his soul that no harm would befall Paul. He merely wanted to know more, if Reign was to become a potential ally, the soul wanted to know just what he was.

"Now I guess it is my turn." The soul suddenly said with a smile on his face before his body started changing.

From the outside, people could see how the dagger was drawing in mana while expending a lot of it. They didn't know what was going on, but upon being assured by Eldar and the rest, Wolf and the others simply stared vigilantly at the dagger and Reign, ready to intervene if anything was to happen.

Inside the mental space that Reign was in, the soul started changing.

Previously, Reign could only see that the man was thin and had a blue robe on, its head was blurry and one couldn't see anything, but now, that was changing.

A man appeared, his long blue hair cascading down like a waterfall while his pure white eyes stared at Reign. A mere glance from the man would be enough to make people stop doing whatever they were doing and stare at him in wonder.

He had sharp facial features, a small nose, and thin lips. His body was still the same, thin, but Reign could see some light blue scales covering his forearms, but the rest of his body seemed completely human.

"A Dragonoid?" Aethion asked as the man shook his head.

"No, Dragonoids are close cousins to us, but they come when a dragon and human have offspring, we, however, are those blessed by the dragons, sharing a part of their power."

"If my race still exists, then you should know us as Dragonkin, those that dragons considered to be as close as their kin and had blessed them with their knowledge and power."

"Hmmm … I have heard of you, I can say that much." Aethion nodded at the man who looked at Reign with a smile on his face.

"Now, Mister Reign, I think a formal introduction is needed." The man said as he placed one arm behind his back while the other went over his stomach. Stepping back slightly, he bowed courteously at Reign while speaking, "I am Ilumar of the Primaris Dragonkin, the general of the 2nd legion led by his majesty, the Primaris Walador."

'I have heard of that person, boy.' Aethion suddenly told Reign telepathically but made no more comments while glancing at Reign and slightly nodding at him.

"Why are you in this dagger, and just what is going on with the boy?"

"I … I can't tell you that, to be more specific, I do not wish to tell you, we all have secrets, and I do hope you respect mine as well."

"As for the boy, he found me a couple of months ago, just after he had missed the opportunity to evolve for the first time."

"I needed someone to connect to, and upon finishing my trial and proving himself worthy, I chose him, teaching him how to fight and utilize different skills since then."

"Unfortunately, thanks to the fact he truly wasn't powerful, we had a lot to do, and were forced to skip two more evolutions before finally being able to clear this one and for him to evolve."

"As dangerous as it was, I had full faith in him, and he didn't disappoint me."

What Ilumar didn't tell Reign, however, was that he didn't impart only skills to the boy, but also an ability.

That was something that he could do thanks to the dagger and its special properties, but he wasn't going to tell anyone that. A weapon that can actually grant someone an ability was more than rare and wars would be fought over it, he didn't wish to see Paul being attacked by Reign or anyone else.

Ilumar was slowly teaching Paul how to fight like a Dragonkin and was also purifying his bloodline, in order to make him stronger. Making him into a Dragonkin was impossible for Ilumar, but merely strengthening the purity of Paul's blood, and perhaps hoping that there are traces of a powerful one deep inside, was something he knew how to do.

"As long as he is loyal to the territory, I don't care what secrets you two hold, I want both of you to swear upon your souls that you will do nothing that would be detrimental to the territory, and you will be free to do as you please, including joining the other groups for hunts." Reign said with a calm expression, making Ilumar nod at him.

He was actually surprised inside. He had clearly stated who he was, and the soul next to Reign had clearly recognized his name, which meant that he definitely told Reign about him, and the boy was still calm, not caring at all about him.

'Well, I guess that much is to be expected from a Nephilim.' Ilumar told himself as he smiled at Reign.

'Boy, are you sure, this is a Saint we are talking about, and not just any Saint, but one that had been near the peak of the realm in the past, at least try to get some benefits.' Aethion told Reign, cursing him slightly for not even attempting to extort some benefits from Ilumar.

Reign simply shook his head before looking at the boy who was starting to wake up.

Ilumar disappeared from the spot and reappeared in front of the boy. Kneeling down, he quickly checked to make sure that Paul was alright before sighing in relief.

"You did it boy, you were able to go through it."

"I did?"

Upon seeing Ilumar nod at him, Paul started jumping in happiness.

"I did it, I'm a Tier IV, hahaha!"

"I can finally be called strong, now I can even fight alongside boss Reign and the others!" Paul was oozing happiness as he jumped around, not even noticing Reign and Aethion who were looking at him in amusement while Ilumar looked a bit sad.

'He's still the same, nearly worshipping the kid.'

Ilumar cleared his throat and stared at Paul before pointing at Reign and Aethion, "We have guests."