Borrowing A Sharper Blade

The silence within the study was so strong you could hear a needle drop. Fiona sat on the couch while looking at Davis with eyes filled with hope. She didn't know why but she had a feeling that even in this situation which she couldn't find any way to solve, the young man before her eyes could find one.

Davis however had none of the faith she had for him but he was not also willing to throw away the chance before him. If he played his cards right, it was most likely he would be able to bring this mysterious expert under him.

The issue here however was that no matter how Davis thought of it, there was no way he could match someone who has been at the 6th Ring for who knew how many decades. Most likely some, if not all of his spells, are at the 6th tier and with the unknown expert he hired within the city being added to the mix, the situation looked hopeless.

He raised his head and he saw that look of desperation in Fiona's eyes. It wasn't an act, if Davis couldn't help her then she would most likely die a very painful death at the hands of Charles. This time without any chance of coming back to life, after all if Charles did not have a method to counter the effects of the 'Phoenix Band' then he wouldn't waste his time with her.

He knew this was the chance he was looking for. If he could figure this out then it wouldn't be out of the question to get this expert under his wing. He had stepped into the world of practitioners through mysticism but even now he didn't know how he was going to go about his evolution requirements.

He knew almost nothing about that world and the little he did was through the mysterious book in his consciousness. With an expert like Fiona besides him, he knew it'd only be a matter of asking to have all those doubts cleared. However, this can only happen if he finds a way to handle the issue before him.

He had not even decided how to react to the issue at the Gala, yet he was already faced with an even more challenging one....

'Wait! The Gala' Davis quickly raised his bowed head with his eyes shining with a scheming light.

As Fiona saw this she knew that in the end her gut feeling was right. As she saw the scheming light in his eyes, she swore that this man was a Mystic through and through even though he refuses to admit it but this was not the time to be prying into his secrets.

"It's not completely impossible to solve this situation but I need to ask you some questions first"

"Ask away. I'll be of help as much as possible"

"Firstly, we need to be clear that the price for my service isn't going to be cheap."

Fiona sat up as she knows that this is the most important part of their talks. "What do you have in mind?"

"20 years. For 20 years you have to...erm 'assist' me. Yes assist me, after this 20 years you can have back your freedom. "

Fiona didn't spring up in anger so he figured she expected something like this. She looked down and thought it through for a while. Compared to her life, 20 years of serving this mysterious young man didn't seem out of the question.

"It's not as if you'll be a slave exactly. I won't make you do anything that will be guaranteed to take your life and neither will I do anything to purposely humiliate you. It's just that in the process of solving this issue of yours, they are secrets that I'll have to reveal to you that I can only trust in the hands of someone who is bound to me. "

" Then why only 20 years? I can just release your secrets after then. "

" There's no need to worry about this. If after 20 years I'm still not strong enough to withstand the repercussions of my secrets being revealed then I deserve to die. " His eyes shone with an unshakable level of confidence when it came to this.

He had barely been here for a month and he was already making progress at a speed that if it were revealed would leave many people slack jawed. If he had 20 years then forget about stage 6 immortals, those saints in the heavenly courts would have to be on a look out for his shadow.

"Alright no problem. If you can solve this issue then I will be willing to give you 20 years of my life." Fiona felt that with the terms he offered this was acceptable but she saw him shaking his head and pointing his index finger towards her.

"Not after but now. For all I know you could release the secrets as soon as you know of it or even use it to make me help you for free or at the worst using it to enslave me instead. " Fiona was frozen for a bit before wild laughter burst out of her small mouth.

" Forget it, it's always difficult trying to scheme against one of my kind and don't try denying it. Only a mystic would act the way you do, it's interesting you know. Our kind does not believe in those silly things like morals or ethics. We only even trust ourselves due to the strength we wield and in order to gain more trust in ourselves we pursue more strength regardless of the cause. I don't doubt that if that sister of yours stood in the path between you and power you'd quickly cut her down without hesitation. Such is our way, such is the way of the mystics and it is the only true way to power. Unless one can understand this way then they would never find true power, for power does not reside in laws or morals or wealth. If I'm stronger than you I can break your laws, I can disregard your morals and I can seize your wealth. So Mr. Green Newman I won't waste our time anymore, this servant humbly greets her master. "

As Fiona spoke a sigil flew out of her consciousness, within it a piece of her soul which would allow Davis control over her thoughts and actions but within the restrictions of their agreement. It dashed to Davis head and sunk into his consciousness but Davis wasn't happy one bit.

He was still thinking about what Fiona said and in the end he let out a deep sigh.

"There is a truth in what you say and indeed there is very little I cannot do in my search for power but I am still different from you lot. This difference lies in the fact that I have the ability to achieve all I seek to achieve without sacrificing the people important to me. If the situation should arise indeed I would not hesitate to cut down my sister but only if there was no other way. If there was one however, even if that method would require me to walk through a mountain of swords or swim in a sea of fire, I would take that way and in the end I will succeed because I am just that talented. "

There was no use talking too much about this now, he would focus on the matter at hand first. As for matters he had little or no control over, it was better to think less about such things. Fiona looked at him with a strange look but in the end she didn't say anything.

"Hm. Secondly, would Gabriel's henchmen attack the gala?"

Fiona thought about it and in the end she nodded her head. "Gabriel left a failsafe in the city. There is no way he would be able to escape the Barrens with all those hounds of the church after him so he intended to burn their house and have them go back to put it off. To succeed however his failsafe must include a stage 6 powerhouse if not he would be wasting his time."

"Why do you say so?"

"You don't know?" Fiona looked at the quizzical expression on his face and she facepalmed as she said.

"The Governor. He is a stage 6 beast tamer. His story is actually interesting. He was just an ordinary politician who wasn't even that well regarded but during one of his hunting trips he encountered a dying Lion cub but he took pity on it and instead of killing it, he healed it and protected it not just from other beasts but people who came to seek the lion's head as a trophy but in the end they were too many and too strong and as such he failed. They killed the beast but just when they were about to kill him an angry wounded lion beast at the 6th stage came out from nowhere and slaughtered everyone present except him as he noticed he was protecting the cub. The cub was apparently it's own but it wasn't able to protect it as it and the cub's mother were attacked by another stage 6 beast. The mother of the cub died and even the cub died leaving a heartbroken beast who had given up on life. However the governor through some means was able to convince the beast to not give up on life and in the end to save it's life the beast gave it's beast soul to the governor. With it the governor could summon it at the height of it's power and even if it were killed it could just be summoned again after a time and with the beast soul the governor was able to raise his own fighting capabilities to the 6th stage very quickly. In other words even though the governor is only one person, he has the fighting power of 2 immortals. Even a mystic might not be able to match his fighting prowess. "

" So why didn't the governor help in the fight? "

" He didn't want to pick a side and as long as his city was not under the threat of destruction, he wasn't ready to interfere in the power play within the church. However after the destruction caused by the previous fight, the governor is already angry and if another situation should arise he definitely wouldn't hesitate to 'suppress' it. "

Davis thought about it for a while but it still didn't make sense to him, after all the governor was only one man. Even if the governor was so strong how could he resist the strength of the 2 factions of the church. Fiona seemed to sense his doubt.

"It's not that easy for the Pope or Daniel to draw someone like the governor into their fights because of the Regal Faction. It was formed by a group of political giants that could shake the foundations of the church with a wave of their hands. However they don't involve themselves in church struggles and rather focus on managing the kingdoms and clans spread across Olympus. The Governor is a silver ranked member and that alone is enough for the Pope and Daniel to avert their greedy eyes from him and try not to offend him. "

" It would seem that Gabriel doesn't seem to care. "

" Hm. He has always felt conflicted about the Regal Faction and had little respect for them. The Repentant Corps left in the city will definitely attack the Gala. As for the governor, most likely Gabriel has a plan if not he wouldn't bother making arrangements. Gabriel....is not a person one should have as an enemy. "

Davis didn't bother about Fiona's fear of Gabriel's means but was focused on how he could derive the best out of this situation. After a while he stood up and stretched his arms out, then took another sip from the tea he had now turned into the cup.

" If it's like this then I have one last question. How long do you think you can stall Charles? "

Fiona thought about it for a while then a glint of resolve shone in her eyes.

" It would be difficult but it's not impossible to hold them off till after the gala. "

" Can you hold them off for a week after the gala? "

" Hm. "

" In that case I have a way that might help us solve the issue before us. "

Fiona looked up to Davis with curiosity in her eyes. How will this fellow solve the problem that had been plaguing her for how many years now? She didn't doubt he could solve it but she was intrigued at how he would go about it.

"It's actually not that brilliant of a plan as you think it to be. In summary, our blade is not sharp enough to cut Charles head so we'll borrow the Church's blade to do the deed and as to how we'll do that... we'll simply have the Repentant Corps leave traces that would reveal his whereabouts which would coincidentally clash with where we need him to be. It's more complicated than this and I haven't worked out the chinks in it but it's not impossible to do it this way. "

Fiona thought it over and she wondered how he wanted to point the Church's blade in Charles' direction. Yes the church hates mystics and would kill anyone discovered on sight but Charles would not be so easily discovered and no matter how much the church hates Mystics, they wouldn't kill Charles and would at most imprison him.

Which is not the ending she wants but is also acceptable somewhat. Davis saw he regretful expression and let out a laugh.

"I don't simply intend to have him locked away. That would do us no good, Charles would either fall to your plans or die. It can only be one of the two, alright let's leave that topic for now. I don't intend to go to deep into that right now, I'll inform you as things proceed. What I do need to inform you if right now however is that I'll be needing some resources."

Davis looked at Fiona with a smile as though he was seeing a pile of Gold and Fiona realized that indeed it was always troublesome making deals with her kind. She was already prepared to lose a bit of skin but when Davis wrote down a list and asked to have the resources at the end of the day, she was shocked and then angered.

This man took her as some goddess of wealth huh? Did he know how long it took her to gather those resources but as she looked at him to complain. She saw the amused expression on his face and it was only then it dawned on her.

She was now his slave, what was her's would naturally become his and even if they overlooked this fact, if Davis does not intercede in this matter with Charles would she still be alive to use this resources. She could only grit her teeth and leave the room with a bellyful of anger to go and get what was asked of her while Davis let out a brilliant laugh behind.

Even though it is quite dangerous but he already had a plan in mind. So why not use this opportunity to make himself all the more stronger. He had barely sat down when he saw a set of words appear in his consciousness.

//Host has successfully taken a 3rd ring Mystic powerhouse as a servant.Rewarding +6 Tier 2 lectures and +1 Tier 3 lecture. (Rewards were increased due to servant's hidden rank)//

Davis looked at the words for a while and in the end a truly happy smile spread out on his face. With this he would have 5 Tier 2 lectures and 1 Tier 3 lecture but he had recently discovered a function that would allow him to combine the 5 Tier 2 lectures to form a Tier 3 lecture so like this he had 2 Tier 3 lectures. He would use the last Tier 2 lecture to aid his promotion to stage 2, his Mystic training was not like his Origin Gate Mantra. It could not be done overnight and as such he had to be patient.

With a Tier 3 lecture he understood that he could achieve basic knowledge in another concept and had noticed that achieving such a thing was normally not easy and the advantages brought by achieving it was difficult to quantify.

Knowledge is ranked into Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, High and Supreme knowledge. Basic is knowledge within stage 1-3, intermediate is within stage 4-6, advanced is within stage 7-9, high is within stage 10 while supreme was beyond stage 10.

The benefits of having knowledge over a concept could not be underestimated and Davis was set out to gain the best he could out of it. With this he was more confident in improving his powers towards the Gala so he sat down to quickly finish the article so that he could focus on the resources that little bundle of joy would be bringing back for him.