Maya (2)

Hearing the revelation about Maya's situation, Lucas didn't even know how to react.

He had seen cases of wanted criminals. International crime organization leaders such as drug dealers or terrorists.

Seeing the little girl in front of him who seemed to be gloomy after taking the last bite of her hotdog, she looked nothing like them.

"Did you…" Lucas couldn't imagine what she had done to be wanted by the whole world. A magical one at that.

"No, I did not sell drugs or overthrow a governmen-" As if remembering something, Maya paused midway before continuing, "Well, not that much."

"And although those serial killers you thought about did kill some people, those were rookie numbers compared to an average person with a little bit of power in Gula.

So no, I'm not wanted because I killed a lot of people."

Maya saw the confusion rising in Lucas' head as she read his mind.

So before he overwhelms her with questions bit by bit, Maya prevents him from doing so.

"I'm wanted because I have knowledge that could overthrow the huge factions' power over the people, particularly the cultivators, in Gula.

And that was the knowledge of a cultivation method that far surpassed theirs."

Maya's chin raised a bit as pride welled up in her chest.

"Those people that claimed to be immortals were fakes.

They might not be able to die of old age anymore, but they are surely still very killable.

And yes, before you asked, I've done that multiple times before because they annoyed me."

Lucas could only imagine how strong those people were that Maya talked about.

He had only learned two techniques. The basic body strengthening technique from the Aarush Kingdom and the coercive figment from Maya.

Although the technique had the name basic on it and Maya also called it trash, it was already something inhuman in Lucas' perspective.

The ability to kill an ordinary human using a simple punch. Even professional fighters couldn't do it so easily without the right circumstances.

However, it was still considered a basic skill.

A skill that enabled a person to kill with ease without any proper training whatsoever was considered basic.

Lucas couldn't imagine what kind of techniques the people who were considered immortals could use.

And for the coercive figment, although it couldn't be used to directly kill someone, or at least Lucas didn't know how to do it, Lucas could already imagine the countless possibilities to utilize the spell.

Not just in combat, the spell was very versatile and could be used to manipulate someone's mind, be it doing good or evil.

"Is Esme an immortal?"

Remembering the alluring woman who could easily fly and produce things out of thin air, it was already a feat that could be considered godly in Lucas' perspective.

"That little girl? She's not even close, boy. She is 100 years too early to even be considered reaching halfway towards immortality."

"..."

"So… How powerful is an immortal?" Lucas asked.

"Do you remember the title attached to my name?"

He said it in the NDA vow, so Lucas still remembered it clearly.

"The Illusion Embodiment?"

"Yes. That title was given by the world. I wasn't the one who created it.

And just as the title said, I'm the embodiment of illusion.

In short, I can control the illusion element as easily as breathing."

As if to prove her point, the little girl in front of Lucas suddenly turned to the little boy that Lucas had saved back on the crosswalk.

A moment later, she turned to the grandma who was walking with the boy. 

Next, she turns to a random old man that he had never seen before. Then she became the perfect copy of Esme, even her rapturing eyes were perfectly replicated by her.

Sensing that Lucas wasn't completely awed yet, Maya, in the form of Esme, waved her hand and the scene around Lucas started changing.

From sitting on a wooden bench in a random park, Lucas suddenly found himself sitting on top of a mountain.

The sky was light blue with several cloud spots here and there, the warm sun touched him and he could feel how warm it felt to his skin.

The cold wind blew and caressed his body, pushing his hair back a little bit as it passed.

Fresh air filled his lungs as he took a deep, long breath.

Looking down, Lucas could see a green lush forest with no ending in sight, their leaves and branches moving as it swayed with the wind.

Everything that Lucas saw and felt felt so real that he even forgot that it was all an illusion created by Maya.

Seeing that she got the reaction she wanted, Maya waved her hand and all the illusion disappeared.

She returned to her original little girl form and Lucas found himself back on the park bench, waking up from his stupor.

"I could trap someone in an endless dream if I wanted to," 

"And as the embodiment of the Illusion element itself, I can make an illusion as reality and turn your reality into an illusion."

Maya added after seeing Lucas staring at her with his mouth slightly agape.

After processing what had just happened, a realization came into Lucas' mind.

"If you have such ability, then what could have stopped you and forced you into hiding…?"

"About all leaders of the major factions in Gula and one-of-a-kind world-class artifact."

"And even with all that, they could only seal me, not kill me."

Lucas tilted his head.

"You were sealed?"

"No, I'm currently sealed. At least my main body is."

Then something clicked in Lucas' mind.

"So, the help you wanted from me is to help you unseal your main body?"

Maya clapped her hands.

"You're a smart boy! I know I didn't pick the wrong person!"

Lucas then contemplated.

Maya was a criminal wanted by a whole world.

A magical unknown world where a person's life seemed to be worth nothing.

And if he ever decided to side with her, and help her, then he would also be facing the whole world of Gula.

He weighed his choices.

First, Maya was the one that had given him the chance to go into Gula and he had earned 10 gold coins, or the equivalent of 10.000 W$ just from spending less than an hour there.

That amount of money was something that Lucas could only dream of getting.

He could only get that amount because Maya had given him her technique, which made it very easy for him to move his own mana and learn the basic body-strengthening technique.

Lucas wanted to do something to change his life. And nothing that he did so far did anything.

He couldn't see a future path where he would be able to slowly take his time, starting a job and climbing the job ladder to start saving money for his grandma's surgery.

He didn't even know whether he could get employed or not considering that he and his grandma could barely manage for him to go into high school with the money they got.

From all those uncertainties, what Lucas was most afraid of was whether he had enough time.

His grandma's sickness had gotten worse over time and Lucas didn't know how long those pills could hold out,

Gula was the only way out of Lucas' problems.

And in a world where he could easily get killed, he needed someone to guide him, to teach him how to get stronger and survive there to get the money he needed.

'Would all that be worth it to fight against a whole world…?'

Without thinking for long, Lucas instantly found his answer.

'Yes.'

"I will do it. I will help you."

He had prepared to do anything to cure her grandma. And if that means fighting against a whole world, then he would do it.

Maya stayed silent all this time, but she didn't stop paying attention to Lucas' thoughts.

She was worried.

Although she looked carefree, she had betted quite a lot on Lucas.

Her current body, her incarnation, was something that she had painstakingly sneaked out of the seal with hundreds of years of effort.

She had tethered the body to Lucas so that she could continue to exist.

If Lucas had refused to help her, she would need to find another person to tether to and it wasn't easy to find someone compatible with her and had the potential to grow strong enough to help her.

However, after seeing the conviction in Lucas' mind, Maya forced her own emotions to calm down as she smiled at Lucas and offered her hand.

Lucas extended his hand and they shook.

"I promise to heaven, earth, and hell, I will help you to change your life. Give yourself and your grandma a happy life, and strength huge enough to hold your own ground against the whole world," Maya spoke first, adding the last condition after she saw Lucas' worries.

"I promise to heaven, earth, and hell, I will help you release your seal and give the freedom that was taken by the world back to you, even if it means going against the whole world," Lucas said back to her.

The two of them then felt a connection forming between the two of them as they felt their bond with each other strengthened.

After the two of them released their grip, Maya excitedly pulled out a book out of thin air and spoke,

"Since our cooperation has become official, let's get this started right away!"

Just like the coercive figment technique, the book Maya brought out was all purple and floated on its own without anyone holding it.

Without having been told what to do, Lucas grabbed the book.

The name of the book was then displayed in Lucas' head.

"Perfect Mana Body Cultivation Technique."