Disguised Blessing; An Esper at last

"What?" Karl was immediately alarmed; 'this is the first time someone will recognize me as a reincarnation,' he thought. "Because I'm not someone, I told you, I'm god," the mannequin responded. "Did you read my thoughts?" "Yes! "Because I am god!" "...god?" "Yes, yes!! God!" "What do you intend to do with me? Don't tell me you've come to collect my soul...I'm not interested- - " "Hai-hai, that's about all..." "...I have no issue with that," the black mannequin said. I don't even know anything about your reincarnation, but please allow me to assist you." The mannequin stated as he extended his hand to Karl. "Assist me?" Karl snorted.

"Your ego will not serve you well. I'll merely help you by converting all the qi in your body to esp... it's not really giving you power, it's just a hand, if I give you direct power, the others might catch me, so I'll just give you a hand and the rest will be up to you." "What makes you want to help me?" Karl inquired. "Well," the mannequin said, touching his back, "if you want to know my motive, climb the tower..." '...hmm, that tall skyscraper that's always jutting out in the atmosphere, I remember Casimir saying it's a mystery tower since no one has ever been past the first floor, but he wants me to go up to the fiftyth floor? 'Challenge accepted.' "I'll be there waiting for you." As it finished its speech, the black mannequin vanished.

-throbb-

Karl immediately went to his knees as he felt a throb on his heart, and when he opened his eyes, he saw himself in a field of blood and swords standing on corpses that lay on the floor, a gloomy sky, and ravens pulling out the bodies' eyes and other body parts. When he glanced up into the sky, the deep crimson moon drew him in, black clouds dropped on him, and he gasped for air. He blinked open his eyes, panting heavily. "What the hell is this sensation?" Karl moaned and struggled.

A black ball burst out of his mouth, and he immediately panicked out.

The black ball vibrated for a while, then two white circles emerged on it, along with a horizontal line beneath the white circles, giving the black ball a face structure. The ball soared into the air, closer to Karl, who crawled backwards slowly.

[Congratulations on your reawakening] said the black ball. "Who or what are you?" Karl inquired.

[I have no idea, but I do know I am the consciousness of your powers.] "Exactly what is that?"

[hum, I'm not sure what else to say if you don't understand] "Does every esper have this stuff like me...?" Karl inquired.

[Except they are exceedingly powerful, yeah, but you are a hunter, not an esper, according to this world's definition] "What exactly is a hunter?"

[An esper who is reawakened in a dungeon otherwisely known as gate] "But I've never been an esper," Karl pointed out.

[That's unusual; unless you're an esper, you can't be reawakened.]

[I believe we will receive explanations as time goes forward] "So, what can you do?"

[I can store information, analyze information, I hold the keys to unlocking the doors to your advancement as a hunter, I can be highly valuable in battles, and I occasionally offer useful advice] "I see..." "Weird, I feel more locomotive than usual...and my body feels less light," Karl said as he stood up and flexed his arm.

[All Qi in your body has been converted to esp, which caused your reawakening; esp energy has a density of -0.01 and Qi has a density of 3.04, allowing it to have a powerful effect but weighs down on the body without the user even noticing; if you can run 100m in 6 seconds with qi enhancement, you can run 100m in 1.5 seconds with esp enhancement as well.] "I see... so this stuff called esp is far superior to Qi."

[Yes] "So, what skills do I have as an esper?"

[you mean hunter?] "whichever"

[I can't answer that question because we haven't yet crossed that bridge.] "Uh...hm, hm, I see; it's a shame I lost all my years of cultivation."

[...] The black ball did not respond to his complaint, instead staring at him. "What?"

[Because the gate has been weakened, we must depart] "Do you know how?"

[Stay with me] "huh," Karl said as he followed the floating black ball down the cave tunnel, "by the way, what is your name, I'm not sure what to call you."

[You may address me in whatever way you see fit] "So, Black talking ball?"

[Black is acceptable] "Hmm, from the way you speak, are you a boy?"

[I don't have a gender] "Do you remember the black guy who appeared to me earlier?"

[No, I was born the minute you regained consciousness.] "Are other individuals able to see you?"

[Yes]

Karl continued to question his new partner until they left.

The black color gate immediately changed to blue from outside, all three squads had gathered, and the assistant guild master of the Delion guild was already present as they were in command of the region where the gate was discovered. "Captain, the gate has shifted!!" Varrick yelled.

Timothy and the assistant guild master rushed to the front; the area was already crowded with espers. "Captain, the gate is vibrating at a higher frequency than usual!!" Varrick yelled. "Whatever comes out of it has to be strong... very strong!" Timothy remarked this as he drew his large sword and prepared to fight.

The assistant guildmaster also took his time getting ready. But what came out of the gate was not what they had all expected; it was a little white haired boy. The Delion guild did everything they could to take control of the situation; Karl was transported to the hospital for a checkup. Blanca and Roland were able to locate him through the news, and there was little the Delion guild could do now that they had found his identity; his mother and Sylvia had to fly over to America because his father was extremely busy, more than usual.

Karl awoke to find two Americans dressed in black suits seated next to him. "Good morning, Mister Karl Asgeir Frydenlord. My name is David Muller, and this is..." The second guy introduced himself as "Leroy Pierce, General Secretary of the Delion guild."

Karl took a look around "...wait, what? Where is black?" "Black?" inquired Agent David.

"A small b-"

[It is best not to divulge my identify, Karl.]

Black spoke into Karl's head. '...thought transmission?'

[Something along such lines, because we share consciousness, I can speak into your thoughts, and you can do the same] '...huh, fascinating'

[...I advise you not to divulge my identity to anyone in the future. I'll also be concealing a large portion of your esp] 'wait, why would you do that? I thought the higher the esp, the stronger you are?'

[You are correct, however concealing your massive esp amount will be beneficial in the future.] '...hmm, hmm, what is the number of my esp?'

[...Your thousand-year cultivation did not go to waste, therefore it is truly massive; according to my calculations, if the world learns about it, it will completely destabilize the planet] '...well, I see...'

[It's only a suggestion; it's entirely up to you; do you want me to?] 'Yes...but make me powerful because I despise looking weak.'

[Alright]

"Perhaps, Mister Karl?" David exclaimed. "Yes," Karl replied. "Did you mention something about black?" "No, never mind," Karl answered, smiling.

Both Agent David and Leroy looked at each other, then at Karl, before pulling out a device that looked like a wrist band. "Put this on," Agent David advised. "All right," Karl replied as he collected it, putting it on, and writing loading on the surface of the band. After a while, the band beeped, and the agent looked at it, his jaw dropping, "rank S...no! This is the number SS! How is that possible?" Agent David was surprised.

Leroy extended out to look at the numbers, and he had the same reaction?! "seven hundred thousand?!!... S... SS?!" his eyes practically popped out of his head. "Sir, what happened?" Karl inquired.

'...I must act quickly, very quickly; this may be a blessing for us Delion guild, but he is the heir to the Fryden group of corporations; what can I offer him to entice him to join us?' "Please join our guild, Mister Karl Asgeir!!" Leroy said as he rapidly knelt on the floor with his head down. "eh?" Karl was taken aback.

'This guy, he didn't even spend a second,' Agent David thought to himself as he planned how to get Karl to join the Bureaucracy. "Huh?!! What did I just hear?!!" As the door opened, a feminine yet commanding voice boomed out. "...join your guild?" Sylvia stated as she walked inside Karl's hospital room.

'Shit, the Nosrtrom clan leader,' Leroy thought in his head, frustrated since he knew he wouldn't be able to recruit Karl any longer, '...I won't give up,' but he was relentless. "Aunty?! Mother?!" Karl was astonished to see both his mother and Sylvia, whom he usually refers to as aunty. "How are you, darling?" As she sat by him and hugged him, his mother said. "What have you been up to, brat?" Sylvia addressed him. "I've awakened!!" "And I don't know why, but these men keep chanting S," Karl exclaimed.

"What? Seven hundred thousand?" Sylvia asked, looking at the bracelet in his hand. 'He's two hundred thousand away from SSS rank, even for rank SS the figures are simply too high,' she replied, shocked. '...really, what was I expecting from a baby that handled two gigantic catapillars on his second week of birth...I knew he was never going to be an average esper,' she muttered and grinned.

Sylvia and Pia, Karl's mother, exchanged glances. Pia was concerned, but Sylvia smiled and turned to face the two men in front of her. "You sly bastards!" So you intended to snare the Norstrom clan's asset, that's why this one got on his knees.

"There was no way I could have guessed he was from the Norstrom clan, even though... he's not an official member of the clan, so we have the right to recruit him," Leroy explained. "Are you still talking back to me?" Sylvia grimaced at him, muttering in her brain, 'he's correct though.' "I apologize," said Agent David Muller as he stepped up and took the bracelet from Karl's hand. "Both of you better keep this a secret," Sylvia added, her face solemn. "Understood," they both responded as they walked away.

"So Karl?" Sylvia sat on the chair from which they had just stood, crossed one leg over the other, and folded her arms.

Karl's face was filled with terror, '...this is horrible...she's crazy with that gesture.' "Karl?" She stated it once more. "Yes, aunty," Karl replied.

"What did you do in a gate?" She inquired. "...that is correct..." Karl's features contorted into a wicked grin, '...Thank you for reminding me, aunty; I do have a large debt to pay, as well as a heartfelt thank you.'