Deal

'Sooo, now that the mystery of why you are here is cleared, can you tell me how to become a real true sovereign?' shamelessly asked Alex.

"..."

There was some silence after Alex asked the spirit of smoke how to become a true sovereign, causing Alex to feel worried. He hadn't thought much about it when he asked, but now that he considered it, perhaps he had just made a blunder.

Fortunately for him, his inquiry just made the spirit laugh.

"Hahaha, I like your shamelessness, human, but unfortunately you can't become a true sovereign, you don't meet the requirements"

'Can I know what are the requirements?' Asked Alex.

He understood that even if he doesn't meet the requirements for now, it might not be the case in the future, so, knowing what the requirements are might help him become a true sovereign in the future.

"You are not going to let go of the thought of becoming a true sovereign, huh?" Chuckled the spirit.

'Nope' replied Alex without hesitation.

"Hmm, I like your spirit" said the spirit before adding:

"Beside the approval of the spirit, there's only one requirement to be a true sovereign: being at level 8"

Alex thought froze when he heard the requirement, the level 8 was the highest level of power one could attain, there were only a handful of experts that attained such a level of strength, so hearing that to become a true sovereign the requirement was to become a level 8 was pretty shocking, and it was also disappointing as it really meant that he couldn't become a true sovereign for now.

However, Alex's disappointment didn't last very long before fading.

'It's true that attaining level 8 won't be easy, but with the system, it should take me less time to achieve it' thought Alex with confidence.

"System? What is that?" Asked the spirit, hearing Alex thought.

'Oh, it's nothing important; you shouldn't bother yourself with that. Instead, can you tell me why I need to become a level 8 before being eligible to become a true sovereign?' asked Alex. He was trying to divert the spirit's attention from the system. Although the smoke spirit seemed friendly, he didn't want to risk his life by telling everyone about the system.

He felt like the spirit was squinting his eyes at him when he tried to divert the attention, but fortunately, it seemed that the spirit didn't want to pry into his secrets and instead, processed to respond to his question.

"The reason is simple, to become a true sovereign, the spirit of the element and the human- or whatever race you are from - need to link their soul-...wait, now that I think about it, you might be able to become a sovereign"

'Really?' Asked Alex, surprised.

'What make you think so ?'

"Well, to become a true sovereign you would need to link your soul with that of the element, however, it's not everyone that can sense their souls, even more so, link it with another soul, but that changes once you reach the level 8, at this level, you can sense your soul and even manipulate it to some extent. All of that to say, a normal person need to be at least level 8 to do something that someone possessing a powerful soul can achieve."

'So, if you have a strong soul, you fill the requirements?' Asked Alex.

"No, merely having a strong soul would not make you be able to link it with another person's soul, if you have a strong soul, you might be sensible to your own and these of other's, it's just that. However, it's different in your case, in your case your ability is tailored to do something like that, which means that you can become a true sovereign - in theory - without needing to be at level 8" explained the smoke spirit.

'Then what are we waiting for, let's connect our souls right now' said Alex excitedly, however the smoke spirit's next words froze him.

"Why would I do something like that?"

'Huh? What do you mean' asked Alex, confused.

"Don't get me wrong, I kind of like you and want to help you, but you need to understand something, there can only be one and only one true sovereign for each element, so, why should I specifically choose you ? What do I have to gain from it ?"

Hearing him, Alex understood that the spirit was right, if he accepted to connect his soul with Alex's, what would he earn for doing that, the only beneficiary would be Alex, but Alex didn't plan to give up.

'If you agree to make me a sovereign, you'll feel satisfied knowing you did a good deed,' negotiated Alex.

"...."

"Human, I said that I liked your shamelessness, that doesn't mean you should abuse it," said the spirit with an annoyed tone.

'Sorry' apologized Alex.

One couldn't really blame him, what could he offer the spirit that could move him/her ? Hell, he didn't even know spirit are interested in what kind of thing's.

He thought and thought about it, but couldn't find something to offer, in the end, he concentrated on the spirit and uttered with his most serious tone:

'I might actually be weak and unable to offer you something that can interest you. But I can promise you one thing. In the future, I will be someone so powerful that even the gods wouldn't look down on me, at this moment, you can wish of me anything as long as it doesn't go against my principles'

"In other words, you are asking me to bet on you ?"

'Yes'

The smoke spirit didn't reply for a long moment, it was so long that Alex might have thought that he disappeared if he couldn't still sense his/her presence.

After a long moment, the smoke spirit laughed again, then asked :

"I can wish anything?"

'As I said, you can ask anything as long as it doesn't go against my principles' answered Alex.

"Haha, human, you don't know what kind of promise you just made, but..."

"...You have a deal"