I found darkness.

  Am I still alive? I can’t remember, and I feel like I’ve forgotten something.

  I remember panicking. Somebody I knew died and it scared me. I tried desperately to fight back… Then I died-

  I try to open my eye, but realize that it is already open. I frown as I then attempt to stand up. My body doesn’t respond. Why does it feel like I’m forgetting something?

  (Pain Ignorance) has leveled up! (1 → 2)

  That’s what it was! Everything is in pain!

  The pain blocked out my senses and I manifested my aura to begin repairing my body. I find that my insides have been turned into a paste. My heart beats irregularly and my lungs convulse as I force air into them. I’ve bled out too much onto the floor.

  Why do I need blood? Wait, no. I do need blood. I wonder where I can find more blood. My left arm snaps back together and my right foot untwists itself. Why do I need blood?

  I attempt to stand again and I still find that I can’t.

  (Pain Ignorance) has leveled up! (2 → 3)

  I blink and I look around at the darkness. Didn’t I die? Am I still alive?

  Wait, I’m in pain. Of course I’m alive… No I’m not… Didn’t I die?

  I attempt to stand again and I still find that I can’t.

  Why does it feel like I’m forgetting something? I feel my hip piece itself back together and I start falling? Not for very long as I hit the ground and landed safely on my face. I blink as I lie limply on the floor.

  I think I heard a woman talking. Where am I? I think my doctor told me I’m dangerously low on blood. I need blood-

  I attempt to ask my doctor for blood, but I find that I can’t talk. My throat is torn and my jaw is shattered. That’s annoying!

  (Pain Ignorance) has leveled up! (3 → 4)

  I get increasingly more infuriated as teeth pull themselves through my skull and back into place. My vocal cords tie back together and my trachea is covered with muscle and flesh.

  I swallowed the mouthful of blood that was pooling in my mouth.

  I need more blood.

  I want-

  (Aura of Constitution) has leveled up! (7 → 8)

  I feel more blood start flowing out of the dozens of wounds surrounding my body. That’s nice… I feel a jolt through my body as my spine reconnects. The lobes of my liver fold back together and my diaphragm pushes my lungs as ribs jostle back into place. My intestines unknot and loose segments reconnect. Pooling blood is pushed out my lungs and starts to dribble out my mouth.

  There was a plan… I made a plan?

  The tendons through my left arm finally heal themselves and I try to push myself off the ground. I pull my right arm from under myself and place my hand under me for support.

  I fall back to the ground-

  That was strange… Maybe my arm hasn't healed enough yet. I feel my aura through my body and past my right shoulder. The aura goes through my bicep and around my elbow.

  The aura ends?

  Ah… I haven’t fully manifested my aura yet. I push my aura through my arm, only to have it end at the same spot just past my elbow. That can’t be right. I roll over onto my back and reach for my right arm with my left.

  There’s nothing there-

  Shit. That fucking sucks. I- I can’t remember! Where am I!? How did I get here?! There was fighting!... so much fighting.

  I died- I’m so sure I died.

  Fragments of my skull twist bore their way through my brain. The pieces of bone crack and snap into place.

  I need to remember what happened. There was talking. I was playing. I was killing people and people were trying to kill me. I lied to my friends and I played with their souls…

  I’m in a world full of magic and monsters-

  EVA?!

  I start to scramble to my feet, only managing to turn over slightly. I force my right leg under my body and I attempt to push myself up. My cracked femur snaps completely and I fall back down. I grit my teeth as I force my leg to fuse back together.

  I look outward with Magical Aura Perception. I find a ball of wisping red flames across from me. Eva-

  I pull my right leg back up and with my only hand I have left, I push off the ground. Part of my armour crumbles away at the movement, but it will slowly regrow over time. I hobble on top of my right leg as my left is completely twisted on itself.

  I reach out towards her and the black flames of my soul wraps around my hand. Light fills the room and I look around quickly. There could be zombies.

  A large mass of flesh sits limply in the corner, filling the room with its awful stench. I feel regret as my gaze goes over Toulif’s corpse. I don’t feel bad that he is dead, I just thought I could have saved him.

  A strange golden loop glows softly on the ground next to him-

  I look over at Eva, her mask resting on the floor next to her and blood smudged on her face. She looks… Oh no… “Are you okay?”

  Her expression switches between the most soul crushing and complete apathy as slowly closes her eyes and shakes her head. “No.” She starts to cry to herself and I slowly limp my way over to her.

  I can’t think of something to say so I don’t say anything. I simply fall down next to her with a thud and roll over. I feel my left leg slowly turn on itself over the sounds of sobbing.

  It hurts-

  “I’m sorry, Eva.”

  My memories slowly start to return to me. Gent had vanished. Where he went, I don’t know, but I assume he is dead. Jammie was eaten by the Zombified Blattaria Anathema. Toulif was killed, his neck crushed by Abatu. Geltor was returned to hell. Abatu is gone, so Eva must have…

  I look over at her. “How much time-”

  “Why are you sorry?”

  I pause. The question caught me off guard. “B- Because your brother is gone. I’m sorry for your loss?” I phrased the last part as a question. I wasn’t ready to give an answer so I just said what was most natural.

  Eva sneers at me. “But why do you care?”

  I start to frown. “Because I care about you.”

  “Why?”

  I try to answer her, but I come up with nothing. She stands up over me and grits her teeth. “Why do you?! A human- care so damn much about what happens to me?! I’m an elf! I alone am responsible for the deaths of dozens of humans!... And it’s not ignorance! I know Gent told you about the nature of elves on this continent. About what we are!”

  Eva’s usually porcelain face is now burning red. I stupidly say the first thing that comes to mind. “I… Don’t mind?”

  She tilts her head at me. We stare at each other for an uncomfortable moment. I start to attempt to explain myself, but I’m cut off by Eva's laughter.

  “Y- You don’t mind?! How- how could you not mind?!” Eva continues to laugh hysterically and I watch her with an upset expression. I’m at a complete loss on what to say at the moment. Her manic laughter continued for a disturbing amount of time.

  She eventually starts to wind down, but despite her slow giggling, her face is filled with pain. “You’re a monster. I- I don’t know what you are, but you can’t be mortal.” She winces as she looks down at me. “How are you even still alive? Your body was completely annihilated, and yet here you are.”

  “I don’t know. I thought I was dead… But I’m human.”

  Eva frowns at me. “I don’t believe you.”

  Eva falls to her knees next to me. She grabs onto her head and lays down.

  “Humans are selfish.”

  I blink and turn to face her. “You don’t think I’m selfish?... No, I'm incredibly selfish.”

  “You’re not selfish. You’re insane and dangerous, cunning and intelligent. You’re selfless in the most horrible way possible.”

  “Why did you say it like that?”

  Eva curls up into a fetal position and starts crying to herself again. “Can you please just kill me already? I’m sick of this.”

  I quickly stand on my feet. My legs have healed enough at this point. I stare down at Eva as I try to find my words. “I- I would never try to hurt you! D- Do you think I’m toying with you or something!... I’m not! I didn’t mean!-”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  I grit my teeth as I look down at the elf. How can I prove to Eva that I don’t want to hurt her? Eva was the one to bring me to this world. Anyone else would probably hate her for that, but not me.

  I love it here. This world is violent and cruel and it stinks of death wherever I look and I love it. Granted, I’ve only seen the inside of this dungeon at this point, but the things I’ve heard from Jammie and Gent about this continent are terrible.

  I want to see it. I want to go on my own grand adventure with powers that come straight out of a video game. I want to learn magic! I want to find ancient secrets buried under the earth!

  I want to slaughter my enemies by the thousands-

  I want to burn this disgusting place to the ground-

  I want to be feared by everyone-

  But not her. I don’t want Eva to be scared of me. I was blinded by the excitement of getting to this new world. I toyed with her, lied to her, and hurt her deeply. I regret doing that to Eva so much. I’ve hurt the person that saved me from that boring world.

  I need to do everything to make this right-

  “How can I get you to trust me?”

  She doesn’t answer me. Of course she can’t. Getting her to trust me is something I need to do. So, I think. I think as hard as I can. I think of anything I could say to get her to trust me.

  I come up with nothing- There is nothing I could say to get her to trust me.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Is there something I can do? Is there something I can give her? A great show of faith?

  My eye twitches and I turn my head. My Magical Aura Perception is recognizing an object. A golden loop that glows a soft golden light. It’s not light however-

  It’s aura, soul, essence-

  The aura glows into my eye and I focus on it with my perception. I start to slowly walk towards it and Eva breaks from her stupor at my sudden movement without warning. She turns to follow me with her eyes, but still doesn’t say anything.

  My perception makes the golden loop more refined and I try to sense what this thing is.

  It’s someone's soul. It has to be! It was made in the same way I can create weapons and it is strong. The power that emanates from this thing is lucrative, holy even. I stop standing over it and I figure out what it truly is.

  It’s a collar meant to restrain demons-

  It’s perfect!

  Eva blinks as she realizes what I’m standing over. “W- Wait!”

  I ignore her for probably the last time as I grab onto the collar. As soon as I touch it, its aura completely engulfs mine. The gold ring slits in two and launches towards my neck. The searing hot metal burns my flesh as it wraps around and glows brighter than the sun.

  Notification’s ring out inside my head-

  Attempting Demonic Enslavement…

  Attempt Successful / Beginning Integration

  23%

  45%

  78%

  89%

  99%

  Integration Failed

  Error / Enslavement cannot be performed by the enslaved party

  Error / Master not found

  Attempting Fix…

  Status as (Summon) Found

  Summoner (Eva Le’tain) is assigned status of Master

  Beginning Integration

  26%

  58%

  82%

  99%

  100%

  Integration successful / You May Bow Before Your New Master

  I breathe deeply as the searing pain fades away. Did it work?-

  “Why did you do that?!”

  As soon as I hear her question a primal feeling takes me. I need to answer her, I have to, “To get you to trust me.”

  Eva looks at me with a dumbfounded expression. She tries to articulate something but fails spectacularly. “A- I- I don- wha- huh?!”

  I grin at her attempts to understand what just happened, but I feel slightly worried. The phrasing of the word enslavement when I put on the collar is giving me a sort of sinking feeling. I wanted Eva to trust me, but I now realize that I might not fully trust her yet.

  Ehh! I’m sure it will be fine. I’ve just put myself at the complete mercy of someone whose race is notorious for enslaving humans. What could possibly go wrong!

  “Y- Yo- Yo- You willingly enslaved yourself?!”

  I smile at her, “Yes, that is what just happened!”

  She rapidly blinks at me before her rate of blinking slows. I tilt my head, “Are you good?”

  “I’m… reading a notification.”

  Oh, I wonder what it says… Eva suddenly locks her eyes with mine. She speaks with a sure tone. “From now on, you can never lie to me again.”

  “Wasn’t planning on it!”

  “What is your full name?”

  “Tiffany Day.”

  “What’s your race?”

  “Human.”

  “Where were you born?”

  “The state of michigan.”

  “What continent were you from?”

  “North America.”

  Eva pulls her head back, “I’ve never heard of that continent before. It must be extremely far away.”

  I give her a sympathetic look, “Very.” Honestly, the fact that I was from another world, is something I didn’t want to openly talk about. First is because no one would believe me if I told them. Second is because if I did try to convince them, it would only lead to more distrust.

  But now… I’ll tell Eva if the topic ever comes up.

  “That still doesn’t prove that you can’t lie to me.”

  I blink at Eva, “Maybe… What if I try to lie to you and we see what happens.”

  “Okay, what’s your name?”

  I smirk, “Mari-” The tattoo around my neck starts to glow and steam billows from it. I drop to my knees and grab onto my neck as unbearable searing pain explodes from within. Pain Ignorance does nothing as I gasp for air.

  Eva stares at me writhing on the ground for a moment, but my screams seem to break her out of it. She rapidly starts to glance around and then chants a word. “Amnesty!”

  The golden glow of the tattoo vanishes, replaced by red hue around the entirety of my neck. The pain subsides and I’m left panting on the ground.

  “Eva. I promise you I will never lie ever again. That was more painful than the assault from that thing's mind magic. My Pain Ignorance did absolutely nothing and I felt every bit of it.”

  Eva looks at me laying on the ground, now completely at her mercy. “You really can’t lie to me anymore.”

  I shake my head, “Not only that, I think I have to do everything you say from now on.” I stand up to my feet and look her in the eyes. I’m taller than her, so the height difference threw me off a little, but I bear with it. “I swear that I will never hurt you, and I will do anything you say from now on…” I scratch my cheek with my last hand as a nervous trickle of sweat streams down my face. “I just hope you don’t just force me into hard labor or something.”

  Eva blinks at me and her lips start to curl into a smile. She looks down and throws her arms to her side as she chuckles to herself. Eva nearly falls down as she bursts into laughter.

  “Oh, the devils! You’re not some genius master manipulator! You’re just an idiot!”

  I frown at her, but that only makes her laugh harder. I want to get upset at her for laughing, but I find myself smiling at her. It’s not a painful laugh that came from stress, but a real genuine laugh. My smile grows wider. I made Eva laugh-

  “I agree! I am an idiot! The most cunning dumbass that ever was!”

  Her laughter dies down as she starts to look at me. Eva’s mood seems to change as she looks down and glances around. “Umm… Why?-”

  I furrow my brows at the now more nervous Eva. “Why what?”

  “Why do you care about me?”

  I pause at that. Why do I care about Eva? Well, that should be obvious, “You saved my life.”

  She meets my eye again and I continue, “Some people would say that I had a good life where I grew up, but I hated it. I tried to run away, but that didn’t work. I tried doing lots of things to keep myself happy, but it never lasted long.” I smile. “Then someone ripped that world away from me, and I’m very glad that she did.”

  Eva’s eyes widened as I finished. I wait patiently for her response, but she stands there staring in silence. I start to worry about what her response might be, but my thoughts are interrupted by a notification-

  You have completed the objective (Earn Trust!)

  -

  Applying Rewards…

  My jaw drops at the notification and I blink a few times to make sure I’m seeing it right. Another new notification appears and sends me spiraling even further into shock.

  Congratulations, you have unlocked a skill

  -

  (Linked Soul)

  Me and Eva speak at the same time.

  “What the fuck?!”

  We look at each other as I slowly register what that means. I smile, she trusts me- I frown. Wait a minute, she reacted to my notification. It’s called Linked Soul. Did she receive it as well?

  “Did you just get a new skill?”

  Eva looks at me dubiously, “Yes?”

  “What’s it called?”

  “Linked Soul.”

  I raise an eyebrow, “I did too… Wanna see what it does?”

  Me and Eva slowly looked down at our respective status screens. What I saw blew my mind-

  Linked Soul / Level (1)

  (This is a gift granted to you by a higher power. This skill expands on your bond as summoner and summon with the one known as Eva Le’tain. Your souls have been connected and so have your systems.) I’m excited to see where you’ll go! -Ydri

  You can activate your own skills, class skills, or title skills within the soul of Eva Le’tain at the cost of your own mana

  I stepped back and tried to cover my mouth with my arm, only to remember I don’t have a right arm anymore, so I used my left arm to cover my mouth. Does this do what I think it does?

  I look back at Eva, who is still looking at her status with wide eyes. I look at her soul and I raise the only hand that’s handy. I grin as I manifest Eva’s aura with Magical Aura Manipulation.

  I immediately stop however as Eva looks back at me. She sees my expression and furrows her brows. “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  So that’s what Terrifying Presence is like-

  Staring at Eva at this moment is like sitting on the front porch of a cabin in the woods. It is the pitch black of night and you’re the only one there. The only one supposed to be there. You return to the front door and open it to find an eight foot tall man with albino skin wearing a suit waiting for you.

  Seeing Eva now is like looking up at that horrifying man.

  I avert my gaze and release my skill from Eva. “Uhhh… I was trying out the new skill and I just got a taste of what Terrifying Presence is like.”

  Eva smugly smiles at that, but then she returns to her status screen. “I’m curious about the new skill, but I have something more pressing right now.”

  I look back at her, “And that is?”

  “I got a new title, King’s Fall.”

  I grin at her and attempt to give her a thumbs up. Unfortunately, I tried to use my right hand again. Damnit, this is starting to get annoying. I blink as I parse what she just said. “New title? What was your old title?”

  She freezes up at that before looking away. “Um… I don’t think you would like it.”

  I smile mischievously at her nervousness, “Oh man! At first I was curious, but now I simply have to know!”

  She frowns, “It was… Human Hunter.”

  I look at her with a neutral expression. I mean, I guess it makes sense with how elves are and all. I think I just got myself too excited because this is just so, so…

  “Meh.”

  Eva almost recoils at that. “Meh?”

  “Yeah, it’s just… Meh. So far the titles have sounded very cool, but this one is just… Boring.”

  Eva shakes her head. “No, it’s just that it means… you know?”

  “That you killed a bunch of humans. I understand.”

  Eva’s frown deepens, “That doesn’t bother you?”

  I tilt my head at her, “Nope, but like, how many humans have you killed?”

  “I think 30? Maybe 35?”

  “Only 35?”

  “Only?!”

  I tilt my head in the other direction as I start to count in my head, “Huh… I’ve killed more humans than you.”

  Eva slowly lowers her gaze. Is she upset at the fact I’m not upset? Well, it’s not like I can even lie about it anyway. Now that I physically can’t lie to her, it’s likely she will find out even more about me. I wonder how she is going to react when she learns I’m from another world.

  I frown as I suddenly remember something. “Um, Eva. Can I ask for your help?”

  She blinks rapidly, “W- What is it?”

  “You see, my arm was ripped off, not cleanly cut off, so I need someone to help me treat the wound. I need part of the bone removed and the skin needs to be wrapped over so it can heal properly. Apparently, Aura of Constitution isn’t strong enough to do it by itself.”

  Eva looks down at my arm, blinks a few times, and then falls backwards as she goes unconscious.

  “Oh… I thought you were over that… Whoops.”