That was the worst thing that could happen.

‘Why?’ I asked myself. ‘What did I do that scared him to this extent?’

‘Wait. Didn’t he believe me? Then...why?’ I failed to understand his reasoning until I remembered that I could peer through his memories and thoughts.

As I read his thoughts, I finally understood.

The poor Kyle did not believe that there was such a good thing in the world. He was scared that I had come for his soul.

“Wait. Listen to me. There is no harm at all. I am an ancient magus that was cursed to inhabit an object forever. I have no freedom at all. All I want is to leave this place. Anywhere close to civilization is better than here.”

I found that I was the one making an impossible wish.

“If you bring me away from here, I’ll be your servant from now on.”

Seeing my pitiful pleading state, Kyle seemed to be thinking for a moment.

He then looked at the copper ring he was wearing with a questioning face.

‘Please don’t throw it away.’ I thought fearing that all was lost.

“Fine...” Kyle said.

I can’t begin to say how happy I was.

“...But, you have to prove to me that you are truly a benevolent spirit.”He said.

“Of course...ask anything.”I said while heavily nodding.

I could feel his greed taking over his common sense. He had forgotten that there was a ghost in front of him as his mind was working hard to find a suitable wish.

After nineteen years of hardship and misery, god knows what he dreamt about at night.

A good life.

“Can you give me gold?” Kyle asked.

Of course. Money.

I knew that he had only seen a gold coin but never touched or owned one.

“Of course. But I have to ask the quantity you need.” I said.

He didn’t blink as he said: “A mountain of gold.”

I cursed myself for asking such a stupid question. The ring had yet to refine enough mana for me to conjure a mountain of gold.

I decided to create a small mountain of at least three meters high.

I went through my memories and found the spell for conjuring gold.

I made weird gestures to attract his attention and chanted gibberish.

A small mountain of gold bricks appeared between us.

Kyle was more than astounded as he advanced and touched the gold to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

In fact, he thought he was dreaming and wanted the dream to go on forever.

Then came the issue of transporting the gold.

To make myself useful, I stepped forward and said: “I can store it inside the copper ring and retrieve it whenever you need it. The copper ring has a small world inside it. It is more than enough to store the gold.”

He nodded as he watched the gold disappear into the copper ring.

Then came the fear of losing the copper ring.

Or the fear of being found in possession of such a treasure.

All kinds of fears induced by paranoia assailed him and I was helpless against that since telling him that I could read his mind would make things worse.

I had to keep some things secret if I wanted him not to fear me.

“Can you protect me from danger?” Kyle asked.

I gave a simple answer: “As long as you wear that ring, you’ll never die.”

Of course, my previous masters were all dead somehow. I once promised them the same thing only to helplessly watch them die in the end.

Who asked them to forget the ring or offend people that were as strong as I.

Well, I am no God. Some things are out of my reach.

I felt compelled to say more :“ Also, only you can see me. Only those who wear the ring can see me.”

His greatest fears faded away with a few simple phrases from me.

“Can you really grant unlimited wishes?” Kyle asked.

“Yes, although I need an equal amount of mana to grant a wish. If it’s a wish that needs a huge amount of mana then I must have that mana to be able to grant it.” I said.

“You mean the same mana that the Hallowed Swordsmen use to train?” Kyle asked. He doubted my words.

Hallowed Swordsmen were a branch of magicians that used mana to destroy rather than create. They strengthened their bodies with mana and used those powerful bodies to fight. They turned mana into essence that could be used by the body. They also used that same essence to strengthen their weapons.

I felt annoyed when I heard the words ‘Hallowed swordsmen’. The man who sealed me was a Hallowed Swordsman. A very powerful one.

“Ever hear of magic?” I asked.

“No.” Kyle said.

Even the commoners should know of magicians.

Maybe I slept in that castle longer than I thought.

“Apart from the Hallowed Swordsmen, what are the other ways of gaining power?” I asked.

“None. There are just Hallowed Swordsmen.” Kyle shook his head.

Impossible.

Had the magicians died out during the last millennia?

I once again went through his memories in depth and found that he wasn’t lying.

‘Something must’ve happened during the last thousand years.’ I thought.

In Kyle’s memories, there was the Trost empire that controlled the entire continent for hundreds of years. All the other countries had to pay tribute to them and fall under their rule or face annihilation.

They heavily advertised the Hallowed Swordsmen power system, making it the only path to power available on the continent.

In a way they were right. Becoming a Hallowed swordsman was a thousand times easier than becoming a magician. It was an easy way to gain power.

‘What happened to the magicians though...’ I asked myself.

I put it to the back of my mind and looked at Kyle before me. I asked him: “Why did you not stay at the orphanage and continue training as a Hallowed swordsman? You would’ve awakened your essence by now.”

“I left because I couldn’t stay in that ghastly place. We were to be sold to the empire’s army the moment we awakened our essence.” Kyle said.

“I see...Let’s leave then.” I said, impatient to reach a city.

“Wait...”Kyle said. He continued: “Is there a way to see if I still have family members that are still alive?” Kyle asked. His request sounded like an impossible wish to him.

I knew a bloodline spell that could be useful.

I waved my staff and a drop of blood appeared before me. It was Kyle’s blood that I had teleported from his body.

I chanted the spell and a compass appeared before me.

I called it the bloodline compass.

I grasped the compass and looked at it.

The needle ignored Kyle after a while and rested on another corner.

“You’re quite lucky. You still have some relatives alive. Look...” I said while tossing the compass to him.

He caught it and hurriedly looked at it. Seeing the needle ignore him but turn to the left and rest there, tears ran down his cheeks.

“Thank you.” He said.

“Let’s go.” I said, impatient to reach civilization.