Hitman with a Badass System

Michael spent almost an hour in pace brewing the potions without any distractions. He enjoyed the sight of ever-expanding clouds and the distant mountains that peeked through the clouds. It soothed his soul more than he could explain with words. The waterfall's burble sound added a certain calming effect on his mind. Standing atop the mountain peak and looking at the world down made him feel truly powerful. Even after finishing brewing the cures, Michael sat in a meditative posture and began to meditate. The clouds above him moved to his rhythm every time his chest rose up and down. He didn't notice the pebbles and mud flying in a circle around him or the dark smoke emanating from his body. Fortunately, he was too far from the people down to notice everything changes.

The dark smoke slowly flew towards his palm and floated like a dark orb above his hands until the dark flames emerged from his palm and enveloped the dark smoke. Soon, the dark smoke and the dark flames merged together to form a tiny black hole that sucked every pebble flying around Michael. The black hole was only the size of a dot and still was in a weak state. The black hole wasn't a spell or any that appeared due to the system. Instead, it was one of Michael's dormant powers. The more connection he had with the darkness, the more powerful he grew.  He may be a Fusion Stage cultivator, but he was just an amateur in terms of godhood.

The Skyhall wasn't afraid of The Dark Lord because of cultivation. They feared him because of his dormant powers. The more powerful he grew, he would unshackle the cultivation bonds and become something else entirely. At that time, his powers couldn't be calculated using the cultivation stages.

No spell in the entire world could create a black hole to suck everything. Yet, a black hole was floating above Michael's palm, unknowing to him.

He felt more and more connected to the darkness around him until Gaya's voice in his head severed the connection. As soon as a distraction appeared, the black hole disappeared and everything around him returned to its normal state. By the time Michael opened his eyes, he didn't notice the changes.

"Are the cures ready? Not to rush you but someone is about to die if we don't give him the cure,"  Gaya couldn't care less about a lowly soldier of Voldigards and Michael could see that in her indifferent tone.

"I'll be there," He took a deep breath before standing up and dashing to the edge. After he left the place where he meditated, one could see a dark spiral appear in the ground for a moment, split second, and disappear. Back on the ground, a soldier had turned completely gray and his skin looked like it was made of stone.

When Michael landed on the ground, he saw Lord Julien and his family surround the soldier. They all looked worried. Seeing a Lord of the House worry for a foot soldier was quite a surprise.

"Here," Michael threw the cure like it was nothing to Eve and stood beside Eve's family.

"Sorry Lord Julien, I couldn't resist meditating. That place has some effect,"

Lord Julien looked at the top of the mountain for a moment,

"Indeed,"

Eve emptied the entire cure into the soldier's mouth.

"Nightmare," Michael called for the Nightmare, who comfortably sat atop Gaya's shoulder. Seeing Michael calling him, Nightmare came to Michael with a single flap of his wings.

"These will be enough to cure everyone. Make sure no cure leaves this place," Michael waved his hand as a few wooden crates full of potions materialized on the ground.

"Shall we take a walk Master Ghost?" Lord Julien asked Michael.

Lord Julien's eyes had a sliver of concern and Michael could see it clearly. At that moment, Michael thought Lord Julien was worried about building the Voldigards and bringing them to their former glory. After all, the Voldigards lost three Fusion Stage protectors. In a world where the Fusion Stage cultivators were scarce, losing three Fusion Stage warriors was devastating. They could easily survive or even be a powerhouse in Elon with the five Soul Refining stage cultivators. Still, in Awor, a family with one Fusion Stage protector would be like a wounded animal among a pack of hungry vultures.

"Sure," Michael wanted to first hear Lord Julien's plans for the family first before giving any ideas to Julien. But, as far as Michael's guts told him, Julien seemed a little bit soft. To lead House Voldigard to its former glory, Michael would prefer a leader like Eve, who was pretty ruthless and not afraid to get her hands dirty to get the job done.

Leaving everyone behind, Michael and Julien walked along the stream.

"Sorry Master Ghost for being blunt, but what's your relationship with Eve?" Michael was taken aback by Julien's question. He didn't expect Julien to ask about his relationship with Eve instead of family matters.

"Are you two in love?"

"No," Michael shook his head rapidly,

To Michael's surprise, Julien sighed in relief.

"Thank the gods," Julien looked relieved and smiled.

"Wow, I didn't think I was such as bad choice for your daughter," Michael let out a small peal of laughter,

"Oh god no. People would be in line to marry their daughters to you. It's just Eve is not a good fit for you,"

"How come?' Michael had no intention of marrying anyone other than Gaya, but he wanted to know why he was not a good fit for Eve,

Julien took a deep breath,

"If she marries you, she will be in your shadows until she dies, Master Ghost. You reached the Fusion stage at such a young age. Heaven-defying talents like you only appear only once in thousands of years. No doubt you will reach the Immortal stage but Eve," Julien looked at Eve who was helping the soldiers in the distance and sighed.

"She is destined to be at the Core Strengthening stage forever. I have done everything to make her strong and protect her from the things people talk about her behind her back. Even in our family, they want me to choose Jennifer's husband as a successor after she marries,"

"Why not Eve's husband?"

"Only if she agrees to get married. She put a tough wall around her MAster Ghost. But she is just a gentle girl behind that wall. Did she ever tell you about Filvendor?"

Michael slowly shook his head. He had never even heard of the name before.

"He was once Eve's fiance," another pleasant surprise hit Michael, hearing Julien.

"She fell in love with him while studying in Golden Lake Sect. Even though Filvendor was an elf, we agreed to their love because we wanted Eve to marry someone she loves rather than someone we choose for her," Lord Julien's voice cracked, showing the great pain in his heart.

"What happened?" Michael asked.

"After she reached the Core Strengthening stage, Eve and Filvendor went to Nalanthelas to meet his parents. Filvendor was an heir to one of the prominent families in Nalanthelas. He promised Eve he would convince his parents and they also agreed to their marriage until they decided to see Eve's potential in cultivation," Once again, Lord Julien stopped talking for a moment. He couldn't speak freely due to the lump forming in her throat. Just thinking how many days he spent watching Eve crying herself to death. It took Eve almost a decade to come out of her breakup and only now Michael knew about her life.

"They were the ones who told us that Eve cannot break through to the Soul Refining stage. She was destined to get old and die as a Core Strengthening stage warrior. Filvendor's parents couldn't let their precious talented son marry such a mediocre girl. So he broke the engagement and her heart before leaving for Mazeroth,"

Michael was glad that he got to know more about his friend. Deep down, Michael felt the urge to visit Filvendor and slaughter them all. However, something rubbed Michael in the wrong way when he heard the story. Eve was just twenty-nine or so old. Reaching the Core Strengthening stage at thirty years old was considered a talent let alone reaching the Core Strengthening stage at the age of twenty. She was not anything but a mediocre cultivator. Nonetheless, time was such a cruel thing as it made once a talented prodigy into a mediocre cultivator.

Everything Julien had said made sense except the part where Filvendor's parents initially agreed to let their son marry a human girl. Something about their agreement and later they checked Eve about cultivation didn't sit right with Michael. He had a feeling something was amiss.

"I cannot let my girl go through heartbreak again. I don't think she could go through it again. You're talented, good-looking, and talented, any girl would fall in love with you Master Ghost-"

"Lord Julien," Michael interjected Lord Julien,

"A guy and a girl can be friends without being romantically involved. Eve and I are friends. In this life, I already gave my heart to Aelia. I appreciate you telling me everything but if you ask me to stop being Eve's friend, you and I are gonna have a problem," Michael's gentle smile completely vanished from his face. Instead, he looked at Julien with an intense cold look. Although Julien was at Fusion Stage level 8, he couldn't help but get scared by Michael. To be honest, he shuddered.

"I won't abandon my friend because someone who doesn't deserve Eve left her years ago. I don't have many friends, Lord Julien, only a few. I take care of each and every one of them. Even if the entire world gives up on Eve, I won't. In fact, I will make her breakthrough to the Soul Refining stage and prove how wrong those elves were and prove to you that Eve can lead the Voldigards to a golden age," Michael openly challenged Julien.

Michael wouldn't openly challenge anyone but at that moment, he had a fire burning inside him to make Eve stronger than every single one of them.

This was the first time Michael wanted to help someone without expecting something in return. The Michael before traveling back in time would be proud of his current self.

Lord Julien who wanted to repay Michael for curing them and ask him to leave Eve, couldn't ask Ghost those things anymore. Julien knew there was no way he could convince Ghost to leave Eve.

After hearing what Ghost had just said, Julien felt both happy and scared at the same time.