Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Ning found Frostveil close by, sitting next to a tree in the shadows. Her breathing was still ragged, her hands trembling slightly. The moment she saw him, her arm jerked up, fingers pointing toward him.

A white beam began forming at her fingertip, but she stopped herself before she launched the attack. The light flickered and died. She lowered her arm, blinking with a confused look in her eyes.

Her blue veil was moved back, revealing a fair face that belonged to a human. Or at least, a human-like race. Ning could not see her eyes, so she could very well be a high elf as well.

Frostveil stared at her own hand, questions filling her mind. “What was I doing? Why did I get into a fight?” she asked.

Ning approached slowly. “You’re confused. That’s normal.”

“I tried to freeze you. I tried to kill you. But I don’t understand why I did any of that. I don’t—” She pressed her palms against her temples. “Why would I do that?”

Ning stopped a few feet away from her, letting her calm herself. “Were you paid by Forgath before you left the party?”

Frostveil looked down, thoughtful. “You threatened to kill him. He was scared. He asked us to help him get away, in exchange for some money. I accepted. Why did I accept?”

“So you were paid.”

“Yes, but I don’t know why I accepted. I have no need for money,” she said. She brought out two cheques from her clothes. “He paid me twice. Once to help you escape. The other time to fight you. And I… I accepted both times. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Don’t beat yourself over it,” Ning said with a sigh, sitting down next to one of the trees. “Forgath had a power to compel others by buying them. That was his power. When he gave you money, he bought more than your services. He bought your loyalty, your will. You were his until the job was done.”

Frostveil shook her head. “That’s impossible. There was a suppression field active at the party. I was compelled inside the party as well. It couldn’t have been him.”

“His power overcomes suppression fields,” Ning said. “That’s what made him dangerous. That’s why I killed him, instead of taking him prisoner.”

Frostveil was quiet for a moment. She had heard everything Forgath said before Ning killed him. The confessions, the threats, the admission to everything. She knew well that the Imp was far from a man that needed her help.

Still, she couldn’t trust everything.

“You could be lying,” she said finally.

“I could be,” Ning agreed. “But I don’t have the reason to, and you have no theory on how everything happened. So you can only accept my words as the truth for now.”

“Maybe it is the truth, but I still can’t trust you completely. I don’t trust anyone who is so ready to kill someone.”

“That’s fine.”

Frostveil stared at him, searching his face for deception. She found none. She sat down as well, relaxing. She had killed people before. Her powers were ones that could easily kill a person in minutes if she froze them for too long.

Oxygen deprivation and hypothermia had taken more than a few lives when she had really gotten into many intense situations with strong individuals.

She was lost in her own strange emotion when a thought came to her. She couldn’t have been the only person feeling this way.

“Where’s Vanisher?”

Ning blinked. He had completely forgotten about the minotaur. “Shit.”

He stood up and launched himself into the air, heading back toward the city. It took him only a few seconds to reach the tall building where he had left Vanisher.

The minotaur was still there, leaning against a wall, staring out into the city line. His eyes were distant, further away than the skyscrapers that filled his vision.

He turned around when he heard Ning land.

“You came back,” Vanisher said with some surprise and turned around.

“Sorry. Got distracted.”

“Is everything okay?” he asked, growing a little worried when he remembered what he had stopped thinking about for a while. “What happened to Forgath?”

“He’s dead.”

The minotaur froze. “What?”

Ning walked over and grabbed Vanisher by the arm. “I’ll explain later. For now, hold on.”

“Wait, what are you—”

Ning launched into the sky, this time making sure to contain his speed so that the minotaur didn’t get knocked out. The Vanisher screamed in surprise as he was taken through the air.

He saw the massive drop that was below him and closed his eyes quickly, looking up. When he opened his eyes, he saw the giant bat above him.

He screamed both times. They plummeted down from the sky a few seconds later, and the minotaur let everyone know of his fear of heights, but Ning controlled their descent, landing smoothly in the small woods where Frostveil was waiting.

Vanisher stumbled when Ning let go, breathing hard. “Never… never do that again.”

“You’re fine,” Ning said. He looked at both of them. “The cops are on the way. I called them earlier.”

“Oh!” Frostveil said in surprise. She hadn’t expected Ning to take the initiative to report himself. “Do you want us to do anything in particular before they come?”

“Not really. Just wait,” Ning said. “And tell them the truth when they ask you about it. That will be the best help.”

Vanisher looked confused. “What truth? I don’t understand what happened. One moment I was guarding Forgath, the next I’m on top of a roof nearly 10 stories high.”

“You were under Forgath’s power,” Ning explained. “Think of it like hypnotism that only works when you get paid. Speaking of which, were you paid?”

Vanisher processed the question slowly and brought out something from his pants pocket. A cheque.

“So… I was controlled because I had this?”

“Yes. And it worked inside the suppression field as well.”

“That’s…” The minotaur found it difficult to speak. “That’s terrifying.”

Ning’s phone rang a second later. He pulled it out and saw Blake’s name on the screen. Without much thought, he answered.