Shadow Author

Now it was all or nothing, I had to leave no holes and connect everything with some perfectly logical context in order to survive.

"I'm someone just like you. I'm only a servant to the lord. However, I was sent to test you, and you passed!"

"There's no way you expect me to believe that, right?"

I sighed again.

"No, I guess not, then allow me to start from the beginning."

She nodded.

"As I already said, similar to you I am just a servant. But you already knew that right?"

She remained silent.

"I mean it was obvious because you saw me bleed when fighting against Willow which means that I'm not one of the immortals, also meaning I'm not the lord."

Now she responds.

"Yeah, of course, I knew that, but still who are you?"

'She's falling for it!'

But it was still just the start and there was no way she trusted me fully but thankfully I still had more excuses.

Using my knowledge from being the author I also knew for a fact that Miss Smith couldn't be a direct member of The Untouchables.

This was for a multitude of reasons. First I never wrote about her being immortal from some faraway place.

Although it's now quite apparent to me that some things are out of my understanding, one thing that remains factual is the background of a character which cannot be altered.

Secondly, even if she was part of this group in another novel I wrote, that she was harmed which means that even in the future she isn't immortal.

Finally, "Let me continue, you said it yourself that you were only a servant to the lord meaning you aren't immortal and just like me a regular human being."

This finally cleared up one of the problems where she believed me to be the lord. Now it was clear that I was in the same position as her, merely a slave.

"Okay, I can believe that we are in the same position but you have yet to explain who you truly are."

'Yes! Part one was a success! Now it all comes down to this.'

"Right, well you see I am like you but it's just that I am in a slightly higher position where I have direct communication with the lord."

She narrowed her eyes while I continued.

"He didn't reveal anything about himself which is why I don't know his true name but he sent me here to get in contact with you specifically."

Miss Smith still wasn't buying it but she also wasn't completely unreasonable. What I was saying made sense because she didn't know the name of the lord. Which is why she continued to try to figure out the truth of the matter.

But this also meant I could have picked any random name and been saved from going through this hardship.

"Why would he do that?"

'Now for the final blow.'

"You see he saw how much potential I had and he decided to send me to grow under your guidance."

"He did?"

'Now just to wrap everything up and I'll be home free.'

"Yes, he recognized your talents and decided that I would be a good fit under you."

She started to blush.

"Really?"

But then she caught herself and asked another question.

"Although I'm not disagreeing that I would be a great teacher if you had so much potential, why wouldn't he just teach you himself?"

'No problem I can work with this.'

"That's because the lord is an extremely busy man. I shouldn't be saying this but he and the others have something big in the works."

'Using context clues I was able to deduce that there were other lords so I made sure to incorporate that into my story while also sprinkling in some lies.'

"What is it that they are planning?"

"That- that not even I was privileged to."

She thought for a second.

"Makes sense."

Now at this point, I knew I could probably get away free but I hadn't finished my original goal so I kept pushing my luck even though it was a huge gamble.

"Now although the lord saw great potential in me before I could be of any use he needs me to get stronger, and this is where you come in."

"To guide and train you?"

"Correct! He gave me a mission to become as strong as possible in the shortest amount of time so that I could be of help to him. Specifically what he wished is that I will be able to defeat you."

At this point, I needed to make it so that Miss Smith wouldn't go around asking questions or try to get involved more than she needed to. With this in mind, I tried to up play myself.

"Defeat me? Then does that mean…"

"Yes, unfortunately, his plans are so grand that you won't be able to support him at your current strength. However, fret not because she has placed you as the greatest guide to support me."

Hearing my bittersweet words Miss Smith seemed wounded by the fact she wouldn't be of any help essentially making her useless all because she was too weak.

But before she could hate herself too much I made sure to add in some benefits.

"Yet our lord is extremely generous! By agreeing to teach me all that you know he will reward you for your efforts!"

Her eyes sparkled.

"Reward me?"

"Of course! After all, how do you think I came about getting the information as to where your sister is?"

This caused her mouth to drop open in shock and everything started making sense in her mind.

It was at this moment that she bought up everything I said and truly believed me to be who I claimed to be.

This was also perfect for me because it allowed me to be more open with her and leave out any possible impossibilities to be gifts from the lord.

Meanwhile, I would still be able to milk Miss Smith dry of everything she knows including some of the secret moves I wouldn't have been able to get previously.

Having everything sorted and connected perfectly in a web of lies my gamble paid off more than I could have ever hoped it could.

It was now Miss Smith who took the lead by believing everything I said to be true as she wanted to get right to work.

"Then we should get back to training. We need you to get strong for both of our sakes!"

Completely agreeing with her I was about to get right back into it when I recalled the whole reason I got into this mess.

"Miss Smith, I forgot to explain my skill to you!"

Remembering our early conversation Miss Smith was shocked and asked about it for a second time.

"Yes, can you tell me all about that now?"

This was also something I had to do because I needed to keep up with the act that I had great potential.

If I came up with this great lie and then progressed at a snail's pace Miss Smith would get suspicious again. Therefore showing her my skill will prove that I'm above others similar in age.

But even then I didn't have to worry too much since I already consumed multiple Talent Breakers making my potential otherworldly.

"Yeah, it's a skill that allows me to slowly recuperate mana within my body which in turn is restorative."

I lied about the facts of the skill dumbing it down to something that only allows me to slowly return expended mana rather than its true role which is to quickly add more mana overall.

However, the part about it helping out my tired body was true even if it recently found it out.

"Ah, I see."

But there was a reason I brought this topic back up.

"But you see because of this it makes things like building muscle much easier. Which is why I was hoping we could get right into sword arts. That way I can get stronger on my own time by making use of the gym."

Miss Smith paused to think and the more she did the more reasonable it sounded. After all, the mission was to make me as strong as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Thus, if I were to train on my own with simple things like working out she could focus all her time on teaching me the ways of the sword.

Miss Smith was completely on board with the idea which was perfect for me. The reason was that I needed a way to get out of doing those laps and become a sword master in a short period of time.

Yet although she had made up her mind on the subject she never revealed it to me and instead asked a strange question.

"Are you sure you will be able to train in the gym?"

Confused as to where she was going with this I answered:

"Yeah, why?"

She smiled.

"I figured you'd be too busy having your way with some girl."