The Counterintuitive Curse

There was nothing but pain, so they used pain to exchange for power...

It sounded reasonable enough, but shouldn't such an exchange mean giving up pain in return for power?

Why had it instead become enduring even more pain to gain power?

"Giving up pain cannot bring power. That does not conform to the rules of magic. I can only teach them how to use the power of pain itself—using it to strengthen their bodies, inflict greater pain upon their enemies, and protect their lives."

As always, Adam acted as though he could see through Zeref's thoughts. Come to think of it, he had not used Legilimency in a long time.

Entering the other party's mental space at their own invitation before using Legilimency was a procedure Adam had arranged long ago to shape his identity as a god.

Although his target was Zeref this time, Adam's observation of Zeref's surface thoughts went smoothly, thanks to his previous experience thoroughly combing through the other man's memories.

At last, Adam added:

"Even gods can only make use of rules. They cannot alter them, much less defy them."

The moment those words were spoken, Zeref's gaze became far more fervent.

Wasn't Adam essentially admitting that he was a god?

Yet Adam's words themselves had merely spoken of what gods could and could not do. He had not mentioned himself in the slightest, much less said that he was a god.

That was all Zeref's own imagination.

But with his preconceptions already in place, Zeref clearly did not see it that way. He immediately asked Adam for a way to lift the curse on him.

As for whether Adam's identity was real...

How rude would it be to ask directly? The quality of the method he received would naturally allow him to determine