Chapter 2713 Flower Holding Infant Spirit <TOC> Chapter 2715 Specialization
Translator: SumTLMan
Two blossoms unfurl; each displays its own branch.
While Aedannis was plotting how best to block Angel and his companions, the Sovereign of Wisdom on the other side had already clarified every issue the contract in the True Word Book had left out.
The contract as a whole is actually rather loose, only the punishments appear severe. Yet those punishments merely look harsh; in truth they are the Sovereign of Wisdom’s way of amplifying the rewards by indirect means.
The reason is obvious. The first two clauses are both concerned with the Wood Spirit, focusing on protecting the Wood Spirit and respecting the Wood Spirit’s wishes. Within those two clauses the gray areas are vast, and many expressions are not explicit. Faced with such vague rules, Angel has many ways to exploit loopholes; even if he breaks the contract he could still escape punishment.
The third clause states that no information about what has happened in Nightfall City may be disclosed to outsiders, matters concerning the Wood Spirit excepted.
If only the first half of the sentence existed, there would be little room for ambiguity. Yet the Sovereign of Wisdom deliberately appended the second half and gave no boundaries, turning the whole matter into one of personal conscience.
Once conscience is involved, whether the contract’s power punishes you is no longer decided by that power but by your own mind.
If you feel you have fallen short and deserve punishment, the power of the contract takes effect. If you are thick-skinned and dark-hearted enough to think you did nothing wrong, the contract’s power cannot touch you.
One may say that the restrictions in these three clauses are all quite lenient, and each clause can be circumvented. Precisely because of that, no matter how harsh the punishments seem, they amount to nothing at all.
In Jon’s words, this is the very model of a “gentleman’s agreement.”
It binds only the respectable, it does not bind riff-raff and rogues.
On the surface the Sovereign of Wisdom has given Angel ample face, yet at root the reason remains his concern for the Wood Spirit.
…
Returning to the contract itself, the Sovereign of Wisdom’s explanation was crystal clear.
The scope of the third clause is that Angel must not reveal anything about the “ruin site” to outsiders, while “matters concerning the Wood Spirit are excepted”, how far that exception extends is for Angel to judge.
Without question, the scope is extremely broad.
Another problem is why the column of rewards and punishments lists only punishments and no recompense. Why is that?
The answer the Sovereign of Wisdom gave was even more direct and blunt: “Whatever recompense you desire, you may draft it yourself when you sign the contract.”
Those words stunned Angel, and everyone else wore equally astonished faces.
Earlier, everyone had assumed the Sovereign of Wisdom left the reward column blank in order to unveil a spectacular surprise, but no one expected the “big move” to be so staggering.
“The reward for the contract is to be proposed directly by Lord Super Dimensional, and he hasn’t even mentioned an upper limit, this is just…” Vai was already so amazed he covered his slightly parted mouth.
Everyone understood the words Vai left unsaid and nodded with deep resonance.
Yet at that moment the Black Count poured a basin of cold water on the fired-up Vai through the mental connection: “The reward indeed has no stated ceiling, but the ceiling already exists. Think carefully and you’ll know where it is.”
With the Black Count’s reminder, Vai pondered for a moment and nodded as though enlightened.
Indeed, it appears that no upper limit is set. Yet once you truly make a demand, your own misgivings will multiply.
Putting himself in that position, if Vai were to make a request he would certainly fret: Is my demand too excessive? Will it anger the other side?… And if it is too small, the other side is happy while he himself feels cheated.
These mere thoughts already made Vai feel profoundly entangled. Of course, the main point is that they are currently on the Sovereign of Wisdom’s turf, anger the local tyrant, and even a powerful dragon had better keep its head down.
If they were at Noah Manor, Vai would not care about these problems, because he has backing behind him.
Vai’s background lets him think that way. For wizards without backing, they would all the more dare not voice excessive demands.
Beyond this reason, the blank reward column actually hides an upper limit.
You cannot put forward a demand the Sovereign of Wisdom cannot fulfill, such as Angel asking: Ensure that I certainly become a Legendary Wizard; grant Nightfall City to me; slay a genuine Abyss Demon God; guarantee me a clearly lost treasure; or have you, Sovereign of Wisdom, sever your own life… and so on.
These examples are extreme, but even if one steps back a bit the Sovereign of Wisdom may still be unable to comply. For example, Angel might demand: Forget becoming a Legendary Wizard, I know that is difficult, but guarantee that I will definitely become a True Knowledge Wizard.
That request is actually not excessive, for with the Sovereign of Wisdom’s eye it is clear that Angel already stands at the threshold of the path to true knowledge, what he lacks is merely time and accumulation.
It sounds as though success is inevitable? Not necessarily.
For within the words “time” and “accumulation” are wrapped the unknown “process.” Once a process is involved, variables appear, for example, Angel might be killed while “building his foundation,” or one day his thoughts might wander, leading to an energy backlash that throws his mental space into chaos.
Then in the end he might not become a True Knowledge Wizard.
Such a request, filled with variables, is but a beautiful dream liable to shatter at any moment even when it lies so close at hand.
Since it is a dream, it is hard to realize, hence the upper limit emerges.
First, one must not make demands so excessive that even the Sovereign of Wisdom cannot achieve them; next, the demand must not be too illusory, it must sink into reality; finally, one should observe equality and fairness as far as possible, however much price you pay, you had best receive just that much in return.
That is the limit built into the blank reward column by the Sovereign of Wisdom.
Not only could Vai analyze this, Angel, as the person concerned, could naturally analyze it as well.
Every “bargain” you think you have gained is in fact paid for by some other means. Every “gift” you receive bears a price tag; ask too much and the cost you pay, hidden though it is, will only grow greater.
Take this contract for example: if Angel makes an excessive demand, the Sovereign of Wisdom will certainly agree, indeed, the Sovereign of Wisdom might even welcome Angel’s excessive demand.
For Angel will pay a higher price, letting the originally hazy contract clauses grow ever clearer.
At first the Sovereign of Wisdom merely hoped that Angel and the Wood Spirit would form a bond, so that through emotional ties the Wood Spirit’s safety might be protected to the greatest extent.
But “hope” is not “certainty.” Angel could completely shrug it off with a laugh. Yet once he has made an excessive demand, shrugging it off may become impossible.
It is like an undulation on the road ahead: in a normal, equal contract it is no more than a modest rise and fall, affecting nothing.
But if you wish to sign an unequal contract, then that undulation becomes a deep pit. The more excessive you are, the deeper the pit becomes, and the one trapped is you, you might, in the end, never climb out of that deep pit.
Having understood this principle, how could Angel fail to see that the blank left by the Sovereign of Wisdom was deliberate.
Seeing Angel silent for a long time, the Sovereign of Wisdom spoke: “Well? If you have decided, let us sign the contract.”
The contract… Angel will certainly sign it.
This contract is not demanding, and once it is signed, it effectively places the Sovereign of Wisdom on their side.
Totoro’s prophecy: “The Wise One is Not a Fool,” reminded Angel that a trip to the ruin site could never bypass the Wise One. If the Wise One stood with them, the gains would far outweigh the losses.
Yet what consideration to propose, that was something Angel had to ponder.
The best demand would surely be knowledge. However, the Sovereign of Wisdom had already promised to hand over his collected alchemy notebooks, along with the originals he had written in his early years, to Angel.
Thus, in terms of knowledge, Angel had already obtained quite a lot. As the “Wise One,” the Sovereign certainly possessed other reserves of knowledge, but these were not necessarily what Angel required. The only alluring alchemy notebooks were already in his hands; he did not disdain the rest, he merely felt he would not need them in the short term.
Moreover, the heritage of the Savage Grottoes was at least as deep as that of Nightfall City, and High Cloud Library still added large numbers of books every day, many of them unique copies, since almost all were penned by Book Ancestor himself.
With knowledge, Angel was currently untroubled.
So what reward should he ask for?
Angel thought for a moment, then spoke: “I can sign this contract, but I hope the Sovereign of Wisdom will tell me something… about the past.”
“The past?” The Sovereign of Wisdom raised an eyebrow: “You wish to know the past of Nightfall City?”
Angel: “I have no interest in Nightfall City’s destruction or its rebirth; what I want to know is something else.”
Sovereign of Wisdom: “Oh? Then you might as well ask, and I will see whether I know.”
Angel did not speak; he simply gazed quietly at the Sovereign of Wisdom.
The Sovereign of Wisdom instantly understood: what Angel wished to know was not to be made public, not even Angel’s own teammates could listen.
What could it be? Was it related to Angel’s coming to the sewers?
Curiosity rising, the Sovereign of Wisdom cast a mental connection, linking himself to Angel.
Though called a mental connection, it differed from an ordinary one: its energy source lay not in the Sovereign’s body but in the magic formation beneath their feet.
Anyone trying to eavesdrop would face not only the Sovereign of Wisdom but the entire sewer-formation overturning upon them.
Even the Black Count’s true body could not listen in.
This was the Sovereign of Wisdom’s exclusive ability; as the actual controller of the sewer formation, only he dared employ it as support.
“Now you may speak, no one will disturb us. What information do you wish to know?”
Angel pondered a moment: “What I want to know is what experiments Nightfall City conducted ten thousand years ago, and all information related to the ‘Serpent Coiling Awl.’”
Along the way Angel had encountered several experimental zones, proving that Nightfall City had carried out human experiments.
Human experimentation was nothing new in the Wizarding World, yet almost every apparatus bore the Serpent Coiling Awl insignia. Angel had always thought that insignia merely the emblem of Akesacresia Kingdom in the Fairytale World, but after coming to the sewers he discovered that ten thousand years ago the Serpent Coiling Awl already existed.
The Black Count had also confided a secret: the Serpent Coiling Awl was linked to the Laudsourcians.
Angel had asked Cecia before, but her answers were either “I don’t know” or “The contract forbids me to speak.”
Thus, perhaps only the Sovereign of Wisdom could tell him about the Serpent Coiling Awl.
Hearing Angel’s question, the Sovereign of Wisdom fell silent for quite a while. He had expected Angel to ask about Nightfall City, Augustine, or even Franklin and Margaret.
To his surprise, Angel asked a question the Sovereign considered completely unrelated to him.
For a moment it felt as though the one before him was not Angel but Cecia, legs crossed on a throne, looking down on him from on high.
“You are very interested in this?”
Angel: “What you want to ask, Sovereign, is why I am interested, yes? The answer is simple, I have seen the Serpent Coiling Awl emblem elsewhere.”
Angel’s explanation, not that the Sovereign of Wisdom believed it; if Angel spoke it aloud, probably no one present would believe it either.
Yet the explanation revealed one thing: Angel did not wish to discuss the Serpent Coiling Awl with anyone else, not even with the Sovereign of Wisdom.
The Sovereign of Wisdom did not pierce the obvious lie; after pondering he said: “Nightfall City conducted many experiments in those days. I cannot tell you about the core experiment, but I can choose a few others to describe.”
Seeing Angel’s brow furrow, the Sovereign of Wisdom added: “Rest assured, the experiments I mention are all related to the Serpent Coiling Awl.”
Hearing this, Angel relaxed slightly, yet a new doubt arose: “Is the core experiment related to the Serpent Coiling Awl?”
The Sovereign of Wisdom gently shook his head: “Whether or not it is, I cannot tell you. Ten thousand years ago a contract was signed with the other great Sovereigns; such experimental information may not be divulged.”
Angel could only nod.
“As for the Serpent Coiling Awl, I can tell you, yet what cannot be spoken I will still skirt around.”
Though he need not have said the latter, by doing so the Sovereign of Wisdom implicitly reminded Angel that the Serpent Coiling Awl was indeed likely connected to Nightfall City’s core experiment.
“Furthermore, the matters you call ‘related’ to the Serpent Coiling Awl, this scope is far too broad. Are you sure you do not wish to narrow it?”
Angel was silent a moment, then said: “All information connected with the Serpent Coiling Awl and… the Laudsourcians.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom narrowed his eyes, thinking: As expected.
He had wondered why Angel mentioned the Serpent Coiling Awl, merely an insignia on experimental gear, little more than a trademark.
But if it involved the Laudsourcians, that was different.
One must know that the Serpent Coiling Awl insignia originated from the Laudsourcian clan itself.
Was Angel seeking Laudsourcian lore for himself, or was Cecia behind him? And could probing the Laudsourcians and Nightfall City’s experiments be the very reason Angel had come to the sewers?
The Sovereign of Wisdom closed his eyes and thought for a while, suppressed his doubts, then nodded to Angel: “Very well.”
Angel: “Then let us sign the contract.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom smiled and, manipulating energy, wrote a line in the reward column of the True Word Book’s contract: information intelligence.
Then the Sovereign of Wisdom, first of all, engraved his energy upon the contract.
A contract in the True Word Book records the energy you release; compared with a simple name-bond, its binding force is far stronger.
Angel, seeing the Sovereign of Wisdom had already signed, hesitated a moment and stretched out his hand.
Still… the right hand.
Chapter 2713 Flower Holding Infant Spirit <TOC> Chapter 2715 Specialization