Chapter 2728 Predestined Finale <TOC> Chapter 2730 The Gray Merchant’s Request
Translator: SumTLMan
In the first duel, Daus emerged victorious. After the match, the two sides reacted in very different ways.
After the Gray Merchant rescued Shrew, she still had not regained clarity of mind and remained in the ferocious state in which she had fought. From Angel’s perspective, the normal way to bring her back would be to let her fulfill the goal in her heart, killing Daus; obviously unrealistic, for the duel was already over, and continuing to press the issue would be irrational.
Yet if Shrew’s condition could not be resolved, continuing the duels would be extremely difficult, because the next bout belonged to the Gray Merchant; once he stepped away, none of the remaining apprentices could possibly restrain the berserk Shrew.
Caught in this dilemma, Angel was curious to see what the Gray Merchant would do.
His solution was simple: he forcibly grabbed one of Shrew’s tentacles, wrapped it around his own wrist, and tied it into a bow.
While everyone was still puzzling over his bizarre act, Shrew miraculously stopped howling. Moreover, her bloodline, as though stimulated halfway, began to reverse, those savage eyes gradually subdued, and her massive flesh started to shrink.
Soon Shrew returned to a “human” size, though from her outward appearance, she could scarcely be called human at all.
Because the half of her body that had previously been bound with bandages was now fully exposed, not an imagined scene of flesh, but withered tissue, yellowed bones, and contracted viscera.
She looked no different from a half-dead corpse.
Half her face had rotted as well, yet she seemed not to care. She shot Daus a venomous glare, then, rather sheepishly, said to the Gray Merchant: “I lost.”
She admitted the fact plainly, without insisting that Daus had won by external aid, and without reaching for any excuse.
“Never mind,” said the Gray Merchant: “Escaping death is already fortunate. This defeat also lays bare your weaknesses. Attempting simultaneously to harness bizarre spells and boundless brute power is unrealistic. No matter how great the power, if it lacks the wit to wield it, it is nothing but a child swinging a hammer.”
Shrew’s shortcomings were not seen by the Gray Merchant alone; anyone present with eyes could discern them.
In the early phase she fought with trick-laden, uncanny abilities, but in the later phase, once her bloodline was fully unleashed, her strength grew such that a casual fist could send out shockwaves, yet the “trickery” vanished and was replaced by clumsiness.
The clumsier she grew, the more flaws she exposed.
Of course, this is hindsight reading her weaknesses from the outcome. Had Daus been ruined by that curse at the outset, without the rescue of Sunlight Sanctuary, so that Shrew took the victory, the situation would have been reversed. Even if the Gray Merchant had still seen her defects, he would not have pointed them out. Sometimes one must undergo failure and reflection to recognize one’s own lack; otherwise, kindly advice is to the over confident nothing but malicious noise beside the ear.
Sure enough, having lost, Shrew did not reject his reminder. Whether she had truly taken it to heart, and whether she would change in the future, was now her own affair.
“Hmph. If you were the person you used to be, you would never have said something like that,” Shrew snorted and turned her head aside.
The Gray Merchant was unperturbed. Once certain she had regained her senses, he performed another act that astonished all present.
He grasped the hand to which Shrew’s hair-cord was tied and, at the shoulder, snapped it off, tearing the whole arm away.
Then he tossed the severed limb lightly to Shrew.
Though the Gray Merchant said nothing, Shrew seemed to understand. She caught the hand, crimson veining her eyes at once, and, before the watching crowd, devoured it like food.
As she gnawed, the withered half of her body gradually gained a trace of life. No longer could one see bone and viscera at a glance.
But only to that extent; a complete recovery would still demand a long time.
On Angel’s side, Vai saw Shrew swallow the Gray Merchant’s hand and bunched his face up, clicking his tongue: “Has she fallen so low she’d eat her own comrade? If she needed energy, why didn’t she prepare nutrients in advance?”
Though Vai spoke softly, the Gray Merchant heard him. He turned his head and said gently: “You misunderstand.”
As to what was misunderstood, he did not elaborate; the Black Count, standing nearby, filled in: “That severed arm belonged to Shrew herself; it had simply been grafted onto the Gray Merchant at the start.”
Otherwise, with a single hand and doing nothing else, could the Gray Merchant have awakened her from her frenzy? Clearly impossible.
The only answer: knowing she might lose her mind once she went berserk, Shrew had prepared beforehand. Those of the modification branch are adept at dismantling their own bodies; removing her own arm and grafting it onto the Gray Merchant was perfectly normal.
And as a bloodline branch wizard, the Gray Merchant could at any time reshape his flesh; wearing an external arm posed no difficulty.
Thus Shrew had eaten her own flesh.
Only her own blood and meat could be digested so swiftly and pull her back so quickly from danger.
The Black Count’s explanation drew grateful acknowledgement from the Gray Merchant. The gesture was obvious, but the Black Count paid it no mind; if a great lord must heed every small wizard’s deference, where would his prestige be?
In stark contrast to Shrew, the other principal in the duel, Daus, showed no intention of reviewing his own shortcomings.
In his eyes, the greatest flaw was that his inspiration talent had not yet recovered; had it been intact, he would never have suffered the curse, and none of the subsequent problems would have arisen.
Besides, even if flaws existed, Daus had no mood for introspection now.
What he wanted was to put aside everything else and devote himself wholly to Advancement.
His commodity, of course, was tickets to Sunlight Sanctuary.
He lauded Sunlight Sanctuary endlessly, praising how wonderful and marvelous it was. Indeed, everyone showed yearning, even excitement, yet no one replied to Daus.
Confused, Daus finally heard Vai speak up: “We all know it’s good, but its duration, its lasting effects, whether it will alter one’s path, these need concrete answers. And you can’t provide them…”
Thus they awaited Angel for clear explanations; Daus’ enthusiastic sales pitch had no bearing on their hesitation.
Vai’s words encompassed almost all of their doubts.
Yet one question Vai did not raise:
“A mysterious scroll can hardly be purely beneficial, can it? What are its side effects?” asked the Black Count, voicing the greatest uncertainty.
Mysterious Objects are something virtually every wizard has heard of, yet in the Southern Region the number who truly understand them well enough to classify and quantify them is vanishingly small. Most merely know that Mysterious Objects are indeed useful, but correspondingly, they believe, they all carry side effects.
Even the Black Count thinks of them this way.
One can hardly blame them. The bulk of research on Mysterious Objects has taken place in the Source World, and the Southern Region has been out of step with the Source World for many years; very little relevant information has reached these lands.
In reality, this is a misconception. Many controllable Mysterious Objects have virtually no side effects at all. Take the Endless Corridor of Sky Mechanical City, if it truly had harmful side effects, would anyone still dare to challenge it?
Or consider the Mystery of Starlight in Crown Star Church, if there were side effects, would so many prophecy wizards still make pilgrimage every Star Observing Day?
Granted, if one insists that the half-year recharge time required after each use of the Mystery of Starlight counts as a side effect, then yes, it does have one. But that limitation scarcely affects the wizard personally.
The objects with serious side effects are almost always those that are half-uncontrollable or completely uncontrollable.
Such Mysterious Objects, however, possess effects whose power surpasses imagination.
And most important of all: the term “side effect” is merely a human value judgement. In truth, many so-called side effects are the core function of the Mysterious Object, while the supposedly positive effects are only incidental.
Angel naturally could not delve into such fine detail about Mysterious Objects right now; he could only answer the questions posed by Vai and the Black Count.
“First, let me correct a mistake. The rune scroll of the Sunlight Sanctuary is not a mysterious scroll. At best it is a scroll imbued with a trace of mysterious aura.”
Put plainly, it is a half-step Mysterious Object.
“Therefore its side effects are actually negligible, one could even say it has none.” Angel had intended to state flatly that it had “no side effects,” but after a moment’s thought he left himself some wiggle room. If someone dislikes “tranquility of mind,” or prefers a turbulent Mental Sea, or detests being bathed in holy light, then for that person these benefits all amount to “side effects.”
Leaving wiggle room is not sophistry; it is to avoid pointless gossiping. Their little team contains an inveterate gossiper. That said, the man is currently bent on Promoting tickets to the Sunlight Sanctuary, so he certainly won’t gossip over this topic. One speaks from whatever stance one occupies; even a skewed position is merely refined self-interest.
“As for its duration… so long as no one deliberately destroys it, it will stand forever, a sanctuary amid the darkness.”
“Whether its effects will weaken, that must be considered separately.”
Angel continued: “Let me resolve one confusion first. The primary function of the Sunlight Sanctuary is to dispel ghosts and curses, resisting the vast majority of sinister spells. All other functions, healing, restoration, and mental soothing, are secondary.”
“The primary function relies on enhancement from mysterious power, so as that power is gradually consumed it will slowly fade away, and one day it will vanish completely.”
“The healing and restorative effects, the calming and cleansing of the Mental Sea, although secondary, are likewise boosted by mysterious power, so during the period when that power is most abundant, these effects are strongest. They will gradually diminish, yet as long as the sanctuary remains, they will not disappear; they will merely become weaker than even an ordinary curative spell.”
“However, a few effects are innate to the Sunlight Sanctuary itself and will persist so long as it is not breached. These include self-purification, stain-resistance, constant temperature, emission of life energy, meditation enhancement, and so on.”
These are in fact the very effects of the Sunlight Garden. In other words, as time passes, the Sunlight Sanctuary will gradually regress into a Sunlight Garden.
After hearing Angel’s explanation, everyone wore a look of dawning comprehension.
So it was not truly a mysterious scroll after all…
No wonder it had usage limits; no wonder its effects were not quite as extraordinary as imagined.
For the Black Count and the Sovereign of Wisdom, who coveted this scroll, that was a pity; but for everyone else, it was all for the better.
After all, even “half-step mysterious” still brushes elbows with the mysterious.
Moreover, because its effects are more concentrated, not only are there no side effects, the restorative power may in fact be more focused and powerful.
Seeing that the crowd was already eager to try it, Daus hurried to fan the flames: “My talent of inspiration was still in recovery, but now it’s fully restored. The sanctuary’s soothing of my Mental Sea felt like outright rebirth!”
In truth, even without Daus’ words, everyone had already noticed. That was precisely why so many wished to go in and have a try.
The Mental Sea is a place with very few methods that can influence it directly.
The high grade witch soups of the Windsor series can have an effect, but their price is beyond what an ordinary wizard can afford; even a true knowledge wizard may not be able to use them freely.
Thus, even if their Mental Sea is currently in no great distress, the chance to brush away a bit of “dust” is a significant gain.
With that in mind, Vai was the first to voice his desire to experience it.
As for a ticket… would Vai pay? Of course, what he offered was a verbal promise: “The next time you need my Death Scent, it’ll be free.”
Daus: …I never paid before anyway.
Yet Daus felt embarrassed to say so; every time he had needed it, Vai had come of his own accord, claiming to charge a fee, but in practice a few drinks at Daus’ bar had settled it.
So this time Daus truly had no grounds to block Vai.
Meaning that Vai’s promise amounted to saying nothing. His experience would be entirely on the house.
Still harboring a shred of hope, Daus turned to Angel and said: “Would you ever need Death Scent? I can transfer my usage.”
Daus hoped thereby to shave a little off the price Angel was about to demand.
But Angel smiled and said: “I don’t need it.”
After all, he had Totoro at his back, why would he ever need Death Scent?
Daus muttered: “Then, what do you need? Whatever it is, just name it, and I’ll find a way.”
Angel replied: “For the moment there’s nothing in particular. Although… I could use a… helper for odd jobs.”
Daus shook his head frantically: “No, please don’t treat your truest friend that way, all right?”
Angel simply smiled.
Daus tried again: “Didn’t you want Little Gold? I, I can give you a few more.”
Angel said: “You promised me Little Gold before; one is enough.”
Faced with Angel’s watertight stance, Daus was left speechless. Was he truly about to… lose his freedom?
On the verge of tears, Daus cast a pleading glance at the Black Count.
Perhaps the Black Count could offer a handsome price?
Chapter 2728 Predestined Finale <TOC> Chapter 2730 The Gray Merchant’s Request