Chapter 1013: 【Knowledge and Wisdom】The Chosen One's Talent

"A demon is tempting the Chosen One?"

Xia De, watching the scene beneath the moon, thought suspiciously that if the other party succeeded, it seemed another Ivan Dacnis would be born. But a wise Chosen One was not a dark Chosen One; the former should not do such a thing, otherwise he would not be qualified to inherit "Wisdom."

Sure enough, Sir Prisha snorted derisively—he could understand this language that itself carried a curse:

"Even the wise cannot speak of themselves, let alone me."

As he spoke, amid the steam whistles and bells, the ring of fate behind him slowly manifested in the steam mist. There was some discrepancy from the intelligence Lady Dac Dac Nisi provided—he had five rings, not four. The core spirit runes were four rare ones—

【Moon of Guidance】【White Wings】【Book】, and 【Finger】.

The instant Xia De saw "Moon of Guidance," his eyes went wide. Those four core spirit runes simultaneously bloomed with spirit-light beneath the moon, as if trying to use it to oppress the manservant whose face wore a strange smile.

The small mirror for collecting spirit-light given by Dac Dac Nisi was on Xia De's person, but collecting spirit-light required being within 15 feet, so the condition was not currently met.

And the demon facing Sir Prisha smiled and shook its head:

"A true wise one would not use force to reason."

It seemed utterly unaffected:

"Discovering you was entirely accidental; I originally had no plan to participate in the Sixth Epoch Shi Shi. But now the situation is a little different—I can speak honestly. Yes, I need you. I offer you everything I have, so long as you are willing to contain my soul. I humbly offer myself as your servant, only hoping you can shelter me from my enemies."

Lakinz Prisha took a palm-sized little book from the large inside pocket of his coat. With a light toss backward, the little book "melted" into the rotating ring of fate.

Huge pages turned in the center of the ring of fate, and three enlightenment spirit runes appeared out of thin air on the ring of fate behind him. This scene not only startled Doctor Shi Nai De, who was preparing to cast a spell, but even Xia De was stunned.

Whisper in his ear:

【The book's title is "Practical Atlas of Mechanisms and Devices for Mechanical Design."】

"The three extra spirit runes are 【Power Welding】【Mechanical Fusion】【Huang Tong Gear】."

Xia De added in his heart, then saw the three brand-new spirit runes responding to the Sir's miracle spirit rune 【Dragon】. The wonder cast by the combination of four spirit runes—even before it was activated—Xia De could almost already sense that strange power.

"Can't the witches sense what's happening here?"

【The Chosen One's power is special; the distance is too far, they cannot sense it.】

The doctor stared with his mouth agape at the scene before him, and only after a good while did he continue his casting. Xia De, meanwhile, suppressed the shock in his heart. Although he had long known that the Chosen Ones' talents were mostly absurdly unreasonable, compared to Yi Lu Na's "Balance Force," Dacnis's "Dark Vortex," and Patton's "Extreme Affinity with Death," Lakinz Prisha made the Chosen Ones even more unreasonable.

"Directly fusing with a book to give himself brand-new spirit runes out of thin air?"

Xia De didn't dare imagine there was still such a talent. But considering the scope of authority of the ancient god 【Secret-Keeping Mentor】, this talent, upon careful thought, did not seem so exaggerated.

"An outstanding power."

The demon's language seemed unusually "slippery," as it marveled at this strange talent:

"Do you truly know what this power is?"

It asked softly. Sir Prisha, whose body was lit up by the ring of fate, kept his expression unchanged:

"Perhaps one day, I will obtain the answer from a true wise one, but absolutely not from your mouth."

The estate servant wearing a white shirt and black trousers smiled and shook his head:

"The sooner you know, the better for you. You are clearly already deeply mired in the vortex of fate, but the tragedy is you are completely unaware. Oh, young Chosen One, you need me just as I need you."

The demon finally spoke the word "Chosen One." These ancient beings all seemed to know the Sixth Epoch Shi Shi well, but at the same time were very wary of the matter. If not driven to the wall, it would not have chosen to meet Sir Prisha.

"Chosen One?"

Sir Prisha's expression remained unchanged; the four resonating spirit runes had almost already activated the wonder. Beneath that vast starry sky, Xia De and Doctor Shi Nai De, who had nearly completed his casting preparations, simultaneously saw the phantom of a multi-headed gear-mechanical dragon flash past.

The two hiding in the bushes said nothing, exchanged a glance, and clearly read each other's expressions.

"I don't care what you are."

Sir Prisha shook his head:

"Please shut your mouth, Mr. You now have two choices. Fight me here until we alert the Church ring sorcerers protecting the Princess; or turn around and leave, and we both pretend we never met tonight."

"Leave? Aren't you afraid I'll expose your secret?"

The demon's mouth curved into an arc no normal person could manage:

"I have seen your desires, your ambitions. The pursuit of knowledge is the driving force of human progress, but it is also a bottomless abyss more terrifying than the deep abyss. How many wrong things have you done for your own thirst for knowledge?"

Xia De glanced at the doctor again, found the doctor looking back at him too. Both realized they might hear "big news" next, but at this point retreat was clearly impossible.

"What I have done, I will bear the consequences myself; that needs no pointing out from you."

The four-colored spirit-light on the rotating brass-colored ring now seemed as if it would overflow. But this was still a form of deterrence—Lakinz Prisha had no intention of acting here.

"Oh, is that so?"

The demon chuckled softly:

"Perhaps those around you think you are a decent, wise gentleman, but I know very well that for your own thirst for knowledge, you can abandon anyone. Yes, anyone."

It narrowed its eyes slightly:

"The reason you have not yet gone down the wrong path is simply that you have not yet encountered knowledge worth making you give up everything. Your wisdom lets you keep a good grip on your own conduct. But do you know what kind of knowledge I possess?"

It tapped its own head again. This time Sir Prisha's expression finally shifted slightly:

"You are not the first to tempt me, nor the first to threaten me, but those people from before all disappeared."

"Maintaining balance between Sexces Higher Medical Academy and the Apuna Library is not easy, is it?"

The demon asked with a smile:

"Perhaps you don't have to accept me completely right away. How about we play a little game. I give you a portion of my power; you may try to accept it, feel it. If you are unwilling to possess this power, then I lose, and I will leave; if you are willing to accept it, then I win, and I will offer you all my power."

It took from its pocket a blue crystal stone that was quite familiar to both Xia De and Doctor Shi Nai De, ran a finger across the crystal's surface, and a streak of pitch black appeared amid the azure light-trace.

The crystal was handed to Sir Prisha. The latter shook his head slightly, looked at the crystal, and said softly:

"A Wise One's Radiant Stone that can only be gifted once? What a coincidence—I also have two. One was obtained over a decade ago, one not long ago; a humanoid relic let me recover a precious lost book."

Xia De in the bushes pressed his lips together tightly and said nothing:

"I have one, Yi Lu Na one, Sir Prisha two, the demon one... that's five."

"But although knowledge is important, regrettably, my wisdom tells me that knowledge also has weight. Although I thirst for knowledge, I have always been quite cautious—yes, quite cautious. I have indeed concealed some dangerous pasts, but they were all worth it."

Sir Prisha chuckled softly, as if something had occurred to him:

"You wouldn't happen to be an evil spirit or demon from the Third Epoch, would you? I admit you've moved me, but unfortunately, I'm a coward by nature. Leave, and don't force me to act."

The male servant bent slightly and left the luminous stone on the ground:

"Aren't you curious which of your secrets I know? The dirty ones, the unseemly ones, even some rather disgusting ones..."

Roar~

Amid the astonishing dragon's roar, a multi-headed gear-driven mechanical dragon with nine dragon heads materialized from the starry sky. Nine slender brass-colored gear-necks tangled with one another, jointly spewing pitch-black flames downward.

Leikin Puli Xia stood beneath the grape trellis, watching the scene with a cold face. After the dragon's breath, the male servant had vanished, leaving only Victor Victor Fanni standing where he had been.

It bent slightly and bowed to Sir Puli Xia:

"Chosen One, I respect your wishes. I will leave this place. As for this 【Sage's Luminous Stone】..."

It pointed at the crystal on the ground:

"Inside it is some knowledge you will find interesting. You may choose to take it, or to look the other way. This is a gift I offer you in my personal capacity, so no one else can obtain it."

It said with a smile, then slowly retreated until it backed into the grass beneath the grape trellis.

"The situation has changed."

Seeing the demon leave, the doctor spoke almost immediately; he likewise dropped the Silence Fu Zhou:

"Xia De, hold off Leikin Puli Xia for now—absolutely do not let him get close to me. Half a minute is enough. I'll go after that demon!"

Xia De knew why Doctor Shi Nai De had suddenly changed his plan—the doctor had been frightened by Sir Puli Xia too:

"No problem."

He took out the disguise rune stone given to him by Miss Rita Swift, the young apprentice of Grandmother Cassandra, pressed it into his palm, and with the strange sensation of flowing water covering his whole body, Xia De grew a full head taller, while his clothes and facial features warped as if kneaded like clay:

"Thirty seconds!"

Xia De said to the doctor.

The middle-aged Sir of the Southern Lands had finished his conversation with the demon and was hesitating as he looked at the luminous stone on the ground. Suddenly the grass rustled twice, and to his surprised gaze, two unfamiliar figures crawled out from within it.

－－－Digression－－－

PS: The author is not a TCG player.