In a Civilized Manner

After parting with Edris, Dolan and Celio headed back to the pub site.

While the beast tamer began to scout the area, the Crown Prince slowed his footsteps as he stood dazedly before the wrecked mess. Staring at the burnt-down area, Dolan was reminded of everything from the previous night.

His mind fell into a state of complication.

As someone who'd been travelling throughout the kingdom ever since he could remember, Dolan thought he knew what his nation and people were like.

Truly, he was naive.

Dolan crouched over to a pile of debris and picked up some ashes. He rubbed it between his fingers.

Slavery was illegal in the Zacriya Kingdom, yet the people he saw from yesterday were treated like mere livestock.

The high education rate was a feature that the kingdom took pride in, yet away from central city, countless children lack the resources to even subsist.

Dolan smashed his fist onto the ground, blood smearing his knuckles.

"I was a fool."

Being exposed to his narrow vision was like a punch to the face. He thought he had experienced all needed for him to become the future ruler when, in reality, he simply partook in all that he wanted to experience.

"I just looked around once more, and luckily it seems like aside from the scums we met in the VIP yesterday, the customers and workers all got out safely." After his surveillance, Celio trailed back to the front, only to see the red-haired man deep in thought.

"Your Highness?"

"I've been living under an illusion all this time." Dolan let out a shaky laugh. "How pathetic."

"Please don't say that about yourself." Celio frowned. "Everyone can be pathetic at some point in their lives. We must not succumb these moments if we want to become stronger.

"It's okay to be pathetic, Your Highness."

Amidst his self-deprecating thoughts, Dolan couldn't help but glance up at the beast tamer. He knew that the youth was trying to comfort him, but…

"Little Celio, you've got a way with words of encouragement."

"Ah, do I? I suppose I've learnt a lot from Master these past few months." Obviously not catching the hint, Celio rubbed the nape of his neck with a sheepish grin. "But I still got a long way to go!"

Dolan merely put on a princely smile.

The small talk between them was forcibly interrupted as Celio suddenly perked up from the spot, alertness filling his gaze. At his vigilance, Dolan tensed as well.

"What's wrong?"

"Master is in trouble." Celio's expression darkened.

"Prophet Edris?" Dolan looked around them. They were far from the sewage site where they had parted with the dark-haired man. "How do you know?"

"Instinct."

At Celio's curt response, Dolan didn't seem dissatisfied nor surprised. On the contrary, he trusted those words, especially knowing that the youth was an attributed beast tamer.

"In that case, we need to get reinforcement. But the problem of distance and time comes into play." Dolan mumbled, crossing both arms before his chest as he started to think.

It would be too inefficient for them to head all the way back to the capital for reinforcement. Dolan specialised in recording magic, so he couldn't create a teleportation portal on the spot like Magnus or Edris. The spell would take at least half a day, a far too risky move to take in this situation.

As for spatial communication, Dolan did have infuser orbs with him. Under normal circumstances, those would allow long-distance connections and message delivery.

The problem, however, was that for the infuser orb to work, the receiver must also have one with them, and the two must be preconfigured beforehand to connect successfully.

Dolan paced back and forth. At this very moment, Edris could be risking his life to obtain information for him, yet he felt powerless as a Crown Prince to do anything about this danger.

"I'm going back to the sewage site, Your Highness. I can't remain here while Master might be in danger." Clenching the dagger by his waist, Celio was about to rush off when Dolan pulled him over.

"What day is it?" He asked.

Celio blinked twice. "Uh, the eleventh?"

"The eleventh. Eleventh… This might work." Without warning, Dolan grabbed onto his wrist and peered into his eyes. "Celio, knock me out unconscious."

"Got it."

"Alright—huh?"

The young beast tamer had replied without a moment of hesitation, so promptly that even Dolan, who had asked the question himself, was taken back.

"Is there something wrong, Your Highness?" Celio mirrored his perplexed expression.

"No, it's just that… I just expected you to ask for an explanation."

If it were Dolan himself confronted with the same question, he would have definitely asked for a clarification. He needed to know what he was getting himself into, after all.

"But you found a way to help out Master, right?" Celio cocked his head sideways.

"If everything goes according to plan, yes."

"Then that's what matters!" Behind Celio, the sun dipped beneath the horizon, emitting an orange light around his silhouette. "If it's Your Highness, it must be a trustworthy plan, which is all the more reason why we must hurry!"

Dolan fell silent for a moment, then mustered a determined nod.

Thank you for trusting me.

This was what Dolan had intended to say, but before he could finish the first word, the beast tamer's eager fist was already swinging his way.

Then everything went black.

***

Amidst the darkness, Edris opened his eyes.

After activating the Sacrificial Hourglass, what confronted him was the same empty space as last time. A peculiar force dallied in the distance, urging him to come closer.

Before using the mana detector, Edris thought that he had at least an above-average aptitude for magic, only to be punched in the face by reality. However, the second half of the test resulted in failure, which could mean two things:

First, the piece of junk was broken.

Second, his mana channel outweighed the machine's analytical capacities.

Edris was willing to take a risk.

He strode forward, taking glimpses of his surroundings. It felt as though he was walking in a void, boundless to the point where he couldn't have discerned whether he was moving, if it weren't for the shrinking distance of the dim glow.

At last, he came across the source of the light. A black sphere situated a few meters from where Edris was currently standing. It was the same one that had appeared back at the Wulin Tournament.

Several picture frames levitated around the sphere, and just like last time, their blurriness prevented Edris from distinguishing any of their content. He attempted to take another step, only to realise that some invisible barrier prevented him from approaching further.

At that moment, a mechanical voice echoed around him.

Give-and-take is a necessary cycle for equilibrium.

Would you like to give a part of yourself to the world?

"Yes."

As if responding to his answer, the environment around Edris started to change. Smaller spheres ripped themselves out of the black sphere, generating a surge of pressure that hurled itself towards him.

His vision grew bleary and his ears began to ring. His body, down to the last fibre of his being, screamed at him to get out of the way. The force approaching with the spheres was more than enough to trigger one's survival instincts, and, of course, Edris was no exception.

However, he didn't move.

At the same time, a stream of energy poured out of him, replicating the process from when he obtained the Tempest. The only difference was that rather than being purple, the energy this time was murky and obscured, without a definite colour or form.

The stream of murkiness wrapped around Edris, as if trying to devour him whole.

Edris stood without resistance. A bead of sweat slid past his temple. Despite the gale-force winds around him and his obscured sight, Edris's gaze was void of all panic, a stark contrast from when he first used the sacred artifact two months ago.

The exchange continued on for minutes. Unlike the mess of progression that led to the Tempest, the Sacrificial Hourglass seemed to be taking its sweet time. The energy stream that had by now engulfed Edris condensed into a fog, ousting the oxygen from his surrounding.

Edris could feel his strength slip away as his mind grew hazy. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, the fog cleared with a burst of energy, and the chaos around him dispersed at once.

Edris collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

His back was drenched in sweat, and the corner of his eyes reddened from the asphyxiating fog. After the trembling stopped, he brought a hand to his face and smeared off the remnants of tears. As he did so, he felt something on his left helix.

An earring.

A cold smile flashed across Edris's face. The moment he touched the earring, all its information poured into his head.

"The Distributor, is it?"

Barely the size of a blueberry, the Distributor was in the form of a circular barbell.

The entire earring was silver at a glance, but a closer look would reveal its translucent texture. The earring was a sacred artifact that allowed him to share his mana with others; its usage was limited to one person each day, and the amount of mana that could be shared depended on the user's channel size.

Edris rubbed the earring between his fingers, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

The outcome this time revealed two crucial pieces of information.

The first involved restrictions on the sacred artifact itself.

The Sacrificial Hourglass was only capable of bestowing abilities upon the user, not the target of the user's wishes.

Otherwise, it could fully offer Ace the ability to replenish his mana and have him pay the price of equivalent exchange, instead of using Edris as an intermediary.

The second piece of information was about Edris's mana channel.

The mana detector for his channel size failed to produce results, but thanks to the artifact, Edris implicitly received his answer:

His mana channel was at least large enough to support Ace's mana recovery.

While there weren't exact measurements, Edris now had a vague idea of his channel capacities. Recalling the coverage of Ace's powers, he felt a smile creeping onto his face.

Ever since he received the Tempest from the sacred artifact, Edris had a question:

How did the Sacrificial Hourglass decide on the articles of "give-and-take"?

When he first activated the artifact at the Wulin Tournament, he didn't do it with hopes of gaining a specific ability. Instead, he was driven by a general goal—to stop the beast tamer from going berserk.

However, Edris ended up receiving the Tempest and, in return, sacrificed his thermoception.

As for this time, similarly, he didn't use the artifact knowing he'd receive the Distributor. His goal was for Ace to regain his mana, and the result was his newly gained mana-sharing skill.

What Edris received in both cases were skills beneficial for achieving the goal on his mind during the transaction. The Sacrificial Hourglass acted on contextual considerations; it was capable of weighing the best options and selecting the most appropriate ability in return.

With these information taken into consideration, Edris had a hypothesis:

The Sacrificial Hourglass was a conscious entity.

Inherently conscious or manipulated by a conscious being, the sacred artifact wasn't just an item that operated on systematic, inborn rules. It was capable of fine tailoring the "giving" options based on circumstantial needs, as long as the user gave back something equal in value.

Edris smiled.

If it can think, it can be manipulated.

His hypothesis was currently verified in front of his eyes.

Securing the Giving Segment... Securement complete.

Now preparing the Taking Segment...

The Taking Segment will now commence.

There was a reason why Edris decided to use the Sacrificial Hourglass again despite knowing its potential dangers.

The extent of the user’s sacrifice depended on how much they gained from the transaction.

But what if he didn't necessarily gain anything?

The user of the Sacrificial Hourglass would "give a part of themselves" to fulfil a personal desire, but what would happen if they wished for an ability related to "giving"?

The Distributor allowed Edris to share his mana with others, but on a more fundamental level, it just provided him with the platform. Edris was still the one "giving."

In other words, wouldn't this transaction be not one of give-and-take, but give-and-take-another-‘give'?

Give-and-take exchange initiating now… now… now...

If Ace was here, he would surely shake his head at the devious expression currently on Edris's face.

...Take-and-take exchange… Initiating now?

The mechanical voice gave a hesitant pause, and Edris almost laughed out loud at its wavered tone.

It was an instance of take-and-take, indeed.

Equilibrium was something that must be maintained with the overall exchange. Edris's new skill was one of "giving" nature, which meant that, ultimately, he had gained nothing in return.

According to the rules then, the Sacrificial Hourglass was required to make up for the imbalance.

The Exchange is now complete. Thank you for your sacrifice.

Edris stood up and patted the dust off his pants. He skimmed his surroundings with a saintly smile.

"No, thank you for your sacrifice."

...

Immediately, the scene before him disappeared and was replaced by the familiar cell space. Edris blinked to adjust to the darkness.

"You're back."

The deep voice caused Edris to reflexively jolt on the spot. He turned to look at Ace, leaning by the walls with arms crossed.

"How long was I out for?"

"Four minutes and twenty-four seconds."

"Shorter than I thought." As he tapped his lips in thought, Edris evaluated his current situation.

Compared to five minutes ago, he sensed a leaping improvement of his conditions. Although Edris had a high pain tolerance, even he found it difficult to endure the constant discomfort drilling into his wrist. Now, the pain had dimmed considerably, bringing along an invigorating shot of energy throughout his body.

"What an exchange." Edris laughed refreshingly.

There was nothing better than achieving your goal and receiving an additional reward in return.

"Something's different about you." Ace stated, his dark eyes fixed on the man.

Sitting by the door, Edris rested both elbows on his knee. He didn't respond to Ace's comment. Instead, he looked at him with a brilliant smile.

"Ace," he said. "We're bounded by a contract, right?"

To others, it was a simple question; to Ace, it only signalled trouble. The white-haired man frowned.

"…What do you want?"

Edris's smile grew deeper as he looked at his ace card.

"It's time to create some chaos."