Chapter 633: A Deal 2 [Bonus]
"That is true. But I have no intention of doing that."
The eye narrowed once more, but it didn't speak, waiting for Sylas to continue.
"You may not believe me, or you may think I am only using a psychological tactic, but like I told you, my world is in the middle of its Summoning. Who do you think I could sell this Inheritance Crystal to that would give me the equivalent value it's worth?"
The eye remained silent for a while. As expected, Sylas could truly see the whole picture.
"Then you can just sell it after you've completed your Summoning."
"And die?" Sylas asked calmly.
His words were multi-layered. It could mean that the eye would just wait for him to die first and for the Inheritance Crystal to land in the hands of someone else... but he could also mean that trying to sell this Inheritance Crystal to the wider world could just end up getting him killed.
On Earth, Sylas would still have some confidence. But he would never sell such a thing outside. He didn't have nearly enough backing to even attempt something like that.
And the eye knew it.
"I'm sure you felt it, but even if you tried, you can't target my real body from here. That's because I have another treasure that protects me. And with that treasure, I can make it so that no one ever finds this Inheritance Crystal again. Or... we could make a deal."
And there it was. The eye knew that it was coming. The crux of this entire matter was the mysterious method Sylas had used to protect himself. Even now, the eye didn't fully understand it.
"What do you propose?"
"I know too little about Runes. Earlier, you tried to pass something on to me that failed. I assume that so long as you keep whatever that was, you won't mind me using this Realm as a method of study, correct?"
The eye bobbed up and down slowly. Indeed... what he had tried to pass on to Sylas was of true importance. If it was still here, it could be passed on to another any time.
The trouble was that without it... Sylas would have a very, very difficult time progressing even a single step in this world.
"Then allow me to do so. Once I have run into a wall, I will pass you on to someone who can accept your Inheritance or sell you."
"So your only promise to me is that you won't perpetually imprison me? What a fantastic deal."
Sylas didn't respond to the eye's sarcasm. The fact it had even said this made it obvious which of the two of them had won.
The eye chuckled. "I look forward to seeing you fail."
With a flicker, the eye vanished.
In truth, it didn't believe that Sylas would lie. It was too experienced to be lied to so easily. Plus, it could feel some of the imprint of Sylas' Will.
Sylas could guess what the eye was thinking. As many other things as he deduced, the fact the beam of light he failed to take in would be important wasn't lost on him.
But what else could he do?
He looked down at the staircase before him and nodded to himself. He might as well start with step one.
However, after taking the step... nothing happened?
Sylas became a bit worried, thinking that there was something wrong. Could it be that he couldn't gain anything at all from this world without that beam of light?
He chose to take a second step. But again, nothing happened.
The eye was watching in silence from an unknown location. He hadn't thought much about the first step because Sylas had paused for a long while. Originally, he even thought that Sylas was taking too long.
But then, when not long after the first, Sylas took the second and the third, the eye almost bulged out. Or... it would have had it had any eyelids.
Those steps were tests of Will and Will projection. It was essentially a crude method of testing if Sylas had the capacity to reach the level of Rune Mastery necessary for the first imparting.
As for the beam of light from earlier, it was a primer. That was because this world had a dense poison characteristic to it, so while it was testing one's Will, if one didn't have a Will that could fight off the poison, one could die.
Well, that was one use of the light, that is.
The eye knew that Sylas would be unlikely to die this way thanks to the protection of his treasure, but it was looking forward to seeing Sylas' Will projection collapse.
But that time never came.
Sylas was thinking about retreating. He was already on the ninth step, but nothing at all had happened. However, to his surprise, the tenth time was the charm.
There was a vibrant rush through him when he took that tenth step and the world warped around him.
When he appeared again, he was sitting at a kneeling desk. Across from him was a man whose face was obscured by shadows. Even his figure itself seemed quite vague and hard to fully
grasp.
On the table between the two of them were two sets of scrolls and two sets of calligraphy brushes.
The man didn't speak a word as he picked up the calligraphy brush and drew a stroke. No... it was a Stroke.
Sylas recognized it immediately.
The man put his brush down and was about to speak when Sylas subconsciously reflected his actions. Sylas had never tried to just draw a Stroke before. He always used his mind.
But this wasn't his main body. It was his Will. In a lot of ways... this was the very same act with
a half-step added.
With a flick of his wrist, Sylas drew a line across the page.
To a layman, it didn't look like anything special. If there was another to note, it was the fact
that it looked like it had been ejected by a printer rather than drawn by hand.
The Stroke had a small bit of a curve to it at one end. But other than that, it was almost perfectly straight.
The man looked up, and though Sylas couldn't see his eyes, he could only feel them staring
through him.