Michael still looked with shock at Kyle. "What do you mean with, it can be read twice? As far as I know, the tome becomes unreadable as soon as you confirm that you have understood a page."
"I've heard that you have to confirm your understanding to unlock the next pages, which means you can only read it once."
Kyle just smirked. "You know, this tome is expensive, and people could accidentally make it unreadable. The Skysand Kingdom doesn't want to make these people feel like they got scammed, which is why there is a safety feature."
"There are two ways in which you can understand the tome."
"Number one, you read it one page at a time and confirm your understanding."
"Number two, you let the tome gain access to your mind so that it can immediately give you all the information directly."
"If we use the second method, the tome would turn to dust within hours."
"However, people are really, really careful when it comes to giving other people access to their mind, which is why the other method exists."
"Listen, what we are going to do is simple. I read half of the tome. You read the other half of the tome."
Michael furrowed his brows. "But we would be missing context then. That would make the tome almost useless."
"That's the thing," Kyle said. "Near the end of the book is a safeguard. You can say that you accidentally confirmed a couple of things and that you want to reread."
"The tome will then demand access to your mind to see if someone is trying to play a trick on it. However, as long as you have understood at least 40% and less than 80%, it will unlock itself again to be read a second time."
"That's when we switch. I read the stuff you've read previously and vice versa."
Michael looked with shock at the tome.
"Are you sure this will work?" he asked.
"Yep, I have confirmation," Kyle said.
Naturally, Theodor had told him about that.
These tomes were sold extremely rarely due to their price, which was why the Skysand Kingdom was willing to risk the possibility of a second person reading it.
Everyone who could purchase this tome must have contributed an incredible amount to the Skysand Kingdom, and they wouldn't want to anger these people.
The Skysand Kingdom knew that this trick could be used to allow a second person to read the tome, but that was okay.
As long as not many people knew about the trick, it wouldn't do too much damage.
Michael was intrigued. This was the most desired tome for Sorcerers and Grand Sorcerers in existence.
It was the accumulated wisdom of King Skysand regarding Spellcasting.
Yet, after a while, Michael sighed. "I'm not sure my mind is powerful enough to remember half of the book without context."
"What if you were a Grand Sorcerer?" Kyle asked.
Michael furrowed his brows. "Yes, that would be different, but I can't just become a Grand Sorcerer."
"Why not?" Kyle asked. "You should have the funds."
"Yes, but if I advance three entire levels within a couple of days, my Battle-Strength will be ruined."
"So?" Kyle asked.
Michael raised an eyebrow.
"What's your goal?" Kyle asked. "What do you want to achieve in life? Do you want to become a Transcendent? You know exactly that's almost impossible as a Sorcerer."
"Do you want to become an Advisor or Duke? If so, yes, you shouldn't advance quickly. After all, you would need to join the war many more times."
"But what if you just want to become an unaffiliated, powerful, and rich Grand Sorcerer?"
"Battle-Strength wouldn't be that important anymore."
"Additionally, you would be spending your days inside a city anyway. Nobody's going to attack you here. Meanwhile, you will be building a bigger and bigger presence around the world."
Michael looked at Kyle with uncertainty for a while.
He hadn't thought about his future in such detail.
In his mind, he had planned to continue as always.
Progressing steadily.
But what's the point of that?
The most he would ever achieve would be to become an Advisor.
And even more, he would need to assist in the war for several years to get the Contribution Points necessary to purchase this tome.
Advisors were partially paid in Contribution Points for their work, but most of their payment came in the form of equipment, money, and status.
Even more, during crisis situations, even the Advisors were sent to the central frontlines.
Many of them died.
However, if Michael remained unaffiliated, he would only be sent to the World Peak frontlines, which were not nearly as dangerous as the central frontlines.
Additionally, if one had enough money, one could pay one's way out of military service.
With enough money, Michael could live safely for the remainder of his life.
"I need some time to think," Michael said. "Can you come back tomorrow?"
"Sure," Kyle said as he packed everything again.
The two of them said their goodbyes, and Kyle went back to the Stark Brotherhood.
He put his valuables into his personal room, which was fortified and locked.
Since he was now the Stark Brotherhood's representative, he also received a big and secure room.
For the remainder of the day, Kyle talked with Noah and the Chief about what had happened in their absence and how they should continue.
The next day, Kyle went to Michael again to ask him about his decision.
"I'm willing to do it," Michael said. "I have enough money to become a Peak Sorcerer, but I'll have to find a way to get an Ether Crystal from somewhere. I'm not sure how long that will take."
Kyle just smirked and pulled the Ether Crystal out of his bag.
Michael looked with shock at it.
"I'll give this one to you," Kyle said. "After all, you are the only source of income for this business, and I now have partial ownership in it. Giving you an Ether Crystal will end with me earning more in the future."
Michael looked with anticipation at the Ether Crystal.
"Thank you, Kyle," Michael said as he moved his hand to the Ether Crystal.
"No," Kyle said, pulling the Ether Crystal away from Michael's hand.
Then, Kyle slammed a huge contract onto the table.
"We are not teammates anymore. Verbal agreements are not good enough anymore."
"I want you to sign the contract. Of course, you can also take all the time you want to read it. You can even bring it to a lawyer to proofread if you want."
"We are not teammates."
"We are partially friends."
"But most of all, we are business partners."
"I'm not interested in your goodwill or friendship."
"I'm interested in the profits you can bring me."
"You get where I'm coming from?" Kyle asked.
Michael took a deep breath.
He felt a bit hurt by Kyle's lack of trust, but logically, he understood where Kyle was coming from.
"I understand," Michael said as he carefully took hold of the contract to read it.
Some minutes later, Michael signed the contract, and Kyle handed the Ether Crystal to him.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Kyle said with a smirk.
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