When Levi heard this, he didn’t feel surprised... after interacting with the Nine Senses Ancestral Tree for this long, he always felt like she was kinder and more understanding than the rest of her peers.
He could see her going against them to protect the Genie race, regardless of their reasons... though he didn’t know if the Titan was in her inner circle or not, and he didn’t really want to know the answer.
Everything he knew about the Titan made Levi trust him a little... he even had him transform his little brother’s Shadowlife seed and become his mentor.
If he were to find out such a trait was embedded in him, it would change the way he looked at him.
It might seem as though Levi was overreacting, given that he had no personal ties to the Genie race to justify such heavy emotions.
However, his reaction wasn’t truly about the Genies themselves; it was about the principle. He couldn’t shake the unsettling realization that the Titan had turned against the very beings tasked with his creation... even when they posed absolutely no threat to him.
If he could do this to them, what would stop him from doing the same to his little brother or himself?
Before Levi’s trust could be consumed by his own imagination, Ash’Kral vouched for the Titan.
’Get your head out of the gutter... Old Bark has forever been on the Nine Senses Tree’s side,’ Ash’Kral shared solemnly. ’Whatever her decision was, he was always the first to follow her.’
Although Ash’Kral vouched for his old friend, Levi still didn’t fully trust his words. However, his feelings changed when the Genie approved of Ash’Kral’s story.
’Origin of Terraform Laws... I was saddened by the news of your fall during the Separation Era.’ The Omnithar Genie switched his attention to the Titan, his voice laced with sorrow. ’Not just you... Origin of Nine Senses and the others too... You truly put up a great fight, even when success seemed futile...’
The Titan showed a slight, forced smile, his mind replaying thousands of memories of cosmic destruction... he soon shook his head and said, ’We tried our best to save the future... but alas, our enemies were more prepared, more equipped, and... supported more.’
As the last words left his mouth, Ash’Kral and the Genie remained silent... Levi didn’t need to ask to figure out that Ash’Kral’s side must have been outnumbered and outprepared to the point of despair.
If even the "neutral" Genie race was enslaved and used to help win the war, he couldn’t imagine how bad the situation was for Ash’Kral’s side.
’We didn’t rescue you to make us recall these shitty memories... now that you have integrated with the Lantern, do you still possess your connection to the Wish Aspect?’
Ash’Kral swiftly changed the subject, not too fond of recalling such demoralizing history... but, most importantly, he didn’t want Levi to learn of the war or the past this early on.
It would do nothing but veer him off the path. He knew... anyone who found out about the full history wouldn’t dare think for a second about getting on the wrong side of his enemies.
’Naturally.’ The Omnithar Genie returned to his misty form and shared calmly, ’Though... some changes have transpired.’
Hearing this, Levi’s heart skipped a beat. ’In what way?’ he asked, dropping the history lessons for now. He knew that as long as the Genie was on his side, he was bound to extract all the truths of the past from him sooner or later.
Alas, the news wasn’t good... the Genie told him that his form, soul, and essence had integrated with the technique under the Universe’s Will. This meant that he might appear as an Omnithar Genie, but in reality, his powers were limited to the Lantern’s powers.
’I can still commence with wishes, but these wishes are now spiritually exclusive...’ the Genie disclosed. ’You can think of me as being demoted to an OmniSpirit Genie... but with the same price offered to an Omnithar Genie.’
Levi felt his heart shatter the moment the Genie finished... he knew, deep down, that the Omnithar Genie wouldn’t maintain the same authority over wishes as before.
After all, the universe wouldn’t turn him into part of a technique and still give him the same freedom... the Universe’s Will wasn’t arbitrary. It respected balance and logic above all.
’Well... that’s depressing.’ Ash’Kral rubbed his eyelids. ’If only the price matched an OmniSpirit Genie, this situation would have been a little better.’
’How big is the difference?’ Levi wondered, his lips twitching on their own. He had a feeling that the difference was going to suck his soul dry... sadly, he was absolutely right.
’Elemental Genies consume resources based on their elements as payment for a wish... the more complex and overreaching a wish is, the higher the price,’ Ash’Kral sighed. ’Meanwhile, Omnithar Genies can consume any type of energy at a price since their wishes range to everything and anything bound to our reality... because their wishes touch upon everything, the price required is... tenfold.’
’Tenfold?’ Levi gulped, feeling his dimensional wallets already running dry... sure, paying for a wish of any kind sounded impressive, but he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that the Universe’s Will wouldn’t balance it out.
This applied to normal situations... not his. For him... he was going to pay ten times the required amount for spiritually based wishes!
It was daylight robbery and might even make using the Omnithar Genie a much more expensive option.
’Hey... can you show me the price that the platform was going to pay for the first wish and the price if I went for it now?’ Levi asked, hoping to save his original wish of creating a new soul connected to him to use for contract signings.
’Hmmm... your first wish would have cost the System about one hundred thousand Authority Units ,’ the Genie said after a simple calculation. ’Now, it will cost you a million AU.’
Levi heard the numbers, his heart turning cold... he didn’t even recognize the units the Genie was using. They were a hidden currency, something the network never mentioned to Rifters since it was between the System and the Genies.
But he didn’t need to understand the technicalities to feel the weight of the blow. The jump from one hundred thousand to a million was staggering... the worst part? Levi knew that the price would only increase the more complex his wishes became.
’A million Authority Units... sheesh.’ Ash’Kral shook his head. ’If we transferred the units to Nocrix Credits, it would amount to about six or seven million credits... and that’s if you managed to buy the resources required at market value.’
’Ahh... I knew it was too good to be true.’
Levi smiled bitterly while slowly sitting on the ground, feeling like his shoulders were crushed economically.
After everything he had gone through, he still hadn’t saved more than five million credits... now, he was told that decent wishes were going to cost in the millions.
Levi knew that it was wrong to complain when he had access to a genuine Genie, still... he already had three Origin Seeds and the Soulleech Maw with abyssal stomachs draining him daily.
How could his heart not twist at the idea of adding another resource-hungry monster to the mixture...
’Five million credits for a new soul... is it worth the trade-off?’ Levi massaged his forehead. ’If it is, what’s the fastest way to collect the remaining resources in three days before the meeting?’
Levi was saving money to kickstart his business in dealing with Leviathan’s treasures... but now, he was wondering if he should push it back and use the money for the new soul.
He knew that the business could wait, but it was too risky to sign a contract with a Bishop without the possibility of breaking it.
’No... the soul is important, but so is my future business.’ Levi shook his head. ’Each day that my business isn’t running, I am losing money... I have free access to Leviathan’s information and an entire Leviathan Phoenix’s body parts sitting idle in my wallet.’
Levi understood that he needed to prioritize his business as fast as possible... he had gotten distracted for far too long, and if he were to spend all of his money now, he would be set back again.
’Should I risk selling some of Alzhukar’s treasures, the heat should have died a little, or...’ Levi held his chin. ’Is it time to reach out to the Dealer and Madam Future for their help at spinning the Wheel of Madness and Fortune? If I managed to win an S-graded treasure, I could sell it for a fortune.’