Much like humans, saurians without a core, who come into contact with another saurian’s core, will awaken and start their path of evolution. Unlike humans, all saurians awaken successfully, forming their cores. Another difference is that unlike humans, forcefully awakened saurians will always develop the same type of core as the one they consumed. Those who come into contact with a dualcore will awaken one, while those who come into contact with a heartcore will awaken a heartcore.
— Excerpt from The Saurian Primer
Day 106, 3:00 PM
“Can I read this?” the boy asked the dumbest question yet.
“No,” Blunt replied, and I didn’t bother reining it in. “I threw it right in front of you like that to brag about my Expert Calligraphy and hobby as a writer.”
The boy gawked at me, appalled.
“That was sarcasm. Of course you can read the book, and you need to work on your people skills. Being strong and smart will only carry you so far. You need to learn how to be a person before you learn how to be an awakened. Otherwise, you will fall to pitfalls which would never ensnare even the most common of non-awakened.”
The boy just stared stupidly at me, his eyes practically glazed over.
“Are you following what I am saying?”
“No.” At least he admitted it, and I guessed I had to spell it out for him.
“Go, get wasted, do drugs, roam the world like a bandit or a beggar, pretend you are not an awakened whenever you can. You are staying at that fancy brothel, are you not?”
His face turned into a tomato. It’s been centuries since I ate decent tomatoes, and they don’t seem to have them here either…
“I did not send you to Tickle and Giggle by accident. Rent the whole place for a day and a night.” I really couldn’t believe I had to tell such obvious things to an incredibly powerful and wealthy young man. He could own a town if he wanted to, but I guessed he had reached the peak by not being like that and focusing on what was important. Still, there were other important things in life.
“Have naked women serve you, feed you, eat off of them. Drown yourself in them. After a week, you will grow jaded to beauties, and you will not turn into a strawberry when a pretty girl addresses you.”
Let alone turning crimson, I was worried he was about to have a seizure.
“You look like you are going to have a stroke.” I squinted at him. “All human vices are just that, human. I will not recommend you drown yourself in slaughter — your mind seems too frail for that, but you need to immerse yourself in vice to grow numb to it. I can bet you would not look at your Jasmine twice if you spent a fortnight fornicating as a brothel’s sole customer.”
“Jasmine’s my friend,” Newstar gulped, trying and failing to rein in his emotions.
You strike the iron while it’s hot.
“She is a common whore, willing to sell her body and charm for manarium. Which makes her very expensive, but not that uncommon.”
Newstar neither winced nor protested at the words. His eyes drifted down as he deliberated the words, but we were there. We had removed a bad influence from his life, and now he could move forward with a clear heart. The loving smile from my vision flashed before my eyes. This was a man who will one day know me, all of me, and he will still accept and love me as a brother.
I cleared my throat.
“Now, I would like us to be friends, or at least to have an amicable relationship, but that does not mean I will let you walk all over me. I am not a doormat. I demand respect, and I will treat you with respect in turn. Do not try to betray me. I will destroy you if you do, and you will never see me coming. Other than basic human decency reserved for peers, I have no expectations.”
The words were unnecessary. I already knew how much he would value me. Nevertheless, he needed to hear them.
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“Are my terms clear, and are you willing to form a positive relationship with me? I believe I have made it abundantly clear why I think we will both benefit from this partnership, and I will be the one to entrust my life to you first.”
Newstar mulled the words over, considering their weight, before finally nodding.
“Good. If you need help, I will help. In the beginning, we will help each other on a favor for favor basis, quid pro quo, and we will see where it goes from there? Do you agree?”
He nodded again, and I leaned forward, all business.
“I have provided you with some compensation for your two secrets, but the debt still exists in my book. Since you didn’t spell things out directly, neither will I, but you will have as many or more hints than you gave me. Is that fair?”
He nodded. In all honesty, I could’ve just taken the knowledge from him and have a fresh loop in which I wouldn’t owe him anything, but that felt like stealing. Strange coming from the man who had scammed all the books out of the local imperial library for a fraction of the cost — but cheating a person felt wrong, while scamming an institution out to rob me and keep me dependent on the imperials felt just right. Besides, the fair approach opened room for cooperation between equals.
“As for the payment for keeping watch over me during my most vulnerable period, I believe I have promised sufficiently adequate compensation. Do you agree?”
He hesitated before asking a logical question. “Do you expect anyone to pursue you?”
“No.” I would ensure that through Redo. “I will leave everything behind, save for the resources I will need to reach the third realm again. I have even made certain arrangements to keep the interested parties busy. But one should always take precautions against ugly surprises, regardless of how confident they are. That is a free lesson - what can come back and bite your ass, will.”
“I agree,” he said after a bit of rapid eye movement, probably calculations.
“Good. Do you have any more questions, or do you want us to discuss the layout of your realm and the direction in which you wish to develop yourself?”
“I have one other question, but I need to know what the answer would cost me.”
I leaned back. “Just discussing matters and concepts costs nothing. We are sharing tea and insights for mutual benefit. If I can help you, then one day maybe you will listen to me and offer advice, helping me in turn. Go ahead, what is your question?”
“You have mentioned a path. What is that?”
An easy, albeit a question he hadn’t asked in other loops. “The concept is very broad and very vague in the literature I have read. I have only found hints of it in books for initiates, and a few more mentions in books for questors, but I will try to explain my own conclusions, which could be wrong… You may consider your path a personal philosophy, a goal and the way you achieve it, your moral compass, and much more.”
I haven’t considered the matter deeply enough before. It was like explaining how hot feels to someone who has never felt heat. It was something basic, something you just knew and understood.
“It is difficult to put into words, as I have not contemplated it enough to explain it to others. But, basically, your path is you. Your ideal you, and all versions of yourself between where you are now and where you want to be.”
I looked at his confused face, but that was the best I could come up with on the spot without ruminating on the subject. “Does that make sense?”
“No, but I think I understand what you are trying to say. So why did you choose friendliness as a path?”
The kid asks good questions when he’s in the zone. “Several reasons. For one, I am good with people. Also, I am sick of fighting. The higher you climb, the less you gain, making the conflict not worth the risk, and any losses you may suffer are generally lethal or extremely expensive. I am not saying people cannot climb all the way to the top by just being mindlessly violent, but I am saying it requires more than brute strength, and I am not willing to gamble on my future.”
Given a sufficiently large pool of constantly fighting individuals, one would eventually reach the exalted realm. Much like saurian manabeasts, which devour each other, evolving further until they reach the tenth realm. In a sufficiently large population, it’s a singularity bound to happen. As for me, I could probably do it. The path was perilous, and vengeful families and organizations meant navigating a minefield.
“I think I will pursue alchemy and blacksmithing to an extent, and purchasing ingredients, gaining access to forbidden areas to harvest them myself, and selling products all require an exemplary reputation and a trustworthy name. Naturally, they are secondary disciplines, and I will keep them secondary. No matter how friendly you are, others will rob you if you are too weak to protect your goods or worse, they might imprison you to craft for them until you wither away and die. Do not forget that - being exceptional without power to back it will lead you to a miserable fate if you fail to market yourself properly.”
He didn’t get it, again, and didn’t ask either, so I kept my thoughts to myself. But he really needed to find a powerful organization to shelter him until he grew strong enough.
“What should my path be?” he muttered.
“Are you asking me or yourself?” I jumped at the words, perhaps too eagerly.
“I was asking myself, but I would like to hear what you think.” Newstar hesitated, my earnestness had spooked him, so I calmed down and spoke in a measured voice.
“Your two elements are extremely interesting and have a wide range of possible evolutions. Then there’s you. You have the air of a wandering hero in the making. Someone who roams the world and offers help or fights injustice. Chivalric orders would love a member like you, and assuming you do not mind the constraints of a large organization, they might be a good fit for you. Unfortunately, you would have to travel far towards the heart of the empire to find a worthy organization.”
I cleared my throat and leaned closer. “Could you tell me more about what you wish to achieve in life? What do you think defines you as a person?”
“Well, I would like to find my parents. Then there’s the state of my family and our estate…”
