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Ch145-Bath Time

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Everyone spent a great deal of time going over Sylver’s escapades.

And while Sylver normally enjoyed it when people celebrated him, doing it while the corpses of Gal and Dullen were right there, spoiled what little pride he might have felt at his achievements.

Sylver didn’t like violence.

He was good at it, but it wasn’t something he went out of his way to do. It was a necessity, a requirement for his existence, but there wasn’t any passion in it.

There was passion in honing his skills, and he couldn’t deny that it was a rush to go head to head with someone and come out victorious, but Sylver enjoyed the method, not the result.

There was passion in protecting himself and his people, and because that very often required violence, Sylver’s mind couldn’t help but correlate the two. They came as a package deal, there was no way of protecting what Sylver cared for without a great deal of death and violence. 

Aside from rare circumstances, where Sylver used the threat of violence or bartered using something he obtained through violence.

But regardless of how desensitized Sylver was to just about everything ranging from a paper cut to disemboweling a man while he was still alive, and pouring his own stomach acid over his face, to demoralize his companions, the way in which Rouge and her partner seemed to revel in Sylver’s viciousness rubbed him the wrong way.

There wasn’t a particular word or phrase that stood out to him, the tone was off.

He wasn’t exactly sickened, but despite what people may think, there is a difference between appreciating the efficiency and brutality of a fight and laughing at the sight of two men screaming in pain as Sylver blinded them with a bright flash of light, and deafened them with a loud sound.

Aside from how bloodthirsty everyone here appeared to be, Sylver didn’t have much to complain about. His worry regarding the way in which he had completed the trials turned out to be pointless. While there were very certainly a number of people that considered Sylver’s methods disrespectful and “dishonorable,” the important thing was that he had been entertaining to watch.

As the various screens scattered around the large room started to show other entertaining moments from other climbers, Sylver was allowed to leave and was told someone from the Flowers would be contacting him shortly.

*

*

*

Without any physical or magical damage, all that remained was mental exhaustion.

Primal energy didn’t like being interfered with.

Especially when someone forced it to do something it wouldn’t have eventually done. 

Using primal energy to turn a rock into sand was trivial, even if there were a million better and more efficient ways to achieve the same result. The steps to become sand were already inside the rock, Sylver just sped up the rate at which it would have completed them.

Sylver’s first attempt at manipulating primal energy came in the form of lighting a candle, putting the flame out, and then forcing the surrounding air to return every microgram of plasma and every piece of heat that had diffused, to relight it.

Reversing entropy was considered amongst the hardest aspects of primal energy manipulation to master, but due to Nyx being too preoccupied to correct Sylver’s mistranslation, he ended up starting at the equivalent of 10th tier magic and worked his way backward.

In terms of efficiency, Sylver could have spent 20 years sitting on his ass, and only 1 year practicing the real basics, and he would have learned more than he had over the time he spent trying to relight that fucking lavender-scented candle.

But where’s the fun of learning something properly, as opposed to reading a grimoire quite literally upside down.

There was a part of Sylver that was envious of Aether in a way he couldn’t put into words, and never would, even if he could. Aether was taught by a master at manipulating primal energy, Sylver practically handed him everything he had painstakingly spent several centuries learning, gathering, practicing, and perfecting.

The same was true with Oska, but in her defense, that knowledge was hers by right as Sylver’s apprentice.

Sylver forced his mind to stop thinking about the past and did his best to concentrate on the present.

Everyone was still thankfully busy watching Rouge and the grey-haired man talk about how one of the climbers was about to forfeit but was killed by a single swipe of a Texas-like lizard before the words had finished leaving his mouth.

Most of the climbers had forfeited due to the trials themselves, only about 4 people had fought one another, everyone else either died due to a monster or simply quit when they realized it was only going to get harder.

With his mask tucked away in his robe, and his robe hidden underneath an illusion that made Sylver look like one of the women he passed on the way home, nobody disturbed him.

That is, up until he turned the corner and saw about 50 people standing right outside his front door.

It was one of the major drawbacks of being well known, everyone always wanted something from you. Even if Sylver hadn’t just become a Flower, and whatever that entailed, he was at the very least a very famous person.

And while normally Sylver saw no reason to refuse a group of overexcited women, right at this very moment, he smelled strongly of death, and just wanted to spend a few hours soaking in a bath.

With Iris and the rest of the Garden being well aware of Sylver’s ability to turn into vapor, he used [Fog Form] to float up towards the glass ceiling, and did his best to remember the path from a bird’s eye view. The sun did hurt a little, but it was easy to ignore. 

*

*

*

Ilkes dragged Sylver into his home by the arm and slammed the door shut behind him.

“I’m extremely glad you managed to pass all the trials and came out victorious, but you can’t be here,” Ilkes said with a tense whisper, as he opened a small rectangle on his door and crouched to peer out of it. “Did anyone see you coming here?”

“I used an illusion to hide, what do you mean I can’t be here?” Sylver asked, as Ilkes closed the rectangle and turned to look back at Sylver.

“I mean, there are people who are displeased with the way you acted within the trials, and while Grant might have nothing to lose by telling them to fuck off, I can’t do that,” Ilkes explained, as he stopped crouching and stood at his full height.

“I see…” Sylver said, as he adjusted his shoes and looked down at the right hand he had planned to operate on while in the bath.

“It’s nothing personal. I wish there was some other way, but if I associate with you, or if I’m even seen with you, my career is all but over. You’re a fun guy to drink with, and I am glad beyond words that you chose to go easy on me, but I’m not big enough to survive something like this,” Ilkes explained.

Sylver wished he could say he didn’t care. That he only knew the man for a short while, and that he didn’t regard him as a real friend.

But even knowing that he would eventually leave this realm, never to see him again, it still didn’t feel good to be rejected in such a way. Even if it made sense on a rational level, didn’t mean Sylver wouldn’t feel bad about it.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve worked too hard for this, and given up too much,” Ilkes added, as he turned away from Sylver to peek out of the small rectangle in his door.

“There’s no need to apologize, I get it…” Sylver said while he brushed invisible dust off his sticky with blood robe. “Well, if you ever need anything, let me know,” Sylver finished, as Ilkes continued to stare through his door.

“I forgot to say this, but congratulations. We were watching from a bar, and when you so casually asked the difficulty to be set to 100, a couple of people fainted. There are also a few that lost thousands of cuts on betting who would last how long, so watch out for those too. I doubt there’s a whole lot any of them would be able to do against you, but keep an eye out anyway,” Ilkes explained.

“Thanks,” Sylver said, as he saved Ilkes the trouble and funneled through the gap underneath the door.

*

*

*

Kass looked horrible, as he slumped down onto his overly large chair, and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He took a very deep breath, and opened them as he breathed out quickly, and seemed to come to life a little bit.

“There is good news and bad news,” Kass said, with newfound vigor.

“I guess start with the bad news,” Sylver said, as Kass made a face, but quickly returned to smiling just a little too hard.

“After seeing how you handled two people with a 70 level advantage, the amount of climbers that would be willing to fight you in the tower is so close to zero, that every fight Pecan had so painstakingly organized, has been canceled. Not to mention the fact that you’re a Flower now, means you’re technically speaking not allowed to fight in the tower anymore,” Kass explained, as Sylver nodded along.

“Alright, what’s the good news?” Sylver asked.

“I wasn’t finished.”

“Damn.”

“The two men you fought at the very end, Gal, and Dullen, they were sort of working for us… There isn’t a whole lot anyone can do about what was done, so I will leave it at that. Pecan might be dead. I spoke to his bodyguard, Molly, and although he managed to stay sober for 9 years, he started drinking when you raised the difficulty to 100 and is currently being healed by 3 healers because his kidneys and liver have more or less shut down,” Kass explained, as Sylver nodded along.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t wait to hear the good news,” Sylver said.

“There’s more.”

“Fuck.”

“The thing I’ve been looking for, for you… It’s been moved. I can’t explain the way I process information, but where before there was a 92.6% certainty of its location, it's now at 14.7%. Anything below 25% certainty, is one fart from another clairvoyant away from not happening. Is the fact that it was moved related to you? I don’t know, but it does mean I have to essentially start from scratch,” Kass explained, as Sylver nodded along.

“You found it once, you’ll find it again. Now then what-”

“I’m not done,” Kass interrupted.

“Then stop making such long pregnant pauses,” Sylver muttered and gestured for Kass to carry on.

“To make a long story short, you’re very likely being investigated. As is Grant, Ilkes, Pecan, Delvin, and quite literally anyone you’ve ever shook hands with, myself included. Your finances are being looked into, the scans they took when you initially came here, they’re probably even going through your trash,” Kass explained, as Sylver nodded along.

Sylver decided not to say anything this time, but Kass just sat there quietly, with an unreadable look on his face.

“It was kind of funny the first 3 times, but now it’s just annoying,” Sylver said.

Kass looked like he was about to argue, but he changed his mind and carried on as if Sylver hadn’t said anything.

“It uh… I’m not sure how reliable this information is, but claims that you’re hiding your real level have been made. On top of that, some people believe you are an agent of the… the you know what’s. I would highly recommend you refrain from leaving the house during the night, in fact, if you were anyone else, I would insist on it,” Kass explained, and barely blinked while Sylver stared him down.

“Now onto the good news,” Kass said, as he reached into his desk drawer and produced a simple-looking envelope with a simple dark green wax seal on it. He handed it to Sylver, who opened it and read through it while Kass spoke. 

“You have been invited into Lady Demor’s house. The gathering will be 5 days from now,” Kass explained, and despite all the other nonsense going on right now, Sylver couldn’t help but grin.

“I feel like there’s a “but” coming up,” Sylver said.

“There isn’t. For the first time since we’ve gotten involved with you, everything is going to plan… Assuming the Dark Year doesn’t start earlier than everyone predicted, but even if it does, it won’t affect our deal…” Kass explained as he leaned back in his chair.

“Are you sure? I just wait for 5 days, go to Lady Demor’s house, accompanied by one of your people, and shortly after that you’ll tell me where the thing we don’t talk about is?” Sylver asked to clarify.

“Yes. In other good news, Grant placed every cut he and you combined had on you winning the Gold Giers Trial. You are now a multimillionaire,” Kass said, as he reached into his drawer again and consulted a scrap of paper. “117,013,001 cuts, to be exact,” Kass read out.

“Great,” Sylver said without much enthusiasm.

“For someone who just became the… 79th richest person in the Garden, you don’t seem too thrilled about it,” Kass mumbled, as he referred to another scrap of paper.

“It’s just money,” Sylver half said, half asked.

“Yes. I cannot argue that. It’s a fuckton of money, but at the end of the day, it is just money… Would you be willing to lend us 22 million?” Kass asked after he took a few seconds to pretend as if he only now came up with the idea.

“In exchange for?” Sylver asked.

“In exchange for 0.1% interest. And it will make it faster and easier for me to find the thing we don’t talk about,” Kass explained.

Sylver did the same as Kass and pretended to think about it.

“I’ll pay you 50,000,000 if you quit working on whatever else it is you’re doing, and focus on finding my thing,” Sylver offered and got to watch as all the blood drained out of Kass’ face.

“Are you… You are serious…” Kass mumbled as he tapped his finger rhythmically on his desk while staring at Sylver.

Kass didn’t say a single word for nearly 5 minutes, he only blinked twice during the entire time.

“100,000,000,” Kass countered.

“Done,” Sylver said, with barely a second’s pause.

Kass went back to being dead silent for another 5 minutes.

“Do you mind saying that again?” Kass asked, with an extremely pale and emotionless face.

“I will pay you one hundred million cuts, if you quit all your other work, and focus on mine,” Sylver said.

“One hundred million?” Kass asked.

“Yes, that’s the number one, followed by eight zeroes. Or if you were to read it out loud, one, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero-”

“No, stop it, I can’t, I can’t do that,” Kass interrupted, but Sylver carried on saying “zero” over him.

“Sure you can. What’s stopping you? With one hundred million you can do anything. If someone is threatening you, it wouldn’t even cost ten million to have them killed. Fuck it, find me the thing, and I’ll kill them for you, free of charge,” Sylver offered and watched as Kass bit his tongue while he did his best to convince himself he shouldn’t take the money.

“I can’t,” Kass repeated, while he forced himself to stay calm.

“Are you sure you can’t? What’s the problem? Your pride? You can see the future Kass, look 10 years into the future, are you sure you’re not going to regret not taking my offer?” Sylver asked, but Kass didn’t move a muscle.

“I’m sure, stop it,” Kass argued.

“In that case one hundred million cuts, going once,” Sylver offered and held up one finger.

“I’m not breaking my word and deals, the answer is no,” Kass said, almost convincingly enough that Sylver believed him.

“One hundred million cuts, enough money to change your life and make every day a vacation, going twice!” Sylver offered and held up a second finger.

“Stop it, I will not be tempted by mere money,” Kass argued, with a little bit more conviction.

“I can respect that. In that case one hundred million, going… actually, the offer is on the table for the next three days. In case you change your mind,” Sylver said, and felt a lot better about this whole conversation, as Kass placed his face into his hands and groaned.

“So the 22 million?” Kass asked as if he had erased this entire segment from his memory.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll have Grant transfer it when I see him,” Sylver said.

“This will be a huge help, thank you,” Kass said, as he stood up from his seat, reached out with a hand to shake Sylver’s.

“Oh, and Kass,” Sylver said, as he gripped the clairvoyant’s hand a little tighter, and pulled it towards himself so he could reach the man’s ear.

“Don’t ever make me jump through hoops again. This is your one, and only warning,” Sylver whispered calmly and could feel the clairvoyant’s soul practically retreat inside itself, like a turtle’s head disappearing into its shell.

“Yes sir,” Kass mumbled.

Sylver let go of his hand and waited until Kass looked him in the eye. With a curt nod, Sylver turned into fog and disappeared through the door’s lock.

*

*

*

With all the guards standing around and watching, Sylver wasn’t afraid for Grant’s safety.

He was a little afraid for what little innocence Grant had, as a particularly attractive woman made offers to the engineer, that made even Sylver blush. And if she was willing to do that just to talk to Sylver, Sylver struggled to imagine what she would offer him.

If it weren’t for the fact that Sylver was exhausted, and desperately needed a bath, he would have been very tempted to at the very least hear her out. It was the polite thing to do.

She wasn’t offering anything Sylver hadn’t heard before or done, but the combination wasn’t one he had considered before.

It sounded… kind of disgusting. It was one thing to-

“HE’S HERE!” a shrill voice screamed and pointed at Sylver, who had been standing behind a frosted wall, and actually took a step backward as the crowd rushed towards him.

Sylver remained where he was, and it was only after the first person tried to shake his hand, did they realize he was a motionless illusion, being cast by a tiny framework carved into a small red mushroom, glued to one of the walls above.

Sylver gently pushed Grant inside the house and locked the door behind himself.

“I have great news!” Grant said excitedly and grabbed Sylver by both shoulders.

“Really? What?” Sylver asked, and pretended to try to guess what the news was.

“You’re rich! Crazy rich! I bet everything we had on you winning, and you won! Congratulations on winning the Gold Giers Trials too!” Grant shouted, and wrapped his arms around Sylver in a hug. 

Sylver was close enough that he could almost taste it.

“You’re high,” Sylver said calmly but was careful not to sound dismissive or disapproving. Grant was dead if Sylver was dead, he could understand that the poor man was under a great deal of stress.

“I am! I can’t feel my face! But we’ve got one hundred and seventeen million between the two of us! Mostly you, but there’s at least a million of my money in there!” Grant said, and Sylver made the best surprised face he could manage.

“That’s fantastic Grant!” Sylver shouted, and clapped the skinny man on the back, as Grant let go of him and started pouring the two of them celebratory drinks.

With the walls frosted over, Sylver could still sort of make out the large crowd standing outside, but by the third cup, he stopped caring about them.

Apart from the victory, and the money, Sylver had genuine reason to be happy today.

In 5 days he would complete his end of the deal, and then he would find out the location of The Story Of the Seven Suns, and then he could finally be done with this accursed realm and could go home. 

Kass will tell him the location, Sylver will tear through whatever stood in his way, and then he will leave. Dark elf prophesy and humans masquerading as high elves nonsense or not.

Easy.