Varian crossed his arms at the heartfelt speech.
The inequality wasn't just apparent in Palarian society, it was screaming in his face from the moment he stepped in.
Spirited. Spiritless.
They differed by a few letters. But that's the only place where the difference was that small.
If you're in the 'good' part of the kingdom, you'd be seen as peasants under a undefeatable feudal lords.
Work hard and get your treat. Be obedient and your life would be safe, probably.
In the bad part of the kingdom, it's akin to slaves and masters.
No matter what you do, the chains couldn't just be broken.
"It's a really noble intention. I appreciate the ideal." Varian paused under a tree that resembled a jelly fish and glanced at Samantha.
Princess Snow looked into his eyes and parted her lips. "So you understand now?"
"You want to mess up the Fortune Anvil and tamper the configuration of natal treasures."
Samantha's eyes lit up and she nodded strongly. "You come from a land where there isn't this disgusting slavery. So you know the utopia this kingdom can be. Join hands with me and a beautiful futur—"
"No." Varian's refusal was swift and curt. "I understand your ideals but am not interested in taking part in the struggle."
"Don't you feel anything when you see how trillions of lives are mistreated? Can you still call yourself a good person?" Samantha's eyes turned bloodshot and her voice grew venomous.
The sharp accusations quickly divided the camps into 'right' and 'wrong', pushing Varian down the abyss of morality.
Princess Snow also turned to the two women with an intense gaze. She didn't say it out loud, but Enigma sensed that she was expecting a 'thanks' for 'exposing' their man.
"Childish." Varian shook his head with an indifferent expression.
"How dare you?! It's the aspirations of trillions of liv—"
"Before getting into the aftermaths of such a big change on the kingdom's internal structure and external dynamics, how should the attempt of manipulating a divine treasure, one used by All Mother Asherah herself be viewed?
Do you think a mere celestial ranker can make the desired changes without screwing up big time?"
Samantha paused for a moment before she bared her teeth and snarled."The world isn't as dumb and you aren't as smart as you think. Fortune Anvil had been studied. The changes have a high chance of success. Even if it fails, the previous settings can be restored without incurring any unwanted penalties."
It was a lie.
While the information on Fortune Anvil was gathered by Duchess Serenthia over the centuries, any sane researcher under her team would say they only scratched the surface.
They only learned the process of making changes to the 'default' settings. Nothing more. Nothing less.
"If you're so confident, then do what you want. I'm not going to stop you." Varian shrugged.
In fact, he wanted to see the Fortune Anvil too.
It's the first divine treasure in his reach.
Though it's not a potion he could drink or sword he could use.
Forget the consequences if he stole a kingdom ruling race's life source, he didn't think he coudl steal it in the first place.
Yet, a divine treasure formed by All Mother Asherah with the laws of life and the laws of order and chaos by the Nexus's powerhouse who made the treasure was invaluable.
He's convinced that he'd benefit a great deal from coming in contact with Fortune Anvil.
The reason the elite princes and princesses compete was also for the standard benefit. Kill the Fortune Spirit, grind its ego away and gain a nice boost to your rank!
This process would allow a peak rank 7 candidate to reach rank 9 in 75% time than otherwise.
"Being neutral in a war of clear evil and obvious good is not neutrality, it's cowardice and opportunistic." Samantha opened her mouth, starting another lecture no one but herself was interested in.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm an evil, selfish asshole. Point proposed. Point agreed. But you know, I too want to hunt down the Fortune Spirit. We can cooperate until there." Crushing a stone harder than diamond to powder with his foot, Varian set off.
Sonya, who was supposed to lead, ran in front of him in a hurry and activated the compass.
Enigma and Sarah looked at each other, a silent conversation flowing within their silent glances.
'Kill her now?'
'No. Use her as much as possible before discarding.'
'I was thinking of chopping her limbs and using her as a bait to the fortune guardians.'
'…A bit too gore for my liking.'
Samantha looked at the two with a puzzled gaze. For some reason, she felt a chill down her spine, an omninous premonition filling her mind. It's as if her fate was swinging back and forth between two hells and the only choice she had was picking which hell.
'I'm being too sensitive.' Samantha shook her head and walked behind the group. 'I tried persuading. Since they chose to refuse, they have no moral right to complain when they realize I'm a rank 8. That bastard, I'm looking forward to his expression at that moment.'
Princess Snow's thoughts channeled in a dangerous direction and she resolved to act at the opportune moment.
And the opportunity presented itself soon enough.
Boom!
Graaah!
"This is Overflow Valley." Sonya checked her link with the compass and continued. It has…three guardians. Two peak rank 7s and…one rank 8!"
"Rank 8?" Enigma raised a brow, playing the part of being surprised.
"Don't worry." Samantha flashed a generous smile. "Unless we provoke them, rank 8s won't attack. However, if there are any treasures you have to hunt down rank 8, it's best to use them.
We need to kill only three rank 8 guardians to get to the Fortune Spirit. For rank 7s, we'd need over a dozen.
I have a treasure to contribute. As I said, I have a mission and I'm serious about accomplishing it."
On the surface, her words were honest. But the intention was to make them use their life saving treasures so she could attack them after stripping away all the variables.
"We should get the Spirit before others at any cost! I have two rank 8 attack talismans!" Varian beamed with confidence.
"Great! Let's go hunt." Samantha smiled a victorious smile.
'What a fool'
She didn't notice the disdainful look in his eyes.
