1466 A Third View
With one final flash akin to an apocalyptic lightning, the entire sky was lit up and then dimmed.
A sound of a glass breaking came from everywhere and pieces of a black robe rained down the sky.
Seconds later, the dark clouds parted and a beam of light emerged, falling right on the Fortune Anvil.
A young girl emerged in the light beam, akin to an angel descending to the mortal world. She was gripping the old man by the few hairs of his nearly bald head.
"Pfft,"
Varian couldn't control a chuckle at the comical sight.
Thankfully, the old man was on the verge of losing consciousness and was even barely struggling. If he had been awake, he might have complained about dying with a few hairs intact.
"Hey!"
The spirit landed on the anvil and stomped on the old guy's face before she turned to Varian.
With hands on her hips, she pouted at him with a dissattisfied expression. "Shouldn't you at least thank me? You can kiss my feet, I shall allow it."
Saying that, she even raised the other foot and took off her shoe.
"…"
Varian walked up to her and under the anticipated gaze of the spirit, smacked her forehead.
"Ouch!" Rubbing her forehead, she looked at him with a grumpy expression. If he didn't apologize, it looked like she'd cry for sure.
"Well, thank you for your help." Varian said with a sigh and crouched down to examine the old soul.
There were serious injuries throughout and it was a miracle the old bastard was even alive now.
"Didn't he take half step into divine rank, how did you defeat him?"
"That is of course, I'm strong!" The spirit rubbed below her nose with her finger and said with a smug expression. "Isn't it a good deal for you to serve as my exclusive servant? Right? Right? Now come down and kiss my feet to swear allei—ouch!"
"What really happened?"
"Well," The spirit rubbed her forehead and said in a sad voice. "That idiot used the divine power from the anvil to push himself up. But he only used a small part of the divine power, the rest inside his soul is unused. Since it's from the Anvil, I have more affinity to it than him. I manipulated it and he's done."
"Smart." Varian smiled.
"Right?" The Spirit's eyes lit up. "So come on, stay with this intelligent spirit and improve your paths!"
"…"
The spirit parted her lips and said with a reluctant expression. "You don't have to kiss my feet."
"…"
"Should I kiss your feet then?"
Varian let out a deep sigh and patted her head gently. "I'm sorry but I have to leave. There are things I have to do."
With the pillars of the kingdom becoming openly hostile to him, there's no telling what could happen to the solar system. He'd have to hurry.
"B-But…But…" The Spirit lowered its head and tears started to spill out of its eyes. In the end, she covered her face and started to wail.
It was a normal thing for him but the spirit went through various extremes in just a short period.
First, she was badly injured by Robert, then got kidnapped and put to death by Xeola and Samantha. In the end, she resigned to fate and decided to die. But a man appeared out of nowhere and convinced her to live. And now, he's leaving her all alone.
"I…I just…" The spirit choked on her tears and despite being powerful enough to subdue a peak rank 9, she appeared terribly fragile.
Varian's shoulder drooped and he turned to Enigma for help.
Enigma shrugged with a helpless expression.
He acted colder toward the little girl precisely to avoid this situation. But even then, this happened.
"We'll visit sometime, okay?" He tried to pacify. "We're neighbors, well, yeah."
"Re-Really?" The spirit paused crying and looked at him with a doubtful expression.
"Well, as long as I don't die on the way." Varian laughed at the joke.
But the girl didn't.
"There are some strong people outside. Are they hostile to you?"
Varian's expression hardened.
"I can help but my power decreases outside this world. I can't do much, I'm sorry…" The spirit gripped its clothes and muttered.
"I will try to figure a way out. Don't worry about it." Varian said with a confident smile but in truth he didn't know if he would live or die the moment he stepped outside.
He turned to Enigma and communicated through their link. "I'll try to talk it out but if things turn unfavorable, I want you to use that card and teleport us out. She will buy us some time. The chances of surviving won't be 0."
The lady nodded. Sarah brought back an unconscious Sonya as well as a bunch of corpses.
"Followers of these guys. Everyone else in the world is dead now."
Varian nodded and took a deep breath.
"Alright, we're leav—"
"Wa-Wait! Wait!" The spirit grabbed his shirt.
"I'm sorry but I ca—"
"Not that. Those two messed with the Anvil and changed some settings. But it's only half changed. Finish the changes or Palarian race will fall apart." The spirit pointed to the silvery anvil and said.
"Can't you just go back to default?"
The spirit shook her head. "Too many deviations to go back at this point."
Varian sighed. "I don't know how to run that thing."
"You can just tell me what to do. I know the how." The spirit patted her chest.
Varian rubbed his chin for a moment and gave it some thought.
Samantha wanted a world of absolute equality. Everyone would get the same talent at birth.
This way, everyone would be equal. But there wouldn't be any powerful rankers to defend the kingdom.
Robert wanted more inequality. There would be a few great geniuses and many spiritless.
Most people would be normal. Only a tiny few would be extraordinary. But not by their work but due to their innate talents.
These two perspectives did interest Varian but his personal belief remained the same.
He wasn't an idealist hoping for a world of pure equality. That's impractical. But he didn't support innate talents dictating one's fate either.
So, the answer?
"How about the harder you work, the more talented you get?"
