The things Duke Whirlwind heard Shang talk about were unbelievable. They almost sounded like ramblings or fever dreams of a religious zealot.
However, Shang wasn't talking about this so-called God with respect, which gave this entire conversation a more realistic feel to it.
It took a long time for Shang to finish retelling his story and all the details he hadn't told Duke Whirlwind yet.
Of course, Shang kept his true connection with the Abominations still a secret from both of them.
After Shang was done, Duke Whirlwind only looked at the two of them with a complex expression.
If he didn't know them very well, he would believe that they were crazy.
Several seconds of silence passed.
"Do you have any additional proof, aside from the Star Map?" he asked.
"Our weapons," Shang said.
At that moment, the gigantic Sword began to hover in the air.
"As I've said, they are alive," Shang said. "You can check if we are using any form of Mana to remotely make them do that. We don't know enough about Magic to fool your senses."
Duke Whirlwind kept looking at the hovering sword and tried his very best to feel any kind of Mana leave Shang's body to manipulate the weapon.
Weapons weren't alive. They couldn't just do things of their own accord.
However, no matter how much Duke Whirlwind looked, he simply saw no indication of Shang manipulating his weapon.
Duke Whirlwind had seen Jerald's spear levitate a couple of times, but he had simply assumed that this was something warriors could do at the True Path Stage. He hadn't even thought about his weapon being alive.
"I can also show you proof of my inner world," Shang said.
Shang took off one of his Space Rings and showed it to Duke Whirlwind.
"Focus on it," he said.
Duke Whirlwind looked at the Space Ring.
SHING!
And suddenly, the Space Ring was gone.
Duke Whirlwind's eyes opened widely.
He was certain that these two didn't have the magical knowledge to just make a Space Ring disappear right in front of him without any sign.
And putting a Space Ring into another Space Ring was impossible!
Even more, Shang and George didn't even have any other Space Rings on them.
"What's the limit of your inner world?" Duke Whirlwind asked.
"There is no limit," Shang said. "The only two requirements are that I can only store dead things and things that I can lift."
Duke Whirlwind rubbed his chin in thought.
SHING!
Then, a massive piece of ore appeared in front of him. It was nearly two cubic meters big.
"You can lift that, right?" he asked.
SHING!
The piece of ore vanished without a problem.
Duke Whirlwind had felt no Mana or force interact with the ore, but it still vanished.
Even more, he had put a small tracking Magic Circle on it. Even if it were inside a Space Ring, he would still be able to feel its whereabouts.
But it had just vanished!
It was like it no longer existed!
By now, it became very difficult for Duke Whirlwind to deny the truth.
There was too much evidence.
Duke Whirlwind looked at the ceiling for a while, unsure of what this meant for the world.
There had been powerful physical fighters in the past?
This entire world is just entertainment for some God?
It was difficult to take in.
After a minute of silence, Duke Whirlwind sighed.
"You can keep the ore," he said. "It was the special Commander Stage ore you've asked for. There's currently a tracking Magic Circle on it, but as soon as you melt it down, it will vanish."
Then, Duke Whirlwind looked at Sword. "Although, it probably won't be molten down but consumed. I mean, your weapon is alive, apparently."
Shang was happy to hear that this was the Entropy Ore he desperately needed.
He quickly summoned the ore and put it beside him.
Then, Duke Whirlwind saw Sword hover over the ore and stab into it. It was like the ore didn't exist for it.
And then, Duke Whirlwind saw the ore shrink.
By now, he had accepted that Shang and George were telling the truth, but it was still weird to see a living weapon that absorbed metal.
"I always wondered which smith could make a weapon for the True Path Stage, George," Duke Whirlwind said as he looked at the spear behind George.
"Now, you know," George said.
Duke Whirlwind nodded, and his gaze went to the book on the table.
"And this is the reason why you're telling me all of this, right?" he asked.
"It was his idea," George said, glancing at Shang. "I didn't want to share all of this, but he made me realize that it's better this way."
Duke Whirlwind wordlessly took the book into his hands again and leafed through it.
"We need King Skythunder's permission," Duke Whirlwind said neutrally.
"Yes," George said.
"And you couldn't find a way to get hold of him, which was why you came to me," Duke Whirlwind added.
"Yes," Shang said, "and we couldn't find a reasonable explanation for the technique's origins."
At that point, Duke Whirlwind's right eyebrow rose, and he looked at Shang. "Really?"
Shang and George were a bit surprised by Duke Whirlwind's surprise. "Yes," Shang answered.
Duke Whirlwind only looked with skepticism at Shang and George. "What do you think I thought when I first looked at the technique?"
Shang and George remained silent for about a second.
Then, George frowned as Shang put his right hand to his face in embarrassment.
How hadn't they thought of that?
Duke Whirlwind only chuckled when he saw their reactions.
"Well, you two are not used to lying," Duke Whirlwind said.
"From the outside," Shang said with a voice that showed that he thought of himself as an idiot.
"I got this technique from a powerful Mage from the outside," Shang repeated.
Duke Whirlwind chuckled again. "There is your origin," he said with a smile.
Duke Whirlwind closed the book and held it in his right hand. "This technique will cause a major upheaval in the entire Skythunder Kingdom. Basically no one knows about the outside world. Everyone believes that the Abyss at the edges of the outer Zones is the end of the world."
"Introducing this technique will reveal the outer world to everyone, and things will change."
"Even more, we know that the truly powerful Mages know about us. After all, one of them literally threw a Zone Beast away ten years ago."
"A lot of questions will be asked. Questions like, where are we? Why are we here? Why are the Kings the most powerful Mages when there are so many stronger ones outside?"
"I can tell you for a fact that the Council will do their absolute best to stop us. This is not like the Bloodline Infusion in the least. This is far greater. The members of the Council might come personally to kill us when no one is around."
Shang and George had anticipated something like that, but they hadn't fully realized that even the Council might appear personally.
One had to remember that every member of the Council was a Late High Mage, at least!
"Do you have a solution?" Shang asked.
Duke Whirlwind leaned back and rubbed his chin in thought.
"I can see why you said that this might be very dangerous to me," he said.
But then, Duke Whirlwind smirked.
"But I think I got this!"
