Shang released a long sigh.
Going through the trial was always filled with stress. Even though his life wasn't technically on the line here, the continuous fights against stronger and stronger opponents sapped his strength by a lot.
"You got thirteen points in the beast category and ten points in the Mage category," the jester said. "That's a total of 23 points without a warrior category."
"It was definitely the right decision to promote you."
Shang didn't answer.
He knew that his power had grown tremendously, but that didn't just occur naturally.
Shang was 85 years old, and he had spent over 50 years in complete isolation.
About 70% of his life had been nothing but training day in and day out in isolation.
Was it easy to do something like that?
Of course not!
Shang also wanted to take breaks.
He also wanted to do something else.
However, he couldn't allow himself to relax.
His goal was too important to him, and any moment that wasn't spent on getting him to his goal was a waste of time.
"What are the rewards?" Shang asked.
The jester smirked.
SHING!
Three small things appeared above his right hand, and Shang looked at them.
One was a small set of armor.
One was a small book.
One was a big question mark.
"I have three things to choose from. You may only take one," the jester said.
At that moment, the little armor floated forward and grew to its normal size.
It looked just like Shang's previous armor.
"The first option: An armor just like your weapon."
Shang took a deep breath as he heard that.
An armor just like Sword?
"So, it regenerates, adapts to my needs, and it grows stronger by giving it ore?" Shang asked.
The jester nodded. "Exactly."
"With this armor, you will never have issues with your armor again, just like with your weapon."
Shang closed his right eye in thought.
That reward was more than useful.
In fact, it was terrifyingly useful.
The God had already confirmed that getting better armor was basically impossible in this world, and Shang couldn't possibly focus on also creating armor.
Something like that required decades of research, and Shang couldn't spare any time for that.
But with this set of armor, he would never have to worry about such things again.
Without the armor, any attack that hit Shang would severely injure or kill him.
With the armor, he would get at least two additional lives per battle. Maybe even more!
This armor would also allow Shang to get further in future trials, assuming he managed to advance to the Fifth Realm eventually.
Shang was definitely tempted.
"What's the next reward?" Shang asked.
However, he wanted to listen to all the rewards first.
The first reward was already far more than Shang had expected, and he wanted to know if the other two rewards were just as outstanding.
The armor shrunk and returned to the jester's hand as the book grew and floated forward.
"An Element-Neutral technique that's adaptable to every kind of weapon and Element," the jester said. "You can use it as a baseline for all your future techniques. You don't need to study Magic anymore, and its power is greater in nearly all aspects than your current techniques."
Shang had to take another deep breath again.
He knew how terrifying something like that was.
An adaptive technique was essentially only a blueprint. It had certain principles inside it that could be filled with all kinds of weapons or Elements.
This could completely transform Shang's fighting style again and elevate it to new heights.
Even more, the technique might even give Shang the inspiration he needed to theorize a way to reach the Fifth Realm.
It would save him decades of time in his training!
Reaching the fifth Stage was a monumental task. Shang had to create a path forward without knowing where he had to go.
It was very possible that Shang wouldn't even reach the Fifth Realm in his life, and he knew that.
Maybe, in the future, he would find a way, but he had already taken several incorrect steps before that moment, forever making it impossible to reach it.
Even more, the technique might even be useful in the Fifth Realm!
While the first reward would increase Shang's chance of survival several-fold in the future, the second reward would increase Shang's chances of actually realizing that future several-fold.
However, the armor was useful forever, while the technique might lose its effects later on.
But the technique might have given Shang enough inspiration to create something even better, which he wouldn't have been able to create without it.
Both rewards were terrifyingly useful for Shang's journey.
Shang didn't want to give up either of them since both were so incredibly useful.
"And the third?" Shang asked.
The book returned to the jester's hand, and the question mark moved forward.
"I'm not telling you what it is," the jester said.
"Then how am I able to make a decision?" Shang asked. "Why are you even offering it? You know me. I would much rather take something that will certainly benefit me than take a risk."
The jester only grinned. "I'm offering it because of fate."
Shang raised an eyebrow. "Fate?"
The jester looked at the question mark. "Long ago, someone created this thing. Then, they sacrificed a lot of Mana to influence fate."
"They used everything so that, one day, this thing would find its way to its rightful owner."
"They were certain that they have succeeded and that this thing would eventually find its rightful owner."
Shang glanced at the jester. "Does fate even exist?"
The jester chuckled. "In a way, it does," he said as he looked at Shang. "Fate is my will."
"So, did they influence your will?" Shang asked.
"Of course not," the jester said with a laugh. "There is no one that can influence my will. This thing is in my hands, and I may do with it what I want."
Shang remained silent for a while. "Am I the rightful owner?"
"Maybe," the jester said with a grin.
"Did that person know me?" Shang asked.
"No."
"Would it be useful for me?"
"Of course," the jester said. "I may enjoy joking around, but I still believe in fair rewards. It will definitely be useful to you."
"However, the question is, is it more useful than the other two rewards?"
The question mark floated back to the jester's hand.
"I'm only offering it because I like to tempt fate, which is essentially my will."
"Was fate on that person's side?"
"Was fate not on their side?"
"I want to find that out right now."
As Shang heard that, his right eye focused on the jester.
"Was that on purpose?" Shang asked.
The jester knew what Shang was thinking, and he grinned widely.
"How very interesting," he said. "I do what I want, but what I want is exactly what that person thought and hoped would happen."
"Was it truly a coincidence that I said these things?"
"It is what I wanted to say."
"Did they foresee what would happen, or was this just luck?"
"Can sheer belief change things that far in the future?"
The jester rubbed his chin as he smirked.
"How very interesting," he repeated again.
The armor and the technique vanished as the question mark floated over to Shang.
Yes, Shang had decided to take the question mark because of the God's words.
The jester had mused about if fate was on the person's side or not after Shang asked if he was the right person for this reward.
The fact that this was even a question showed that Shang was indeed the right person for this thing.
And Shang already had a good guess what this was about.
He assumed it had something to do with his Affinity.
This was basically the only thing that could distinguish him over such vast stretches of time from everyone else in the world.
Shang might be able to find a way to create useful armor for himself in the future.
Shang might be able to create techniques even more powerful than the second reward.
However, the third reward might be something that was unachievable by Shang.
Shang's goal was the very end, and to get to the very end, he needed everything.
If he could get the first two on his own, and he needed the last thing to realize his goal, the choice became obvious to Shang.
Even though he didn't know what the reward was, he knew that he had to take it.
"Fate. How very interesting," the jester said one last time before he vanished from Shang's inner world.
A second later, the question mark vanished, and something else appeared in its place.
A book and a letter.
Shang looked at the book.
He couldn't distinguish anything from the cover.
Then, Shang looked at the letter and read it.
And the more he read, the more his heart and mind shook.
