Shang thought about asking for that reward, but he wanted to be sure about his choice.
The God had already confirmed that this reward was possible, but Shang wanted to think of a couple more things first.
Shang needed resources, opportunity, and security.
These were the three things that he needed to become more powerful.
Could he ask for resources? Sure!
Could he ask for opportunity? Kinda.
Could he ask for security? Depends.
Now, how difficult was it to get these things outside the trial?
Resources? No problem!
Opportunity? Kinda.
Security? Depends.
Sadly, none of these things seemed to be different, which meant that Shang couldn't ask for something in here that was very difficult to get outside.
Due to his allegiance to the Lightning Manor, Shang already had a lot of resources.
Although, these resources might shrink depending on what happens next.
After all, the God had killed Lucin and Queen Primordium before the trial.
A Mage King died.
Literally anything could happen outside.
A couple of minutes later, Shang had decided on what he wanted.
The jester's smirk widened a bit.
"I want to know whenever someone that isn't you is paying attention to me," Shang said.
And there it was.
This was Shang's request.
It was something that would give him more security.
There were several kinds of dangers, and the fewer dangers there were, the higher the security.
Shang was in no direct danger, like getting attacked by someone much more powerful than him.
There were nearly no Ancestral Mages in the world that could defeat him, and the Mage Lords weren't allowed to attack him due to the Lightning Manor.
Of course, this kind of danger could reappear with the death of Queen Primordium, but it wasn't certain.
Another kind of danger was the loss of resources.
Maybe Shang could lose his status as a Cloud?
Maybe someone would demand money from him?
That also wasn't a very big problem since Shang only needed power to keep his status and wealth.
And he had plenty of power.
The most important danger was someone finding out Shang's secrets.
Shang had several secrets with different levels of severity and importance, but his deepest secret was the fact that he was the Child of Calamity.
If his identity as the Child of Calamity got out, he would directly be hunted and killed by Mage Kings.
And that was exactly what Shang wanted to avoid with that request.
"Let me think about it," the jester said as it hummed to itself a bit.
The jester summoned a couple of Magic Circles and played around with them.
Then, it scratched its chin in deep thought before lifting its finger in an exaggerated manner to continue drawing more Magic Circles.
Some seconds later, something white appeared in front of the jester.
It was a long bandage.
"Alright, this should do," the jester said as it cleaned the non-existent dust from its hands.
The jester threw the white bandage over to Shang, who caught it.
"Put that over your eye sockets," the jester said. "They will be your reward."
Shang took off his old bandages and put the new ones around his head.
They were even whiter than the old ones, and they also looked brand new.
A bit later, Shang finished putting them on, but he didn't feel any difference.
Suddenly, he felt like someone was watching him, and he subconsciously turned his head in a seemingly random direction, diagonally facing the sky.
There was nothing there.
A moment later, a powerful Mage became visible at that spot.
Then, the Mage vanished, and a second later, Shang felt a slight bit watched.
It wasn't very difficult for him to find the source.
An Adept had appeared.
"Understand?" the jester asked.
Shang nodded.
Whenever someone was watching Shang, Shang would simply feel like he was being watched.
Then, depending on the power of the person, he felt the sensation stronger or weaker.
This was essentially exactly what he wanted.
"And that's it," the jester said. "I think it's time to say goodbye."
For some reason, Shang felt like this was not just a random joke from the jester.
There was something up with how he said that.
"In what sense, goodbye?" Shang asked.
"We're done with the trials," the jester said.
"Forever."
Shang became a bit nervous.
"Why?" he asked.
"Mana shortage," the jester said. "Also, I'm kind of out of normal rewards. Lastly, the rewards become less and less useful for you."
"I can make a couple of early Mage Lords, but as soon as I have to create a strong Mage Lord for you, the Mana I have to use will become quite noticeable."
"You know, I don't really want to kill a Mage Emperor just because they found that all the Mana that suddenly vanishes leads to your body."
"Of course, I also can't give you unlimited access to the Affinity Wheel anymore. I think, at best, I can give you access to Mid Mage Lords and Late Beast Lords. Anything more than that, and some of the Mage Emperors might notice that something is up."
"Under normal circumstances, I would still hold one more trial. After all, who could possibly jump two entire levels against a very talented Mid Mage Lord?"
The jester sighed.
"Well, you can."
"And because of that, I decided that we don't need the trial anymore."
Shang understood where the God was coming from, and he preferred safety above rewards.
"And that's about it," the jester said. "If we meet again, it will be with our real bodies."
"Who knows? Maybe you will be strong enough to kill me," the jester said with a laugh.
Yet, for some reason, Shang felt this laugh to be very strange.
It was the laugh of someone that knew something important that someone else didn't.
"Goodbye. I wish you all the best," the jester said with a smirk as it slowly faded away.
Shang didn't say anything.
Instead, he left his inner world before the jester even fully faded.
The jester's smirk only widened.
And then, it vanished.
