Shades of the New World

Although the revelation was mind boggling for Evin, he reacted blandly. The biggest reason was his frequent meetings with powerful beings, another was because he was processing the information in his brain, but the mostly because his head hurt like hell.

Also, many things started making sense in his head, the old man's ownership and casual treatment of a Velvet Contract and his apparent interest in the other worlds.

Evin guessed that the Authorities on Alvox had knowledge of other worlds, but was not quite able to reach out to them. Perhaps only the Empress had that right.

Back on Earth, the lady who sent Evin to this World also mentioned something about 'god' leaving his duty, so his underlings had to take care of his mess. Perhaps those underlings found out about the different Worlds when they were rummaging through the things the 'god' left behind.

'How the hell did he cure my madness, anyway?' Evin wondered and decided that the man most likely used a similar method to the lady back on Earth.

"Why did you quit?" Evin asked.

"I had a very simple reason. Due to the War of Twelve Races, the Cobfolk were about to meet a painful end. It was quite a dire situation, since we were surrounded by both the Ivari and the current Western Kingdom. The North was as imposing as always, swiftly sending the Colossi and the Myrmi to the South via Tower City. The West had also just solved their war with the Griffins and successfully took over their land as well. Obviously, their next target were the Cobfolk. At that time, I decided to give up my position as an Authority and act as a deterrent towards those with ill intentions," Kena explained.

"How does the process work?" Evin asked.

"You would learn of the details if you ever become one yourself. But the short and accepted answer is that I become weak and mortal, albeit not enough for the North and the West to disregard me. Obviously this solution wouldn't stand when I die, so I offered the North a proposal for the Cobfolk to become a vassal country eventually, leading to the current situation. A long time had passed since then, peaceful times. At first I thought of retaking my position as an Authority, but over time, I lost my ambitions. Instead, I dedicated my time to my hobbies, or on whoever I find interesting to my eyes," Kena finished.

Kena's speech greatly increased Evin's trust in the old man. And his previous display of power also dissuaded Evin's motivation to stand against the former Authority. But more importantly, he could kind of understand what the man meant on a personal level. He used to do the exact same thing, after all.

Relieving boredom becomes somewhat of a necessity when you live long enough. Evin had confidence that the old man was simply interested in the vast World known as Earth. He could probably rummage through Evin's mind if he wished to, just like the Vulpine Mother, but perhaps he decided that putting someone he found interesting like Evin on a path that he once took was amusing as well.

Evin did not wish to insist that he was just a normal person. He became special from the moment he set foot on Alvox as a reincarnator from another World. He couldn't help it when others saw him in that light and started expecting a certain amount of specialness from him.

'I really don't have a choice in this matter, huh,' Evin concluded after a moment of consideration.

"Can you tell me the details of the Contract?" Evin said, shaking his head. He immediately regretted his decision to move his head as a throbbing ache pulsed through his brain.

'Fuck…' he cursed mentally, while rubbing his forehead.

Kena seemed to grin behind the mask as his head slightly tilted.

"I'll swear on the Oath that I will never use the information I might find inside your head for my interests or my race. If I ever wish to replicate the ideas from your World, I will make sure to inform you beforehand. And finally, in exchange, I will put a spell in your mind that will eventually lead you to the discovery that I found. Most of the information will be locked at first, and you will need to fulfill some conditions to unlock further clues. I must do this in a roundabout way, since I can't directly talk about these things, I'm afraid," Kena explained.

'Hey, that's like a quest or something. That's pretty cool,' Evin thought briefly before focusing on the Contract.

"Please add a sentence that says when you try to use any method to impart this knowledge to someone, the Contract is deemed breached," Evin did bother listing all the methods, like writing, telling, or using the World of Thoughts. Absolute generalization was the way to go about these things.

"Sure, any other wishes?" Kena asked.

"That works. How do we go about doing this exchange?" Evin answered. He knew that he should take these things a bit more seriously, but after what he had gone through, he just couldn't be bothered. He also had a feeling that he could trust this old man, so his mind was at ease… well, mostly. Anyone would feel hesitant when it came to things like these.

"Let's do some preparations, first of all. Also, Iorn!" Kena called towards the door. With his call, the door opened, and another Cobfolk appeared from behind the door. Instead of the cloak that Kena wore, Iorn wore a butler's outfit with three pairs of sleeves and a black featureless mask.

"What has happened to my other guests?" Kena asked.

"The boy has taken the Oath and there were no problems with the procedure. They are waiting in your workplace," Iorn reported.

"Direct them to the guest room and tell them that we might take a day or two. Treat them as my proper guests. Also, find some suitable gift for the Cosmic and the two humans. Give the metal skinshifter a year's worth of Refined Sorbothium to feed on and offer the boy a "Choice"," Kena ordered.

Evin could see the butler pause for a second before nodding affirmatively. Iorn left the room soon afterwards.

'So rich… Aren't those sorbothium metal bars banned from the general populace? I wanted to buy them for Karan to feast on, since that was the best choice available, but I wasn't able to... What's this "Choice" thing as well?' Evin wondered.

"Curious? Don't worry, you'll know after you take the Oath," Kena replied, after which he took out a workbench from somewhere and started concocting something. His six arms worked with perfect synergy, giving onlookers a sense of awe. Evin enjoyed observing how the old man worked.

'Shit's kinda nice,' Evin started thinking idly. Then, he felt a bit worried, since he received so many things from the old man.

"Thank you for your kindness. For the gifts and the upgrade of my mana-core as well," Evin expressed his thanks.

"It's nothing worth mentioning. Your mana-core increasing in size was a matter of time, anyway. There are hundreds of ways to increase that to its current level. They're a bit expensive, but manageable for most. So even if you never met me, someone else interested in a Child of the Empress would be willing to invest in you. And besides, after you take the Oath, you will learn of a plethora of different methods"

"How long did it take for you to become an Authority?"

"About two hundred years, give or take… And after that I spent half a millennium as an Authority, before I decided to quit. I thought I would croak over in fifty years after that, but apparently, the seat of an Authority has some unforeseen benefits," Kena explained patiently.

"Aren't you a thousand years old at this point?"

"You lose count at some point," Kena commented nonchalantly.

"True that," Evin agreed.

Hearing such a statement from someone who looked like a four-year-old amused Kena, but Evin, on the other hand, realized that he was talking to a living legend.