Chapter 177: Wisdom of Ariv (2/2)
Wis got a spot on top of Evelyn's head and droned while she was stunned. ”No. Good; but not good enough,” he commented and switched to Nyx who raised an eyebrow but did not try to avoid him. Rakna similarly watched on, sensing nothing wrong.
”Ohoh, I was right. You're an interesting one,” the hat tilted its tip to the side. ”A Former Pillar of Elysium. Hahaha, the Hunter got you good, didn't he?” He laughed and she trembled.
”Did you just read my mind?” She asked resentfully.
”For what do you take me for?! A leech?!” Wis scoffed. ”Whatever. You're a fine one but not to my requisites,” he said and this time jumped on Rakna, whose face twitched irately. The girls covered their mouths to hold back their amusement.
”Hm, hm, hm…” The hat mused for a bit longer this time. ”Nope. Too much crazy,” he said without an ounce of tact and moved on to the last person. When he got to Flavia, he showed a positive reaction and nodded several times. ”As expected, the boy's luck acted for you. You are compatible like nearly none other in my lifetime.”
”Oi, shitty hat, you haven't explained what you were doing,” Rakna finally spoke up.
”Good lord, please, I don't want to speak to him. Can one of you ladies ask the questions instead?”
A vein popped on Rakna's forehead and he was forced to lit a cigarette to settle down while Nyx took over the conversation.
”What kind of compatibility are you scanning?” The goddess inquired.
”Good question, Miss!” Wis said and hopped so that his 'face' would be facing her. ”You see, the nature of my existence constrains me to have an anchor to the world and I have very demanding criteria to be filled by my handlers. I won't go into the details, but let's say that out of everyone in here, she has the best canvas.”
”You're a Utility Item, right? What do you do?”
”But I talk, of course.”
”…you talk?” Nyx repeated hesitatingly.
”I am the Wisdom of Ariv. I know things; I know everything. You can be sure that I am one of the most sought Utility Items despite my rather low rarity.”
”So… I could ask you anything and you would tell me?”
”Yes! But! Only fifteen minutes per week. Sadly, I sleep for the rest of the time and it's impossible to determine when I wake up exactly. I cannot control it and I will fall asleep in about ten minutes from now,” the hat said and wiggled. ”Is there something you wish to know before that happens?”
Nyx fell silent with a difficult expression.
”Hah, it is hard, is it not?” Wis laughed. ”People wish to know everything. But they cannot even fathom the reality of such a thing. Not only do they hesitate, but what they want to find out, they will not dare to ask. It is the same principle as asking a genie for wisdom when you have no idea of what it truly implies or being asked what your favorite book is.”
”What about you, crazy boy?” The hat opened one of his eyes wide and directed it at Rakna. ”How many things do you want to know? Too many, right? What do you want to know the most then?”
”…”
”What's wrong? Too skeptical to believe that it would be this easy?”
”Who made the System?” Rakna snapped back with a calm tone and huffed a cloud of smoke.
The hat smirked. ”The Phantasms,” he slowly said and let the words sink in. ”But you already knew that from Him. And then, your next questions will be, what, why, how… Do you understand what I mean now?”
”Answers always come in order,” Rakna replied with a click of his tongue. ”There is no point asking a question of which the answer has no use to you or will be discovered in time. Additionally, there are many answers with no value if not found out by one's own efforts.”
”Bingo. Broken you may be, but well-taught you are. Expectedly so, am I right?” Wis bantered and turned toward Evelyn who seemed somewhat impatient. ”I shall extend the favor to you as well out of courtesy,” he said. ”I already know what you are going to ask but I want to hear it.”
”…who betrayed my parents?” She ultimately asked with flames in her eyes.
”Makis Jill Nalcanth,” Wis replied without missing a beat and the succubus engraved that name in her memory. ”Now, Flavia Jeina. I shall bind myself to you. I have been talking for way too long and I do not want to fall asleep and disappear due to a lack of anchor,” he changed the subject.
Flavia nodded dazedly and in the blink of an eye, a System window popped up. It was of a different color than usual and was of a gradient of silver.
⠀
❮ ◈ ❯
⠀
The One Who Knows initiated a Contract of the Soul with you. An existential link will be established and will disappear when either party dies or is separated.
The System certifies that no hidden clause is present in this agreement.
⠀
Do you accept?
Yes/No
⠀
❮ ◈ ❯
⠀
The Chaos Witch accepted without much hesitation and the text went away. There was nothing flashy about it and Wis just nodded. ”Done. When I sleep, I will pretty much fade away. You do not have to worry about me ruining your appearance.”
Flavia smiled wryly. ”I appreciate that.” She was sincere. She wasn't going to wear a witch hat as a fashion statement any time soon.
”There are still a few minutes left. Do you have some other questions? You should take advantage of it since after I wake up next week, I will only be able to answer one question per topic and the accuracy of the answer will depend on the accuracy of the question.”
Rakna scowled. ”Who made those rules?”
”Oh, can I take that as your question?”
”Sure…”
”Obviously, the one who made me is the one who made the rules; Ariv Ve'Tian. One of the strongest mages in the entire universe. For the record, he wasn't a Host of this System. He was a legitimate magic user from the 'real world'. I accompanied him throughout years and years of adventure. We even went sightseeing the incongruous stars upon which your magic is based on. Even Ariv could not crack the mysteries behind them.”
”At some point, his end came and he decided to release me into the world as an artifact of wisdom and knowledge. I wandered as a speck of matter until I was caught by the System and transformed into an Item.”
”That's quite a lot of bonus info,” Rakna remarked.
”It's a freebie. Don't expect extra from me again after today,” Wis declared. ”Any other curiosity in you? I have time for a last one.”
Rakna glanced at everyone and they shook their heads. So, he chose to ask about a recent trouble of his. ”How do I awaken my Kzanaria?”
Wis stirred oddly at that. He hummed and made a crooked smile. ”That is… a hard question. Don't be mistaken; I know the answer. But it is because I know the answer that it is hard.”
”That doesn't make sense.”
”Well, it does to me,” the hat retorted and grunted as a part of itself abruptly broke into pieces like burning paper. ”Ah, sleepy time. Let's be quick about it. Kzanarias are conceptual crystallizations of both fantasy, history, and imagination. Some people awaken their own family members, some awaken popular gods, and others awaken great beasts.”
”Yours was imprinted on your soul at birth by nothing more than an arbitrary roll of fate. And that thing in you is… powerful. In fact, I would even say that the being it embodies could have rivaled Eternal Night himself if they were still alive.”
Nyx reacted at that. ”That's a bold claim.”
”But truthful,” Wis responded as half of his fabric was gone.
”That's what Tira meant by 'search beyond myself'…” Rakna whispered.
Wis nodded. ”Regardless, the only way to awaken a Kzanaria is to learn about it and find out their identity. That's why it's a hard question. You will not awaken it if I tell you its identity but at the same time, if I don't… your chances of discovering it are mince. Thus, I will give you four clues.”
”One; the rivers flow from the sea.”
”Two; the flowers sway to the wind.”
”Three; the mountain fills the land.”
”And four…” He paused as the only part of himself that remained was the mouth. It grinned widely and spoke the last hint. ”Four; the waters are as clear as crystals.”