Wisdom of Ariv

"This is why Tyran was at level 55, huh?" Rakna commented as he read a System window whilst eating some star-like cereals.

"Yes," Flavia nodded. "This is the prompt I woke up to after everything happened."

The therian hummed and looked back at the window. "Well… it was worth the scare, I guess."

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You have completed the Hidden Quest, The White Witch's Allegory!

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The White Witch, Marie Vellai Cuniya, attacked you in order to steal your body. Her soul had been preserved inside the Dungeon through an unplanned accident.

You have successfully warded off her attempt and destroyed her main body.

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Rewards:

- 1 000 000 Talys

- 15 Free Points

- 1 Skill Point

- 3 Instant Level Ups

- Random Utility Item

- The White Witch's Amulet

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- The Tier 4 Chaos Spell Card, Four-Fold Chaos - Perdured Annihilation. The same spell with which Camilla Scarlet originally injured the White Witch and forced her to flee.

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"I agree… but I probably can't use the spell yet," Flavia replied. "The thing about Chaos Magic is that it's extremely unstable. It gets even worse when you add elements to the mix. But in return, the output increases exponentially."

"Vera told me that if I were to try Six-Fold Chaos, I would need every one of my magic elements to be at least above the Excel level or else I would die before I even complete the spell. But she also said that if I actually managed to cast it, it would definitely be Tier 1."

"I see," Rakna nodded and ultimately closed the window.

"What about the Amulet and the Utility Item?" Nyx asked afterward.

"The Amulet is a Purple Item. It essentially partly deviates magic directed at me. It's nothing close to what Cuniya could do though. As for the Utility Item… I haven't pulled it yet. I wanted to ask Rakna to do it."

"Huh? Me?" The man in question retorted confused.

"Yes. You have more luck than me so you can get something much better from it just like your deck of cards," she answered.

"Well… it's not wrong. The Trickster's Sleeve is most likely my most versatile and useful tool at the moment. If I can get a similar one for you, it wouldn't be a bad idea. Can you transfer it to me?"

"Yup," Flavia nodded bubbly and flicked her finger. Her reward was promptly transferred just like a normal money transaction and Rakna saw the icon of a loot box appear in his vision.

"Well then, here goes nothing," he uttered and just like last time, the icon expanded into a larger box. He willed it to open and a flash of life burst from it as the lid was lifted. Then, the light slowly shifted to purple and a pointy object appeared in Rakna's hands.

When the light faded away, everyone looked at it stupefied.

"Is that a…" Evelyn started quietly.

"A hat? Yes, yes, it is," Nyx finished just as surprised.

Rakna shook his shock away and looked at its information.

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Designation: Utility Item/Hat

Name: Wisdom of Ariv

Rarity: Purple

Durability: Unlimited

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Description:

The hat of the legendary Mage Ariv. This hat is rumored to latch onto a user to the end of their lives before disappearing until it is found or summoned again.

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Effects: ---

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Rakna raised an eyebrow at that and as he was about to ask Alexa about it, a part of the hat folded on itself to create a concavity.

"Stop staring at me."

The therian reflexively threw the hat away and it barreled through the room. It spun one last time and righted itself whilst floating.

"I give you a 4/10 for the reaction. I've seen much droller," it moved its 'mouth' and said. Then, two gaps were formed to make something similar to a pair of eyes. The hat grunted and spun one more time. "It is good to stretch out my threads again… Hm, let's see. It is the year 3465. So, I have not been found in over 200 years. How bleak. It used to take less than a year."

Rakna carefully stood up from his seat and gathered his mana around his hand.

"Down, boy," the hat said with a ruff voice. "Good lord, how I hate cold stars. It makes my fabric all rough. The volcanic ones are much better. They have much more charm too. Ironically, I cannot say the same about your other personality, haha!"

The cold energy was retracted by Rakna as he frowned. The girls also seemed more confused than wary at the weird sight that was presented to them. "How do you know that? What are…"

"What am I?" The hat cut him off. "Call me Wis. Now, let's see… Don't move, kids," it went on and suddenly flew to the closest person. It was so fast that even Rakna wasn't able to react in time.

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.

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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.

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Do you accept?

Yes/No

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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 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."