Free Web NovelChapter 39: There have been times
"Before we do that..." I was still lost in my thoughts when I heard the voice of an elder from my right side. "Can I ask the boy a question, my lord?"
He was addressing the patriarch as anyone should. But knowing the reputation of the elders, it was still surprising to see one of them being so formal towards him.
"You may, Elder Frey." Father gave his permission without much thought and looked at me with a smile right after the answer. "I have a feeling that many of you want to do that anyways."
He was allowing them to ask the very questions that he was curious about as well.
"Right, so, young Prism." I knew the questions from these elders would not be anything short of a test.
I steeled my heart and took a deep breath before looking up at them, recalling all the answers that we have already prepared for their questions.
"You command a mystique, and your bond strength seems to be beyond 50 points already. Can you tell us how you were able to achieve that when you have met her only recently?"
The bond strength was one of the factors that decided the level of a tamer and there was a certain criteria by which it was measured.
We have devices that can convert the power of the bond into a numeric scale of one to one hundred, but these elders can tell an estimate of it by just looking at people and their partner beasts.
But, they were still judging our bond with the older standards.
"Pardon me, Elder. But does the duration of your time together matter to the strength of your bond?"
Some people have an absurdly deep bond with their partners while those who have tamed even a legendary beast cannot achieve a bond strength of 10 in some cases.
"Bond strength is a curious thing, indeed. However, we just find it fascinating that someone was able to learn so much about their partner in such a short time." Right as the elder Fray stopped, the one who had clicked his tongue previously spoke up.
"We saw you assimilate with your sister’s Flame Mrig. You were definitely playing some kind of a trick there as well." He didn’t seem to like me all that much.
But considering my position, having only one person dislike me was way better than I had expected.
"I understand your skepticism, elder. However the only answer I can give you would be that I just did what I believed to have the ability of."
I could assimilate with Maxim because I knew I could do it.
The techniques of the School of Synchronicity played a big role, but without having a certain belief in yourself, it becomes extremely difficult to use all those teachings.
"Hrmmm... is that so?"
They could tell I wasn’t lying to them. Elders like them didn’t like those who lied to them in the first place.
"I have unconditional trust in my partners. I know they will help me any way they can. And I would do the same for them.
If that trust is enough to enhance the strength of our bond, then I guess it is that trust which made all of this possible for us."
Since they already knew I was a genius of mind and smarts, the only thing they could question here were my techniques and the creatures that were with me.
’But the elders that knew about the little bird running around the grand hall like none of it mattered to him, would not question my relationship with it.’
My answers were enough to satisfy their surface curiosity, and what they cannot infer, they would naturally attribute to a phoenix and their divine wisdom.
’But who else but me would know just how dumb that little bird really is?’
The elders that saw him with a gaze of admiration would most certainly see it only as a bird of the legends.
But, Nix sure is one good boy. Without him, we wouldn’t have been able to set the link-fire that helped my father reach the deeper parts of the forest.
"Hmm..." The elder couldn’t argue further and moved on with his question.
Some of them joined in as well and started bombarding me with all kinds of strange questions.
Some asked me how I was able to create the mental world that stopped the demon lord, while some asked me to show them what we did to the demon lord.
Some of them summoned their own tamed beasts: ferocious creatures that were way stronger than what I could handle right now.
"Can you assimilate with any beast you think you can?" That was one of the questions.
"I guess so, yes." And that was my vague answer.
While it would have been way easier to just show them the string theory and the doctrines of synchronicity, right now was not the time.
I could show them everything there was to the school of synchronicity, but as the elders who have followed a single path all their lives, the induced curiosity of theirs would not find the escape that their still young minds would long for.
For them, it might just be too late to change the school of thought that they had followed their entire lives.
So, I answered their questions as best as I could. And my father, the one who actually understood the underlying principles of synchronicity, observed silently, almost admiring how I handled these elders.
"How could you... but..." I used the same technique that I had used during the proof of worth on some of their beasts.
Theoretically, I could command any of these creatures as I wanted after intertwining their bond strings with mine.
It’s not the same as controlling them like their masters can, but the strong ’request’ that my bond strength can present to them compels them to follow me.
Using the Bond Factors through this temporary link is also possible to a certain extent, but I know now it’s never the same as doing it with your own partners.
The distinct sensation and intensity of the connection is something you feel in your very soul.
’Then again, the strings are essentially a Soul Sync that one has with their partner.’
I never really understood it when the others explained it to me.
Even when experiencing a simulated version of it, I had never felt it this deeply in my past life.
There were times when I had drowned in misery, not being able to feel what all the others naturally could.
I could have given up several times in my past life before the school of synchronicity was officially established, but the very longing that pushed me towards the beasts also made me keep going.
"Ho..."
Soon after the few demonstrations, the elders were satisfied for the time being.
"It seems like we can go on then? Elders?" Father knew they wanted to ’play’ with me a little longer, but the old also knew their limitations.
They’d need days, not hours, if they wanted to get satisfactory results from using our time.
With everyone else present here, they also knew we would not have a productive conversation.
Furthermore, they had just found an interesting ’toy’ as I was an interesting specimen in their eyes.
They were going to milk me for all my worth. Alas...
"Speak then, Prism." As he received a nod from all the elders to go on, father looked at me with a hint of pride in his eyes. "Is there anything you want as a reward for your achievement?"
The elders here were curious people that would cut me open if I remained in this house for too long. And as much as I wanted to learn from them, being experimented on wasn’t worth it.
"I’d like to go out into the world, father."
I only wanted one thing: to get out of here.
I could enjoy a lavish lifestyle if I stay here with all the resources that the family has, but that would not be enough.
For all that I want to do, to achieve everything that we need to go back to the edge of the world, I need far more than what we had in my previous life.
"That is all I want, father."
My request to go out of the house wasn’t all that difficult. In fact, it wasn’t that big of a deal for someone the family had only seen as a nuisance this entire time.
If anything, they should have known I’d ask for something like this.
But, the request created an utter silence throughout the great hall.
"That cannot happen, Son."
And then, the great patriarch, with a stern look and even more aggressive look in his eyes, plainly denied my request... the only reward I had asked from them.
