Chapter 93: The Price of Balance |
The moment Kyle stepped into this final trial space, two completely different powers simultaneously rose from the ends of the gigantic scale and spread throughout the void.
On the left side, a glowing sphere rose into view. It shone as brightly as a star, yet was as pale as flame—this was the Source of Life.
It symbolized the purest instincts of life: struggle, reproduction, evolution, and continuation. Yet it was also accompanied by eternal curses such as conflict, pain, disease, and decay.
On the right side, a deep and tranquil darkness floated like a black hole, absorbing all surrounding light sources—this was the Source of Death.
It symbolized endings, peaceful sleep, liberation, and return, the final destination of all things. Yet it also represented the dissipation of consciousness, the erasure of existence, and eternal nothingness.
A will condensed from laws pierced through Kyle’s soul:
You must maintain the balance of the scale.
“‘Prices’ will appear on both sides of the scale; the ‘prices’ cannot be physical objects.”
“To maintain balance, you must personally place an equivalent ‘price’ upon the opposite side.”
The corner of Kyle’s soul body’s mouth twitched slightly as an intense urge to complain surged within him.
He hated multiple-choice questions, especially ones that allowed no mistakes. For someone with obsessive tendencies, this was practically torture.
“It’s here! It’s here!”
Yolanda, hiding nearby, looked somewhat excited as her fingers continuously twirled around her red hair. She was very curious how this vampire would deal with these questions.
Back then, she herself had suffered terribly under these enormous scales, and now it was finally someone else’s turn to experience this “joy”.
“The first question:”
“Using the weight of your soul as the foundation, this shall become the price of your life. You must place an equivalent price upon the side of death. What will you use to rebalance the scale of life?”
At the central support of the scale, a ghostly hourglass began to flow, representing the time limit for answering the question.
The left pan, symbolizing the weight of Kyle’s soul, was clearly sinking downward.
“As expected...”
The glow of Kyle’s soul body flickered.
I knew it!
This soul power wasn’t a good thing at all!
The very first question is already causing trouble for me!
Wait? There seems to be a bug here?
“Can I use half of my soul as the price?”
“No.”
Well, as expected, that wasn’t allowed.
“Then can I reduce the weight of my soul?”
“Yes.”
The moment he received the affirmative answer, Kyle acted without hesitation.
He immediately began stripping away the soul power that felt unbearably heavy to him.
The soul power that had just flowed into his body, along with a portion of his own, was all forcibly “vomited” out. What followed was an overwhelming sense of weakness, and his soul once again became transparent and thin.
“What a waste of natural resources.”
Watching this, Yolanda clicked her tongue in amazement.
She had not expected this vampire to part with it so willingly. Such pure soul power was extremely rare in the real world.
If he had used other things as the price instead, it would still have been an incredibly worthwhile trade.
Kyle now felt much “lighter”. Without wasting time worrying about his weakness, he immediately began considering the “price” he needed to pay.
“Non-physical things... memories? Emotions? Concepts? Or...”
“I offer forging skills.”
Kyle first tested how the scale judged the weight of his soul.
The moment he spoke, he felt all memories related to forging completely vanish. At the same time, the Source of Death pan on the right side noticeably sank, and the scale moved somewhat closer to equilibrium.
“So the scale measures the skill level I would possess after fully recovering my memories.”
Kyle finally relaxed somewhat. He still had not recovered many memories and only retained vague concepts regarding forging skills, yet the scale still acknowledged the value of that price.
“Looks like my forging abilities were quite impressive. Their actual value is roughly one-fifth of my soul’s current value.”
“Alchemy, swordsmanship, runes...”
Whoosh—
The right side of the scale instantly sank dramatically!
“Hiss—”
Even Kyle himself was shocked. “Are my achievements in runes really worth that much?”
Because his memories had not yet fully recovered, he could not accurately judge the value of the abilities he possessed.
Yolanda, secretly observing nearby, was equally astonished. The value of this vampire’s rune abilities was actually several times greater than the price required to resurrect his own soul.
The cost of revival itself was not particularly high; whether ordinary people or extraordinary individuals, the difference in the price of their resurrection would not be too large.
The scale would not increase the price Kyle needed to pay for resurrection simply because his soul was special or because his talents and abilities were extraordinary.
Kyle retrieved the overly valuable rune abilities, then placed several other combat-related skills onto the scale. Eventually, the scale reached a relatively balanced state.
“Is this acceptable now?”
“Yes.”
The scale precisely returned the excess value back to Kyle, and perfect balance was restored once more.
“The second question:”
“Life expands ‘possibility,’ while death returns all things to ‘inevitability.’ The influence you possess over ‘future possibilities’ requires payment as the price of standing upon the side of life. What will you use to rebalance the scale?”
The scale tilted once more toward the left side of the Source of Life.
Kyle could clearly feel that the karma within his soul associated with planning, scheming, subtly guiding the destinies of others, and his desire to change the world was being quantified by the scale into a price he had to pay.
“Tch, will this strip away my own ‘dreams’?”
If even his “dreams” were taken away, would he still remain himself?
“I offer rune abilities.”
The expected change did not occur; the scale moved only slightly.
“Is the intrinsic value of the price insufficient, or has the value of skills required to solve this issue depreciated?”
Kyle rapidly thought things through; he needed a more precise test.
“I relinquish the right to observe and directly interfere with the future fate of Zack and his team.”
He selected a relatively specific target, one not too closely tied to his core plans. He wanted to see how much this would affect the balance.
This was the smallest fragment of karmic memory he had just recovered, and through it, he also recalled several important memories connected to that paladin.
His karmic talent seemed to have strengthened once more.
The moment he spoke, he clearly sensed himself entering into some kind of contract with the laws. From this moment onward, he could no longer directly interfere with Zack and his team, or he would inevitably suffer retaliation from the laws.
At the same time, the right side of the scale sank slightly further, though it was still far from balanced.
However, Kyle’s eyes lit up. Through this test, he had already roughly grasped the rules behind the process.
Fortunately, this question was based on his current influence over future possibilities, rather than using his ultimate dream itself as the balancing factor.
This meant that if he abandoned the decades-long foundation he had established in Coral Thorn City, he might be able to restore balance to the scale to a considerable extent.
But he would never give it up so easily.
Although he could start over elsewhere, he still wanted to see whether there might be some way to pay with another price at the very last moment.
With a thought, Kyle retrieved both the “rune abilities” and the price related to “Zack”. The legal contract that had just been formed also vanished like smoke, as though it had never existed.
“Tsk tsk, how magical. Both the formation and dissolution of this contract are so smooth?”