CHAPTER 51: NEGOTIATION

"Don’t be— ahem. An error in words, haha." Elder Solon returned to his calm outer appearance. "I have tried to kill it several times, but I simply couldn’t."

"Why?" Rhys asked, perplexed.

"You are stronger than me, older than me, wiser than me... well, I doubt that. Still, you have a higher chance of killing it than I do, so why me?"

"Because you are out—"

"Oh, come on. Drop that reason. I agree I am an outsider, but that’s not the reason, right?"

"Yes." Elder Solon nodded vigorously. Rhys’s lips twitched.

’Are you sure he was a Tier 8 cultivator?’

[The System cannot be wrong.]

"You have something I lack. The untamed youthfulness," Elder Solon said, rubbing his beard as if he had stated a perfect reason.

Rhys rolled his eyes, almost on the verge of cursing.

"Haha, I am joking. Joking." Elder Solon flailed his arms, then, returning to his calm appearance, he continued, "It’s because even if I killed it, just like everyone else here, it will come alive again."

Rhys became more focused.

"The people here don’t know they are living in a repeated cycle of never-ending torture," Elder Solon shook his head.

"Why has no one noticed it? Not every hunt is without casualties, right? If one of them died and was reborn, won’t people with even a peanut-sized brain find the abnormality? Unless everyone dies and is reborn at the same time. Wait..."

Rhys opened his eyes wide.

"Don’t tell me..."

"Yes. If one dies, I kill everyone else and restart everything once more."

Rhys’s heart went cold. Now, looking at the old man, he had a profound sense of admiration.

[What a smart man. Those who are killed never know who killed them, and their memories will be as blank as they were before they died. After all, their only salvation is to escape this desert.]

Yet... that also would not be foolproof, right?

’Whatever, it’s not my business. I just have to finish this labyrinth challenge and obtain its final rewards, then continue my adventures while becoming the richest, most powerful, and most influential man in the world.’

"Okay, let’s agree that only I can kill the monster. But how could I, a Tier 1 weakling, kill a Tyrant? Hell, I am not even sure I could fight a stronger Feral, let alone a Tyrant, which is like a god-like existence to me," Rhys said, expressing his doubts.

"Who told you that you have to kill it personally?" Elder Solon sounded mysterious. Rhys looked at him silently.

"The biggest fear of a Tyrant is a Titan..."

Rhys’s eyes widened.

"You mean use that Stone Golem to kill this Tyrant? But how?"

That was a wonderful idea. But how could they make the Titan kill the Tyrant, when the latter always ran away from the Titan before it arrived?

"By stopping the Tyrant in the path of the Titan," Elder Solon continued, "with the help of a formation."

He then moved his hands, unrolling a large scroll in the air. It showed a blueprint for an ultimate formation.

[Burning lifespan to analyse...]

[Formation: Chains of Temporal Stasis.]

[Grade: Spirit (High).]

[Description: The formation has no attack capabilities. It creates a localised field where time is slowed to a crawl. Then it forms glowing chains of energy that trap invaders, increasing the number of chains as the invader struggles.]

Rhys looked at the complex diagram. He understood every line, every rune. But he could not build it, simply because he had no profession core.

"You just have to plant this formation at an intersection where the two monsters meet and chain the Tyrant there. Your using your own energy to activate the formation will make you its owner. In this way, we can finally kill the Tyrant."

Elder Solon pushed the scroll towards him, but Rhys stepped back.

Elder Solon frowned.

"What is the meaning of this, Outsider?"

"Planting the formation and activating it is not without risks, right?"

Elder Solon furrowed his brows.

"Of course, yes. We are fighting a Tyrant, after all. If any accident happens, you will die. Ahem. Don’t be scared—"

"Then bye. The risks outweigh the rewards," Rhys uttered in dismissal as he turned around to leave.

"But... but... without killing the Tyrant, you can’t escape this desert!"

"That is also true," Rhys glanced at the Elder over his shoulder, "but I am not the only outsider here. My dear cousins are also in here somewhere. They will win the challenge anyway. I can escape after that."

After all, if someone completed the labyrinth challenge, everyone else inside would be teleported out.

Elder Solon became visibly anxious as Rhys almost reached the door. Before he could raise his hands to open it, the Elder shouted.

"Wait." A low grin appeared on Rhys’s face, which became neutral as he turned around.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Elder Solon ground his teeth.

Rhys lowered his head. The warm light above cast a long shadow across half of his face, making it completely dark.

The other side shone in a warm glow, except for the bottomless pupils which resembled an abyss locked on Elder Solon.

"I want to learn about formations."

"What?" Elder Solon was taken aback by his condition.

"You want to learn about formations... from me?"

Rhys tilted his head, moving his entire face into the darkness.

"Why? I can’t?"

The room turned silent.

"Learning about formations is not something one can do in a single day. It will take years of constant practice for an ordinary formation master to even create a non-levelled formation. Even talented disciples will take one or two years..." Elder Solon was lost for words.

"So? I am not an ordinary or average person you would call talented. I am me. Rhys..." Rhys stopped, moving from the darkness into the brightness.

"Someone the whole world is going to look up to." His voice was filled with an intense confidence that seemed to materialise in the air.

Elder Solon appeared to be affected by his tone, as his old body trembled slightly.

"Okay. I will teach you the formation knowledge you need," the Elder proposed. "But only for a year. After that, you have to help us kill the Tyrant."

"A year?" Rhys curled his lips.

"I can’t waste more than a year to teach you."

"No, you are mistaken. I am not saying a year isn’t enough, I am saying..." he leaned in, staring into the Elder’s eyes and speaking word for word, "two days are enough."

Both of them stared at each other for a few moments, then Elder Solon looked away. But his eyes were filled with curiosity and, above all, hope.

Before him spoke anything else, a young woman walked out from a dark tunnel behind the Elder’s chair. She was carrying a heavy stack of old, dusty scrolls.

She had long, black hair and serious, intelligent eyes. She stopped when she saw Rhys. Her eyes widened slightly, and Rhys saw a flicker of fear in them.

She quickly looked down, avoiding his gaze as she placed the scrolls on a stone table next to the Elder.

"This is my other apprentice, Lena," Solon said. "She has been helping me with my research."

Rhys looked at the girl. He felt a strange energy coming from her.

[Lena]

[Race: Human]

[Cultivation: Body Tempering (High)]

[Trait: Glimpse of Entropy]

[Status: Deceased.]

[About: A rare sensory Trait that allows the user to perceive the potential for chaos and unpredictability in an animate or inanimate object. This manifests as a visual distortion or ’static’ around the target.]

’Oh... then why was she scared after seeing me?’

[...]

’I guess my aura is too stong.’

Only Eggy agreed with him.