Since Angor was the one who asked for the wood spirit's departure, it was his duty to protect the spirit to a certain extent.
From this point of view, it was acceptable to leave the "reward" blank in the contract.
However, the Wise Ruler's contract was different.
The Wise Ruler added severe punishments for violating the terms of the contract, which would affect one's spirit sea and soul space.
Out of the three supernatural abilities possessed by Adepts, only the space of thought had not been mentioned. However, this did not mean that the mind space would not be affected. Any damage to one of the three senses would more or less affect the others.
For example, the punishment mentioned by the Wise Ruler was that one's spirit sea would suffer a backlash, which would be provided by the power of the contract.
The power of the contract clearly stated that the backlash would be a level-2 backlash from the world's consciousness. The backlash was already quite severe. It was the same as breaking half of Angor's spirit tentacles, which would severely damage his spirit sea.
Once his spirit sea was damaged, he would probably lose control of his mind and mana, just like "Tainted Blood Stinger" Eureka. To what extent, it would depend on the stability of the mana whirlpool in his mind space. Once the mana whirlpool became unstable, the backlash would also damage his mind space.
As for the soul space, it was needless to say. The soul was the most delicate existence in the world. Whether it was damaged or contaminated, it would cause a series of side effects. Moreover, the damage would affect both the body and the spirit.
Angor's soul might be able to resist the power of the contract to a certain extent, but it was still uncertain. Even if the soul space could resist the power of the contract, the backlash from an unprotected spirit sea would still be enough to seriously injure Angor.
This was why the punishment was so severe that it exceeded most contracts. While it would not kill Angor, it would at least cause him to suffer for a long time.
With such a heavy punishment, if there was no logical chain of benefits, it would be a joke.
What right did Angor have to sign such a one-sided contract?
Even if the Wise Ruler forced Angor to sign the contract, how could the Wise Ruler guarantee that Angor would not go back on his word after leaving the city?
Besides, Angor had already revealed his identity and background. The Wise Ruler would have to kill Angor right here and now. Otherwise, the Wise Ruler would only bring disaster to Nether City if he allowed Angor to leave.
Therefore, there was no reason for such a one-sided contract to exist in the first place.
However, since the Wise Sovereign had dared to write down such a large punishment, there was no way he didn't understand the crux of the matter.
He considered for a moment and did not raise any objections. Instead, he checked the contract first.
He believed that there would be an explanation after the Wise Ruler.
If there was no explanation, it would be the same as showing a knife and flipping the table.
Besides, the wood spirit was still in Angor's hands. Considering how the Ruler of Wisdom treated the wood spirit, the Ruler of Wisdom wouldn't go so far.
He put aside his doubts for now and looked up at the contract.
There weren't many clauses in the contract, only three in total.
He looked at them one by one and slowly calmed down.
"First, you must promise that you will not have any thoughts of harming the wood spirits, nor will you intentionally harm them. "
This was exactly what Angor was thinking. The Wise Man cared a lot about the wood spirit. Since the spirit had already decided to leave and was now in Angor's hands, the Wise Man's attempt to force the wood spirit to leave would only backfire.
Also, the Wise Man didn't completely favor the wood spirit in the contract.
For example, there was a glaring loophole in the clause "You can't intentionally harm a wood spirit". "You can't intentionally harm a wood spirit"? Then what about "unintentional harm"? What is the definition of "unintentional harm"? Was it intentional harm when one was affected by a spell and lost control of one's actions?
These loopholes were obvious and could be exploited. The Wise Man must know that he did it on purpose.
The Wise Man also knew that the more restrictions there were, the more rebellious it would be. Too many restrictions would only tie Angor's hands and feet, which would further alienate him from the wood spirit. If Angor wanted to sincerely protect the wood spirit like an eagle, the best way was to let it go.
However, that didn't mean he would completely ignore it.
That was why the first clause was made.
"Second, after the wood spirit returns to its master, you must try your best to maintain the relationship between the wood spirit and its master. If the wood spirit chooses to return because of unfamiliarity, you must escort it back to Nether City. "
This was also the Wise Man's way of protecting the wood spirit. However, he was more worried about Sunders' attitude.
Angor only needed to mediate between the two sides, which wasn't difficult.
However, the Wise Man intentionally left some space in the clause.
"Unfamiliarity" was a very broad condition. Only when the wood spirit was alive would one feel uncomfortable. If the wood spirit died, what was there to be uncomfortable about?
Therefore, the Wise Man also wanted Angor to ensure the wood spirit's safety while the wood spirit was still in its master's body.
However, he didn't write this condition down.
Also, if something went wrong, the world's consciousness would not be able to judge whether Angor had violated the contract. This was a common situation in contracts, which were based on the principle of free will.
If Angor did everything he could to protect the wood spirit, but the wood spirit still died in the end, it wouldn't be considered a violation of the contract.
However, Angor had a way to keep the wood spirit alive and escort it back to Nether City. If he just stood by and watched, it would be a violation of the contract.
Of course, free will was the time to test one's character.
As long as Angor's character wasn't bad enough, he wouldn't be violating the contract if he didn't feel guilty even if he just stood by and watched.
Therefore, this condition was more favorable to Angor.
The Wise Man used this method to tell Angor that he trusted Angor's morals.
It was hard to tell whether the Wise Man actually trusted Angor's morals. But at least Angor wouldn't feel so pressured by the Wise Man's words.
"Third, you must not mention what happened in Nether City to Brute Cavern or any other interested parties in any way, either explicitly or implicitly. Wood spirit is an exception. "
This condition wasn't completely related to the wood spirit. Angor guessed that the Wise Man mentioned this condition to protect the secret of Nether City.
It would be best if no one, especially a giant organization like Brute Cavern, got interested in Nether City.
If that was the case, Angor believed that the Wise Man had miscalculated.
The leaders of Brute Cavern were already busy with their own affairs. How could they have the time to be interested in Nether City? Even if they knew about the secrets of Nether City, they would probably just send out some quests in the questing hall and let those who had time to try their luck. Other than that, they wouldn't do anything big.
Angor knew what the leaders of Brute Cavern were thinking, but he couldn't tell the Wise Man about it.
It was clear that of the three conditions of the Wise Ruler's contract, the last one was the most severe.
In order to make the Sovereign of Wisdom willingly hand over benefits to keep his mouth shut, this was the only way to make the Sovereign of Wisdom agree.
…
No one knew what Angor was thinking about the contract. However, as an outsider, Dark Earl could tell that the terms were quite broad.
The Wise Man's intention was obvious.
He didn't want to force Angor to protect the wood spirit. Instead, he wanted to use emotional ties to force Angor to protect the wood spirit.
If this kind of contract was signed with the Black Earl, it would definitely not succeed. It was a very difficult thing to make the Black Earl give up his emotional fetters.
Because he had lived for a long time and seen a lot, the defensive line in his heart became higher and higher.
Without experiencing life and death or great sorrow and joy together, it would be very, very difficult to break through this mental barrier.
But it was different for young people.
The younger they were, the easier it was for them to fall in love. This wasn't limited to love. It included all kinds of emotions. Once these emotions were connected, as long as there was no betrayal, they would grow stronger with time.
Take Vaay and Dorcas for example. They met when they were young and shared some common experiences, which led to them becoming best friends.
However, their personalities were polar opposites. Vaay was an otaku, while Dorcas was a wanderer. If they didn't meet when they were young, it would be difficult for them to become best friends.
Once a bond was formed, it would erase many rules of reality. For example, even though Dorcas had advanced to become an official Magus, Wa Yi had never shown him any respect. He was still as impudent as before, bossing him around. Dorcas told Vaay to call him by honorifics, but Vaay got tired of it after a few times, so Dorcas didn't mind.
Therefore, things like fetters were unique and rare to everyone.
Angor was still young, which was the easiest time for him to develop emotional ties. This was why the Wise Man used this method on Angor.
It was both an open scheme and a friendly gesture.
When Dark Earl read the contract, he believed that the Wise Man was a wise man.
Of course, Count Dark also noticed the harsh punishment and empty reward. He didn't think too much about it. Instead, he knew that the Wise Lord had something else to tell them.
Otherwise, the Wise Man wouldn't have drawn up the "reward" column.
However, Dark Earl didn't understand everything about the contract. There was one particular clause that confused him.
"You must not mention anything related to Nether City, except for the wood spirits." Dark Earl was puzzled. Many things about the underground water system should be mentioned.
The Wise Man must have thought about it, but he didn't write it down. Why?
Was it an additional clause?
While Count Black was still wondering about the third clause, Angor also noticed something strange about it.
He didn't care about the wood spirit's situation, nor did he care about Nether City. What he cared about was … he had already revealed all sorts of things about Nether City in the dream wasteland. If this was also counted as part of the contract, then wouldn't he immediately suffer the backlash of the contract as soon as he signed it?
That didn't sound good.
"Do you have any questions about the contract?" The Wise Man saw Angor looking away and knew that he had finished reading the contract.
Angor didn't say anything, but the Wise Man already asked if Angor had any questions. Clearly, the Wise Man presupposed that Angor must have some questions.
Angor's stubbornness was triggered by Dorcas. He really wanted to go against the Wise Man and say that he didn't have any questions. But … he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
The reward column was still blank. If he said that he didn't have any questions, it would really be blank.
"Yes, I do."
The Wise Overseer didn't say anything and only asked Angor to continue.
Angor pointed at the third clause. "I can do my best to fulfill the first two conditions. But this one … I don't think it's appropriate. "
"What do you mean?"
"When I came to Garden of Labyrinth, I already reported my whereabouts to my professor. If that's considered revealing, then I've already done so. "
Dorcas and the other wizards all looked at Angor in surprise.
Since when did Angor tell Sunders about his whereabouts? Why didn't they know about it?
Dorcas and the others were only puzzled for a moment, but the Wise Man still noticed it.
Before the Wise Man could ask, Angor spoke first, "I have a mini signal tower."
The Wise Man found the name familiar. He had heard of signal towers before, but he didn't know what they were.
At this moment, the Black Earl gave an explanation.
Count Black briefly explained the history of signal towers. He also mentioned that not everyone had a mini signal tower. Even the leaders of wizard organizations didn't have one.
Angor had one because he was a member of the R&D Department.
In other words, Angor's other identity was exposed.
Angor didn't mind. The more important his background was, the safer he would be.
The Wise Man always had a way to communicate with the outside world, so he knew how important the R&D Department was.
The Wise Man didn't show anything on his face, but as Angor expected, the Wise Man valued Angor even more. But his old habit of being suspicious came back again … mainly because Angor's abilities didn't match his age at all.
Fortunately, the Wise Man didn't lose his mind. Wood Spirit still needed Angor. Besides, the more important Angor's identity was, the safer Wood Spirit would be.
The Wise Man was glad that he chose to create a bond between Wood Spirit and Angor, instead of using Wood Spirit for mutual benefit.
If Angor's plan worked out, Wood Spirit would have found a powerful backer. To the Wood Spirits, there were only advantages and no disadvantages.
The Wise Man quickly considered his options, but he still maintained a calm expression. "Don't worry. Revealing your whereabouts before this isn't within the scope of the contract. We'll use the moment the contract is formed as the standard."
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