“…and we hope this rare and valuable treasure will assist you in your victory!” the Soul finished, and the rainbow light fell away.

A fruit sat on an ornate platter. It looked like a fat pear, there was a piece of the branch still attached with a single leaf, and its skin was an artistic swirl of red and green.

Min Shuei laughed aloud, clapping her hands, and even Charity gave a small smile, but this time Yerin didn’t need the Sages to tell her how valuable the prize was.

She could feel it. This was a powerful spirit-fruit of blood and life, and even her Blood Shadow stirred at its smell. The interior of their cabin was filled with the complex scent of a dozen rich, ripe fruits.

“The Heart-Piercer Fruit,” Charity said, and Yerin imagined that was what the characters written in gold on the platter said. “It comes from one tree that blooms once a year in a single garden in Ninecloud City. This is the last elixir for life or blood essence you will ever need.”

The Winter Sage knelt to admire it, as the platter hovered over the floor. “With just this fruit, you would have the lifespan of an Archlord as an Underlord. Or…you could run the Madra Engine with no harm to yourself.”

Yerin had thought she couldn’t be more excited about the fruit, but her expectations shot through the roof. “My heart won’t stop if I take a bite right now?”

“I might stop your heart if you don’t,” Min Shuei said.

Yerin devoured it. Its flavor seemed to change from one fruit to another every second, but she didn’t take the time to savor it; she wanted its power.

She could feel the essence flooding her, filling her body, but it would take a while to process it all. Maybe weeks.

“It’s going to be a wait and a half before it soaks in,” Yerin warned.

The two Sages exchanged glances.

“That is one issue facing us,” Charity said. “We need you to advance to face Sophara, but we risk destabilizing your spirit by pushing so fast. And you need time to adjust to these gifts, which will put an additional burden on your soul.”

“How much time do we need?” Yerin asked.

“By traditional wisdom, even a year is too fast to guarantee your safety and your future advancement. In terms of maturing your power and skill, it would be better to take ten years. Even if we accept a critical instability that will harm your future advancement, then we still need at least a month.”

The last gift began to flash and pulse with madra.

Yerin had left it for last because it was the least exciting to look at. It came from Northstrider, and was just a plain ceramic tile with a script on it. It looked like he had pulled it off a roof.

A three-inch projection of Northstrider appeared above the tile. “Use this device as a key to open a separated space.”

The Winter Sage reached for the tile, but Charity snatched it up first. “Why don’t I handle this, Min Shuei?”

“You think I can’t do something so simple?”

Charity stood straight and focused on the empty air in front of her.

“Don’t ignore me!”

“Open,” Charity said.

A swirling green light appeared in the center of the room, widening into an emerald plane roughly the size of a doorway.

“There is no gift I can offer you more valuable than time,” Northstrider said, and Yerin wondered if this was a recorded message or if he was communicating to them directly.

Either way, it had incredibly good timing.

“The temporary pocket world before you has been untethered from the normal flow of time. It can support three to five people for one day, after which you will be ejected.”

Yerin was about to ask what good that was, but the tiny image of Northstrider looked to her as though he could read her mind. “In that time, thirty-six days will pass inside.”

The Winter Sage, who had been reaching for the portal, jerked her hand back. “You can’t be serious.”

Charity dipped her head to Northstrider. “On behalf of my family and my grandmother, I thank you.”

“I cannot demonstrate any less than total commitment when my own life is on the line,” Northstrider said. “The decay of the world will begin when you enter, and I have prepared a full training course for her within. With two Sages to guide her, she will be as prepared as possible.”

He turned back to Yerin. “Work hard. Do not let us down.”

Then he vanished.

At least that answered the question of whether it was a recording.

Yerin looked at the portal. “Well, that’s an easy fix.” At least there was a training course inside; she was looking forward to whatever the Monarch had left for her.

“I’m concerned you don’t appreciate how rare this opportunity is,” Charity said. “There is nothing more valuable than time. He no doubt intended to use this himself.”

The Winter Sage visibly steeled herself. “We must be fully prepared before we enter. Which means we need the last prize.”

Yerin had wondered about that. There were supposed to be seven prizes, but they’d only opened six. The one from Reigan Shen was missing.

Charity waved the tile and the portal closed. “We can’t allow him to see this. Send up the signal.”

The Winter Sage removed the veil around her spirit, and the temperature in the room dropped dramatically. She kept her power in check before ice began to form, but Yerin noticed icicles growing quickly outside the windows.

Only seconds later, a powerful presence landed outside with a thump. Snow blew away, and Yerin sensed the disgusting power that she associated with her Blood Shadow.

The Sage of Red Faith didn’t knock. He pushed the door in, snapping the lock and causing a script-circle to fuzz out.

His feet were still bare, but he had drawn himself up to his full height, so that now he looked like a lanky skeleton with skin stretched over his bones. His white hair hung down to the backs of his knees, and he looked straight to Yerin. The red tracks down his face made him look like he had been weeping blood.

Yerin had to suppress anger and disgust every time she saw him. This was not only someone who reveled in the power of his Blood Shadow, but someone who encouraged others to do so. A ghoul who fed on carnage.

“It is my right to deliver this prize in person, as it was I who provided it in the name of the Monarch who sponsored me,” Red Faith began. He had started lecturing the second the door opened, and he hadn’t once glanced at either of the other two Sages in the room.

“You have enough wisdom to use my techniques, but not to seek my guidance. If I cannot force a fool to drink from the deep well of my insight, perhaps I can entice her.”

He was calling her a fool right to her face, and he expected her to be grateful for it? She hoped the prize was trash so she could throw it back at him.

The other two Sages looked no happier. Charity had raised one eyebrow, and Min Shuei had a hand on her sword and her madra was cycling faster and faster.

Without a glance to them, Red Faith reached into a small hole in space and pulled a container from his void key. It was a glass cylinder large enough to contain a small dog, and it was covered in sealing scripts. At the center of the mostly empty cylinder floated a single drop of blood.

But it gushed blood aura. The building filled with it, so that the sensation of blood outweighed even the power from the Winter Sage’s spirit.