When everything inside the treasure chest was laid out on the table, no one could look away—not even Felix. Each part of his mother's inheritance gave him a deep, visceral sense of her overwhelming maternal love.
"According to the rules, I pick first."
"Please, go ahead."
The terms of the covenant contract had settled the division long beforehand: if there was only a single treasure, Felix had to compensate Sonia with a vast sum of money;
If there were two, they would split them evenly;
If there were multiple items, Felix would pick the first, Sonia would pick the second and third, Felix the fourth and fifth, and so on...
However, the total number of treasures Felix received had to be greater than or equal to Sonia's, and the wooden chest itself had to remain with Felix.
To be honest, Sonia had desperately wanted to contest ownership of the wooden chest. With a chest capable of transferring goods back and forth between reality and the Void Realm, she could trade supplies with the Watcher—a qualitative leap in assistance for both her and him.
Yet the contract had stipulated in advance that "the containing vessel belongs to Felix," and Felix had adamantly refused to budge. There was nothing Sonia could do. Who could have guessed that the chest holding the treasure was worth more than the treasure itself!
Sonia could only let it go for now. After all, when it came down to it, this windfall had practically dropped into her lap from thin air; it was only fair that Felix took a bit more.
If she hadn't stumbled upon the Killing Intent Sword by accident, Felix never would have brought her in on this in the first place.
What was more, Sonia had a faint premonition—
Her Killing Intent Sword might very well have been dropped by Felix.
Though Felix hadn't said a word, the fact that he could detect her possession of the Killing Intent Sword simply by observing the flow of killing intent meant he must have previously owned a killing-intent-type sorcery spirit—most likely the Killing Intent Sword itself.
If that weren't the case, he would look like an idiot holding a wineglass and a bottle of red wine without a corkscrew. Until someone showed up with a corkscrew, he would never be able to open the wine... Even if Felix were truly that foolish, his mother, capable of arranging an inheritance within the Void Realm, certainly wouldn't have been so stupid.
More importantly, the grievously wounded Fishcleaver Dragon she and the Watcher had slain yesterday had wounds that bore a striking resemblance to those inflicted by Wave Sword. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, since wounds alone proved nothing.
Yet with piece after piece of evidence laid out before her eyes, even if Sonia found it hard to believe coincidences could align so neatly, she had to trust the truth derived from her own logic:
Felix's half-formed Silver Wings;
The Void Realm treasure that required a Killing Intent Sword to unlock;
And the Fishcleaver Dragon severely wounded by Wave Sword.
It was painfully obvious. Felix must have encountered a vortex last night as well. After traversing it, he was ambushed by the Fishcleaver Dragon. Although he fought with all his might and inflicted grievous injuries on the beast, he had ultimately died and lost his Killing Intent Sword.
Everything that followed was simply the delightful sequence of Sonia and the Watcher traversing the vortex and reaping the spoils.
Seen in this light, Sonia hadn't just picked up someone else's Killing Intent Sword; she was now using it to carve up that very person's treasure.
At the thought, Sonia's face flushed hot, her heart pounded, and she kept her head ducked in nervous apprehension, not daring to meet anyone's gaze.
Otherwise, they would see that she was practically bursting with laughter.
This felt amazing!
Was this what they called a win-win?!
Picking up the Killing Intent Sword was one win, and using it to split Felix's treasure was another win on top of that!
Ah, praise the Watcher!
Wishing that little loudspeaker of a Watcher good health and long life!
"Sonia, your turn."
Sonia drew a deep breath to stifle her grin and looked toward the treasures from the chest.
Sure enough, Felix had chosen the only mundane, physical item from the chest: a locket.
While nothing peculiar stood out about it, it was likely an important keepsake left by his mother, perhaps even tied to the next portion of the inheritance. Sonia naturally had no intention of vying for something she had no right to claim. She swept her gaze over the treasures and decisively took the Splitting Sword sorcery spirit and the Swordsmanship Orb!
Splitting Sword was not the absolute best, but it was the one best suited to Sonia, as it could pair with Wave Sword to form the high-power miracle, Ripping Wave Slash!
If she had to rely on her own cultivation to summon it, Sonia estimated it would take her at least half a year. Obtaining Splitting Sword ahead of time meant not only saving time, but also accelerating her Void Realm exploration progress!
During last night's battle, Sonia had discovered her current shortcomings. While the Water Moon miracle was undeniably formidable, it suffered from drawbacks: it relied on passive counterattacks, had a short reach, and drained excessive sorcery power. She urgently needed an active offensive miracle that could coordinate with the Watcher, and Miracle: Ripping Wave Slash offered the best cost-to-performance ratio.
Felix also possessed Wave Sword, and Sonia feared he might snap up Splitting Sword first, so securing it early was imperative. As for the Swordsmanship Orb, there was little need for explanation; no sword sorcerer in their right mind would pass up such a treasure.
Yet Felix's next choices caught everyone off guard: he took the Poison Sorcery Orb and the Wind Sorcery Orb.
Wind sorcery was one thing—at least it was a mainstream school of sorcery. But poison sorcery was exceptionally obscure; no university offered relevant courses, nor were there study texts available on the open market. Only certain specialized departments were likely to hold relevant materials.
Besides, Felix was the second young master of the Voslodar clan. His status simply forbade him from resorting to poison; the House of Nobles would never tolerate such behavior dragging aristocratic reputation through the mud!
Once again, it was Sonia's turn to choose. Under the eager gazes of her roommates, Sonia pondered for a moment and took the highest-value items remaining: the Surge sorcery spirit and the Water Therapy sorcery spirit.
Felix then claimed the Malice sorcery spirit and the Foul Wind sorcery spirit.
Only two sorcery spirits remained. By the terms of the distribution, Felix had to end up with more items than Sonia, which meant Sonia could only take one more.
"Which one do you want?" Sonia asked.
"Either is fine with me. Take your pick."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony."
Sonia took the Underdog sorcery spirit. It was an item of very low practical utility, yet extremely high value. It could only be activated when the sorcerer was weaker than their opponent, and its effect was to grant comprehensive buffs to the disadvantaged sorcerer—including, but not limited to, strength, agility, sorcery power, and thought processing speed. The greater the disparity between the sorcerer and the enemy, the larger the buff it bestowed.
It sounded decent enough, but the problem was that the buffs Underdog provided could never bridge a genuine gulf in strength. When two combatants were evenly matched, it was utterly useless; when the disparity was too vast, it couldn't pull off a miraculous turnaround either.
On the contrary, it tended to plant a psychological suggestion in the sorcerer's mind: *Even the Underdog spirit considers you the weaker one.*
In truth, many sorcerer battles came down to who made fewer mistakes and who held out until the end. A psychological suggestion that "you are the underdog" only made a sorcerer's defeat swifter and cleaner. One could even call it a curse: Underdog believed you would lose this round, and so you inevitably would.
Yet the Underdog spirit was immensely valuable because it was one of the few sorcery spirits that could never be obtained through cultivation or study. It had only a single path of origin: when an underdog achieved a near-miraculous victory over a superior foe, there was a slight probability it would be born within the underdog's heart.
It was also a sorcery spirit of the most enigmatic faction—the Fate school—and possessed tremendous research value. Consequently, demand on the market far outstripped supply; far too many sorcerers sought to probe the secrets of the Fate school through the Underdog spirit.
Felix naturally took the final sorcery spirit, Sorrowful Wind.
With the Experience Orbs and sorcery spirits divided, next came the knowledge they could share: miracle sorcery procedures! The contract stipulated that this knowledge could not be transcribed or leaked to outsiders; the original records were to remain with Felix, but everyone was permitted to read them.
There were a full ten miracle sorcery procedures in the wooden chest, but only one belonged to the swordsmanship school: the combination miracle of Killing Intent Sword and Wave Sword, Evil Light Slash. It was a wave miracle that inflicted stun and damage on enemies, and Sonia hastily committed it to memory.
With that, the treasures within the wooden chest were thoroughly carved up. Adele, however, picked up the empty wooden chest and squinted into it. Lois asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
Adele said in all seriousness, "I'm checking if there's a false bottom. Who knows, maybe there's another treasure inside that Felix was planning to take out and keep for himself after we left."
"The contract states that no matter what Felix discovers, he must notify us so we can split it," Ingrid said with a laugh.
"Great! That contract thought of everything!"
"Likewise, if we discover any secrets inside these sorcery spirits, we have to share them with Felix as well."
"Huh? Why should we?! Once the spirits are in our hands, they're ours!"
Lois fixed her gaze on Sonia. Sonia thought it over. "I'll keep the Swordsmanship Orb and Splitting Sword for myself. How about I divide Surge, Water Therapy, and Underdog among the three of you?"
Naturally, none of them objected. Sonia had at least brought capital to the table, whereas the three of them were purely riding her coattails. If Sonia had been bolder and hadn't brought them along, she could have pushed for a sixty-forty split with Felix. Yet for the sake of safety, Sonia had preferred to surrender a portion of her own gains just to drag along the three of them as protective talismans.
"However, since you aren't sorcerers yet, I'll temporarily look after your spirits for you. When you grow up, I'll return them to you."
Adele blinked. "Why does that phrase sound so familiar..."
"Then again, there's another way: we sell your spirits and split the proceeds evenly among the three of you. How does that sound?"
Lois was the first to shake her head. "I want the Surge spirit. Surge is the most valuable; I can chip in some money to compensate the other two."
Surge, much like Torrent, was an exceptional sorcery spirit of the water school, and it offered the added bonus of rapid mobility. Lois naturally wasn't about to pass it up.
Adele looked at Ingrid. "I want the Water Therapy spirit. My mom says being a medical sorcerer is very lucrative..."
Ingrid didn't seem to mind either. "Then I'll take the Underdog spirit."
With the spoils settled, Felix was just about to offer to send them back when Adele asked, "Do you have snacks here? Any black tea?"
Felix paused. "There are some in the kitchen..."
"Then is it afternoon tea time?" Adele said excitedly. "I've never had a tea party in such a luxurious villa! I'm going to take plenty of photos!"
"Photos?" Felix's voice pitched an octave higher.
Adele took it for granted. "Of course we have to take photos! Otherwise, wouldn't this trip be a total waste?"
This time, Lois took Adele's side. "Everyone saw us leave in your car. Taking a few tea party photos will help explain where we went this afternoon."
"Yes, exactly! That's what I meant!" Adele nodded emphatically, hoisted her skirt, and darted toward the stairs. "I'm going to see what snacks are in the kitchen!"
Lois exchanged a glance with Ingrid, sighed, and followed. A shared secret was indeed the finest social lubricant; after this treasure affair, the distance between Ingrid and Lois's circle had narrowed considerably without anyone realizing it.
Sonia walked over to the stairwell, turning back to look at Felix, who remained seated. "Aren't you joining us?"
"I'm not interested. Have fun." Felix clutched the locket he had just obtained. "Besides, I have business to attend to."
Sonia nodded. "You're not planning to study swordsmanship anymore?"
Half of the sorcery spirits and orbs in the treasure had nothing to do with swordsmanship, and among the miracle sorcery procedures, only a single one was a swordsmanship miracle. The rest were composite miracles of wind, water, and poison. This was an inheritance his mother had left him; clearly, the path she had mapped out for him was not swordsmanship.
"Professor Trozan is a fine teacher, and I still need his protection for the time being," Felix said with a faint smile. "I'll continue studying swordsmanship—I just won't be able to match you."
"The second young master of the Voslodar clan needs protection too?"
"Forget a mere second young master—even the Duke of Vosroda must stay vigilant against vengeance lurking in the dark," Felix sneered.
Sonia raised an eyebrow. "Your aristocratic circles are truly a mess."
"Yet you still wish to become part of them, don't you?" Felix shook his head. "Sometimes, I actually envy you, Sonia Sevi..."
"Enough. A young master of nobility who has lived in comfort and abundance since childhood has no business speaking such sickening nonsense." Sonia waved her hand dismissively. "Still, since I'm your senior apprentice-sister, and I've benefited from this treasure of yours, it's only right that I give you advance notice on something."
Felix curled his lip. He was helpless against Sonia calling herself his senior; after all, Professor Trozan had taken Sonia as an apprentice before accepting him. In terms of seniority, Sonia was indeed ahead.
"If, in the future, aristocratic strife forces you onto the run, leaving you desperately in need of help and with nowhere to turn..."
Felix was somewhat surprised. He had already invoked the Duke of Vosroda; would Sonia truly dare involve herself in his affairs? This forced him to reassess his view of Sonia's character—
"...Be sure to remember never to come looking for me," Sonia warned him. "To clear myself of suspicion and protect my future, I'll definitely coax you into staying, then bring people over to arrest you and trade you in for a noble title and a reward."
"There. I've told you ahead of time. If you suffer a sudden brain cramp when the day comes and insist on pinning your hopes on me, don't blame your senior sister for being ruthless and turning on you without mercy."
Though it was completely opposite to what he had imagined, Felix nevertheless thoroughly reassessed his view of Sonia's character.
Chapter 72