Chapter: 104

“Lamp!” he began to laugh into the dungeon, the laughter echoing back as it seemed to make a chorus of maniacal laughter. “You’re Lamp now. I love Lamp.”

Lamp didn’t respond in any way.

Pleased with himself, Jay sat down next to the second silt wolf body.

Jay had his necrotic ring tenderly extract the bones from the wolf corpse as it left three more plates and another spine on the ground behind. Adding them to his inventory, Jay gained six ferritic plates in total from the battle.

“Maybe I should save these metal plates for when I come across an armourer, or perhaps mana scribe… hmm, actually I probably won’t be able to afford a mana scribe for quite some time.”

All mana scribe’s were protected by the ruling class; they were not just a sign of wealth and nobility to their nobles they worked for, but also created powerful items by inscribing manacraft pathways into them – you would merely have to channel mana into such an item and it would reproduce a spell. Often, a noble family would not be considered for marriage arrangements if they didn’t have at least one mana scribe working under them.

Jay sat cross-legged against the cave wall as he began to craft his shield. “I’ll use the white bones first in case I mess up. Once I discover the ability, I’ll be able to perfect it.”


***This is a free auxiliary chapter. This is the book Jay was reading. You can skip it and still understand the story, I just thought It would be fun to add. Thanks, Aero182***

~Words of the philosopher king, to his dearest son~

Sedulus, Mern, Radette and I send our greetings, grace and love – along with your queen.

My child, soften your heart and hear my words, knowing I only want to build you up. You are my reflection, and I would not hurt my own body.

—.

What is your purpose, young prince?

One man strives for wealth, another for power.

They both succeed and are content for a while, only to empty again after some time – Is his true goal then to be content or even more foolishly – to be happy?

You have the world, yet it isn’t enough, is it?

You’ve planted gardens for yourself and built houses, mansions, castles, kingdoms.

You created families, amassed gold, treasures of kings among all the lands.

You’ve gathered entertainers, singers, and great harems.

Yet after all of this, you gained nothing, it was all meaningless.

Why not then skip the middle step of gaining wealth or power and be content?

One of the many fools realises this and strives for pleasure – filling himself up in the flesh, only to be drained by the next day, more empty than before.

God laughs, the heavens scoff, and the depths mock at these pitiful beings.

No matter how long a man lives or how much he acquires, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity, it would be better for such a man to not have been born; both have the same outcome – meaninglessness.