Claud really wanted to ask about the bell, but he decided to keep his mouth shut and not disturb the image that Risti had built up for him. Instead, he unleashed his mana circuits. While he couldn’t use all ten of them, there was no issue with letting their mere presence emanate outwards from his body, and the hundred-odd teenagers in attendance shuddered.

Risti, who was closest to that emanation of his near-divine might, had to visibly hold it in, but she didn’t seem to blame him for that abrupt show of force. In light of that, Claud only unleashed his might for a second or two, before reining in his pants-wetting presence.

Heads snapped to Risti’s direction as she cleared her throat. “Many of you here are wondering why you have been chosen. Compared to the ones who stand in the limelight and are the talk of the city, virtually everyone here does not have the family backing and resources necessary to stand at the forefront of your peers. But that is fine. You do not know this, but everyone present has been nominated by your family’s true leader for many reasons.”

She paced around slowly. “Some of you show exceptional grit. Others are people who have stood up against injustice over and over again. Yet even more have displayed a tenacity that surpasses the rest of your cohort. In short, everyone present has the makings of a true powerhouse.”

Claud narrowed his eyes. He remembered that the other Seekers of Life were only given one day to make their choice, and Risti wasn’t going to care about who they were nominating. Why, then, did it sound like the demographics of the chosen were people who were marginalised for one reason or another?

He hadn’t quite expected those people to not show favouritism to their own lineage.

“Therefore,” Risti continued, unaware of his thoughts, “the people who matter have found it a waste that you guys do not have the resources you should be given. I am certain that your nominators have tried to get some resources to you, but there’s only so much that can be given at a time.”

She smiled. “That is, until today. The Frozen Emperor has regained a portion of his lucidity. In this short time he is awake, he will channel his lifespan to everyone here. Five thousand years of lifespan to everyone here.”

The crowd breathed in sharply in a manner that was so synchronised and yet so impromptu that Claud had to stop himself from smiling by hardening his muscles. It was a good choice, given that the teenagers present immediately looked at him, only to lower their gaze a second later.

Risti stepped back and nudged Claud, who got the message immediately.

He took a step forward. “For two hundred years, I have been sleeping, mired in my own dreams and regrets. It is clear that in this world, to be weak is a crime. Only the strong can uphold justice, protect the people they care for and bring us forwards to a bright future. Today, you people are sinners. Weaklings. However, with my blessing, I will turn everyone present into beacons of blazing light to illuminate the dark future beyond us.”

He turned to the Life Transfer Channel, which was a small pedestal with an orb on it. It glittered with prismatic light, and on the globe was an outline of a handprint. Smaller buttons with a numerical display had been installed below the outline, which looked oddly out of place.

With a small jolt, Claud recalled the provenance of the sleek display. It shared the same aesthetics as the place he and Lily had visited, the Celestia Ruins.

“Alright,” said Risti, and his thoughts winked out. Claud attempted to gather them again, but something was blocking his mind from coming up with the name of that particular place. “Let’s begin, then…something wrong?”

Claud grimaced. “Nothing in particular.”

“Really?”

“Don’t worry.” Claud resisted the urge to hold his head. “You do the setting up here. I’m not in the right state of mind for anything else now.”

He looked around the Rimestar Secret Hall. “Incidentally, how many people are here?”

“There are one hundred and forty-nine people waiting to receive your infusion of life,” Risti replied. “If we add on the twenty percent loss rate, you will need to use 931250 years of your lifespan.

“That leaves me with around sixty thousand or so,” Claud replied. “That’s still very long…but I suppose choosing no one is better than choosing the wrong one, right? Start it up. I really want to finish as many things as possible here while I’m still lucid.”

Claud, obviously, couldn’t say that he wanted to finish this trial as quickly as possible, and he had to hide a smile as he placed his right hand onto the handprint’s outline.

“Just to check, but are you really sure?” Risti asked. “You always feared death, you know. And yet, you’re going to give someone else your lifespan. Are you…really you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” Risti muttered. “It just feels like you’re going against my conception of the person named Claud Primus. In my book, you were a cautious, death-fearing and life-seeking person. But now…”

Claud hid another smile. He of course knew why she had that impression of him; no one, other than Lily, knew about him moving out on his own to strike down the Moon Emissary back then. While it was very true that all these traits applied to him, Claud also knew that humans were social animals. Like everyone else, once he formed bonds with people he cared about, he would be willing to sacrifice a few things here and there.

Besides, Claud had the feeling that the Frozen Emperor wouldn’t mind lowering his lifespan. After all, the palace in which the Frozen Emperor had resided in was called the Frozen Coffin. This was his deepest desire; he didn’t want to live, but he couldn’t throw away his life.

Claud shook his head. “Begin.”

“Alright.” Risti checked through the numbers again, and then opened a glass cover. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Claud for confirmation one last time, and then pressed down on it as he nodded.

The prismatic light the sphere was emitting began to hum, and Claud opened his status. His lifespan began to fall rapidly, surging out of his body and into the device itself. At the same time, the hundred-plus teenagers seated in front of him began to glow, and Claud could sense a faint connection between him and them.

A faint touch of weakness began to set in, but Claud ignored it with ease and said, “It’s this simple, huh?”

“It is. It’s a blessing, I guess. At least the process of handing down our lifespan isn’t painful or drawn out,” Risti replied.

“You’ve done it before?” Claud asked.

“Back when I failed the Third Tutorial. You know, I was supposed to pass away quietly in my sleep. After all, I had done many things. I surpassed my…father, I became one of the leading figures in Rimestar, I saved tens of thousands of people, I…”

She took a deep breath. “I’m supposed to be resting. A quiet death with hundreds of incredible deeds to my name. And then you came along, told me about your ambition, and gave everyone a new hope. I can’t even rest now, thanks to you.”

“Sorry.” Claud lowered his head.

“I want to see everyone. Dad, mum, Dia, Farah, Lily, Nero…I’m tired.” Risti smiled weakly. “But if I were to go now and they find out, they’ll tease me forever.”

Claud stifled his laughter. “Yes, I can definitely see that. But that’s just how it is. And besides, don’t you want a really solid achievement? You can guide the people mired in this age to a brighter day. Don’t you want to do that? Show off to the others?”

“You really know how to charm people.” Risti laughed. “Well, thanks to you, I now need to sail this ship onwards. All while you’ll be busy dreaming. I don’t even want to speak to you.”

“Don’t worry. After this…” Claud hesitated. He still hadn’t made up his mind. What exactly was the unerring foundation for the people here to retake the world? What was his conception of this foundation? Did it lie in killing millions and millions of civilian non-combatants? People who were from top to toe the enemy of humanity?

Or did it lie in something else?

“Claud? Are you about to…slumber once more?” Risti looked at him.

“Yeah. Probably. Say, what do you think it’s the most important thing needed to survive?” Claud asked. “In this dark, horrible world. Part of my answer was strength. What should be the other part of my answer?”

“The other part of your answer?” Risti repeated. “What, like cruelty or decisiveness?”

Claud nodded. “Something like that. An adjective or a quality required to live in this world. I’m…a bit lost. I don’t know what other answers are in my heart. We’ve worked together for a year or so in the Moon Lords, so I figured you might know the answer.”

“You were always the paranoid person,” Risti murmured. “You believed in making preparations, to create terrain where everything was in our favour. You believed in defence first and foremost.”

She paused. “At the centre of it all, I think, is wit and the bravery to see it through. The ability to scheme, and the will to scheme. All these things are needed for someone as paranoid as you. I don’t know what answer you’re talking about, nor do I know what you have in mind, but this…is the suggestion I offer.”

Risti looked down at the ball emitting prismatic light. “To survive in this world, you must be cunning and decisive.”

“Cunning and decisive…” Claud nodded, and something seemed to relax in his heart. “Thank you.”

In his mind, an answer began to form.