South disappeared, leaving behind nothing but scribbled graffiti, which diminished the solemness of his departure. His doodles drew Wolf’s gaze. All of them depicted two stickmen and a circle. On one, a stickman ran, while a circle with six squiggly lines gripped the other stick-figure trying to run. The second drawing presented the same protagonists. Silver’s circle clamped a struggling stickman’s mouth shut, while the other had a speech bubble rising from his head.

The third etching showed the circle converse with a standing stick-figure. The fourth displayed the stick-figure speaking while sitting on an artistic, lifelike carving of Wolf’s throne. Meanwhile, question marks surrounded the circle as it sat on the second stick-figure’s head.

These are Big Brother’s lessons for me?

“I hope you’re well.” Wolf laughed.

“I AM NOT,” the black blob’s countless maws shrieked in madness. Its figure oozed not two steps away from Wolf, but the young man didn’t hear him.

***

A week whizzed by; Wolf trained, following South’s tips. During these days, he confirmed his thoughts remained inaudible while he sat on his throne. Silver wrestled with his Mental Aspects, helping disjoin their actions. Unfortunately, he needed more practice.

Despite the humiliation of the still unborn Silver dominating his Mental Aspect with a single claw, Wolf relished the feeling of taking great strides towards his goal. Success was distant, but seeing a path forward made Wolf ecstatic.

He hoped the confidence from his streak of victories and accomplishments would help him in this situation as well.

Wolf breathed in and opened an artistically carved door. Inside, he saw a crone sitting at a table with two steaming cups of tea. This bag of wrinkles was the Headmaster of Dawncaller duchy’s Mage Academy and a Third Order True-Namer. Luckily for Wolf, she only had ten to twenty years left to live.

“It is an honor to meet the youngest True-Namer in our empire’s history.” The old woman rose from her seat and graced Wolf with a bright smile full of healthy teeth. Her honest expression revealed no mockery of his fake form.

“Your illustrious reputation precedes you, Lord of Nails.” Wolf greeted with a half-bow, thinking how some names on Headmaster Smith’s list made his skin crawl.

The woman before him was one of the oldest True-Namers around. She desperately clung to life. She bought every experimental drug and tonic the empire offered her. However, even after consuming them, she still sensed the Judges breathing down her neck.

Unlike Lord of Steel, Lord of Nails had no talent for Internal Energy refinement, and willpower alone couldn’t stretch longevity without limit. Also, unlike her junior, she didn’t consider her position a scam. Lord of Nails had little desire to wander the world. Instead, she wanted to stay alive and read books. And the Empire of Human invested heaps of treasures in stretching her already drawn out life.

That made her Wolf’s primary target. Supposedly, she has at least ten years left, but she reeks of death.

Still smiling, Wolf went straight to the issue. “Thank you for seeing me. I wish to offer a business transaction. Whether you agree or refuse, you have signed a confidentiality contract.”

The woman nodded. Wolf noted that, despite her high Order, Lord of Nails’ eyes were murky from age.

“You have no talent for Internal Energy refinement, meaning you can’t retain any Internal Energy, correct?” Wolf waited for the old woman’s swift nod before proceeding. “I offer you a tonic to improve your constitution and enough Internal Energy to reach the Second Sword-Sage Order. Any more and we risk your body breaking apart. Once you get acclimatized to Internal Energy, you may consider further improving your Sword-Sage Order. These two Orders will delay your body’s decay by half a century. That should give you enough time to further increase your Sword-Sage Order on your own.”

Do I really want to do this? Look at her. She’s more shriveled up than a prune. What would it even feel like? Wolf used something he practiced with Silver. His spare Mental Aspect focused on maintaining a neutral expression and a light smile, stopping disgusting thoughts from reaching his face.

I have to do it. Draining this hag will give me enough Soul Force to negate my loss from impregnating Mandy. Since she’s likely a virgin, I will get twice the Soul Force. Eight more women said they were interested. If they agree, I should complete my third Mind Hall and go a long way towards completing the fourth.

Considering his benefits, Wolf didn’t grit his teeth and continued promoting his prostitution with enticing advertisement.

“You mentioned destroying my soul’s future prospects?” The old woman correctly deciphered Wolf’s vague description and asked the second most troublesome question straight away.

“The process of Internal Energy injection results in females losing their potential. Since I will do more than inject Internal Energy, your Mind Palace’s expansion will permanently end, but after several months, you should have enough Soul Force to perform magic. I believe you already know what I’m talking about.” Lord of Nails’ eyes widened and her jaw dropped at Wolf’s words. Even her great self-control fell apart.

She was a virgin. She’d been one for three hundred and seventy-six years. The crone awakened her senses and looked at Wolf’s grotesquely giant form and the outline of the absurdly long and thick salami between his legs, her lip twisting in disgust. She’d never needed a man, least of all someone fake like Wolf.

“Are you joking, young man?” She knew Wolf couldn’t lie to her, but his words and artificial appearance could be foundations for a twisted prank. She had already agreed to secrecy. Even if he pulled her leg with such tasteless humor, she couldn’t complain.

“I’m serious.” Wolf assured in a calm voice. “You don’t have to worry about my body. The exchange will take place in an Antimagic environment you set up. Both of us must sign a contract allowing no witnesses or recording. We will do the deed blindfolded and with minimum contact for privacy’s sake.” And my sanity’s. But Wolf swallowed those words.

It would take a couple of days for normal people to consider this matter. With her senses fully awakened, Lord of Nails did the same amount of contemplating in three seconds.

“So,” the woman said, stretching her words. “You’re telling me you desire to take my chastity, which I’ve guarded for three and a half centuries?”

Nobody wants that, you shriveled old prune. Wolf’s mind reeled at the mental image of being forced into it. As for having desires…

“Unfortunately, I see no other way we can proceed.” Wolf shrugged with a flat face. He realized he didn’t care about success this time. If they proceeded, he would reap a staggering amount of Soul Force while shredding his dignity. If they didn’t, Wolf could pretend he had kept a modicum of self-respect.

His indifference caused Lord of Nails to stay silent for several long moments. Finally, she decided Wolf’s nonchalance was genuine and that he stood nothing to lose if she refused.

He thinks his losses are equal to his gains. That means saying ‘yes’ nets me the greatest profit. The woman logically concluded. “Fine. What do you want from me?”

Wolf wanted to blink and open his mouth, but his Mental Aspect didn’t let him. She thinks soul crippling is a side effect and that I’m looking for payment?

“If I understand correctly, you’re an Artificer and an Alchemist.” Wolf’s mind raced. “I would be interested in what you find a fair amount of recipes and high quality crafting materials. The tonic alone costs twenty thousand gold to brew.”

The potion Wolf planned to give Lord of Nails he originally meant for Anna. He also had the ones he’d made for Barbara, Matilda and Wayde, and the fifth one neared completion.

If Anna knew how Wolf traded the gift he meant for her and why he gave it, she would’ve felt more wretched than when she found out about Mandy’s pregnancy.

The Headmaster of Dawn City’s Mage Academy nodded and took out a Scribing Quill. “We can do that. I’ll write the recipes I can offer, and their approximate value. But I can’t estimate the value of fifty years of my life, nor replacing my Mage prospects for Sword-Sage potential. Should I use my earnings, or how much the empire values me?”

After some back-and-forth, Wolf agreed to a humble price of five million gold coins in exchange for fifty years of longevity, endless potential and soul crippling.

Luckily, I’m not a believer of Spirit of Fairness. Otherwise, divine lightning would’ve struck me. Is this how real haggling works? Will I be able to pull something similar with the rest of the women? I can barter for resources my domain needs.

While Wolf thought he’d struck a bargain, the ancient Lord of Nails snickered inside, believing she’d fleeced the inexperienced youth.