Whispering Verse

The boy's reaction was not beyond Shade's expectations. If someone could calmly accept that he was going to drink the "price of growth", then Shade would be surprised.

"What kind of growth do you want?"

Shade asked. The boy who used a toy knife to protect himself was not troubled by this question. He looked up at Shade:

"It's carefree, it's freedom, it's not being restricted by adults, it's being able to do whatever you want, it's..."

Shade did not continue to listen, but turned to the saint and shook his head. This is not growth. He doesn’t understand what he wants.

God maintains that smile:

"When you told this gentleman about your wishes, what you longed for was indeed to become an adult."

The voice was still so gentle, but Shade subconsciously felt that his tone seemed a little different:

"Lying and denying what you said in the past is not the behavior of a good boy."

God said softly, picked up the tea cup and shook it slightly. Shade was so frightened that he almost ducked away.

"Child, I want to tell you a truth. When you make a request and a kind person satisfies you, even if you are not satisfied, you should not be harsh."

Shade inexplicably thought of the story God told about the witch princess who longed for immortality when he first met God. Then he understood that the boy might have no other choice.

The young man wearing a ridiculous clown hat walked out of the counter with a tea cup and bent down to hand the cup to the boy. He said nothing, just looked at him with a smile. The boy bit his lip and was unconvinced. He turned to look at the other two children, then raised his head and said:

"It's nothing to be afraid of."

He took the teacup, tilted his head and drank the liquid inside. But after just one sip, the tea cup fell to the ground. The boy held the floor and retched violently.

He vomited more and more until he collapsed on the floor of the toy store. Painful moans came from his mouth, and his body kept twitching and spasming, but his height and body shape were changing rapidly.

Thirty seconds later, in the stains on the floor, the young man wearing adult clothes opened his eyes. He stood up in confusion and looked at everything in the toy store:

"I grew up?"

He touched his face in disbelief, and Shade was surprised by the strange effect of the potion. Seeing that God had returned to the counter and stopped talking, he took the initiative and said:

"So how do you feel now?"

"I feel like I'm looking higher and more powerful..."

He touched his body and then looked at Shade gratefully:

"Sir, I have really grown up!"

Children are children. They were still hostile to Shade not long ago, but now they look at him in a completely different way:

"I've really grown up!"

He waved his hands happily:

"Great, I can finally stop being scolded by my father!"

"No, as long as that's still your father, he can always reprimand you."

Shade reminded him that he understood a little bit what he needed to do to fulfill this second wish.

"is that so?"

The grown boy looked at him doubtfully, but soon became happy again:

"I can finally hang out with my friends at night."

"No, you probably can't. You're grown up, but your friends are still young."

The grown boy was stunned again, and then said cautiously:

"I finally don't have to study with a tutor anymore..."

"No, you have to learn. Growing up means you have to move out and make your own money. If you don't learn, where will you work? Mining or working as a coolie?"

The boy looked at Shade with his mouth open.

Shade also looked at him and stated a basic fact:

"You don't think that when you grow up, you will still live under the protection of others as before, do you? Then, why do you want to grow up?"

"I......"

The grown boy pointed at himself, then suddenly picked up the toy wooden knife and held it in his arms:

"I don't want to grow up."

"Look, this is the child."

The young man leaned on the edge of the counter and said to Shade that the effect of the potion was disappearing and the boy was changing back to his original appearance (note). As for the clothes on the body, just like before, under the power of the saint, of course they change with the body.

"Do I fulfill his wish?"

"certainly."

The saint nodded.

"But instead of growing, he reverted back."

Shade pointed out this fact.

"But he did grow, you see."

The young man wearing a clown hat pointed at the boy, who looked at his hand and laughed happily when he found that it had returned to its original appearance.

"At least he understands what the cost of growth is. This is also a very good growth. After all, it is really difficult for children to understand this."

"Do you always use similar methods to reason with children?"

Shade asked curiously.

"No, different children have different situations. In fact, I prefer to be gentler."

The saint smiled and shook his head, but Shade did not comment on this.

After completing the wish about growth, we proceed to the final wish about "power".

Shade looked at the girl who came out of the shelves again. The latter immediately stopped and looked at Shade very warily:

"I don't want to drink some weird potion."

"Don't worry, I don't have a magic potion that gives ordinary people power."

The girl finally came to the counter with confidence, but still did not dare to approach him.

Shade had already had an idea before, but before really starting, he still asked:

"Ahem, that's it. Before I realize your wish, can you tell me how you understand the word 'power'?"

"I can protect myself, I can protect what I want to protect."

The girl said and the other two kids nodded.

"Okay, next question, do you think, apart from the power to split stones and move mountains, does wisdom count as power?"

Shade pointed to his head again.

"Of course it counts!"

The boy who longed for stories and the boy who longed for growth said together, but the girl hesitated. She understood how Shade wanted to give her strength.

"To be honest, wisdom is certainly power, but sir, what I long for is my own... something that can be realized... is..."

She hesitated to express her thoughts, but she couldn't find the right words.

Shade understood what she meant. The girl agreed with the power of wisdom, but what she wanted was a more realistic power.

"Why don't you listen to me and then think about what kind of power you want."

Shade suggested, and the girl nodded:

"No problem, sir."

The saint behind the counter looked at this scene with a smile, and had no intention of interrupting.

"Have you ever seen hot water boiled?"

"Yes, sir."

“Have you ever seen hot steam lift the lid off a kettle?”

"Of course, sir."

"So, have you ever thought about the possibility of using this power in other ways?"

The girl tilted her head and looked at him, while the other two boys were a little confused.

"She is the only one who can understand you now. This is her wish."

God reminded, Shade nodded and gave another example:

"The heat generated by a small kettle can lift the lid; so what can the heat generated by a huge kettle lift?"

"this......"

Judging from her exquisite little skirt and shiny black leather shoes, the girl must have a high background and a high level of education. But this problem is still too difficult for children.

Shade wanted to put it another way, or ask the saint to make some small parts for him to demonstrate, but unexpectedly the girl's eyes lit up and she said something that surprised Shade:

"You want to tell me how to use heat to convert power into machines that can be used by ordinary people?"

Her eyes were shining, which was not an exaggerated metaphor. Those smart eyes were really shining slightly.

Shade moved to the side warily:

"what's the situation?"

[This is not the power of the Ring Warlock system, or even a relic. I have felt a similar power in Miss Carina. 】

"That's pretty much what it means."

Shade agreed with the girl's point of view and looked at the saint from the corner of his eye. The latter listened to the conversation between the two and didn't seem to say anything.

"But it's just a tool, sir. I can make similar tools, but others can also make and use similar tools. Such power will not be available to me forever."

The girl looked at Shade, looking eager for answers.

"This is just technology, you also need systems."

"system?"

"Except for gods, humans and other creatures walking in the material world are all in need of help from the same kind. Once you have technology, you must use systems to manage people, use systems to distribute your gains and share your losses equally. Although you are only one person, the system can make you a hundred or a thousand people. Technology and systems can make you stronger."

The light in the girl's eyes became brighter. Seeing this scene, the little boy holding the toy knife thought of something, and with a frightened expression, he pulled the youngest boy and hid between the shelves.

"But sir, even if I construct a perfect system, the system will eventually decay because people will change."

the girl asked.

"You need culture."

"culture?"

The condition of her eyes was close to that of Mia the cat in a dark environment in the dark. The girl herself began to glow at this time, and some wind surrounded her. If it weren't for the fact that this was the Sage's store, any supernatural power would be suppressed, and Shade believed the vision would become more pronounced.

The unusual train of thought seemed to give her some enlightenment, but the girl herself did not notice her condition.

"You need people to identify with you, believe in you, and adapt to the system you construct and the technology you create, so you need to use culture to assimilate them. Festivals, words, accents, common stories, similar behaviors."

"Technology, system, culture..."

The girl thought deeply, then suddenly raised her head and looked at Shade:

"Sir, is this the power you call?"

"Yes, are you satisfied with this power?"

Xia De actually said it very briefly, or he didn't say any actual content. These words were actually a train of thought. He was prepared for the girl not to accept it, and planned to talk about basic physics, but the girl nodded:

"I am very satisfied. Wisdom is indeed the greatest wealth of mankind. It seems that even men are not completely useless."