Chapter 4 – Fate Roulette
Fate Trickster Simba unexpectedly jumped out of the rainbow, flipping through the air before landing gracefully. His landing wasn’t that stable, however, and he fell onto his butt.
“Wang Zhong, why are you so late tonight!?” The little clown floated in the air as he spun in a circle, dancing and expressing his joy.
“Today is my birthday, as well as the day I step into adulthood. It’s fine if you don’t have a birthday gift for me, but I never would have thought you’d forgotten. Come here! You lost yesterday, so let me pinch your nose now. Don’t even think about going back on your promise!” Wang Zhong gave Simba a big smile as he waved him over. The only reason he was able to survive and persevere through these past ten years was because of Simba’s presence.
The Fate Trickster played fantastical games of every description with him. During the first five years, they had gone through countless eccentric drills, such as learning the language of beasts and the cultural heritage of the olden days. In the final five years, the Fate Trickster would transform into all sorts of monsters to play with Wang Zhong. He truly deserved the glorified name of ‘Shapeshifter.’ With abilities like his, he would naturally want to make some bets with Wang Zhong. With a character like Simba, Wang Zhong’s dreamland had never been lonely again.
Simba subconsciously retreated. “Cough cough. Brat, of course the Fate Trickster won’t go back on his word. It’s just that we have more important things to talk about today.” Simba said this with a deadpan expression, but the more serious he looked, the more comical he appeared. As long as it wasn’t during a trial by fire, Simba would always act in an exceptionally amusing and playful manner.
“You’ve already used this excuse many times before. But,” Wang Zhong said with a smile, “since we can be considered brothers, I’ll listen to your so-called important matter once more.”
With a flip of Simba’s hand, a three dimensional image appeared depicting a qi sea filled with vitality. Floating in the air, the qi sea was soon enveloped by a jaw dropping brilliance, as if it were being sealed. Afterwards, only a faint amount of qi could be detected from it.
Wang Zhong twiddled his fingers while giving the clown’s nose a malicious gaze. “Why are you projecting my soul sea again? The consequences for ridiculing me are quite severe.”
“Cough cough. Do you really take me for that kind of person? Be a bit more serious. This marvelous Fate Trickster has an important matter to talk about today,” Simba said with a roll of his eyes.
Everyone who awakened would possess a soul sea. The soul sea was the origin of soul power, and was the key to accessing the power of the hyperdimension. Naturally, the soul sea was merely a name, and the average person’s soul sea was only the size of a puddle.
Wang Zhong was different, however, as his soul sea had actually grown to the size of a sea under the continuous nourishment of the Fate Stone. It was just that the Fate Stone wasn’t truly an existence of this world, and since it violated the laws of this world, the order of the world tried to destroy it. But the Fate Stone’s power exceeded imagination. When the power of order and the Fate Stone collided, it had caused the Inca tsunami. Right now, these two fantastical powers were in a state of equilibrium within Wang Zhong. The seal on this power was similar to that of withstanding the tide in a science fiction blockbuster movie.
The hexagram, with the power of the worldly laws, had shrouded the Fate Stone. By coincidence, however, Wang Zhong’s soul sea had also been affected, bringing about a disaster to it. It was fortunate that Wang Zhong was a living being. Under the influence of these two contradictory forces, his negligible strength was like a rock that had been cracked open, allowing the grass an opportunity to live. Similar to that rock, a crack had appeared on the seal, which gave Wang Zhong a chance at survival. It was just that the leaked soul power was pitifully little.
During these last few years, Wang Zhong and Simba had tried their best to solve this issue. If they weren’t able to resolve this issue, then there wasn’t even a need to mention Wang Zhong’s future; he would never be able to cast his heroic soul. Moreover, Simba would never be able to break free from the fetters of the Fate Stone and complete his wish of entering the real world.
“What have you thought of this time?” Wang Zhong had spent a whole year hiding in the library, desperately searching for some solution to this problem. In the end, he’d turned up empty-handed. He feared that with the level these powers were on, no one in the world would be able to solve it, much less the Heroic Soul Academy. Moreover, he dared not wantonly announce his condition for fear of his safety, as most people would jump at the chance to dissect him.
“How has your condition inside the fifth dimension been lately?” Simba asked.
Wang Zhong gave him a bitter smile. “You’re still saying you’re not ridiculing me? I’ve already suffered ninety-nine consecutive defeats. At its peak, my soul power can only reach level 20. It would be useless even if I improved my techniques in the face of my opponent’s defenses. I wouldn’t be able to break through it either way.”
As long as one ignited their soul fire, the average person would have soul power of at least level 50. As for geniuses, they would be able to reach level 100 and above.
“Hehe. Have you already forgotten about my hyper god device? If you use my Fate Roulette, then you can change your fate!” Extremely pleased with himself, the Fate Trickster stuck out his waist and his nose trembled.
“Are you saying the Fate Roulette has already absorbed enough soul essence!?” Wang Zhong asked in surprise.
Simba’s mouth widened into a grin. “Your opponents are becoming weaker and weaker. Their soul essence already have barely any effect. It doesn’t matter, however. The glorious Fate Trickster has the means. It’s time for Simba to reveal his true strength!”
After a moment of silence, Wang Zhong suddenly asked, “What price are you asking for?”
Simba smiled. “I am the magnificent Fate Trickster, what is such a small matter to me?” Simba’s eyes twinkled as he spoke.
“Haha. I got it. You’re afraid of me pinching your nose so you’re trying to trick me now. I already know you’re up to no good, just like Ma Dong. Forget about it. You don’t need to feel anxious. I’ve just become an adult, so there’s still plenty of time…” Suddenly, Wang Zhong discovered that his body was paralyzed.
Simba fished out a roulette from his pocket that was nearly as big as him. In a flash, the entire space was cast in light and shadows. “How could you possibly compare the magnificent Fate Trickster to that hooligan. I am the great Simba!”
One half of the Fate Roulette was darker than a black hole, while the other blazed with light. Connected to the axle was a comical clown pointer… It truly resembled Simba, yet the pointer was only charge up by one third.
Simba had said before that once the clown pointer absorbed enough soul essence, the roulette could be spun once to alter fate. Unfortunately, it was clearly quite far off from its goal.
“Simba, stop messing around. We still have plenty of time!” Wang Zhong bellowed in rage, yet no sound was transmitted.
“Mwahaha. Wang Zhong, I’ll let you experience the grand power of the Fate Trickster soon. I, Simba, have made a judgement! If the pointer lands on the light side, your soul power’s level will double. If it lands on the dark side, your soul power will be reduced by half!” The little clown beamed with a glittering smile while his big red nose proudly trembled. He held the Fate Roulette with two rigid arms.
Despite how anxious Wang Zhong felt, he couldn’t budge a single inch. Having his soul power halved basically meant nothing to him; a dead pig doesn’t fear scalding water after all. But if it was doubled, then it would be a complete transformation for his combat prowess. Indeed, Wang Zhong had a very clear understanding in regards to the demon known as the seal on his soul sea. Just how grave would the costs be?
His reasoning was simple. In order to gain something, something of equivalent value must be paid.
Towards Wang Zhong, who had always struggled against the odds with all his strength, Simba could only hold up both of his hands to cover his grimacing face. “Simba is really happy. I was able to come to this world and become friends with you. This is my birthday gift to you. Fate is like a wooden club—let us cheerfully beat it together!”
The Fate Roulette’s clown pointer spun crazily in circles, almost as if it were about to explode. The entire world was bathed in a constant rotation of light and darkness. Gradually, the clown pointer slowed down. The dark area was clearly more attractive towards the pointer, however. Simba’s forehead dripped with sweat because the pointer’s energy wasn’t full, and it seemed that it would stop in the dark area. Suddenly, Simba stuck out his leg, stopping the pointer in the light area. The entire world began to tremble.