The sage hasn't been his usual jovial self since this little problem with Soverick surfaced. He is usually playful with Soverick because he always had plans and events move according to his predictions. Things moved according to his Will and people behaved according to his whim so he is always confident and very difficult to shock. But he has been shocked pretty recently.
The things he has seen have boggled his mind. The octopus monstrosity that is the foundation of Soverick's existence is like nothing he has ever seen. It reminds him. He can't believe that such a thing is wearing the a prominent battle sage monkey as a disguise and he didn't know all along. He has also learned his lesson so he won't make the same mistake again.
They say hindsight is perfect. The sage can say now with uttermost certainty that revealing his law of order to Soverick was foolish. He didn't know that it was foolish back then. He knew the law of order would entice Soverick but he thought that it would be too big for Soverick to take a meaningful bite out of it.
His law of order was supposed to be a big bait that Soverick will break his teeth on. It turned out that Soverick has very monstrous teeth. So he was wrong about that. He can't change the past. But he can learn from it. So no, he will not be fulfilling Soverick's request to see more of his law of order.
Soverick didn't give up. "Come on. But I didn't even see up to 1% of it. What's there to fear?"
"That doesn't help your case and nothing can change my mind." The sage refused to budge.
"Fine," Soverick grumbled. "I want a realm heart then."
This time the sage laughed. Some of his power began to leak out of him. The mind space began to shake. Soverick became pressured and compressed by a heavy force. It pressed into him from every direction.
The sage spoke with concealed anger so his voice remained calm, "Who do you think you are? What do you think you're worth? Do you think yourself worthy of the heart of a world? Even an origin God is not worthy of a realm heart. Do not disrespect me or my intelligence."
Soverick cowered beneath the might of the world god. He was forced to. He has no choice in the matter. He is outclassed in the strength of Will. He realized that he could die again or his mind could become fractured. He could have Legion-7 pull him out from the Sage's mind space but he endured it.
"I am a sage." He managed to say.
The first sage paused his tirade when he heard what he said.
"You also promised to protect me."
That made the first sage begin to calm down. He said to Soverick, "You have made a good point. But that doesn't change my mind. You are not worth the heart of a world."
"We can't go anywhere if you keep shutting down my offers." Soverick maintained. "You have to meet me halfway here."
The eye narrowed at him. The sage said, "You are up to something. I can feel it but I can't tell. What are you scheming?"
"Hey." Soverick said with a maligned tone, "I was the one that died here remember? I was in my forge doing my thing in peace. You were the one that came to me and convinced me to participate in the competition. I am the victim here."
His speech did nothing in reducing the Sage's suspicion of him. If anything, the sage became even more suspicious. But he decided to move the negotiation along.
"I will meet you halfway. You're not worth a world heart but you're worth the fragment of a world heart. I shall give you a world spark. It is very important for it to be part of the heart of a world. You should be satisfied with it."
Soverick frowned as he spoke. "Do you take me for a fool? Do you think I am an ignorant fool? A world spark is the most useless fragment. I don't want it. Give me something better."
The sage snorted. "You won't get anything better. That's the best that I can do for you."
"Is this how you're going to be when I make my requests?"
"This is not a request. You said so yourself, this is different from a request. What will you ask for your requests if I am already giving you the heart of a world for simple compensation? You are weak. Your life and your honor are not worth the heart of a world."
Soverick yelled, "This is not a simple compensation. I died and you failed your oath."
He didn't dispute the fact that he is weak. The sage is also not wrong about him not being worthy of a realm heart.
The sage yelled back, "I didn't fail my oath. I promised that the racial council will protect you as long as you were the child of the plane. I tried my best but I couldn't protect you from yourself. You were the one that tried to digest the law of order of a world god. You killed yourself."
Soverick threw his hands up. "If you say so."
He did not mention that the sage was the one that encouraged him to pick up threads because that will just be a childish retort. He was the one that read meaning into what the sage said. The sage never said he should take the law of order of the serpentine world god. So in a way, he was suicidal and the sage never promised to protect him from himself.
"Does that mean I can ask for a world heart when I make my requests?" He asked hopefully.
The sage struck down his hopes. "I make no promises."
"Let's finish the matter of my compensation first. I am not satisfied with the world spark. I want information."
The sage asked dourly, "What information do you want?"
"Don't worry. It's something simple. It is practically common knowledge so it is not some priceless information."
The sage refused. "Every piece of knowledge that you don't know can be priceless information. What determines if it is priceless to you or not?"