Chapter 72: Win-Win
When all the treasures from the chest were laid out on the table, everyone couldn't take their eyes off them, even Felix. Every time his mother's inheritance appeared, it made him deeply feel her abundant love.
"According to the rules, I get to choose first," said Felix.
"Go ahead," replied Sonya.
The contract had stipulated the distribution method long ago. If there was only one set of treasures, Felix would have to compensate Sonya a large amount of money. If there were two sets, they would split it evenly. If there were multiple sets, Felix would choose the first, Sonya the second and third, Felix the fourth and fifth, and so on.
However, the treasures Felix obtained had to be greater than or equal to Sonya's, and the wooden chest had to go to Felix.
To be honest, Sonya really wanted to compete with Felix for ownership of the wooden chest. With this chest that could transport items between reality and the virtual world, she could exchange resources with the Watcher. It would provide an almost transformational help to both her and the Watcher.
But the contract had clearly stated that "the loading container belongs to Felix." And Felix had firmly refused to budge when Sonya had brought it up earlier. Sonya couldn't do anything about it - who could have guessed that the box containing the treasures would be more valuable than the treasures themselves!
Sonya could only temporarily let it go. After all, this windfall of treasures had literally blown in with the wind. It was reasonable for Felix to get a bigger portion.
If it wasn't for Sonya accidentally obtaining the Murderous Sword, Felix wouldn't have partnered up with her in the first place.
Moreover, Sonya had an inkling -
Her Murderous Sword was probably the one Felix had lost.
Although Felix hadn't said anything, the fact that he could detect Sonya's ownership of the Murderous Sword through the flow of killing intent meant that he must have previously owned a killing intent-type spirit himself, most likely the Murderous Sword.
Otherwise, it would be like having a cup and wine but no bottle opener. As long as no one brought a bottle opener, he wouldn't be able to open the wine... Even if Felix was really that foolish, his mother who could set up the inheritance in the virtual world wouldn't be so stupid.
More importantly, the heavily wounded lacerating fish dragon she and the Watcher had defeated yesterday had wounds that looked to be caused by the Vibration Sword. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, since the wounds didn't prove anything.
But with all the evidence laid out before her, even if Sonya didn't believe in such a coincidence, she had to believe in the truth deduced by her own logic:
Felix's half-condensed Silver Wings;
The virtual world treasure that required the Murderous Sword to open;
And the lacerating fish dragon severely injured by the Vibration Sword.
It was obvious that Felix must have also encountered the vortex last night. After passing through, he was attacked by the lacerating fish dragon. Although he had desperately inflicted heavy damage on it, he had still died in the end and lost the Murderous Sword.
What happened next was Sonya and the Watcher's delightful segment of profiting from the situation by passing through the vortex.
As a result, not only had Sonya picked up someone else's Murderous Sword, she had also used it to split someone else's treasures.
When she thought about this, Sonya couldn't help but blush and lower her head, too nervous to meet anyone's eyes.
Otherwise, they would have discovered she couldn't hold back her smile.
It felt so good!
Was this what a win-win was like!
She had won once by picking up the Murderous Sword, then won again by using it to split Felix's treasures!
Ah, praise the Watcher!
Hope the little trumpet's body stays healthy!
"Sonya, it's your turn," said Iris.
Sonya took a deep breath to suppress her smile as she looked at the treasures in the wooden chest.
Sure enough, Felix had chosen the only real-world item: the pendant box.
Although she couldn't make out anything strange about it, this was probably an important memento left to him by his mother, perhaps related to the next inheritance. Naturally, Sonya had no intention of competing for something that didn't belong to her. She glanced at the treasures left in the chest and decisively took the Splitting Sword spirit and the Sword Artifact Orb!
The Splitting Sword wasn't the best, but it was the most suitable for Sonya, because it could combine with the Vibration Sword to form the high-powered miracle "Rupture Slash"!
If she had to rely on her own cultivation to summon it, Sonya estimated it would take her half a year before she had a chance of summoning the Splitting Sword. Obtaining it early not only meant saving time, but also represented Sonya could accelerate her virtual world exploration progress!
In last night's battle, Sonya had discovered her own shortcomings. Although the Moon Reflection miracle was indeed powerful, it also had disadvantages like being a passive counter, short attack range, and excessive arcane energy consumption. She urgently needed an active attack miracle that could cooperate with the Watcher, and the "Miracle · Rupture Slash" had the best cost-performance.
Felix also had the Vibration Sword. Sonya was worried he would snatch the Splitting Sword, so she naturally had to grab it first. As for the Sword Artifact Orb, there was nothing much to say. Any sane swordsman wouldn't miss such a treasure.
But Felix's choice exceeded everyone's expectations - he took the Poison Artifact Orb and the Wind Artifact Orb.
Wind magic was one thing, at least it was still an orthodox school of magic, but poison magic was an extremely unpopular branch. Not only did no college offer related courses, there weren't even any learning books available on the market. The only ones estimated to have relevant materials were certain special departments.
Moreover, Felix was the second son of the Vlozrada family. His identity didn't allow him to use poison either. The Noble Council wouldn't permit anyone to commit acts that damaged the reputation of the nobility!
It was Sonya's turn to choose treasures again. Under the enthusiastic gaze of her roommates, Sonya thought for a moment then took the highest value Galloping Spirit and Healing Waters Spirit.
Felix chose the Vile Poison Spirit and Foul Wind Spirit.
Only two spirits were left. According to the distribution rules, Felix had to take more than Sonya, so Sonya could only take one.
"Which one do you want?" Sonya asked.
"Either is fine, you choose," Felix replied.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony," said Sonya.
She took the Underdog Spirit, a spirit with very low utility but high value. It could only be activated when the sorcerer was weaker than the enemy. Its effect was to provide the sorcerer at a disadvantage with all-around enhancements, including but not limited to strength, agility, arcane power, and thinking speed. The greater the disparity between the sorcerer and enemy, the greater the enhancements it bestowed.
It sounded decent enough, but the problem was that the enhancements provided by the Underdog couldn't make up for the gap in strength. When the two sides were evenly matched, it was completely useless. And when there was a huge disparity in strength, it also couldn't help the sorcerer pull off a miraculous reversal.
On the contrary, it gave the sorcerer a psychological suggestion: Even the Underdog Spirit thinks you're the underdog.
In fact, many battles between sorcerers were determined by who made fewer mistakes and who persisted until the end. This kind of "you're the underdog" psychological suggestion would make the sorcerer's defeat even more swift and thorough. It could even be said to be a curse - the underdog thinks you're going to lose this time, so you're definitely going to lose.
But the Underdog Spirit was highly valued because it was one of the few spirits that couldn't be obtained through cultivation and training. It only had one acquisition method - when an underdog miraculously defeated a stronger opponent, it had a certain probability of being born in the underdog's heart.
It was also the most mysterious of the Fate school spirits, possessing extremely high research value. Therefore, it was in short supply on the market, and there were far too many sorcerers who wanted to delve into the Fate school through the Underdog Spirit.
Naturally, Felix took the last spirit, Gloomy Gales.
With the distribution of the Experience Orbs and spirits finished, next was the shareable knowledge - the miracle formulas! The contract stipulated that the miracle formulas could not be transcribed or leaked externally. The original records would be kept by Felix, but everyone could view them.
There were a full ten miracle formulas in the chest, but only one was a sword formula - the combination miracle of the Murderous Sword and Vibration Sword, Evil Light Slash. It was a vibration miracle that could inflict dizzying damage on the enemy. Sonya quickly committed this formula to memory.
With that, the treasures in the chest were completely divided up, but Adele picked up the chest and squinted at it. Iris asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
Adele seriously said, "I'm checking to see if there's a hidden compartment. Maybe there are still treasures inside that Felix will take out and keep for himself after we leave."
"The contract states that no matter what Felix discovers, he has to notify us for distribution," said Ingrid with a laugh.
"Good, the contract is really thoughtful!"
"Likewise, if we discover any secrets about these spirits, we have to share them with Felix too," said Iris.
"Ah? Why's that? The spirits are ours once they're in our hands!" exclaimed Adele.
Iris looked steadily at Sonya. Sonya thought for a moment. "I took the Sword Artifact Orb and Splitting Sword myself, so I'll give the Galloping, Healing Waters, and Underdog spirits to you three. How about that?"
Of course they had no objections. Sonya had brought resources to the group after all. The three of them were purely freeloading off Sonya's windfall. If Sonya had been bolder and not brought them along, she could have even split 64-36 with Felix. But for safety's sake, Sonya was willing to give up some of her own interests to bring along these three living amulets.
"But you're not sorcerers yet, so I'll hold on to your spirits for now and return them when you grow up," said Sonya.
Adele faltered. "Why does this sound kind of familiar..."
"However, there's another distribution method - sell your spirits and split the money evenly among you three. What do you think?" suggested Sonya.
Iris shook her head first. "I want the Galloping Spirit. It's the most valuable. I can chip in some money to compensate them."
Like Galloping, Healing Waters also belonged to the excellent water-type spirits, and it additionally had the effect of swift movement. Naturally Iris didn't want to miss out on it.
Adele looked at Ingrid. "I want the Healing Waters Spirit. My mother said medical mages are in high demand..."
Ingrid didn't seem to mind either. "Then I'll take the Underdog Spirit."
With the distribution of benefits concluded, Felix was about to send them back when Adele suddenly asked, "Are there snacks here? Is there black tea?"
Felix faltered. "There are some in the kitchen..."
"Then isn't it teatime now?" said Adele excitedly. "I've never had a tea party in such a luxurious villa before! I have to take lots of pictures later!"
"Taking pictures?" Felix's voice went up a note.
Adele said matter-of-factly, "Of course I have to take pictures, otherwise isn't coming here pointless?"
This time, Iris stood on Adele's side. "Everyone saw us leave in your car. Taking some tea party pictures can help explain where we were this afternoon."
"Yes, yes, that's what I meant!" Adele nodded vigorously and hurried off into the stairs. "I'm going to see what snacks are in the kitchen!"
Iris and Ingrid exchanged a look before following after with a sigh. Shared secrets were indeed the best lubricant. After experiencing the treasure incident together, Ingrid, Iris and the others' relationship had unconsciously grown much closer.
Sonya walked to the stairs and turned back to look at Felix, who was still sitting there. "Aren't you coming?"
"I'm not interested. You guys have fun," said Felix, holding the pendant box he had just obtained. "Also, I still have things to do."
Sonya nodded. "You're not planning to continue learning swordsmanship?"
Half of the spirits and orbs from the treasure chest had nothing to do with swordsmanship. Among the miracle formulas, there was only one sword formula, while the rest were composite formulas for wind, water, and poison magic. Yet this was the treasure his mother had left for him. Clearly, the path his mother had arranged for him was not one of swordsmanship.
"Professor Trotzam is a good teacher. I still need his protection for now," Felix said with a smile. "I'll keep learning swordsmanship, just not as intensely as you."
"The second son of the Vlozrada family also needs protection?"
"Let alone a mere second son, even if I were the Duke of Vlozrada, I'd still have to watch out for vengeful retaliation from the shadows." Felix's voice was cold.
Sonya raised her eyebrows. "You nobles really are chaotic."
"Yet you still want to become one of them, no?" Felix shook his head. "Sometimes, I'm actually quite envious of you, Sonya Therave..."
"Alright, enough nonsense from a pampered noble brat. It's nauseating." Sonya waved her hand. "But since I'm your senior sister and have also benefited from this treasure trove, in both personal ties and justice, there's something I should tell you in advance."
Felix frowned. When it came to Sonya calling herself his senior sister, he was quite helpless too. After all, Professor Trotzam had accepted Sonya as a disciple first before taking him in. In order of sequence, Sonya was indeed a bit more senior.
"If you have to flee in the future because of noble infighting and urgently need help, have nowhere to take refuge..."
Felix was a bit surprised. He had brought up the Duke of Vlozrada, yet Sonya still dared to meddle in his affairs? This forced him to revise his understanding of Sonya's character -
"Then remember to never come looking for me. To wash away suspicion and protect my future prospects, I'll definitely placate you first to stay put, then bring people to arrest you and exchange you for a title reward. Listen, I'm telling you this beforehand. If you suddenly get a lapse of judgement later and stubbornly place your hopes on me, don't blame your harsh and ruthless senior sister for going back on her word."
Although completely different from his imagination, Felix still refreshed his understanding of Sonya's character.