“Yes and no.” He replied, his gaze unwavering. “But that hardly matters. You’re here because you defeated the orc during the test. I needed to know what you look like.”

So he was suffering from some kind of personality disorder? I’d never seen such kind of ailment that healed a blind man; And those eyes; green was a natural color that we possess, I know, but his irises were just… alien—it was too weird, too… animated, too… alive.

He didn’t notice my gaze wandering on his strange appearance, or perhaps he didn’t care, regardless, he continued speaking, “Now, the only other matter we needed to discuss is the fate of the others included in the top 10 list.”

Their fates? Why should we get to decide that?

At first, I thought he wasn’t being serious, I mean, really? That was the kind of speech that The Observer would love to give, and that guy wasn’t shy in telling us exactly how he felt, but Idris? Why did he come to that conclusion?

Then, he turned to me, drilling a hole straight into my eyes with his intense glare, “I have a question for you. Do you think we should help them?”

“What?”

I wasn’t prepared for this, not one bit. Do we even need to help them? As far as I knew, the top tens were capable of handling themselves, it was those beyond the numbers that were in dire need of assistance.

“I…” I began to speak, but words didn’t come out the way I wanted them to, “Why did you ask me that?”

“We need to make a decision.” He said, climbing up from his seat, “Ideally, I would like to keep the strong ones alive as long as possible, and ignore the rest.”

Ignore the rest. Those words echoed, and his short stature did not diminish the heavy implications of the content of his words, “Ignore the rest? What do you mean by that?” I spoke, attempting to understand him better.

Idris tapped the surface of the table, thinking. “Do you understand the purpose of this council?” asked Idris, facing the other side of the wall.

I shook my head, “Not really. But from the way this whole Trial was set up, I believe that we were expected to lead the others, but that was just…” Annoying, and I was unfit for that role. But I didn’t say the last sentence.

“Yes. We are expected to lead them. And I-” He sighed a silent groan as his brows furrowed. “-am meant to lead all of you.”

I didn’t need to read minds to know that he despised to be selected for this role. He turned around, his eyes glowing verdant as he scanned my expression, “And I needed to know if the others are worthy of my efforts, and more importantly, my… methods.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Say that they aren’t worth my time.” He spoke as if he was begging me to, “Bruneheart seemed to think otherwise, but I had to prioritize my-“ he shook his head, “-his safety.”

Man, this guy is… confusing. I ruffled my hair, “If you ask me…”

I paused, assuming that my next answer would determine the fate of a lot of people; if Idris was as strong and capable as I assumed him to be. Granted, that was a hard bargain to sell since he had never shown any interest in doing so. I suspected that he was only thinking of this due to his other half’s insistence, but insistence seldom granted motivation.

And to lead others, you needed that.

But, even if he half-assed it, it would still benefit them a little. After all, Idris appeared to know a lot more than I did—me being someone that came from the future—so I’d love to hear some of his knowledge.

His tense gaze jerked me out of my thoughts, The time is up.

“Let’s… just say that I think that they deserved your help…” I said, “What will you do?”

“I will start a meeting with the others,” Said Idris, pointing towards the empty seats, “Then, I’ll give them this.”

Looking at his side, he opened some kind of a screen and then glanced at where I sat.

The hand of the king (2/10)

Rarity: - | Affinity: - | Tier : -

The hand of the king grants you a buff to all of your attributes. This buff can only be shared in the council room once everyone is present. Once shared, all of the council members will receive this boon.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

This buff could be kept to the king himself, and if he chose to do so, he alone will be granted all the bonus attributes, leaving his subjects dry and empty.

This buff is active after accepting the first mission on the second day of the trial. Once this buff is given, it cannot be taken back.

Cost: -

All attributes: + 5, if not shared, +15

What the-

“Thi-This is… insane.” If the words shown were to be trusted, if he just kept things to himself, then… the bonus he’d get would be…

15 in all attributes? How strong would he be?

He turned back to me, “Otherwise, I’ll head back to my room, and keep this conversation to ourselves.”

+5 in arcane would grant me 10 mana. That alone was enough for me to accept this buff, but if I wanted it, I would have to convince him to help the rest of us.

Calm down, Gray…

My greed had clouded my brain up to a point where I wanted nothing else but to beg him. However, I knew that it was wrong of me to approach things in that way. Perhaps it was due to my pride too, being spoon-fed strength this way left a bad aftertaste in my mouth.

He could’ve kept things hush-hush and none of us would be the wiser about it. I mean, he would be able to tackle the other missions on his own had he done that, thus ensuring his survival, but here he was.

If I was him… I wouldn’t be able to resist that kind of temptation.

“You’re thinking a lot…” He said, interrupting my thoughts, “Is it that hard to refuse this kind of… help?”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “What do you think?”

While his true identity remained a mystery, I didn’t think that he was obligated to help any of us. I knew that this was a somewhat controversial take, but it was arduous to stay alive when you were only dealing with yourself, but once you put the lives of others in your hands…

Sighing, I decided to just let my thoughts run through my mouth, “First, I don’t think you’re obligated to help us, Idris. But I have to say, this is… very tempting.”

His eyes twitched.

“Later, the observer would run the missions in a party format,” I continued, “So at one point, just caring for ourselves wouldn’t cut it anymore. But I assumed that you knew this already.”

Idris gave a little nod, “I do. The trials will be handled by a group, after all. It makes sense. How are you so sure that it would turn out that way later?”

“I just do,” I replied with the same gusto he showed prior, “The hows aren’t important. Let me put it this way, are you confident about doing everything by yourself? Let’s say that none of us made it through, and you are the sole survivor in the end. Can you take the trial alone?”

His chuckle relaxed his tense expression, “If I keep this to myself, then yes. In any case, what other choice do I have?”

“I gotta say… To even think about sharing this is-” I slumped on the table, both hands covering my face, “-commendable.”

Yes, commendable. And I had nothing but respect for him just from that fact alone. I didn’t want to imagine what would happen if say, Sidwell, was given this choice. But, perhaps, if we did things this way, Idris would be able to rein that guy in somehow. After all, if he chose to be granted this boon, he would not be able to oppose Idris at all.

Or, this would be a fantastic way for him to control everyone. I couldn’t discount the possibility of that happening either. Either way, if he was that self-centered, he wouldn’t think twice about keeping it to himself. And if to control us was his true goal…

This would’ve happened during my past life. Yet from what he said, he wouldn’t consider this had I not existed, so… this had never happened.

“I take it that you wish for me to share this.” Said Idris as he returned to his seat, “If so, then I will call for a meeting.”

“You’re letting me decide?”

“Yes. Because I don’t know the answer. And I-” he turned his head down, resting both his arms on the table, “-am tired of arguing with him.”

Him, as in… Bruneheart? His other half? Or…

“However, it will not be free. I will demand a few things from you.”

I leaned my back against my chair, “Speak away.”

“The observer came to me before. He spoke about the beginning of the first trial, and then the one after.”

My eyes couldn’t be more agape than they already were, “What did he say?”

Idris’ gaze relaxed, no, they were deflated. What he was about to say next was heavy, even for someone like him.

He took a deep breath, “Only one hundred of us are allowed to enter the first trial. The rest…”

Gulp. Don’t tell me…

“Yeah, and the decision for the ones to take the test is given to me.” He continued, his eyes staring at nowhere, “I… I thought about it, and I will only accept those who are above the appropriate rank to join. You know what that means, right?”

Idris was more than straightforward with the implication of his question; He didn’t want to include those below the rank of 100. It was a bombshell, sure, and I wouldn’t say that it was ludicrous of him to demand that — after all, he was sharing something that couldn’t be taken back — but for some of us who had made connections with people outside of that circle, it would be a tall request to be granted.

If only he could ease that requirement… Then this deal would’ve been so much sweeter for everyone that was involved. My mind turned to the teenage kid and… Maria.

“One person.” I said, “What if we all get to select one person that is out of that rank range?”

Idris paused, giving my suggestion a deep consideration, “Why is that?”

“To sweeten the deal.” I shrugged, “Your demands will be easier in the ears if you approached it this way, trust me.”

He closed his eyes, appearing to be in deep thought, but the whispers he emitted to himself showed otherwise. He was… conversing with someone else.

After a few seconds of silence, he re-opened his eyes, and the glimmer of his green irises appeared to shimmer, “I… can deal with that.”

I nodded, “Awesome… Some of us had friends that could be outside of that range, and to say that they needed to abandon them would cause a tiny issue later. Is there anything else you wanted?”

He took some time, thinking of his terms before continuing, “You—everyone—will need to make sure Brunheart lives through the trial. This one-” He put an extra emphasis in this sentence, “-is non-negotiable.”

I had no plans of abandoning him in the first place, but he was adamant about this point. “Sure. I wasn’t planning to ignore you anyway. God help us if you are dead, Idris.”

He chuckled, finding some levity within all the seriousness, Ah, I didn’t know he could smile in that manner, “Well, that’s it.”

With that final statement, our conversation reached its natural end. “I’ll summon the others. It’s time.”

I sat in silence while waiting for the others with multiple thoughts running through my head all at once. First, the result of this meeting was pointing to a separate future that was so far apart from the original that I struggled to fathom how much of a change this would cause. Granted, it seemed like it was heading in a better direction, but nobody knew that for sure.

Clenching both my fist, we waited for the others to show up.