It took a full fifteen minutes for Pallas to recount everything that had happened to John since he had fainted. From the encounter with the other John to the arrival of Sir Beaumont and their eventual return home. John listened intently, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.
"So, let me get this straight," John said, his voice laced with confusion. "The other John from my nightmares took over my body and used chaos energy to fight all these powerful people?"
Pallas nodded, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "That's the gist of it," he confirmed.
"And now my arm is taken over by the chaos energy as a sacrifice?" John turned to Kostas for confirmation.
Kostas simply nodded, his expression solemn.
"Will I be able to use it again?" John asked, his frown deepening.
"Maybe," Pallas responded before Kostas jumped in to explain further. "We're not entirely sure. The chaos is still a fairly unknown topic to us. But if you manage to control the chaos energy, you may slowly regain control of your arm."
John let out a deep sigh, his shoulders slumping. "I don't like how things turned out, but there's no point crying over spilled milk."
"So, where do I go from here?" John asked, his gaze shifting between Pallas and Kostas.
"What else?" Pallas responded swiftly. "You form your core."
John's expression turned to one of confusion. "And have you figured out a stable way for that now?"
Pallas cleared his throat and began to speak. "I believe we have. Since most of the chaos energy is concentrated in your left arm, all you have to do is gather an ungodly amount of divine energy and mana. The energies will handle the rest."
John blinked his eyes blankly, "Right, I still have no idea how to gather chaos energy or divine energy," he muttered.
"As for chaos energy, there's no need for you to worry about it growing. It will constantly consume the divine energy and mana in your body to increase in volume. But for divine energy… we have no idea," Kostas replied.
"None of our races have had anything to do with gods. And yes, while our races hold similar authorities to the gods, divine energy is a force that was only available to our ancestors. After the 100-year war, most of the knowledge regarding it has perished from our records… believe me, I searched hard for clues back when I was alive," Pallas added.
After a light nod, John spoke once more. "I see… so what now?"
"Why don't you make the divine energy flow in the opposite direction as mana? I believe there were a few dragons who did something akin to this with mana back when I was alive. As for its effectiveness, I have no clue," Pallas said with a blank expression.
"That's too dangerous… but it could work," Kostas said as he rubbed his beard.
"Well, we have our answer then," John said, grinning. He left the consciousness space.
John let out a deep breath as he emerged from his consciousness, his mind still reeling from the intensity of his emotions. He looked around and spoke out loud, "Is someone out there?"
"John, have you calmed down?" Dante swiftly opened the door to check on him.
"Were all of you just waiting outside all this time?" John said, surprised to see close to the entire staff of the palace standing behind the door.
"Well, yeah," Dante said as he entered the room.
"Ughh, can one of you get me something to eat and drink? I'm dreadfully hungry. And my Duke, we need to talk, and we need to do it now," John said as his stomach growled.
"Hold that thought for another ten minutes. Your father will be here soon. Till then, drink this. We had this prepared while you were calming down," Dante said, gesturing to one of the maids to bring the young prince the soup that was made for him.
"Fine," John said, delightfully starting to drink the soup.
.
.
.
The door to John's room was violently pushed open once again, this time revealing the Emperor, who rushed in with a panicked expression etched onto his face. The loud sound echoed through the room as the door slammed shut behind him.
"John, my son, are you alright? How are you feeling?" the Emperor said as he tightly embraced his son.
John, still trying to catch his breath, patted his father's back awkwardly and replied, "I'm fine, father. And how have you been?"
"I've been doing well," the Emperor responded, not yet releasing his grip on his son.
Dante stepped forward and put his hand on the Emperor's shoulder. "Eric," he said, trying to get the Emperor's attention.
The Emperor turned to face Dante. "What is it?"
"You're smothering him," Dante pointed out, indicating towards John who was struggling to breathe.
The Emperor quickly realized his mistake and released his grip on John, allowing him to take deep breaths of air. After a small chuckle, John's expression turned serious as he addressed his father and Dante.
"It's fine, but can I have some alone time with just the two of you? We need to talk, and it's urgent," he said, adjusting his coat and gesturing for everyone to leave the room.
Once they were alone and the Emperor had covered the room with his aura to prevent any sound from escaping, John spoke. "I will no longer participate in the battle for the throne."
"WHAT?!" both Dante and the Emperor exclaimed at the sudden announcement, their voices echoing in the now-silent room.
"Hold on, John. Do you realize what you're saying?" Dante asked as he grabbed onto John's shoulders. "Get a hold of yourself. Do you really think the Empress will let you live even if you do that? More so, do you think your grandfather will just let this be?"
"Listen to what I'm saying first. Get angry later," John said as he pulled Dante's hands off his shoulders. "I'm not saying I'm giving up on the throne. I know better than anyone that my two incompetent brothers will run this country to the ground if they are allowed to take over."
"Then what do you mean by saying you're not participating in the battle for the throne?" Dante asked, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Before that, I need a favor from the Duke," John said, looking at Dante straight in the eye, waiting for his permission to speak.
"Go ahead," Dante said, giving John the go-ahead.
"I require you to make me the heir to the Grand Duchy," John said, putting a frown on Dante's face. The Grand Duke could understand what John was planning, to some extent.
"Go on," Dante said, wanting to listen to more of John's plan.
After getting the green light from the Grand Duke, John laid out the problem with him simply taking the throne in the current state of the empire.
"You see, I've come to realize something. If I were to simply take over the throne, a large portion of nobles and likely even the Pentarchy will object to my rule, with the sad truth of me being illegitimate," John said, his voice tinged with a hint of regret.
"John…" Eric started, his eyes softening.
John shook his head, cutting him off. "It's the unfortunate reality. And that's not all. There are far too many problems plaguing the empire, and father, I'm sure you're aware of what I'm talking about."
The emperor cleared his throat, his eyes narrowing as John finished speaking. "the nobility is far too powerful, and the clergy is minting impure coins, and serfdom has done nothing but starve the common man, if I were or any other future emperor were to make any changes about this, it would take less than a day for the nobles to be up in arms about one decree or the other."
Dante leaned forward, looking intently at John. "What do you propose we do?"
John's face lit up with excitement. "We isolate the entire north, make all the desired changes there, and industrialize."
Eric furrowed his brow. "Industrialize? What is that?"
John turned to Eric, a glint of enthusiasm in his eyes. "It's a word I learned from one of the dwarves at the banquet. It means to progress rapidly in terms of industry, I think."
Dante remained skeptical. "And how do you propose we do this?"
"There is a race of high dwarves that live secluded within the frost anvil west of Icewind Bastion," John replied confidently. "We call upon them, and with their support, I believe we can do it."
Dante raised an eyebrow. "And they will just listen to you if you ask them?"
John's grin grew wider. "Leave that to me. I have an offer they can't refuse."
Eric spoke up. "Give us a moment to think. This is too big a decision to make haphazardly."
"Sure, take all the time you need. I would say there is still a week more before I recover. Just make sure not to take too long," John said, relaxing on his bed.