"And what do you think these people valued?"
"Not facing their fears." Skymender said, understanding where he was going.
"So what if instead of making their worst fears come true, it took what they valued. For most, what they value is not having to face what they fear most. But for those like us, whose fear is just about non-existent, it truly takes what we value. You value your family and your feelings towards them. It took some of your emotions and made your heart colder. I value my intelligence most. Hence, the headache I got when holding it. The Emperor also does not fear anything, so what he was losing must be what he valued most." The Imperial Scholar said.
This logic applied to everyone that had been in the throne room, including Sword Master Shang, who most likely had less fear than anybody else in that room.
If his poison color was blood red, then what he valued most was most likely the lives of his people, and the blood represented the end of their lives.
He could also apply this logic to the prisoner from before, the one in a coma. Most likely, what he had valued was his freedom, and as a result, he was trapped inside of his own body.
Naturally, calling it a fear poison was no longer accurate. Instead, Skymender gave it a new game.
"Deprivation poison." He said to the Imperial Scholar, who nodded. It deprived the poisoned of what they valued most.
Skymender had started out with three vials of the poison, but after so much testing, he was now left with two and a half.
The Imperial Scholar finally seemed satisfied, as he had found out what the poison did.
Of course, its effects were still horrific, but the fear of the unknown was worse than the fear of the known.
"As agreed, I'll send you compensation and another one of the antidote plants that you used. Although the Deprivation poison is incredible, if it can be resisted by the plant, then you should make it even stronger."
He began to leave.
However, moments before exiting, he stopped. "If you are going to be the Imperial Scholar, then you need a reputation in the Imperial Capital. You already have one, but it is far too low, and has been lowering every year you remain unseen. Only once you have respect will you be able to function as the Imperial Scholar in its most efficient capacity."
Skymender nodded. He had already begun to build something akin to a reputation in his past visits.
However, if he was going to be the Imperial Scholar, then it was not nearly enough. He needed to not only have some respect, but to command authority. Only then would he be worthy of the position.
Skymender left the Imperial Palace and looked around. Although he would eventually begin that process, he was still too young to be taken seriously. He would wait until he grew old enough to enter the Imperial School, which was only around two years in the future.
He began his journey back to the Sky Barony immediately. He couldn't leave for too long, lest someone notice the extended absence of the Skygod and put some pieces together.
Skymender's journey took another ten days, and besides having an absolute trump card on him, everything was as usual.
With his aging, he noticed signs of growth.
This not only included growth in his already unnatural strength, but also growth in his height and weight, as well as the muscle that showed on his body.
School started again, and as he continuously studied, he continued to grow at an incredible rate. At this point, he wasn't even sure what level his intelligence had reached. It was increasingly hard to find material that he did not already know, so he began to branch out a bit.
He looked deeply into topics he was not even that interested in, but seemed as if they could be somewhat useful in the future.
Time passed, and he soon turned thirteen years old. Although he aged a lot, he didn't feel all that different from when he was even younger. Only his body changed, not his mind.
The assassination business grew as much as the city did over time. Under the new Baron Sky's leadership, Sky city had already firmly become a city. It was multiple times the size it had been before.
The police force had also grown, but there was still no sort of retaliation against his assassination business. Hopefully, they understood that they simply did not have the ability to do anything. Otherwise, they were most likely plotting under the surface.
If that was the case, he would have to kill some more cops.
More time passed, and Skymender was relaxing when Violet entered his room. "Baron Sky has requested your presence.
Skymender nodded and stood up. He walked through the halls, Violet following behind.
He arrived at Baron Sky's door and knocked.
"Enter."
He opened the door and walked through, Violet staying outside.
Inside was Baron Sky, the Chief of Police, and an unfamiliar man.
"Hello, Sir Skymender." The unfamiliar man said.
Skymender nodded in greeting before turning to his brother. "What do you need from me?"
He spoke. "This here is a detective from the Imperial Capital, here to help find the Skygod. He has worked with the Imperial Scholar before, and upon learning that you attended the Imperial Scholar camp, wondered if you would be interested in helping."
Skymender was stunned, though outside he kept a neutral expression.
"Naturally, this is top secret." Baron Sky added.
They were unaware that Skymender himself was the one they were hunting down.
Of course, there had been the slightest suspicions before, but those had been washed away by time and confirmation of Skygod taking action while Skymender was far away.
Naturally, this was Skymender's doing.
The detective looked Skymender up and down observing him.
"Although I am often busy, I can definitely help if you need me to." Skymender said.
"Thank you." Baron Sky said.
Skymender turned to leave, when the detective spoke. "Just one more thing. If you wouldn't mind, could you take your glove off?"