"Is he going to kill us?" The group of men who had barged into Elias's room sat huddled together in the corner. They had their arms wrapped around their legs like children, many of them shivering in the cold.
They were staring at Elias, who was sitting before the closed door, not even paying attention to them. The young child seemed lost in thought while playing with the brass knuckles that he had taken from one of them.
It made the men even more afraid. "He might be thinking about ways to torture us. Should we try to fight?"
"You're talking about a child who could send the strongest of us flying. If we had a gun, it would be a different situation. But now, we have no chance. We can only hope that he doesn't kill us all."
The discussion was short-lived, as almost everyone realized how hopeless their situation truly was. They were simply at the mercy of the young child.
While the men were discussing amongst themselves, Elias was looking at the brass knuckles, while holding a small blue vial in his other hand.
....
Materials selected for merger: Brass Knuckles, Essence of Lightning
Material Compatibility: 5 Percent
Merger Success Probability: 80 Percent
Would you like to proceed?
....
The information made Elias confirm a few assumptions. Not everything was compatible with everything. Essence of Lightning wasn't compatible with him, but when it came to a lifeless material, the compatibility increased.
He didn't confirm the merger. He closed the vial and kept it back inside his pocket. His mind was going through a lot of thoughts as he looked back to every material that he had come across.
If he could merge materials with lifeless things, then it was definitely going to make those objects stronger, but it didn't seem like the best use of these rare materials.
If he could merge them with living beings, then it would've been so much more useful. Using them on lifeless objects felt like a great waste.
Lifeless objects didn't have intelligence which felt like the biggest flaw to them. If there was a way to solve this problem, he had a feeling that it could open up a whole new realm of possibilities.
"Lifeless objects... Life... Intelligence... Judgement..." He mumbled, his thoughts growing even more jumbled.
The moment his thoughts reached that point, he remembered something. Wasn't there another material that had caught his attention?
During the awakening ceremony, something had saved his life. While it was just a lifeless object, it certainly had some kind of intelligence if it could judge outside interference in the awakening ceremony.
He also remembered the materials that the Evolution Stone was made from. Amongst the materials, there was one that stood out from the rest.
"Soul of Judgement... What if I get the Soul of Judgement?" It was another crazy possibility, but he knew that he had to try it at any cost.
It was good to have powerful materials, but if he couldn't merge with them, couldn't he simply make them more intelligent instead? Even if it was an absurd thought, it gave him a sense of direction.
"The Evolution Stone doesn't have an extraction possibility, but the Measurement Stone does. If I can successfully extract the Soul of Judgement..." He didn't even complete his sentence, but his thought process was clear.
His lips curved up, forming a smile. It had been a really long time since he last smiled, but his eyes seemed to have gained some semblance of life again.
He kept the brass knuckles in his other pocket, and finally shifted his attention back to the men who were on the other side of the room.
Seeing his smile, the men were trembling even more fiercely. They wondered just what kind of brutal torture method had this child thought, which made him smile like a demon.
They flinched at the sight of Elias standing up.
"W-we can help you!" One of them exclaimed, frightened out of his soul. "We are more useful to you alive!"
"And how can you help me?" Elias asked while approaching the men. Even if they were somewhat strong by this world's standards, in the grand scheme of things, they were useless.
They weren't even worth a fraction of a point each. Even if he killed all of them here, he couldn't gain even enough points to become the second last ranked person in this test.
"We have saved some food. If you come with us, we will give you all the food that we have managed to collect! It can help you survive for months!" The man stated, really hoping that Elias wouldn't kill them.
"Didn't you say I am hiding a lot of food? If that is the case, why would I need your food?" Elias asked innocently, letting the young man at the loss of words.
"That..." The young man looked at others blankly, as if waiting for them to say something.
"Boss, I have a poor mother waiting at home for me!" Suddenly, one of them slammed his head hard on the ground, almost begging for his life. "I had no choice but to rob others! Please don't kill me!"
One after another, the others also started doing the same thing, talking about their family members that depended on them.
"I also have a little brother! I also had no choice! We could either rob, or watch our families die!" Another person spoke up as tears streamed down his face. "If you were in our place, wouldn't you do the same thing? In this godforsaken place, is there anything more precious than family?"
Elias didn't know if they were being honest, or just trying to play the sympathy card. However, they were right about one thing. If he was in their place, he would have done the same thing.
If the only other option was to watch his family die, let alone rob others, he would even be willing to kill. Unfortunately, he was never given a choice.