Sword God in a World of Magic

Shang wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

For now, he decided to remain silent.

"Let me explain my conundrum with a metaphor," the Lightning Emperor said.

"Imagine you are a mortal and live in a village with 50 other villagers. You don't have any sort of real societal standards and norms, and the strongest person in the village is the leader."

"Now, imagine there is a council of five leaders since they don't want to fight each other for whatever reason, and you are one of them."

"One day, you find the offspring of a very powerful beast, which is far more powerful than any member of the council."

"You nurture it, and it follows you."

"Yet, it doesn't completely follow your commands, and you know that there is a chance that it might attack you and everyone else. After all, it is still a wild beast."

"But maybe, it will also help you."

"But also only you. What if it attacks any of the others in the village?"

"Right now, the beast is still a baby."

"So, what do you do?"

"Do you nurture it?"

"Do you kill it?"

"Do you ask the others?"

The Lightning Emperor drank another mouthful of tea.

"Everything about this beast screams risk at you. No matter what happens, it will be a risk. If it isn't one for you, it definitely will be one for the village."

"But you like the village. You live in the village. You are happy with the village."

"You don't want your beast to kill other villagers."

"But it very likely will."

"So, what would you do?" the Lightning Emperor asked.

focused

that his answer would decide his

Should he lie?

wouldn't even

he had the skills to lie in front of a

argue for the

a good reason, this would

the decision to the Lightning Emperor? After all, he was much older and much

he give a neutral

I would do, what someone else should do, what the village should do, or what the morally correct thing

of them," the Lightning Emperor answered

do would be to send it out of the village," Shang said. "If you can't do that, nurture it and trust that

Emperor didn't show any

smartest choice for the village is to either collectively raise the beast to make it

Emperor

the risk to nurture it for the eventual payoff? The person could become the leader of the village. Maybe, they could even leave the village and go

interest, but he let Shang

for what I

would let it

the Lightning Emperor

its existence has no impact

Lightning Emperor

be

that I must be stronger than the beast if I want to have any shot at reaching my goal.

if it turns out that the beast is stronger than me, it means my goal was impossible to

might as well kill myself right

Silence.

looked at Shang

just tell me to kill

told you what I would do. I know that my own goals and priorities are not

"You are not me."

it doesn't mean that you should make that choice or that it is

an eyebrow. "That sounds a bit extreme. Is

all I have left," Shang said. "I sacrificed everything else, and I don't

are so many people in this world. Geniuses might be rare, but among billions,

geniuses, how many of

people left from one trillion people, that is still a thousand people that I have to defeat if

stops them from being