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Royo wanted to argue, but the man had a point. And he actually wasn’t ruling out the Piercing Eye yet, either, even as he moved on to the other two. One of them was a metal rack with a pendulum in the center, and the other was a simple blue crystal. “What are these two, then?”

“The Daichigeki and the Tokets’Jigok.”

The Earthshock and the Frozen Hell. Intrigued as he was by those names, Royo didn’t like what they implied.

“The Daichigeki is said to be able to rend the ground beneath one’s feet and even cause earthquakes powerful enough to bring down buildings. And the Tokets’Jigoku is said to be capable of freezing anything it touches.”

Royo didn’t normally hate being right. “...So they would both kill me, is what you are saying.”

“Mm, well, presumably, there is a safe way of using them, but... yeah, they do seem pretty dangerous.”

More than just seemed, Royo felt. In the Undercrust, an earthquake was one of the most deadly and unpredictable events imaginable. An item which could instigate them would certainly be powerful, but to Royo’s mind, there existed no conceivable method by which an earthquake could be controlled. Not down here. And he didn’t intend to die to falling rocks that he had caused to fall. A more idiotic end, Royo could hardly imagine.

As for the blue crystal, a Hun’Kui trying to harness the power of ice was not much more appealing. Theoretically, of course, it could be very strong, but one misstep while attempting to acquaint himself with the crystal’s exact functionality, and that would spell the end for him. It was akin to an insect trying to figure how to properly use pesticide. He had no real knowledge base from which to operate or available safety precautions to take.

“These are both worthless,” Royo decided.

“I suppose if they weren’t, they wouldn’t just be sitting here,” said Lenos. “That caped Hun’Sho bastard would probably be using them himself, hmm?”

“Indeed.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more assistance.” Lenos started grabbing light diamonds in order to stuff them into his unfortunately small pockets.

Royo, however, had not given up. His gaze fell upon the Piercing Eye once again.

The secrets of the world against the threat of going mad? Compared to the other two items, the Eye’s risk was at least somewhat appealing.

And the more he thought about it, the more he began to wonder, was that truly the gamble? Could any object really cause someone to go mad? Just like that?

And even if it could do that, would it?

Would it be possible to resist its influence? With a strong enough mind, perhaps? A strong enough will?

Royo saw sense in that logic--and more frighteningly even to himself, he saw potential in it.

It was a risk, of course. There was no doubt about that. But was it a risk worthy of himself? Of his ambition?