Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The boy's reaction did not surprise Shard, for he would have been surprised if anyone could calmly accept that they were about to drink "The Price of Growth."

"What kind of growth are you looking for?"

Shard asked, and the boy who had used the toy knife to protect himself was not stumped by this question. He looked up at Shard:

"To be carefree, to be free, to not be bound by adults, to do whatever I want..."

Shard did not continue to listen but instead turned and shook his head at the Saint. This was not growth, and what he desired, he did not understand himself.

The Saint maintained that smile:

"As you express your wishes to this gentleman, what you truly desire is to become an adult."

The voice was still gentle, but Shard subconsciously felt that there was something different in its tone:

"Lying and denying your own past words is not the behavior of a good child."

The Saint said softly, picking up the teacup and gently shaking it, causing Shard to almost dodge away.

"Child, I'm going to share a principle with you. When you make a demand and a kind person fulfills it, even if you are not satisfied, you should not blame them."

Shard was suddenly reminded of the first time he met the Saint, who had spoken about the Witch Princess who longed for immortality. Thus, he understood that the boy likely had no other choice.

A young man wearing a silly jester hat came out from behind the counter with a teacup, bent over, and handed it to the boy. He said nothing but smiled as he watched him. The boy, lips clenched in defiance, turned to look at the other two children, then raised his head and said:

"There's nothing scary about this."

He took the teacup, tilted his head back, and drank the liquid. But after just one sip, he dropped the teacup to the floor, and severe retching doubled him over.

The vomiting became more severe, and eventually, he collapsed on the floor of the toy shop. Painful moans escaped his lips, and his body violently convulsed and twitched, but his height and body shape were changing dramatically.

Thirty seconds later, the young man in adult clothes, lying amidst the stains on the floor, opened his eyes. He got up bewilderedly and looked around the toy shop:

"Have I grown up?"

He incredulously touched his own face, and Shard was astonished by the odd effects of the magic potion. Seeing the Saint return to the counter without further remark, he took the initiative to ask:

"So how do you feel now?"

"I feel taller, stronger..."

He touched his body and then looked gratefully at Shard:

"Sir, I really have grown up!"

Children will be children, for just a moment ago he had been hostile toward Shard, but now his gaze was completely different:

"I really have grown up!"

He waved his arms excitedly:

"Great, now I finally won't be scolded by dad anymore!"

"No, as long as he remains your father, he can still scold you."

Shard reminded him, slightly understanding what he needed to do to fulfill this second wish.

"Is that so?"

The grown boy looked puzzled at him but soon cheered up again:

"I can finally go out to meet friends at night on a whim."

"No, you probably can't. You've grown up, but your friends are still very young."

The grown boy was stunned again and then said cautiously:

"I finally don't have to follow the family tutor to learn..."

"No, you must learn because growing up means you have to move out, you have to earn your own money. If you don't learn, where will you work? Mining or laboring?"

The boy stared open-mouthed at Shard.

Shard looked back at him, stating a basic fact:

"You don't think that after you've grown up, you will still live the same life under someone else's protection, do you? Then, why do you want to grow up?"

"I..."

The grown boy pointed at himself and then suddenly picked up the toy wooden sword and hugged it:

"I don't want to grow up."

"See, that's a child for you."

The young man leaned on the counter edge and said to Shard as the effects of the magic potion were wearing off, and the boy was changing back to his original form. As for his clothes, just like before, they naturally changed with his body under the power of the Saint.

"Did I fulfill his wish then?"

"Of course."

The Saint nodded.

"But he didn't get growth, he changed back."

Shard pointed out this fact.

"But he did indeed gain growth, look."

The young man wearing the jester hat pointed at the boy, who looked at his own hands, realized they had changed back to their original form, and started smiling happily.

"At least he understands what The Price of Growth is. That is a kind of growth too, after all, making children understand this is really difficult." Stay connected via empire

"Do you always use similar methods to explain principles to children?"

Shard asked curiously.

"No, not all children are the same. Actually, I prefer to be gentler."

The Saint smiled and shook his head, and Shard made no comment on this.

After the wish about growth was fulfilled, they moved on to the final wish about "Strength."

Shard looked toward the girl who had just emerged from between the shelves, and she immediately halted, eyeing Shard with considerable wariness:

"I don't want to drink any strange magic potions."

"Don't worry, I don't have any magic potions that give ordinary people power either."

The girl then reassured, came to the counter, but still dared not get close to him.

Shard had already formed an idea, but before he started, he still asked:

"Cough, the thing is, before fulfilling your wish, could you tell me how you understand the word 'power'?"

"To protect myself, to protect what I want to protect."

The girl said, the other two children also nodded.

"Alright, next question, do you think that apart from the power to split rocks and move mountains, wisdom counts as power?"

Shard again pointed to his head.

"Of course it counts!"

The boy yearning for stories and the boy yearning for growth said together, but the girl hesitated, she understood how Shard wanted to give her power.

"Honestly, wisdom certainly counts as power, but sir, what I am yearning for is my own... is to be able to achieve... that is..."

She hesitated, trying to express her thoughts, but struggled to find the right words for the moment.

Shard understood what she meant, the girl acknowledged the power of wisdom, but what she wanted was a more tangible form of power.

"How about you listen to me first, then think about what kind of power you really want."

Shard suggested, and the girl nodded:

"That's fine, sir."

Behind the counter, the Saint watched the scene with a smile and had no intention of interrupting.

"Have you seen boiling water?"

"Yes, sir."

"Have you seen steam lift the lid off a pot?"

"Of course, sir."

"Then, have you ever thought that this kind of power could be used in other ways?"

The girl tilted her head to look at him, while the other two boys were a bit bewildered.

"Now only she can understand you, this is her wish."

The deity reminded, and Shard nodded, giving another example:

"The steam from a small kettle can lift a lid; so what could the steam from a huge kettle lift?"

"This..."

Considering her delicate small dress and shiny black leather shoes, the girl seemed to come from a privileged background, likely well-educated. However, the question was still too difficult for a child.

Shard wanted to explain it differently or have the Saint produce some small parts to help demonstrate, but suddenly the girl's eyes brightened, and she said something that surprised Shard:

"Are you telling me about the method to transform heat into force to create machinery that ordinary people could use?"

Her eyes shone, and not in a figurative sense. Those lively eyes were genuinely glowing slightly.

Shard shifted uneasily to the side:

"What's going on?"

[This isn't a power from the Circle Sorcerer System, nor is it a Relic. I felt a similar power from Miss Galina.]

"It's roughly that idea."

Shard verbally agreed with the girl's viewpoint, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the Saint, who was listening to their dialogue without wishing to add anything.

"But this is just a tool, sir. I can create similar tools, but others can also create and use similar tools. Such power is not eternally at my disposal."

The girl looked at Shard, her face filled with a longing for answers.

"This is just technology; you also need a system."

"A system?"

"Besides gods, humans and other creatures walking the material world inevitably need help from their kind. With technology, you need a system to manage people, to distribute your gains, and to share your losses. Although you are just one person, a system can make you a hundred people, a thousand people. Technology and a system can make you stronger."

The light in the girl's eyes brightened further, and seeing this, the boy holding a toy knife thought of something, his expression turning fearful as he pulled the smallest boy back into the shelves.

"But sir, even if I create a perfect system, the system will eventually decay because people change."

The girl inquired.

"You need culture."

"Culture?"

Her eyes, already resembling those of Mia Cat in a lightless environment during the night, now glowed as wind swirled around her. Had it not been for the fact that this was the Saint's shop where any supernatural power was suppressed, Shard believed the phenomenon would have been even more pronounced.

The unusual train of thought seemed to enlighten her, but the girl herself did not notice her condition.

"You need people to acknowledge you, to be convinced by you, and to adapt to the system you've created, the technology you've devised, so you need to use culture to assimilate them. Festivals, scripts, accents, common stories, similar behaviors."

"Technology, system, culture..."

The girl pondered, then suddenly looked up at Shard:

"Sir, is this what you call power?"

"Yes, are you satisfied with this power?"

Shard kept it simple, or rather, he didn't articulate anything substantial, these words were more about introducing a line of thought. He was prepared for the girl's possible rejection and planned to talk about basic physics, but the girl nodded:

"I am very satisfied; wisdom truly is the greatest wealth of humanity. It seems that even men aren't completely useless."