“Have you never wondered why the names of each cultivation level are named that way?” Isabelle asked.

“No,” replied Gaius. “I thought they wanted it to sound cool or to just denote a certain status.”

“In a sense,” Isabelle said slowly, “the latter half of your answer isn’t that off the mark. The boundary between Knight and Squire is not just an immense increase in how much qi one could muster, but also a qualitative change in the nature of the qi that one can wield.”

Gaius rubbed his nose. “Go on.”

Isabelle cast a cynical glance at Gaius — she clearly didn’t believe that the boy had understood what she had just said in such a short period of time — and said, “The path of a Knight is marked by that of an ideal. Living up to your chosen ideal is key to progress, and as most people in the past chose things like bravery and whatnot, the realm became to be known as a Knight.”

Her eyes flickered to something in her hand, and before she could continue, Gaius said, “Are you reading from a notebook?”

“Of course not!”

Gaius looked at her hands, which were clearly holding something, and decided not to call her out on it after all. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, after all…although I think I got the context wrong?

The boy shrugged mentally and tossed his non-sequitur to the back of his mind. “Alright, please continue.”

“A Lord and a Paragon are similarly defined by their starting ideals as a Knight, which are further augmented by…”

Her voice trailed off, and Gaius frowned. “By what?”

Isabelle looked up from her hand. “I’ve lost the rest of my notes…”

Gaius wanted to make all sorts of remarks, but decided to hold it in instead out of, err, respect. He took a deep breath and turned his eyes to Nexus instead, who was kicking its legs around idly. “You.”

The artificial intelligence shivered. “Yes?”

“Complete what she wanted to say.” Gaius cracked his knuckles. “Or else.”

“Well, to put it in a way that you can understand,” said Nexus, “a Lord embodies an advanced ideal, and a Paragon is the logical conclusion of this ideal given form. These ideals are self-imposed mental limits, which narrow the scope of a cultivator’s power in exchange for far greater strength.”

Mental…Gaius tapped his foot. “It seems that the domain of the mind carries a lot more weight than I expected it to.”

“Naturally,” replied Nexus. “If you were to challenge a Lord one-on-one, you would be disadvantaged when he activates his Fief, a formless space that enhances its creator with its own unique effects. Similarly, Paragons have an advanced version of the Fief, a Dominion that can lock down any non-Paragons inside it.”

“I’ve never seen them in use before,” replied Gaius.

“Naturally. When fighting in groups, using these indiscriminate attacks is a recipe for friendly fire,” replied the artificial intelligence. “Even amongst the same ranks, Territories restrain each other. It is, in my opinion, more of a byproduct than a legitimate power.”

“Which is why they’re rarely used,” said Gaius.

“Exactly. But I’ve digressed.” The artificial intelligence nodded to itself, and said, “but yes, the existence of these ideals and concepts are why Isabelle found it hard to believe that a Paragon would personally threaten others with the lives of children.”

“But it’s not impossible, right? There’s no limit on what ideals one could have adopted, after all. If it’s something like pragmaticism…”

“That’s correct,” said Isabelle. “But not picking what society calls the Knightly ideals: bravery, honour, generosity…it’s a long list, but not picking any of them runs its own risks.”

“You’ve gotten some parts wrong, however,” said Nexus. “These ideals and concepts I’ve mentioned are simply terms that cover restrictions on a range of behaviour, not abstract virtues that society has. One, at the point of ascension, vows to do or to not do something in exchange for greater power. It is an equivalent exchange of freedom for power, and nothing else.”

“But…”

“That’s not what your family taught, perhaps,” said Nexus. “But the truth is that limits can be imposed on any type of actions you so desire. Chastity, for instance, is exchanging one’s ability to procreate for an increase in power. On the flip side, an “ideal” or vow of promiscuity exchanges one’s ability to stay sexually loyal for more strength. This cuts across all spectrums.”

Isabelle blushed, her face a nice shade of crimson. “What are you saying in front of a child?”

“Oh please.” Nexus lolled its head. “But yes, Knight, Lord…these nice-sounding words are used to disguise the fact that freedom on any types of behaviour can be exchanged. Those who are aware of this fact limit behaviours and actions that they will rarely, if ever, find themselves do.”

Isabelle was silent for a moment, and Nexus rubbed its little nose in contemplation.

“Let’s put it this way,” said Nexus. “Imagine a Knight who has vowed to harm no innocents. What’s the definition of ‘innocents’?”

“The guiltless, naturally.”

Nexus sighed. “Break it down. How would someone know if another person was guiltless or not? The most likely answer would be that in the course of that Knight’s mission, he will not harm anyone who hasn’t stood in his way. That’s what ‘innocents’ mean to him.”

“But that’s not in the spirit of the word.”

“Exactly,” said Nexus. “If you can convince yourself that what you’re doing is right, then anything goes. Let’s assume that Paragon Sasori picked restrictions that are in line with societal values and common sense. If he was blackmailing people in power for the sake of the world, does that run against his restrictions?”

“No,” said Gaius.

“It still feels…off, however.” Isabelle frowned, seemingly in distress. “If it’s so easy to fool…”

“Yes,” said Nexus. “Fool who? Who is granting power when you place restrictions on yourself?”

“I…don’t know. I…”

“Nexus, enough.” Gaius stepped forward and put an end to the discussion. “There is little point in backing Isabelle that far back into a corner.”

“Says the guy who did that to a middle-aged man back in the South,” Nexus muttered.

Gaius patted Isabelle’s shoulder — the highest part of her his little body could reach, naturally — and then ambled off into the manor, the Knight following closely behind.