Two sealed containers floated silently above Fountain Square, slowly rotating beneath the amber light.
One was a test tube containing Salty Finger, its blue glow forming a bizarre contrast with the ghastly pale finger.
The other was a container holding the Graffiti Ball. Runes flickered across its surface, and a faint hum could vaguely be heard from within.
The moment the sealing was completed, the atmosphere in the square changed subtly.
The nine wizards stood scattered around the square, neither too close nor too far from one another.
Their gazes were all fixed on the two containers, yet no one was the first to speak.
"Dividing the spoils" was not a particularly dignified phrase, but everyone present knew perfectly well that this was what they were about to do.
The wizard in the deep blue robe cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "Two anomalies, nine people. What are everyone's thoughts?"
"I think we can divide the two anomalies apart." The gaunt wizard pushed up the bridge of his nose. "Although these anomalies have already been compressed into clusters of concepts, they can theoretically be split. As for how many portions they should be divided into, that depends on what we decide."
"Nine portions." The burly wizard said, "One each. Fair."
"Graffiti Anomaly can be divided into nine portions, but Salty Finger cannot." The young witch shook her head. "The operating principle of this thing is completely different from Graffiti Anomaly. Dividing it would damage its integrity. Its research value would be greatly reduced."
"So you mean one person gets Salty Finger, while everyone else divides Graffiti Anomaly?" The burly wizard frowned. "Then who gets the finger?"
No one responded.
After a moment of silence, the curse witch spoke. As she did, her pale gray eyes beneath her hood calmly watched