Regardless of the verbal assaults, Jin finally calmed down and questioned Kraft seriously on the matter.
“What do you really know about the place? Or the connection between Ryuli and myself?” Jin asked as his bedroom had transformed back to its normal appearance replacing the locking cell that made Jin look as if he was entrapped to produce sludge. He was still embarrassed that Yun had allowed Yang Ling to see him in his most terrible state. (Perhaps, he should request the System to put a lock in case people would come in and infiltrate the area. However, the System said that was unneccessary since it could have already locked people out of the dimensional instance)
“Honestly, there really is not much connection between Ryuli and you. No ‘fated bond’ or anything like that like some reincarnated Romeo and Juliet. If you guys hadn’t met each other in that locked basement cell, you would probably have been like two strangers who passed each other on the street. Also, in hindsight, you could have just opened that locked basement with your chi and not give on anything to that child.”
“I erm… in my defence, I assumed I was in a dream at that point of time. Without the System at my behest, it seemed like I was in a dreamscape like the one Grandpa put me in. For all I knew, it could have been one of his strange tests.” Jin reasoned hoping that would excuse him for the folly he did. Kraft, however, sat on his chair, leaned back and extended his legs out without a care for his reasoning.
“I see. Well, can’t fully blame you, Old Ming does have a tendency to do what he wants. So you really were unable to call upon the System? Well, it would explain why the System did not have any information on her, no matter how I tried to probe it. And I tried hard. I thought it was some super secret weapon that the System was cultivating or maybe sending as a spy Bellator. But no, that was not the case. Also, this is just my conclusion- Erm, the reason you did not have access to it, would be that at that point in time, Ming should have been the System User.” Kraft theorised.
“The System kept reassuring me that it knew nothing, and even felt weird that I kept trying to ask about someone that it could not be found in the national database based on the information and description I gave- Huh?! HUH?!” Jin tried to recall how the System extracted information of the girl’s appearance without there being a match at all until Kraft gave his theory.
“I don’t have a basis to prove it, just some Fox ramblings. In any case, it was a long stretch when I found her in the State Agent’s database. In fact, I managed to find her because of her blue hair since it stuck out in her portfolio. The database criteria are quite strict, so they won’t put a blue hair girl as part of their data if it does not match their actual origins if you get what I mean.”
“No…not really. Do you mean they need to have the original picture of the agent as a reference?”
“Hmm, yeah something like that. Sometimes those agents go deep undercover for long periods of time by assuming a new identity. The database has to have some sort of system to ensure that only their actual person gets the original identity back, and not a spy from another country.” Kraft explained.
“Anyways, I’ve come to tell you that I found out the abandoned temple that Old Birdy is using belonged to the Butterfly Clan, one that they used to practice their techniques and skills.” Kraft finally revealed the information he was hiding for some time, stating that the temple Grandma Yuan used was no ordinary one.
“So, what does that have to do with me and Ryuli?” Jin queried.
“Have you already forgotten that our dear Kiyu was supposed to be the next clan head of the Butterfly Clan? To put it simply, she uses chi to activate time magic. Not much on her end, since she didn’t exactly finish her training though enough to call her an adept. The Butterfly Clan was one of the few secret clans that held time magic as part of their skill repertoire.”
“Only time magic isn’t something so easily available in this world. Although I suppose the same goes for other worlds.” Kraft said and knocked on the table as if demanding an answer from somebody.
“Time, in reality, is something that sentient beings invented to keep track of each passing day. It’s a concept rather than an element. But a concept also means that it can be repurposed into an element provided certain criteria were met. Thus time magic was created.” The System commented, neither confirming nor denying the previous statement.
“However, because it’s not just a concept that can be explained and recreated using ‘mere science’, time is akin to a natural force of a higher tier. There are consequences for using it, which are impossible to predict and it could range from nothing to an apocalyptic catastrophe. Otherwise, the Black Market would be selling time magic as a product too.”
“Does everything have to do with money?” Jin asked with a sorry grin on his face.
“Unfortunately it is. Last I checked, the Inter World Black Market was selling anything and everything. There are worlds, and even entire solar systems up for sale. Heck, there was even once a bidding war to own a universe. There was this one buyer who was selling the right to be a god. It’s really fucking scary. But as you can imagine the price itself is very outrageous. Not everything can be gained by mere Dungeon Dollars. The higher tiered stuff uses the bartering system. I’m just warning you, in case you had any dream about becoming a Panda God.” Kraft smirked.
“Unlike the official Interworld Market which is governed by a group of Grand Arch Wizards, the state of the Black Market is far more chaotic. You are very lucky to have not pissed off anyone to come to look after you because you purchased the last product of someone. And I honestly hope nothing like that will ever happen. Just a flick of a finger and you would be thrown into an abyss, and all your effort and experience won’t be able to save you.”
“Well, I have you and the System to save me, right?” Jin asked, and Kraft for once turned serious.
“Do not ask something this ridiculous. Do you really expect an ant to stand up to a mammoth?” Kraft questioned in a dark deep tone. “If that ever happens, you are on your own. I will take this System for myself and shall pray for your soul.”
But just as Jin was about to absorb that piece of information, Kraft relaxed in his seat and stretched backwards on the chair. “Though I don’t think you have much to worry about. Those types of people won’t even bother interfering with small fries like us. All the problems you encountered are nothing but mere child’s play in their eyes. Hell, they might even think we are just small pieces on a giant chessboard, that they would just play around with and go ‘awww shucks’ if they ever lose. Just concentrate being the number one dungeon supplier, heh.”
“Haha… alright.” Jin gave him an awkward smile as he considered how powerful those people must be if even Kraft compared himself to an ant. Then again, might Kraft just be humble and actually be one of those superpowered entities he thought about?! (But of course, knowing his backstory, there was no way he was one of those people he described.)
“Let’s get back to the topic at hand. In short, you might have been affected by the temple’s residual magic. Birdy must know how special this place is. Why else do you think she chose to train her kiddos there. The occasional slowing of time or even experiencing time magic will push those exorcist powers since Kiyu’s clan used demon sacrifices as the source of their magic.”
“What…?” Jin was taken aback by what Kraft said, and he never knew it was that dark.
“Is that the reason why Kiyu never likes to use her powers?” Jin thought about it. He never really saw Kiyu as much of a fighter.
“Find out yourself. You have an eternity to learn about us.” Kraft smirked, and in the blink of an eye, just as he had appeared, he was gone, leaving Jin with more questions than answers.
