Breaking through the Fog
“You’re a Warlock… Ah, I remember this feeling. You must be from the Magus World, right?” The ancient Wisdom Tree spoke slowly, each syllable taking a significantly long time. It was enough for any quick-tempered Magus to get annoyed.
However, there were no traces of impatience on Leylin’s face. On the contrary, he was full of respect towards the ancient Wisdom Tree, especially since his advancement to rank 3 was all thanks to it. Hence, he bowed deferentially.
“Yes! I am Leylin Farlier, a rank 4 Warlock of the Magus World. Greetings, mighty Enlightener!”
The Enlightener was a title given to the ancient Wisdom Tree by the combined decision of all the Magi in the Magus World.
It was rumoured that the ancient Wisdom Tree was the culmination of all wisdom. It was even knowledgeable in all the mysteries of the cosmos and the universe. There were countless high-ranked Magi who had gained enlightenment with its help, and even the glamour of the ancient era was, in part, possible thanks to its guidance.
However, the mighty ancient tree which had granted enlightenment and solved riddles had disappeared from the Magus World all of a sudden. No matter how hard the ancient Magi tried to find it, no traces were left behind.
In the following generations, many Magus historians had attributed the fall of the ancient era to the lack of guidance from the Wisdom Tree, leading to many ancient Magi walking a path ridden with errors.
Though Leylin did not really agree with this standpoint, it was true that it was very knowledgeable regarding Magi.
“The Magus World!” The ancient Wisdom Tree’s large eyes flashed with nostalgia, “I still remember… 20 or 25 dark ages ago, the Magi were all adorable little children. Oh! There was one called Aten, and he was pretty good at barbeques…”
The mighty ancient Wisdom Tree was like an old man trying to chase after the past, jabbering on and on.
Leylin waited silently at the side, while Toad Quark was beginning to get annoyed, “Old friend, are you moving again? You’ve only lived here for 87,000 years… I’ve only taken a nap, and you’re already moving again?”
‘An 87,000 year… nap?’ Leylin was speechless.
“Yes, my friend! I feel the descent of terror. Even the end of the world can’t hinder the spying of such power. The aftermath of the ancient era will continue to cause ripples, involving other worlds…”
The ancient Wisdom Tree said something that sounded like a prophecy, causing Leylin to be surprised. However, no matter how he inquired, it would not make a sound.
‘It doesn’t finish its words, ugh…’ Leylin rolled its eyes inside, but then heard the sounds of the Wisdom Tree after speaking to the toad. “And there’s you, you adorable thing. I can answer one question of yours as a present. Of course, it cannot touch upon the topic from before…”
“Many thanks, mighty Enlightener!” Leylin was elated. An opportunity to have the Wisdom Tree solve a riddle was not something any Magus could have even in ancient times. Even a Breaking Dawn Magus would smash their own head in for such a chance.
However, after the moment of ecstasy, he grew perplexed.
‘What should I ask? How to attain immortality? That’s too vague!’ Leylin opened his lips, but eventually did not ask the question.
After an intense struggle, Leylin’s pupils flashed with soberness. ‘Even if it’s truly the ancient Wisdom Tree, it’s only one of the ancient legends. It’s probably at rank 8 or 9 as a Magus, and even such a being needs to defend itself. Asking about is pointless. I need to think of something more suitable for myself…’
Having thought it through, the fog in Leylin’s mind finally completely dissipated.
Leylin took in a deep breath, clenched his fists, and asked the ancient Wisdom Tree this question, “I would like to know how to break through the bloodline shackles of Warlocks!”
For now, there was nothing more important to him than solving this issue.
“This…” The ancient Wisdom Tree raised a root and propped it against its lips, looking extremely similar to a human in thought. “You can…”
……
The fog disappeared, and Leylin was started awake.
He rubbed his forehead that was slightly aching and glanced at the grey slabs on the ground. The fog was dissipating from the surroundings, and buildings were gradually revealing themselves. The lost look in his eyes disappeared and was replaced with confusion.
“Was that scene real, or an illusion?”
Leylin glanced at his hands, ‘I’m already at Morning Star. Under the scan of my soul force, any illusory spells should have been seen through. Furthermore…’
Leylin felt his heart beat. ‘The answer from the Wisdom Tree is still deep in my heart. It’s very feasible.’
Such a situation left Leylin bewildered.
“Perhaps the Path of Quandary was a superior illusion, allowing intruders to find answers amidst their perplexment about where they were. This answer might already be deep in the intruder’s heart, and only made known at this point. Of course, if it can’t be found, they would remain lost there…”
Combined with his former knowledge and experience, Leylin came to a specious conclusion. Inside, however, he felt as if what had just happened was real.
With the strength of ancient Magi, it was not impossible to create a scene like that. Another plausible reason would be that through endless flowing from the river of time, many scenarios had converged at this point.
In other words, Leylin’s mind had passed through the isolation of time and space, reaching one of the spatial fragments in the ancient era, and met the true ancient Wisdom Tree.
‘Hah! I don’t care anymore! There are only benefits for me here anyway! If it doesn’t make sense, then so be it. When I get enough strength, I might even understand all of this naturally…’ Leylin thought optimistically.
There were no cons whatsoever in coming to the Path of Quandary. He had even obtained a method to solve the issue of his bloodline shackles. While this was merely a tentative plan, it was still very precious. It might not even compare to all the benefits from Scarlet Crescent!
“However, since I’ve gone through the Path of Quandary, I should be getting some rewards.” Leylin touched his chin, watching the large Magus building that had completely revealed itself, as a smile appeared on his face.
What had appeared in front of Leylin was a little western-styled building that was two storeys high. The window at the balcony was still open, as if the owner had only been gone a short period of time.
The brass door handle had a simple yet splendid lustre, and seemed to have been used regularly.
Leylin knew, though, that this building had been abandoned for at least over ten thousand years. It was naturally magic that resulted in this effect.
*Ka-cha!* After gripping the handle and putting some strength into it, the door was easily pushed open, revealing a hall with a giant fireplace. The firewood in there was still crackling and burning, a wave of heat gathering indoors.
“Besides what’s on their bodies, Magi keep their most precious objects only in the bedroom, study room and laboratory…”
Leylin scanned the area quickly and immediately gave up on the living room, going up to the second level of the building.
He first found the study room. There seemed to have been some spatial spells used here, and upon opening it, what was presented in front of Leylin was an enormous space comparable to a football field. There were large bookshelves that towered at ten or so metres tall, but everything there was empty, leaving behind only a pile of ash in the compartments.
Leylin rummaged through the area quite a few times and had the A.I. Chip check the area repeatedly without giving up, but he eventually resigned himself to the situation and left the study room.
“I never expected that all the books and research materials would have been taken away… What would else would be left?”
Leylin was slightly dejected, but still searched through room after room. He then found the original owner’s bedroom.
Unexpectedly, he was easily rewarded with something on the makeup table.
A blood-red earring in the shape of a crescent moon lay quietly in an opened jewellery box. After Leylin confirmed it was not a trap, he took it in his hand, and a stream of information was immediately transmitted over.
“Scarlet Earring! High-grade magic equipment. Work of Mefylk! … Ah! This is presented to my goddess, Jonase, my true love…”
From the opened jewellery box, it seemed that the owner had been preparing to wear the earring, but everything had suddenly come to an abrupt stop.
Leylin was confused as he looked through the bedroom, but still did not find anything that looked suspicious.
“A strange set-up!” Leylin mumbled to himself, keeping the Scarlet Earring and adding many seals outside.
Even if it it was a trap, a piece of high-grade magic equipment was worth the risk. Besides, Leylin was very confident in his judgment and the A.I. Chip’s scans.
While leaving, he consciously took a look at the mirror frame at the makeup table.
There was a large oval silver mirror inside, reflecting Leylin’s image. Strangely enough, the Leylin inside had a secretive laugh, causing him to be startled.
By the time he came back to himself, everything in the mirror seemed to have returned to normal, as if all that had just happened had merely been an illusion.
But would Morning Star Magi hallucinate? That was impossible!
Leylin’s expression became gloomy as he gritted his teeth, quickly keeping the mirror and running out of the bedroom and out of the villa.
The moment he left the villa, it completely vanished, leaving behind a large depression that looked to have been gnawed at by beasts.
*Bang!*
A fist smashed onto a table, causing dust to fly, “Despicable! Damn it! He’s actually taken it away! That was the magic equipment that was the easiest to obtain, and it was even of a high-grade at that!”
In an unadorned crystal private room, an old Magus looked annoyed, unwilling to accept this.
“It’s not just that. He even took ‘that’ away!”
The old man’s expression changed a few times before he made his mind.
