The crystal ball darkened, in which countless stars lit up. When he saw that Natasha's Host Star of Destiny was still s.h.i.+ning brightly, Lucien released a long sigh of relief.
Lucien finally relaxed. He looked in the east and saw the rising orange sun, lighting up the entire sky.
An idea suddenly came to Lucien's mind: The main material world was also a sphere, as there was a time difference between the Dark Mountain Range and Allyn, in addition, there were also horizons.
After using the scroll last time, Lucien had confirmed with the Lord of Storm that s.p.a.ce jumping would only take about half an hour. From the different positions of the silver moon that Lucien saw in the Dark Mountain Range and in Allyn, it was easy for him to notice the existence of time difference.
Because of this very reason, arcanists never doubted the cosmology theories developed by Douglas.
Lucien wondered why that, despite the theories, the arcanists could not see the world or find any planets when they managed to fly into s.p.a.ce.
He shook his head, knowing that it was not a good time to contemplate such a question that had been bothering the Congress of Magic for many years. Lucien rose into the sky and flew towards Allyn.
Landing on the edge of Allyn, Lucien did not waste his time going back home first. Instead, he cast Speed on himself and rushed to the Congress of Magic's magic tower as fast as he could.
Das.h.i.+ng out of the elevator and into his teacher's office, Lucien finally saw Fernando. Wearing the same scarlet magic robe and holding a magic book in his hand, Fernando was tutoring Alferris, who was holding a thick and large quill-pen trying to figure out a tough magic question.
Alferris had shrunk to the proper size for the desk. Right now, it was listening to Fernando so attentively that its att.i.tude surprised Lucien.
"Here you are… So the things before daybreak had something to do with you?"
Fernando was aware of Lucien's arrival as soon as his student entered the magic tower. Less than an hour ago, the scarlet moon rose. Then, Lucien returned to the Congress of Magic. It was obvious that he had something to do with it.
Lucien nodded. "I summoned the G.o.d of Silver Moon, Alterna, to help a friend get out of a trap. But what was out of my expectation was that Dracula, the vampire prince, showed up. I have no idea what happened in the end."
Lucien was being quite honest; he just didn't mention the World of Souls.
From Lucien's story, it seemed that there was a first-generation vampire who got trapped by the vampire prince, and Lucien was commissioned to break the trap by summoning the G.o.d of Silver Moon. Then some mysterious existence which was behind Dracula showed up and led the whole thing to an unknown direction.
To be honest, Lucien did not have any idea about what happened exactly. He only had some vague guesses based on what he knew about the World of Souls.
Of course, Lucien was taking a bit of risk here. If nothing so inconceivable like this had happened, if s.p.a.ce had not been distorted by the power of the scarlet moon, and if Lucien didn't have to use the s.p.a.ce Jump scroll which was connected to Fernando's demiplane and thus allowing Fernando to deduce from the results that Lucien had gone to the Dark Mountain Range, Lucien could have saved his efforts coming up with all the excuses, as Fernando would have seen a different story himself. After all, Lucien was born with the talent of a Secretive.
However, after going through all the things that happened before, Lucien believed that his own teacher was quite trustworthy. Even if Fernando found out the secret of the World of Souls, Lucien should still be safe.
When it came to something serious, Fernando was always short-tempered but earnest. Tapping on the desk lightly, he said,
"It was the Observer who was trapped, right? He's the only one who can summon the G.o.d of Silver Moon. In fact, it was quite a good opportunity for you. When Alterna descended, you were temporarily affected by Alterna and saw the world from Her perspective, a perspective that only She can provide you. After all, Alterna is the closest existence to the truth of the world, which is the ultimate goal of every arcanist's research. You might not be able to feel it right now, but you'll understand its value when you step into the realm of the legendary one day."
Compared to questions like what kind of power was behind Dracula, what the solidified colors of black, white, and grey were, or where the other falling dimensions were, the question that Fernando cared more about was what Lucien saw when the G.o.d of Silver Moon arrived.
Lucien did not try to hide this part, as he also had no idea what he had seen. "I felt I was in the air, looking down upon everything. There were… things I have no idea how to describe. They were… possibilities… of the world."
What he saw was way beyond his words.
"In the air, look down… Possibilities…" Fernando slightly frowned. "It is said that when one approaches the truth of the world or—what others call—G.o.d, the person is essentially changed, in a good way. He or she would be able to see the track of destiny from another perspective, but it's not like what you said… not really. Anyways, Lucien, you own this. When you become a legendary and experience something similar one day, the blurry images shall have more specific meanings."
Obviously, neither did Fernando find anything really valuable.
Before Lucien responded, Fernando put on a mischievous grin. "Speaking of this, I have to thank you. Your intervention caused the injuring and falling of the G.o.d of Silver Moon and the mysterious existence. If we can find the dimension where they fell before They woke up, very likely we'll be able to collect some valuable materials to fill in the blank of our research. Aren't you a lucky star for the Congress!"
Yes, every high-rank arcanist was a lunatic when it came to conducting researches, and the grand arcanists were the greatest representatives. Lucien realized that his vision was still far away from that of his teacher, as he hadn't thought from this perspective.
"So how long it will take us to locate the dimension?" asked Lucien, who was also unconsciously affected by the pa.s.sion.
"Around three to ten years. We will use astrology, on the premise that we know its existence for sure and have blurry image memories for guidance." Fernando replied.
"The Congress will try its very best. Besides us, the South Church, the North Church, and the Dark Congress should also have seen what happened. Since it's related to the secrets beyond the legendary level, they'll all get crazy. Whoever finds it first gets the best share."
After explaining briefly to Lucien, Fernando said, "So far, don't bother with this anymore. Your astrology is way far from prying into the truth. When the dimension is found, I'll request the Highest Council for an exploration. If you and the other students are willing to go, you guys can come with me."
Straightfoward. That was very typical of Fernando.
"So why are you here? In such a hurry…" asked Fernando after finis.h.i.+ng his speech.
Lucien was reminded of his purpose. Putting on a flattering smile, Lucien said, "Teacher, I wonder if I can use your demiplane to go to the Duchy of Violet."
"But you just came back." Fernando felt a bit confused, which was very rare for him.
Lucien hurriedly explained, "I got a friend to help me distract Prince Dracula this time. Although Horoscope has told me that she's safe, I think… it's better if we talk face to face. After all, Prince Dracula's power of cursing and casting nightmares is also well-known."
"She? The little girl from Hathaway's family?" Fernando slightly nodded, knowing that Lucien and Natasha were quite good friends. "You need me to bring you back?"
"Yeah, please." Lucien suddenly felt that Fernando was like his guardian and was somehow amused.
When Fernando stood up and was about to bring Lucien to his demiplane, Lucien noticed that Alferris was still focusing on its own study, sparing no time for greeting at all. Driven by curiosity, Lucien asked, "Hey, what are you busy studying at, Alferris?"
"Alchemy, Golem Making," answered Alferris without looking up.
"What for? You need golems?" Lucien felt it was even stranger, since Alferris always tore down the golems for their s.h.i.+ning pieces.
Alferris answered while pretending it was not a big deal. "The Congress has been encouraging senior-rank mages to develop new golem models. A seventh circle mage like me can collect some precious materials from the Congress for free two times, as long as my golem making skills reach a certain level."
When it mentioned the free precious materials, its amber-colored eyes were s.h.i.+ning with excitement.
No wonder… This was very typical of little Crystal.
"By the way, boss. I recently read a story about the brave and the dragon." Alferris seemed to recall something and finally looked up at Lucien and grinned.
"So… what do you mean… You want to defeat the brave?" Lucien felt a bit suspicious.
"No no no… boss, I mean— Here's my plan. I can play the role of the dreadful dragon. We kidnap a princess and I'll demand for treasures. Then you'll be the brave and defeat me to win the abundant reward. Then we do half-half…" Before Alferris could finish his proposal, it was deterred back to its own textbook by Fernando's one single glance.
...…
After a few minutes of s.p.a.ce jump, Lucien was taken to Fernando's demiplane. He finally could see this place clearly: It was a s.p.a.ce full of thunder and lightning. Fernando's black magic tower was like a huge lightning rod, conducting the electricity power down to the ground with bright silver-white flashes.
Fernando suddenly asked, "Is the Count Silver Eye safe now?"
"…?"
Being busy running for his life, finding excuses, and worrying about Natasha, Lucien finally realized now that he still had no idea if Rhine had been rescued from the trap in the World of Souls.
Seeing Lucien's confused expression, Fernando teased him.
"Hmm… Obviously, you are in such a hurry that you don't even remember what you did all these things for."
But in Fernando's mind, he actually understood Lucien. After all, this young man just went through a series of great challenges. Fernando, smiling, slightly shook his head. From his own demiplane, Fernando took Lucien with him through another s.p.a.ce jump.
Finally, they arrived at Melzer Black Forest outside Aalto.
