Chapter 930 The Illusory Contemplator <TOC> Chapter 932 Sheriff Tulas
Translator: SumTLMan
When Piers departed, his visage still bore a sense of bewilderment.
How could he have been unfamiliar with the tales of the Time Thief?
It is fair to say that the legend of the Time Thief is one of the rare magical lore within the Wizarding World.
However, what Piers didn’t anticipate was that this transcendent entity, whose legend had surpassed the domain of legends and touched the realm of miracles, was known as Cassini.
The Time Thief, in essence, is recognized for his ability to steal your choices. He is akin to a scavenger suspended at the junctures of time—whether it’s the past, the present, or the future, he would inconspicuously snatch away any choice you’ve surrendered.
If life is likened to a one-way journey, every choice that steers the course of your life would sprout a fork in the road. The moment you opt for the left fork, the right one gradually fades into oblivion, offering near-zero chances of retracing your steps.
The Time Thief, however, can claim the right fork without a query.
The Time Thief has his own code when it comes to stealing choices, but no one in the Wizarding World currently has a comprehensive understanding of his restrictions in this regard.
Nonetheless, two of the Time Thief’s modus operandi are universally recognized.
Firstly, once the Time Thief has pilfered your choice, he will assuredly compensate you in some manner. No matter what aspect, it will inevitably yield tremendous benefits.
Secondly, the Time Thief does not arbitrarily plunder one’s choices. Those he marks are invariably individuals who hold the potential to tread upon the path of truth. In other words, if your choice is taken by the Time Thief, it is highly likely that you are a latent seed of truth.
The ultimate pursuit of every wizard is the truth.
From a certain perspective, being marked by the Time Thief implies that your potential is limitless!
Hence, when the wizards of the Southern Region murmur about being “favored by the Time Thief,” they are actually referring to being marked by him.
Nevertheless, bearing the mark of the Time Thief can be more of a curse than a blessing. The Time Thief could very well rob you of the crucial choices that set you on the path towards ‘Truth.’
Initially, even if you were to make erroneous decisions, there was a chance for redemption. But once robbed of your choices by the Time Thief, the road to truth becomes eternally inaccessible. From this viewpoint, the Time Thief can be seen as rather detestable.
However, when you find yourself despising the Time Thief, you are likely already surpassing the realm of legends, reaching an unfathomable state of enlightenment. Only in this state, can you truly perceive the essence of ‘Truth.’
In the Southern Region of the Wizarding World as it stands today, there aren’t even any legends. Therefore, the majority of wizards would not fear encountering the Time Thief. They might even yearn to be marked. Being branded signifies receiving immense benefits.
Piers heaved a sigh of relief inwardly.
His hands were still slightly trembling, Cassini turned out to be this mighty entity!
Piers remembered when he bid farewell and left, Velite was still persistently inquiring, who exactly informed him of the name Cassini.
Velite was agitated, so was Piers. Yet, he still couldn’t speak out, he could only silently repeat the name Angel in his heart.
Could it be that Angel was marked by the Time Thief during his apprenticeship?
Piers knew all too well what that would imply!
If Angel truly was marked by the Time Thief, his potential would be unimaginably vast!
According to what Piers knew, the number of individuals marked by the Time Thief in the Southern Region did not exceed a hundred! How many wizards are there in the Southern Region? They are too numerous to count!
“I must inquire, did Angel actually see the Time Thief?” Piers’s heart was filled with urgency, wishing he could meet Angel right away.
Although deep down, he was already leaning towards the possibility that Angel had encountered the Time Thief. Angel’s rapid advancement, both in terms of power and alchemy, might just be due to the Time Thief stripping away his choices, causing him to rise swiftly.
Yet, at the end of the day, this was merely his conjecture; the veracity of which would require corroboration from Angel.
Western Demos, lies Velite’s subterranean palace.
After Piers departed, Velite remained astounded by the secret he had just learned.
Gauss calmly remarked, “As for the appellation of the Time Thief, it suffices to have heard it. Keep in mind not to disseminate it.”
Velite nodded, such sensitive information was better left nestled within one’s mind, not to be revealed lightly. There might come a day when he would encounter the “seeds of truth” marked by the Time Thief.
“It’s a bit regrettable. Piers adheres too rigidly to his principles. No matter how one probes, he refuses to disclose who that person is,” Velite muttered to himself, “Perhaps that individual merely heard of Cassini’s name, and never met the Time Thief.”
Gauss responded, “Any individual who knows the name of Cassini, regardless of whether they are the person in question, is certain to be surrounded by markers from the Time Thief.”
Velite retorted, “That may be true, but without Piers disclosing the identity, we’re still left in the dark.”
A wry smile materialised on Gauss’s face, “That doesn’t mean there’s no solution.”
Amidst Velite’s puzzled gaze, Gauss gently tapped the tabletop, causing a luminous ball boasting fiery red lips to appear before the two of them.
The flaming lips parted, a thin tongue gliding across them before swallowing audibly, “Scoundrel Gauss, whose secrets are you trying to pry into now? I’m warning you, if the taste isn’t to my liking, I won’t swallow it.”
Being branded a “scoundrel” made Gauss a tad uncomfortable. He grinned awkwardly at his old friend, “This attendant of a deity is a recent acquisition, still in need of training, haha.”
Velite: “…”
This creature, consisting only of a mouth, was an attendant of a deity. Yet, it had no relation to the term’s conventional implication, rather it pertained to an unusual branch within the prophecy system—The Silent Deity.
Velite had heard of them before, Silent Deities were known as the most taciturn faction within the prophecy system. However, ironically enough, their attendants were notoriously talkative.
Gauss brushed past the previous awkward scene, turned towards the attendant of the deity and reassured, “Don’t worry, the taste this time will definitely be that of a beauty.”
As Gauss spoke, he extended a hand and seemed to gather something from the air, precisely from the place where Piers previously sat. An indiscernible trail of ephemeral mental cues lingered in the air, a vestige of Piers.
Most wizards could manage the outward flow of their mental patterns, creating an almost imperceptible remnant trail. Nevertheless, nothing in this world was absolute, and no matter how well-controlled, minuscule traces always remained.
Yet, these residues were so sparse that they couldn’t be exploited for tracking or analysis and would soon dissipate entirely. Hence, Piers would be indifferent to these remnants; after all, hardly anyone could leverage these scanty fragments.
Ironically, Gauss had at his disposal a divine attendant, a spectral semi-life form with an acute sensitivity to these mental imprints.
Casually handing over Piers’s residual mental traces to the Divine Attendant, Gauss nonchalantly said, “This is the trace of that beauty. Consume it.”
The divine attendant gave Gauss a suspicious glance, retorting with a note of suspicion, “Don’t try to trick me just because I lack eyes. I do get angry, you know! Last time, you tricked me, saying it was ‘Bliss’…”
Before the divine attendant could complete its sentence, Gauss had already shoved the mental cue into its ‘mouth.’
‘Bliss’? Bliss Pavilion or Pure Land of Bliss? Velite’s ears twitched, feigning ignorance to the unfinished conversation.
A corner of Gauss’s mouth twitched; regaining his composure, he said, “Since we can’t directly identify who it was, let’s approach this through Piers.”
Soon enough, the divine attendant seemed to realize that it was not a ‘beauty’s trace,’ and its face twisted in anger. Gauss communicated with it in an intriguing language, placating it after some effort and convincing it to resume an equal conversation.
Their dialogue still used an unfamiliar language unheard before.
After a while, Gauss put away the divine attendant, falling into deep contemplation.
“Did you find out who it was?” Velite inquired.
“I couldn’t ascertain who it was, but I got a piece of information from the divine attendant through a three-choice condition. My previous inability to peer into that person’s fate through divination might be due to their possession of an alchemical artifact that could block such insights, according to Piers’s supposition.”
“And furthermore, based on Piers’s inclination, that alchemical item might have been crafted by the person themselves.”
As Gauss narrated this, the circle of potential suspects immediately narrowed.
The person in question was likely an alchemist. And moreover, someone who could craft an artifact capable of blocking divination wasn’t common even among alchemists. It indeed indicated a rare breed.
Moreover, the fact that the other party would maintain any association with a slaver like Piers shows that several names can be crossed off their suspect list.
In their hearts, they were slowly whittling down their list of suspects.
…
Angel, oblivious to the fact that he was now the subject of someone’s attention, was currently preoccupied with alchemy crafting in the town of Borel.
Ever since he departed from Rhodes, he had made his way to Borel. Originally, he was merely there to replenish Freud’s usage of the dream access device, a task that didn’t necessitate a complete remanufacture.
However, once Angel had topped up the device’s usage, he found himself in deep contemplation as he gazed at the 979 remaining login opportunities displayed on the device. At first glance, 979 might seem plentiful, but they would be consumed rather quickly. Each entrance and exit would use up one opportunity, and even if he wasn’t planning on inviting more people into Initial Heart City for the time being, it wouldn’t take long to exhaust them.
After some thought, Angel decided to craft a few additional “Wilderness of Dreams Access Devices” for Freud to keep as spare.
In his previous crafting, the quality of the materials Angel chose was above average, ultimately resulting in a limit of 979 in the device’s storage capacity.
When he opted for better materials, the final limit only increased to 999 — an amount unable to exceed four digits. On the other hand, using slightly inferior materials led to a drastic drop to below 700 usages.
Left without much choice, Angel ultimately produced a device of the 979-quality.
In total, he crafted six devices: one of 999-quality, one of 679-quality, and four of 979-quality.
The combined number of uses across all six devices amounted to just over 5500. Though not an extravagant number, Angel felt that as long as they were used conservatively, it should last until his next return.
Crafting the access devices took a week, after which Angel spent another day incorporating some of Freud’s materials for the construction and expansion of Initial Heart City into the mix.
Once he was certain everything was in order, Angel informed Freud about the matter of Ashen Time, so that when the people associated with it come looking, Freud would not be in the dark about their identity.
Chapter 930 The Illusory Contemplator <TOC> Chapter 932 Sheriff Tulas