Chapter 65: Suspects
Ten minutes later, a black-haired kid named Philip, who was around the same age as Charles, walked on the concrete road and soon stopped in front of the red-skinned Chaos Beings.
Although he entered the city ruin earlier than the thieves, he went in the other direction and luckily escaped from Daniel's prying eyes. He wore a brown leather jacket, black shoes, and black leather pants and appeared well-equipped.
He first arrived near the Chaos Beings and soon identified Nicole's face among the newly created Chaos Beings.
"What a pity." He said in an uncaring tone.
"I thought of using these guys for another purpose. But that red-haired man-" He stopped for a moment and soon shook his head.
"Thinking about the past won't change the future. Only seeing it might give me more clues." He closed his emerald eyes and then muttered,
"Past Seeker."
A second later, the surrounding image froze for a second before broke into multiple pieces and soon replaced with another scene.
It was the scene when Richard and other thieves arrived near the statue!
The black-haired kid soon saw the Red-haired man's sudden arrival in the vision and watched him killing the thieves using a strange method with calm eyes.
"Why is he changing them into evil monsters?" He asked himself in a flat tone and soon squinted his eyes as he noticed that the Red-haired man was contacting another person.
But once he heard their conversation and saw the other person's face, the black-haired kid's pupil constricted as he soon muttered with a dubious look on his face.
"Derrick? I heard a lot about him during my last semester, but I didn't expect him to be a big schemer. Heh, it seems things will get interesting."
The black-haired kid waved his hand and broke the realistic 'past' illusion after saying those words.
"Twilight, is it? You shouldn't have attacked me at that time, big nose. If I hadn't entered my pocket dimension, you would have killed me like Landon and Conner. Humph, I will show you how a 'Seeker' will take his revenge." He muttered in an icy tone and then disappeared from there…
…
Somewhere in the Unexplored Forest,
A few minutes ago, Aces team members roamed in the mangrove forest and soon stopped in front of a 100 feet tall pin oak tree while showing confused expressions on their faces.
"Something is wrong. We walked past this tree 10 minutes ago." Emilia said while creasing her brows. She clearly remembered that they didn't make any turns and got puzzled about how they got lost.
At this moment, Charles took out a leather pouch, drank a few gulps of water, and asked a question as he thought of his progress in fire magic,
"Team Leader, is there a way to get the ritual method so sooner?"
After he ranked up to a 'Fire Weaver' class mystic, Charles asked some questions about 'Elemental Heart Creation' to Archbishop Abel and learned that there were two ways to get the 'Elemental Heart Creation' ritual method.
The first one was signing another contract with Life Church.
If he signed such a contract, the Life Church itself would provide ritual materials, Elemental plane co-ordinations, sacrifice material, and so on. They would even send a Rank-3 mage to help him complete the ritual.
But Charles knew that it was just a slave contract, so he instantly refused.
The second one was by completing missions.
Abel said that once he earns enough merit by completing dangerous missions, Charles can request the Church and get the ritual method as a reward.
But Charles was still clueless about how many missions he needed to complete to get a ritual method.
Emilia raised her right hand upon hearing his sudden question, rubbed her slightly wrinkled cheek, and said in a thoughtful tone.
"It's not about the number, Charles. It's about the gain. By giving you a ritual method, what will Life Church get in return? Once you get the ritual method, would you choose to stay in the Life Church, or would you go on your own? Think carefully. There are different methods out there to break the Life contracts. So, the higher-ups won't give those methods so easily."
Charles's eyes narrowed as he heard those words, and he soon fell into deep thoughts.
'She is right. But if I didn't get the elemental ritual method, I won't be able to rank up at all.' He suddenly stopped for a moment and soon asked the Holem's Crown.
'Mr. Runeth, do you know any ritual method to create an 'Elemental Heart' for a Fire Mage?'
'No. But I have another way to summon the Will of any elemental Fire plane.' The Holem's Crown suddenly said in a tempting old man's voice.
'But you won't tell me unless I alter some changes in the contract, am I right?' Charles clicked his tongue in annoyance and soon shook his head.
"Don't put too much thought into it, Charles. You already gained full control over the Holem's Crown, which itself is a big merit. Once they learned that you are already in possession of the Holem's Crown, they will definitely step down and give you that ritual method." She deliberately paused for a moment and soon said,
"Now the bad root has been cut off from our team; I will ask you a question directly. Do you know why my brother asked me to go deep into the forest?"
Confusion appeared on Charles's face as he raised his eyebrows and soon went silent.
Upon noticing his silence, Emilia smiled lightly and said.
"It seems you have no plan to tell us about Divine One's warning."
At that moment, Charles's jade eyes widened.
'So, that explains her action! How could I forget that? I'm still a member of the Withering Shadows, so in others' eyes, I'm still a firm believer of Goddess Nira, and I would definitely follow the Goddess's words. In other words, Emilia's secret mission is to lead me to face the 'Fate' and make me reborn as a new!' A look of astonishment appeared on Charles's face.
'Sh*t, isn't that what Goddess and my opponent want? Damn you, fanatic woman.' He cursed at her silently and said with a forced smile on his face.
"No, I thought that involving the team members in this matter is not a good option, Team Leader."
Actually, his main goal was to gain complete control over the intellectual artifact. Although he completely tricked it into signing the 'Imagination Contract,' the quest about saving the Holem's Crown still hadn't been completed. If he somehow managed to complete it, he will get 8,000 Exp! For him, that would be the real treasure.
"Nah, it's okay. Bishop Reynolds visited me before you ranked up and told me about everything. Heh, although I don't know much about this Fate and all, I can tell that it is possible to change one's Fate completely." While he was in muse, Emilia waved her hand and continued.
"Bishop Reynolds got a revelation from the Goddess herself, which is not something we should casually brush it off. Take your new artifact as an example. When your ancestor made a prophecy, he mentioned that Holem's Crown would show its appearance on October 2nd. To our surprise, the Holem's Crown indeed revealed its presence to the world today. Did you understand why I lead you here?"
Upon hearing her question, Charles thought for a moment and furrowed his brows,
"Are you saying that I won't be able to change My Fate?"
"That itself is a sophisticated question. What is 'Fate'? In my opinion, Fate is nothing but a twisted future, and it will restrict the mortals from deviation to a dangerous path. If you try to change your Fate, it will not only affect you; it will also cause harm to your family members and friends. That's why the Astrologer class Mystics always pays close attention when changing one's Fate. Everyone's Fate has one single destination, and we all work hard in our life to reach that particular destination. Then, in the end, it's all up to us to decide whether to walk on it or not. If we give up earlier, then that destined Fate will also fade away while creating a totally different one."
"What about the Red-Prince? Isn't he creating multiple coincidences and changing the whole city's Fate?" Charles asked with a frown.
At this time, Andrew suddenly sat on the nearby rock and posed a question.
"What if he is correcting others' Fate? What if the one changed the others' Fate is another person, and he is trying to change it to a normal?"
This question caught both Charles and Emilia off guard.
'Now that I think about it, it is possible. What if someone interferes with Red Prince's plan and constantly breaking others' fates?' At that moment, Charles subconsciously thought of the Game-system hidden in his body.
'Did my Game-Interface started all this? Wait… The fake Eddie Nightwind also said something about me being an Irregular… So, what if whenever I use the Game-Interface to level-up, I'm also creating a variation in the 'Fate'? It is possible!' A look of realization appeared on Charles's face.
'So the Game-Interface in my body is the real culprit, huh.' He was momentarily at a loss for words.
Meanwhile, Emilia took out her star watch and muttered in an understanding tone.
"It may be related to the power of 'Time.'"
Upon hearing those words, Charles raised his head and stared at her in puzzlement.
Noticing his gaze, Emilia placed the 'Star Watch' back to her void pouch and shook her head.
"I also know nothing much about the 'Time.' And, I never even heard of someone with abilities to see futures other than Astrologers."
At that moment, the red bracelet on Charles's wrist shone in dim red light, and soon an old man's voice came out from it.
"Ancients call them as 'Seers,' and they are the opposites of 'Astrologers.' Although I don't know why there were no 'Seer' Class Mystics appeared in this Edhen World, I can vaguely guess that these fake Gods must be the reason." Without waiting for Emilia to say something in anger, the Holem's Crown let out a chuckle and continued.
"Time and Fate are two different things, lads. No, I would say that those two are polar opposites. For example, Astrologers always try to control someone in the name of 'Fate' and improve themselves by twisting someone's Fate in their own way. Although they let the mortals move to their destined Fate, they are still restricting the mortals in many other ways. Now, this 'Time' is a unique thing. They break the Fate strings and create a unique future. Unlike Fate, Time is differentiated into three types.
The first type is Past Time. My Historian Class's [Elapsed Time] skill is the real example.
The second type is Present Time. Irregulars, Taboo Existences, and Divines are the ones who mastered this Present Time. With Present Time, they can change the future at any time, and their actions will be always unpredictable. As far as I know, the Fallen Time God Udnir and the newbie Time Angel Abium from my world are the only ones who delve deep into this Present Time.
The third type is Future Time. Seers, Tricksters, Time Mages, and some forbidden path Mystics like Warlocks, Divines, and Ancients explore deep into this one. Unlike Astrologer class Mystics, these Mystics will see countless futures when understanding the full nature of Time Law. But there are always some disadvantages, though. Except for the forbidden path Mystics, the Class-Gem path Mystics are weak in many other ways.
Even if they can see the future, if they don't have enough power to stand on their own, then their enemies will squash them to death in seconds. Even if they watch their death countless times and play countless tricks using future visions, they won't be able to save themselves at all. So, if you want to stand above all, you need the real strength."
Upon hearing those words, Charles widened his jade eyes.
'Finally, I have some information about the 'Trickster' class.' He subconsciously nodded his head and then soon understood everything.
'Moreover, my game system has some Present Time ability which itself is a big clue for now. At first, I knew nothing about my sudden transmigration. But in few months, I already gather so much information about the real culprit behind my transmigration.
My first suspect is the 'Taboo Existence' who created the 'Class Gem' itself. That possibility is very slim because my soul is not worth catching a big shot's attention.
My second suspect is Life Goddess. I'm joining the Life Church's organization member, and her warning about the upcoming danger through Bishop Reynolds's mouth; these two reasons made me feel something is off about that goddess.
My third and final suspect is the Sun God. The only reason is he and I are both irregulars.'
When he was pondering, he suddenly heard a voice from afar and soon looked around.
