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After having tea with Merlin, Edward told him about all his experiences in the Full Metal Alchemy World, including his battle with Truth. Except for private details regarding Olivier, he did not live much out. After all, he was the one looking for protection.
"So, old man, what do you think?"
After caressing his beard, Merlin replied: "You do not have to worry about Truth."
"What does that mean? Are you going to stop him if he comes or he cannot come at all?"
"Just know that you're safe."
Edward looked at him with a speechless look, then said; "Alright. I know old and powerful people like you enjoy speaking in riddles. When I become as powerful as you, I will continue the tradition."
This time it was Merlin's time to be speechless. Edward took out the orbs containing the different [Authority] and asked: "Please check to see if there are any problems with these things. Also, check to see if there is any problem with the knowledge I have received from the Eye of God."
Merlin took the orbs and looked at them, then looked up and down at Edward, who felt like all his secrets were seen through. Although uncomfortable, he did not resist because for one he was asking for help, second, resistance was futile.
"The orbs have no problem," replied Merlin. "However, the knowledge you receive have. Truth has placed a backhand on them."
"Please elaborate."
"I'm guessing that your plan was to create a Knowledge Dimension similar to Truth's. Then, once an Alchemist in your Empire opens the Gate of Truth, they will be sent there. However, if you use the knowledge you got from the Eye of God, Truth would be able to secretly steal from your Knowledge Dimension–even across universe."
"I knew it," muttered Edward; it was too easy to get all that knowledge from Father during the Promised Day. He also knew that powerful entities like Truth have weird methods that he could not fathom.
So, he looked at Merlin with shining eyes. The old man laughed slightly before snapping his finger. Suddenly, Edward felt like some heavyweight has been lifted from his shoulder, then there was nothing else.
He could not even remotely understand what Merlin did. After sighing to himself how he had a long way to go, he said; "Alright, let's discuss the other matters."
"There is more?"
"Of course."
"Fine, little brat, I'm in a good mood," replied Merlin. One of his closest relations is with his disciple, Arthur. However, the latter respected him so much that it was not easy to have a relaxed and non-formal conversation.
Even across multiple universes, it's always like that. It's the reason that Merlin likes the universes where he is an enemy with Arthur instead of his teacher. Or better yet, universes where things get spicy between them or their gender are reverse.
Of course, Old Man Merlin would never admit to his disciple that he secretly experience this universe himself. After all, he has a reputation to uphold.
"What do you think about my plan to reach the Akashic Record?"
"Well, all I can say is that you will need for your plan to have even a remote chance at succeeding. And I'm not talking about Morgana."
Edward pondered for a moment before his eyes lit up, "I know what to do."
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes," replied Edward; this time, he talked about his concerns regarding how coincidental it was for him to discover the hole in reality that led to the Void along with Rowena.
Then, he stared at Merlin intensely, waiting for his answer.
The Old man internally shook his head. To him, Edward was the perfect disciple with plenty of potentials; what he like the most about him was his desire to pursue the essence of magic.
There were two complaints he had about him: one was his womanizing way. He would have preferred if he was a one-woman kind of guy.
The second was his paranoia. However, he understood that his paranoia came from his personality, experience, and high intelligence.
So, after pondering for a while, he said: "Discovering the hole had nothing to do with me or anyone else. You were just lucky."
"Lucky?"
"Yes. Luck is a fundamental part of reality. Some people are born lucky and can accomplish great things because of it. Some people do not have high luck and have to work hard to accomplish their goals. Fortunately, you're one of the lucky ones."
Edward frowned after hearing this, then he asked: "What about Rowena? Was that also my luck?"
"No, she was my doing. She is from a different timeline where after being infected by low-level void energy, the hole in reality that you discovered in the Bermuda Triangle was instantly closed.
"I knew that your travel throughout different universes would be quite dangerous, so I wanted to give you something to protect you from some powerful entity, so I merged her timeline with the one you discovered the Void Hole."
After being silent for a few seconds, Edward said: "Thank you."
"Oh? I thought you would be mad."
"I'm not that stubborn of a person. I understand when people are trying to help me. Without meeting Rowena, it would have taken me a few hundred years if not more to control the lowest level of void energy; there is no way I could be able to use as efficient as now, so it would be impossible for me to deal with people like Truth."
"It's good that you understand. Well, is there anything else?"
"Yes," replied Edward with a more serious look on his face. "I want to know about my reincarnation. About the Earth, I came from."
Merlin caressed his beard, thinking how to reply. A few seconds later, he said: "The Earth you are from is called Primordial Earth."
"Is there any special about it besides the cliche name?"
Merlin was once again speechless before shaking his head and continuing:
"It is indeed a very special place. That Earth is located in a very special High Dimension. Truth be told, many people believe that it is the original Earth and all the other Earths are projections of it. However, there is not enough information to prove that."
"So, what's so special about it."
"Although the people there are just ordinary people, they all possessed an unknown ability. Their minds can receive information from other universes, dimensions, or worlds. Then, they will write about these worlds in the form of stories, movies, books, and televisions.
"On top of that, all the people of Primordial Earth have the ability to create worlds. Any story that they write down, any films that they create, any animations they draw will become a real world.
"The odd thing is that they are not even aware of this."
Edward had a looked of shock on his face, "Then?"
"After discovering this, many powerful people became interested in this small planet. Although no one found the reason for such power, they also discovered another important aspect:
"If you take a random person from Primodialr Earth and have them reincarnated or transmigrated into another world, using their knowledge of "story", they can rapidly grow powerful in a very short time.
"On top of that, a lot of these people have awakening powerful Innate Abilities after being transmigrated."
"What do you mean by Innate Ability?" asked Edward even though he had a guess.
"Things like "system" or your innate talent for magic. Basically what the easterners called [Golden Finger]."
Edward nodded his head as many things he did not understand became clear.
"Because of this fact, many people choose people from Primordial Earth as their disciples, their inheritor, or avatar. If the people they chose did not have Innate Abilities, they would be granted one; if they already did, they would be strengthened. Or they might not receive anything. It all depends on the people who choose them."
Edward understood Merlin's meaning. He has read many stories of protagonists that were granted wishes by Gods before being reincarnated into other worlds.
The Gods are the powerful people Merlin was talking about, and the wishes were the Innate Abilities.
"From what you said, there should be many people reincarnated into different worlds. How come I've never met one in my world?" asked Edward.
"Oh, they exist, just in different timelines. Additionally, these timelines are usually isolated and protected. The Harry Potter World is a favorite of many people, so there are many of them."
Edward nodded his head, planning to one day search for these timelines.
"What about me? Who is the one who reincarnated me? Was it you?"
"No one," replied Merlin.
"No one?"
"Yes. After so many people began to intervene in Primordial Earth, a change took place in that dimension. After death, some random people were chosen to be reincarnated on their own without outside intervention.
"You were one of the lucky ones."
Edward sighed both in relief and disappointment. He was relieved that he did not have some powerful old guy secretly planning his life. He was regretful since the only Innate Ability he received was his magical talent along with the ability to never forget.
He also wanted a system to help him reach the peak of life.
"You do not need to look down on yourself on your talent," said Merlin as if he could guess Edward's mind.
"I have seen many people across different timelines with more powerful ability than you, yet their accomplishments do not come close to you. The majority of them become satisfied after killing Voldemort and achieving immortality with the Philosopher's Stone.
"They become content with their strength and have no desire to explore the larger world, to explore the universe and come in contact with other magic civilization."
This is one of the reasons that Merlin decided to sponsor Edward. With his talent, his limit should have been like the other people, but he had greater visions and actively pursue them.
An example of that is the creation of his World Gate. Many people have been transmigrated into the Harry Potter World. These people should have realized that since the Harry Potter World is real, shouldn't the other worlds that they have learned about in the Primordial Earth be real as well and try to reach there.
But few people do so. The only people who actually do so are the ones who have Innate Abilities that allowed them to travel to different worlds. Unfortunately, these people did not rely on themselves but on their talent.
This is the reason he appreciated Edward.
After taking a few minutes to calm himself down and process all the information, he just received, Edward asked: "Could I return to Primordial Earth?"
"The political landscape there is too complicated. Wait until you're more powerful before trying."
Edward nodded as he was not in a hurry; he accept his new life. He just had a few regrets that he wanted to make up.
"Do you have any advice for me?"
"Yes," replied Merlin. "The World you are currently in is more vast and complex than you could ever imagine. So far, you have barely scratched the surface, be mindful of this fact."
Edward nodded his head, chatting for a little with Merlin before leaving.
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Title: Changes
