Even though Gabriel asked Cylix and Novius about the Orb of Time, even he hadn't expected such an extreme reaction from them. It was as if he had asked them about some great devil or something.
It wasn't just the shock that he could see on his face which surprised him. He was sure that they definitely knew something about it.
"I heard someone mention that name before." Gabriel didn't know why, but he decided against telling Cylix and Novius that he possessed one of the two Orbs of a Times. He felt uncomfortable telling them.
The Orbs were kept in the treasures of the Royal Academy of Elements, but from what he was told, the wooden box was received by the Academy not too long ago. It definitely was much after the time that last person managed to reach the ninety-ninth floor.
And even if they could, they wouldn't have known that the Academy had Orbs of Time. Even the Academy couldn't open the box to see what was inside.
There was no way that anyone here was going to know that the Orb of Time was amongst the Numens that he had stolen from the Academy. It was also a good thing that the Orb wasn't something he brought out yet.
He felt that it was much safer to keep this a secret. Even Lelin possibly didn't know that there were two Orbs. That's why he left without looking for the second orb. According to him, Lelin wouldn't have known that he had one as well.
"Who mentioned it?" Cylix asked grimly. "Is there news about the Orbs? Have they been found?"
Just from the tone of Cylix, Gabriel could feel just how serious they were. But why? They were already dead. Why would they be concerned about the Orbs?
Gabriel nodded in response. "I heard that there is a person who found them. A Mage of Light known as Lelin."
He didn't talk about him holding one, but he could definitely speak about Lelin, and he wouldn't be lying. He was just holding back some important bits of information.
Receiving Gabriel's confirmation, Cylix's face turned dark. Novius' reaction wasn't much different either.
They both looked at each other.
"Death needs life to exist..." Novius muttered.
"And Life needs death to hold value," Cylix continued as if they were speaking the same yet fragmented statement. "But time..."
"Time shatters all rules..." Novius finished Cylix's sentence as he started walking back toward his throne, lost in thought. "If the Orb of Time has been found again... Things are worse than we could have expected."
It didn't even look like he was talking to Gabriel anymore. Instead, he was talking to himself at this point.
Novius placed his hand on the armrest of the throne as he spoke something which was entirely inaudible to Gabriel.
Cylix also placed back and forth as if thinking of something.
'Time breaks all rules...? What did they mean? Why do they look so worried? Just what is it about these Orbs? Why was Lelin only after them instead of other Numens? And their reactions...'
Gabriel didn't know the importance of the Orb of Time, but with time, he was realizing that there was more to what met the eye.
Firstly, out of all the treasures, a person only selected this one seemingly ordinary crystal Sphere. As if that wasn't odd in itself, as soon as he touched the Black Orb of Time, he saw some incredible flashes of time.
On top of that, there was the dream in which he came to know that Karyk had taken the Orb of Time from some temple?
It was unclear what that Temple was, but if that Temple tried to threaten Karyk to return the Orbs of Time, then it couldn't be any weaker either. If that mysterious Temple was weak, it would've been like courting death for them to threaten Karyk.
He was already very intrigued about the Spheres of Time, but now this? Cylix and Novius' reactions affected him the most. These people didn't exist in Karyk's time. Moreover, they didn't even know about the Origin Element. For them, it was just a new element.
It was clear that when it came to their knowledge about Karyk and his past, then it was almost nil. They didn't exist at that time either. So how did they know about the Sphere of Time?
'Unless someone still existed in their time who was looking for the Orbs as well...' Gabriel frowned, thinking of something. 'Someone like that Temple!'
"What is this Orb of Time?" he repeated the question once again. "And why are you both so concerned over it!"
"We are concerned about it because we know what the discovery of the Orb of Time means!" Novius exclaimed, turning around to finally face Gabriel again.
"For a long time, the Orbs of Time were lost." Cylix let out a deep sigh as he walked back to the throne as well. He sat on his head, seemingly quite tired.
"No one knew where they were or who held them. Wherever they were, they couldn't be sensed by anyone, so things were quite peaceful. It was as if they were swallowed by the Deepest Pits of Earth!" Novius also sat down, holding his head in his hands, closing his eyes. "However, they have once again been discovered!"
"If the Orbs are out, that means the people who were looking for them will also return... They will also return..."
"They?" Gabriel asked, puzzled. Was Novius talking about who he thought they were talking about?
Novius didn't answer right away. He wasn't sure if he should tell Gabriel all this or not.
"Should we tell him?" he asked Cylix. "Or should we wait until he is ready after completing the training?"
They didn't want to scare Gabriel at the moment by overwhelming his head with all this information. He already had enough troubles as it was. If they overwhelmed him with even more, then it could affect his training.
Even Cylix was slightly hesitant. Gabriel was still very going. His worldview was already very limiting, and even in that small worldview, he was already against so many people. Placing more on his shoulder certainly didn't feel right.
However, after some thinking, he decided to do it. "We should. He would know sooner or later. He needs to be ready for it since he'll be in the middle of it all. However, things couldn't be worse..."
Cylix gazed at Gabriel, prepared to tell him. He took a brief pause before four words came out of his mouth. "The Temple of Time…"
