Andar had been expecting something different to occur after he emerged victorious, at the top of his head were numerous speculations, the first being the Black Tower had become compromised by outside forces, and the Supreme World was resolving the problem and eliminating the mistake.
The second was that there was a war between the Great Towers and he was caught in the crosshairs.
Or a rogue faction of discontented Mages led by his mother had seen a loophole in the defenses of the Black Tower and were staging a surprise attack.
He had dozens of other scenarios in his head, one thing he had learned was that life took strange pathways and anything was possible, but it turned out that he could still be surprised because this was nothing but an interview, and the result of it still reverberated in his head,
"Andar you have won the right to determine the fate of the Mages in this universe."
If these words were not coming from what he suspected were Tower Masters, he would think he was inside an extremely elaborate prank. No matter how talented he was, he was nothing but a Rank 1 Mage.
There were two tremendous presences before him, one was black and the other white, this was the only method his mind could distinguish what was before him, although his body was telling him something far different, he could not interpret the sensations, which was a good thing, because he knew knowing would erase him from existence.
Andar distinctively noticed that whatever was happening here which was blocking the Aethernet, his spatial storage, spells, and generally messing with Time was coming from the presence that existed in white. His body could feel it— like a mortal being blasted with radiation while standing beside a star.
No matter what happened next, Andar knew he would never remain the same again… these changes, and what he was witnessing were just too much. Rowan had not displayed this level of power to him in order to protect his sanity, but these powerful existences were not so gentle.
The other presence had been the one to announce his victory and Andar instantly felt a deep sense of familiarity with this presence and it was not particularly difficult for him to put together that this presence was the Tower Master of the Black Tower.
The spell used to create the Aether Geyser and the Inheritance ground where the Meditation Arts were stored was cast by this presence and Andar could feel it, as if his signature was left deep inside everything that he created.
He was the one who spoke to Andar and announced his win, but this did not bring Andar any sense of achievement, only fear, he would be foolish if he was not feeling like shitting himself at this time.
The presence of his Tower Master seemed to make a gesture that he could not perceive and once more Andar felt the flow of time coming to a halt.
Except for him and the Two Tower Master, everything came to a halt. It was a humbling thing to realize that all the powerful Arch mages were so helpless against this power.
Andar eyes looked at the frozen Arch mages, particularly his mother.
If this was a power that was unique to Tower Masters, how come his mother had been able to halt the flow of Time when she had arrived? If she was not the one, then she had been nothing but a puppet, just like Mira.
He swallowed, a mere moments ago, the only thing on his mind was gaining his Mithril badge for his various Magus Disciplines, he had big plans for his future, allowing himself nine years to become a Rank 9 Mage and not even understanding what he needed to achieve to become an Arch mage.
Now he had battled with a user of a Supreme Meditation Art and two Tower Masters were here in the material universe giving him a crazy notification.
A pulse of power from the Tower Masters shook him from his speculations and he watched in amazement as their ephemeral form shifted until they assumed a humanoid shape, although they still resembled creatures that were forged from light and darkness.
Andar suspected they were taking this form because of him, he doubted he would be able to withstand seeing their true form when he could not even withstand the presence of an Arch mage.
They flew down to his side and Andar could not help but bow his head in deference once more. His heartbeat was erratic in his chest, and he could not control it, even if he tried.
Something suddenly felt different as if the universe flipped on its head, and the sensation of apprehension left his body, leaving his heart serene.
"Give her to me, child, you have done well and I did not regret giving you a boon, for you have exceeded my expectations a hundredfold." A familiar voice entered his ears and Andar shook, he looked up and there were no longer two figures here but three; the last one resembled an older woman with kind brown eyes whom he had seen when he entered the Isle of Rest.
He had met this woman when he created Weeping Child, a Named Item, she had given him more Primordial Essence than he should have received which had boosted the growth of his power. He had suspected at that time that she was a powerful Arch mage, and it turns out that she was a Tower Master after all.
Andar saw himself walking up to her, his body acting against his conscious commands and giving the older woman the brain of the girl he had been holding,
"Let me take this one from you, I fear her mother would make an unwise decision and punish her for her loss." she smiled again at him and he felt his heart rejoice, if she had asked him to kill himself he would have done so while thanking her for her opportunity to do her bidding.
Mortals worshiped gods, but Andar thought that perhaps even the gods should worship this woman.
The older woman seemed to read his thought because he would have sworn that she rolled her eyes and turned to the two Tower Masters beside her,
"Surely you did not think you would make the final decisions for this universe without my input, Silas, Aeris, you forget that I'm still the Watcher of this universe, do not make me regret my cooperation with you two after all this time…"
Her voice seemed to shape reality and as she mentioned the name Silas, the humanoid form of the Tower Master took the shape of a man. Her words were bringing order out of chaos, making the impossible possible, and giving Andar the opportunity to see this realm of true power.
The words of the so-called Watcher of the universe had made the Tower Masters assume mortal form.
Silas was tall with black hair and eyes, his clothes were similar to Andar's, all black, but without the silver trimmings, this gave him the appearance of a specter, Andar noticed that even his lips were black. There was a feeling of intense focus around him, as if everything he did was to perfection, even the act of blinking must be perfect.
The second Tower Master Aeris took the form of an extremely towering woman, nearly twelve feet tall, with bright silver hair and a cold but gorgeous face; she resembled the girl that Andar had been fighting, they could as well be twins. Andar had only one chance to look at her face before turning his head forcefully away, one look was enough.
Her face was similar to the girl in every detail but that was before Andar saw her eyes, there was a look inside them which were relatively similar to the eyes of Silas the Tower Master, they appeared… he had to search for the answers for a while before he understood it—broken.
If not for the brief moment he had spent with Rowan he would not be able to glimpse this truth. The Tower Masters had the form of humans, but they were far from this level of existence.
Their eyes had truly witnessed eternity, not just a single eternity but many eternities. This was a concept that Andar did not understand; he just knew.
