The sun had sunken beneath the horizon, allowing lovely stars to take place.
Well away from Frozen Wing, Beals found somewhere among the clouds and told Angor to stop.
“Alright, this should be far enough. Everything I heard about the Abyss suggested shady conspiracy, Angor. If you’re going, do not get too deep.”
Angor nodded. He appreciated it that Beals would not get judgmental about his business.
“Two things. Apart from looking for clues about the Evernight Kingdom, I want to talk about that particular name you told Rossum.” Beals looked rather serious.
“Is it Cassini?”
“Correct.”
“Who is it, sir?” Angor did not ask this one back at Frozen Wing because he knew Beals was trying to hide it from Vifet.
“Can I ask a question first?”
“Sure.”
“Where did you find this name?”
Since Beals was asking so, Angor was almost sure that “Cassini” was someone who existed in the wizarding world, but not an illusion fabricated by the omen challenge. And if someone could barge into an alchemy omen freely... They must be someone with amazing powers.
He heard about certain demons who could bestow their power upon alchemy items, such as the Crown Clown. Could Cassini be another individual who collected the power of “belief” from people?
A Grand Demon could easily bath the entire southern wizarding world under blood and make people suffer for a thousand years. If Cassini was such a demon... What could he do?
“You can’t say it?” Beals saw Angor’s unnatural silence.
“I heard this name from someone.”
By “someone”, Angor was talking about none other than Cassini himself. And it wasn’t a lie.
Beals gave Angor a thoughtful look. As an experienced trader and negotiator, he was aware of what Angor was pulling off. But there was no need to point it out right now.
Angor basically admitted that he obtained Cassini’s “blessing”. Knowing this, Beals suddenly grew excited, for he was more or less talking to a future truth-finder right at this moment.
At the same time, he felt jealous.
At this rate, Angor was almost sure to become a truth-finder as long as nothing unexpected claimed his life. And if Cassini was a little more generous about his blessing, Angor might even achieve the level of legend.
The “effectiveness” of Cassini’s blessing was already proved by Monkey, who claimed that he once met with Cassini. Today, Monkey was undeniably the strongest wizard in the southern region.
Beals had maximized his potential and resources, yet he still had zero clues for finding the path of truth. Naturally, he was jealous when he saw such a young apprentice gaining the decisive destiny for free.
But unlike common wizards who would easily go insane out of enviousness, Beals only grew ever more determined to secure Angor’s cooperation at all costs.
“Ahem. It doesn’t matter.” Beals looked away. “But remember, do not tell this name to anyone else. Cassini... This very name means a definite and auspicious future AND a troubled fate. He is the Time Thief.”
...
Beals summoned a flying whale as his mount and disappeared into the darkness, leaving Angor to think about the story of the Time Thief alone.
Angor once heard about “Time Thief” from Greya when leaving Phantom Island to return home. But Greya didn’t finish her explanation for some reason.
Beals was a little surprised to see that Angor didn’t know who Time Thief was, so he offered to introduce this particular figure in great detail.
While listening to Beals, Angor was certain that the strange shadow that talked to him in the omen challenge of Crimson Aegis, was exactly Time Thief. Back then, he had no idea what Time Thief meant by “taking his unwanted choice away”. Now he understood what was going on.
He made a choice during the omen challenge and earned a favor from Time Thief, who then added an unexpected trait onto Crimson Aegis as a reward.
“I can become a truth-finder since I saw him? Is Time Thief a truth-finder? But why would he steal people’s choices then?”
According to Beals, Time Thief was probably several levels higher than legendary wizards, which meant it was impossible for someone like Angor to infer his intentions.
Still, Angor learned something useful today, that he carried yet another dangerous secret that could either benefit him greatly in the future or send him to someone’s lab cage if it was discovered too soon.
“Damn it. Another burden to take care of...” Angor rubbed his temples and headed back to Frozen Wing.
While explaining Time Thief, Beals also mentioned several wizards who encountered Time Thief before, such as Monkey from Moonfrost Union and many famous figures, most of whom Angor had heard about.
Also, Sunders was one of them.
Beals was only certain of a dozen people who received Time Thief’s blessing, while there might be many more. Though one thing was for sure, that Angor was the weakest and the most vulnerable “lucky guy” among all.
“I should’ve talked to my professor before talking to Beals...”
Thankfully, Beals appeared to be peaceful for the moment. What worried Angor was another matter Beals told him, that Vifet and Gauss might have caught wind of the secret.
“Vifet shares friendly relationships with lots of wizards out there, but we never know one’s true nature until they reveal it to us,” warned Beals. “As for Gauss, you should be safe from him when you have an anti-prophecy gadget.”
...
Angor returned to Frozen Wing only to see many people gazing at him.
Madelyne had been surrounded by several passionate wizards as well, despite the unsociable temperament she always carried on her.
While a bit confused, Angor carefully joined Madelyne and instantly became the new target of Madelyne’s new friends.
“You must be Angor!”
“Mister Phantom truly found a brilliant student.”
“Gods bless us. The Great Beacon Performing Academy will always keep its door open...”
What was going on was plain to see—his fame had attracted all these people. Without the protection of Brute Cavern, he would be expecting more aggressive trouble from now on.