When you look up, you can see the sky like black velvet, adorned with countless stars, and the brilliant galaxy crosses overhead, connecting with the reflection in the water, and the starlight flows, brilliant and breathtaking.

Stobel involuntarily held his breath, and for a moment he almost forgot why he had come.

In the original world, there was no such starry sky at all.

The city of Neo was by the sea, and he had seen the sunset sink into the sea countless times, and the stars rippled on the black sea. He thought it was spectacular enough...... But now that I think about it, the starry sky of that world is like a deliberately decorated flower in a noble garden, staggered, beautiful with a bit reserved, but the starry sky I see at this moment is a wilderness full of flowers in spring, chaotic...... It is as wild and free as life itself.

- If this was true, maybe he shouldn't have stopped it.

For a moment, the thought crossed his mind, and then he shook his head slightly at himself. The wrong way will not lead to the right results, especially since human beings have only existed for thousands of years, and they know very little about the world they live in, and if they are exposed to more cruel rules, they may face only destruction.

But...... He may not be able to stop anything. After all, he didn't have a clue at all.

He forced himself to withdraw his gaze and look more closely at the sparkling water beneath his feet, gradually discovering patterns. From the time they appear to the time they disappear, the ripples that spread out in circles follow a certain fixed rhythm. Their edges touched each other but never intertwined, reminding him of a gift from a friend who had returned from a voyage a few years ago for his daughter.

It was a metal bird, unable to fly or sing, but it could flap its wings and jump around, not very agile, but clumsy and funny. What's even more amazing is that it wasn't magic—he took it apart curiously and saw that the birds had delicate gears in their bodies that fit into each other, one leading the other, and once the winding was tightened, it fluttered tirelessly for a long time.

At that time, he thought that this was actually quite similar to the more complex magic circles that mages usually use...... That's another kind of magic, even easier to master.

He pulled back his distant thoughts, calmed down, and followed the ripples under his feet to the beginning of all fluctuations...... or the place where it ends.

Behind him, the two mages that Fernand handed over to him, one silently followed, the other silently staying put.

Stobel couldn't tell how big the world really was. It looks as if it's endless...... But in fact, it exists in a crystal ball.

Heaven and earth are the same...... The whole world is a circle. When he stood still, he didn't feel too strong, and he didn't go far before he was faintly dizzy, but he could only grit his teeth and go on.

He couldn't even judge the passage of time. When he stopped, he didn't think he was in the right place, but he suspected that he was spinning in circles.

But a thin mist rose before his eyes.

He blinked to make sure it wasn't his own dazzle—the shadow of a white-haired girl in a shawl grew clear in the mist.

After a moment of shock, he bowed respectfully: "...... Sage. ”

He had seen her when he was a child—she was a friend of Santo's, and though she was a chubby, smiling old man, there was no one else in the world who could have such white hair and blue eyes.

"Welcome. The voice that spread out around was like an echo in a valley, surprisingly lively, "Whoever you are, you can come here...... What do you mean by that phrase, 'the arrangement of fate'? Although I don't believe much in fate, the coincidence in the world is quite interesting. Even if it's an accident, there's always a reason why you're here. ”

Stobel looked up in surprise.

"I created this place with Santo," Felicity said with a smile in her eyes, "and he should be the one standing here rambling with you, but he's too shy." ”

Stobel's expression stiffened slightly. But he soon remembered that, if the legend was correct, Felicity was much older than Santo...... That gentle and wise old mage was probably just a child in her eyes.

"Well, to be honest, Santo thinks that if anyone could come here, they should know everything, but I think I have to leave you a little hint about what the world will be like when we die...... Well, as you can see, the world is in its own right. It doesn't exist in our world, but it's the true center of the Archmage Tower......"

Felicity's speech was a little fast, and Stormel could only listen intently, gradually realizing that he was only a residual shadow in front of him, and had no consciousness of his own. She couldn't see him—whoever came here, she would show up, with the same expression, and say the same thing.

"If you're a mage...... Of course, you have to be a mage to get here. Perhaps you are aware of it by now, the source of magic...... Your sources of magic are running dry, but, lo and behold, 'magic' is not going away......"

.

"Magic doesn't go away. ”

Verona reached out and stroked the line. The handwriting of the Silver Scepter Harold is as distinct as his own, and each stroke has a razor-sharp edge. But that kind of overly strong character actually hurts others and hurts yourself. As Harold's only disciple, he didn't enjoy much warmth—he was never faced with all kinds of demanding demands.

But he was still the teacher he feared. For a long time, he felt that Harold was the most powerful of the three mages who created the Archmage Tower, and that Santo, the Stone Shaper, was even more famous, simply because he lived the longest.

In fact, he thinks so until now. But he had to admit that Kerman Santo was not as hypocritical and old-fashioned as he once thought.

He sees farther and thinks more. He didn't just look to the stars...... He will also be careful to see the road under his feet.

More than twenty years ago, Santo died in his sleep. Everyone thought that he had been with him on his deathbed by his beloved little disciple, Nick Stobel...... And that's exactly what happened. But the last person he spoke to was Verona.

To this day, the old mage could not forget the shock of watching Santo appear in his room—the archmage who had always been vehemently opposed to the study of necromancy walked straight through his bookshelf and stood in front of him.

He could see it at a glance, but he couldn't believe it anyway...... It was just a soul detached from the body.

"I'm alive, but I'm dying. Santo said calmly, "There are some things you need to know. ”