Chapter 79 - ADVICE
"What does the KeyStone have to do with this Elder Mordain?"
The confusion started to leak out of my face. My own actions made me unconsciously reach out for it but I caught myself and retracted my hand.
The leader of the Phoenix saw this but decided to keep quiet about it.
"Interesting, you know about the KeyStone and yet I have to tell anyone here what it is about." He trailed off, looking at Chul who he gestured. Moments later it was only Mordain and I.
Mordain then gestured for me to sit down in front of him. Then he continued, "Young Luke, there are things that I am concerned about and interested about. Especially the main factor being you in all of these unexplained events and incidents."
Mordain trailed off once more.
His flames around his deity body let go of him and proceeded to form images of what seemed to be incidents of the past. Some I had recognized but some were alien to me. Events that were out of the novel's story, out of the Author's reach perhaps. It may have developed on its own.
I continued to see the flames, studying every single second I could. I tried analyzing every single aspect that may have brought an answer to these incidents but nothing was revealed to me.
Yet out of the multitude of visions or prophetic images it showed me, there was one that caught my eyes. Something that I had yet to see in the novel.
A man in distinct armor, awfully familiar to that of the warrior with the red horse. He watched the battlefield alone as the army he led began to overtake the enemy in battle. That was until a man who seemed no older than 20 years turned the tables. Catching the Warrior's attention, the man headed towards him with what seemed to be the courage of a soldier, but the warrior saw no soldier, all he saw was a boy playing at being a soldier.
The boy rushed with his sword in hand and attacked the Warrior without much of a plan, the Warrior in hand, took the attack like it was nothing more than a child's punch. He grabbed the sword of the young man and tossed him along with the sword across the battlefield that was still occupied around them.
The ground shook with fury when the spells of both sides landed on the ground. All while the two men looked at each other without any apparent concern for the world around them.
The young man rushed once more, this time using one of his elemental abilities, earth, to create a wave-like object below him to sequence his speed.
And that's when it appeared.
A giant shadow overcame the battlefield, making all soldiers, enemy and allies look up in pure horror at the dragon. The warrior only looked at the young man's actions before deciding to pick up his spear-like weapon.
I've seen this weapon before…
The Sky-Piercing Halberd.
This man, no, this warrior, was using a weapon of a historical man.
How?
No. That is the wrong question I was asking, which the previous question didn't have a specific answer.
The right question was—-
"What am I watching Elder Mordain?"
The fire bird man looked amused at my question, but he knew I had no obvious answer or idea to this stage of imagination that appeared before me.
His flames served him like a slave to a slaughter, they served him blindingly with their might. So I doubt his flames would show me a scene of a fight for no specific purpose.
"Do you not have a clue of who these two warriors are?" His voice made it sound like it was obvious. He continued to be seated calmly like he had always been.
He was fresh, no other emotions portrayed around his face or movements.
My silence was the answer for the asura.
"Hm. I thought it was a give away but I was wrong." His eyes looked down to the ground before placing his hand in front of him with his palm open. "Luke, these flames of mine that have surrounded me my whole life, see the past, present, and future of the world's greatest catastrophes."
The flames waved around his arm and fingers like a snake showing its true beauty to its master. It was curious about its surroundings and yet it managed to erase that emotion, converting into a typhoon of fire.
It was small but strong enough to generate a strong heat wave.
"However, this was the first time I was ever able to see how it managed to show you one of the catastrophes that have yet to happen." Mordain pulled his hand back like the fire was hurting him. "Rinia had told me something."
My eyes opened wide in curiosity and amusement. I was waiting for his words to come out but he had said it in a low tone, like a whisper to himself.
"Rinia told me that there was going to be a time where you, Luke Hodges, would come to me looking for something. At the moment I was holding my urge to push that thought away but she continued to speak above me. In fact that was the first time she ever spoke to me like that. Honestly, I thought she was speaking things out of spite but the fear I saw in her eyes told me otherwise."
"So tell me, young Luke, what are you here for? What are you looking for?" The tone of the leader of the Phoenix turned cold and less calm than before. He was not the man I had met before, no, this was the leader of this sole clan.
"I-I don't know what you are talking about–"
"Are you looking for this?" The keystone that is later known as King's Gambit floated on top of his palm.
"What? No!"
"Or perhaps you seemed to know something else, something that the rest of these people here on Hearth don't know about because I have yet to tell them."
"No Elder Mordain, I didn't come here to look for something. There is no object or someone that would save this continent now."
One brow rose in confusion towards my statement. "What do you mean by that Luke?"
I took a moment before finding the words that I could give right now towards someone who isn't fully part of the war.
"In a couple of days there will be an invasion on the city of Xyrus, more specifically, Xyrus academy."
"And who is the invader?"
"You perpetrator is a person you know well, Elder Mordain. Someone who dares to step into Indrath Kezess territory for fun."
"Agrona Vritra."
I nodded.
"He plans to send someone stronger than a regular mage adventurer, stronger than perhaps an S-rank adventurer. His name is Draneeve, an alacryan whom I've met and fought in years previous during my adventuring era. Draneeve will command a certain number of Alacryans but will recruit Dicathens who bear a strong hatred towards the current kings of this continent."
"How do you know about this?"
"I… I don't know. It appeared a long time ago, perhaps when I was reincarnated to this world."
"So it's true. You are a reincarnation."
I looked towards the asura. "You knew?"
He nodded, "Yes, I've known since the first time I met you here but that was only a suspicion but after Lady Dawn's arrival she solidified my understanding of your true nature."
"God… I wished you were to tell me this earlier…"
"Why?"
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and opened them again. "I may have been losing my memories of how the future events of this world happen. I don't know when it happened but I realized that things of this world no longer seem to be familiar but rather more alien to me. Like the invasion and the war."
Mordain was the next to let out a sigh. "So the war really is about to be here."
"Yeah, I had a plan to stop it but things keep changing left and right like the lance that was supposed to die today was…" I took a moment, the realization hit me again. I had lost one of the most precious people to me a couple of hours ago and I was here not grieving like I should have. Then the sole question appeared.
Why?
Why wasn't I remembering certain things any more. I could barely remember the feeling of the mana and aether but not any training that I had with the Lances or the Disciplinary Committee. All of those moments were gone, locked away like some… I have no words to describe it.
"Things have changed Elder Mordain. The deaths of the Lances have changed, events changed, battles have changed. Soon everything will be different from what I knew they were."
"And how will that affect us? This continent?"
"The ending of everything will come soon. Now I know why I came here, the Aether brought me here, it showed me a path, a line and I followed. I need advice from you Elder Mordain, a few strings to pull what I need to be shown. A clear platform where I could stand and fight from here and go all out."
"If I were to do that, what would you do about your power? That Indrath power that dwells in you. Perhaps you may not know this but maybe that is the reason why you are losing your memories. Instead of fueling it with your mana, it feeds on your Aether that enters your body but when it runs out, you wouldn't know since it doesn't feed on your mana. It may have fed on your brain instead."