"Can you explain?" the old man demanded.
"If I had an answer, I wouldn't have brought him here," Hinko replied. The old man turned and walked toward the library. Kichu looked at Hinko with confusion. Soon, the old man returned with a trolley full of books.
"These all contain information about sacred swords," he said, taking one and opening it. He adjusted his glasses and began to read.
"When two Gods fought billions of years ago, their clash caused a celestial impact. From that impact, a rotating black stone was born. Everyone who saw it was filled with fear. No one dared approach it, as anyone who did would die. The stone absorbed all energy from its surroundings.
But one day, a man appeared out of nowhere and picked up the stone with his bare hands. Everyone expected him to die—but to their surprise, he split the stone in two, as if it were a bun, and threw the halves into the vastness of space. The pieces landed on two different planets.
Years later, a highly skilled swordsmith found the stones and decided to forge two swords from them. He sacrificed his life to achieve his dream—and created the two most powerful weapons in the universe.
That's what you're holding, kid," the old man said, closing the book.
Kichu stared at the sword, his eyes gleaming.
"What happened to the man who split the stones?" Roco asked.
"No one ever saw him again," the old man replied, wiping his glasses.
"The real question is—how can you hold it? Judging by your appearance, you don't seem to possess a high level of soul energy," he said to Kichu.
"I don't know. Why is everyone asking me the same question?" Kichu replied, frustrated.
"Sir, about the meeting..." a researcher reminded.
"Ah, I completely forgot," the old man said, sitting in his chair. He motioned for Kichu and Roco to sit down.
"Forgive me for the late introduction. I'm Heighstone Xavton, President of the Researcher's Council and founder of this library," the old man said, tapping his glasses.
"He is the greatest researcher in the universe. He played a huge role in making this planet worthy of its title," Hinko added.
"Where are you from, little ones?" Xavton asked.
"We're from Earth," Roco replied.
"I can see that. Which Earth?"
"Earth-199," Roco answered. Kichu glanced at Roco in confusion, but Roco gave no expression.
"Ah... that's a good one. Now, let's get to the meeting," Xavton said, pausing for a moment.
"I've decoded the transcript we received the other day. It gave me a lead on several others. I'm just a few steps away from learning about the God's Land," Xavton said, clasping his hands.
"Sir, isn't that a bit confidential?" a researcher asked, eyeing Kichu.
"It's alright. The next generation must learn our roots," Xavton replied.
"Where are the other transcripts?" Hinko asked.
"They're on various planets. I've already sent people to retrieve them. One of them is quite far, so I'll need that energetic student of yours. What was his name again?" Xavton tapped his forehead, trying to remember.
"No need. I already know who you mean," Hinko said with a smile.
"Hmm... may I ask a question?" Kichu asked Xavton.
"Of course. Curiosity is the trait of a powerful man. Ask away."
"I've been holding this in for a long time. I wanted to ask a great researcher. I couldn't bring myself to ask my master..."
"Oh, you're quite the flatterer. Feel free to ask all your questions," Xavton said.
"My first question… Am I dead?" Kichu asked.
Everyone went silent for a moment—then burst into laughter.
"Haha! What a foolish question!"
"It's my mistake for expecting something profound from a kid," one researcher chuckled.
"Silence!" Xavton raised his voice.
"Can you elaborate?" he asked Kichu seriously.
"The thing is… my existence breaks all known laws of physics. Every time I think about it, my head aches. There's a scientist on my planet who proposed a theory about time and space relativity. He stated that time behaves differently in space—that when mass increases, space bends. When we pass through that bend, time slows for us compared to others. And anything with mass can't travel at light speed.
So if I can't travel at the speed of light, how am I crossing massive distances without experiencing any time delay? It's like time delay doesn't exist in this universe. It doesn't make sense. My master once said that time is the same across the entire universe. But how?"
The room fell into silence again.
Xavton's eyes widened.
"You know, kid… that's one question I can't answer," Xavton said.
"Why? Don't you know the answer?"
"The theory is about 79% accurate. Time and space should never intersect. If they did, life wouldn't exist. But since it does, there must be a catch. I've researched this for years. There are infinite possibilities—but I'll tell you the two most likely. For the thing your master said the universe time is not same in everywhere. It sure has dilations. But it's only two or three days. It's not supposed to be this small. I think that's what your master meant."
"What?" Kichu asked with confusion.
"About the possibilities The first One: We don't exist."
"What do you mean we don't exist?" Roco asked.
"There are countless Sins out there. What if we're just a figment of someone's imagination? It's possible."
"What? How?" Kichu asked.
"Two: Someone is manipulating time to remain interconnected with space. Someone is controlling the universe."
"A person can have power like that? For Casimir, it'd be easy though…" Kichu thought—but accidentally said it out loud.
"What do you mean by that?" Xavton asked, shocked.
"I mean... he has the Time Control Sin," Kichu said. The room went dead silent.
"Oh, you know that, huh?"
"Yeah. Isn't he famous? He even trained my master."
"Oh... He's not that popular. He—" Xavton paused.
"He trained who? What's the name of your master?" Xavton asked, his voice trembling.
"Oh... I forgot to mention. He's the disciple of Sir Saas," Hinko said.
"Sir Saas?"
"I heard he never takes disciples."
Murmurs erupted throughout the room.
"Silence!" Xavton shouted and walked up to Kichu.
"So he found you before me. Tch… always one step ahead," Xavton said, smiling faintly.
"You know him?" Kichu asked.
"Yeah… we were something like friends," Xavton said.
"Friends? I didn't know that!" Kichu's face lit up.
"Ah… he's just like you described," Xavton thought to himself.
"Hey... Tell me about your friendship," Kichu urged.
"We were rivals. I miss those days. Is the crybaby doing okay? He didn't give you trouble, did he?" Xavton asked with a warm smile.
Kichu's face darkened. His eyes dropped to the floor.
"He's gone," he said, forcing the words out.
Xavton's face went pale. The light in his expression faded.
"Is that right... That's... that's terrible..." he muttered, collapsing into his chair.
"My life is now meaningless," he whispered. And before he knew it, tears streamed down his face.
For the first time in his life…
Xavton cried.
-To Be Continued...