Richard was not sure what to say when he heard the man's words.
His ancestor?
Since the man said he was his grandson's grandson, his words should be acceptable. After all, he seemed extremely powerful.
It was just that—how many generations were there between him and Richard? How could he still be alive and still appear as a middle-aged man?
Unless his power was truly limitless, allowing him to live for such a long time.
It was no secret that stronger Magi possessed far longer lifespans.
"Boy, what is your name? Once I recover, the two of us will rebuild the Moonshadow Clan," said the man while placing his hand on Richard's shoulder.
"My name is Richard, but sir, you might be mistaken. Your clan should still exist. I just happened to be abandoned as a baby," Richard replied.
Of course, Richard knew that the Moonshadow Clan was his mother's clan.
He had once inquired about this by asking Sister Lisa where Mrs. Wilson worked, and Lisa told him that she served as a maid in the Moonshadow Clan.
Hearing his reply, the man was stunned.
"Who abandoned you?" he asked, looking deeply shocked by this news.
"Forgive me, sir, but I believe that is an unimportant story. May I know your name?"
Naturally, Richard had no intention of telling him that his own mother abandoned him because he had no affinity with any element.
Right now, he was only curious about this ancestor's identity, hoping to gain great benefits from him.
When Richard refused to explain, the man seemed to understand that he had a past he wished to forget.
"Sigh, how the world has changed. In the past, the Moonshadow Clan was filled with unity. The strong always protected the weak. It seems that since I disappeared, the clan has changed too much. I doubt any of my brothers are still alive," he muttered as if speaking to himself.
After that, he turned his gaze back to Richard and continued, "Richard, remember my name. I am Aldric, Aldric Moonshadow. Since you are my grandson's grandson, you may call me grandfather. I am not accustomed to being called ancestor."
"Grandfather..." Richard didn't care about the awkwardness and addressed him directly as grandfather to grow closer to him.
If he had been an adult, it might have been a little difficult since the man looked only in his forties. But he was still seven years old, so it felt quite natural.
And the man looked pleased at being called so.
"Fate is truly wondrous. I fell into the Sea of Calamity and lost consciousness for countless years. Unexpectedly, I drifted back to my homeland, the Land of Human, and after awakening, I met my descendant," he said, stroking his chin.
"What do you plan to do, sir—grandfather?" Richard asked, almost calling him sir again.
"I must recover my strength, recreate my destroyed Grimoire. This will take a long time, so I will remain here and build a hut. After all, there is no way I can return home in this state," Aldric replied.
"But Richard, have you already been training in magic? I can sense that you already possess Aether, even Tier 3 Aether," he added, observing Richard more closely.
His remaining power was very little, still enough to suppress Richard but only barely capable of sensing his strength.
"Mm, yes, I learned to read and then studied magic," Richard answered.
"You learned on your own?" The man seemed disbelieving of what he had just heard.
But Richard simply nodded calmly.
"How did you manage that? After all, Codices for studying magic are not easy to obtain," he pressed.
"I found one in a villager's book."
Richard felt like he was spouting nonsense, but it was the truth. He simply didn't mention that he had been aided by the System.
Of course, he knew he could only pretend to be an extremely rare genius.
"Unbelievable, my grandson's grandson is actually a genius at this level. If you continue to grow, you might even obtain World Magic Aether in this era," he muttered softly.
This was the second time Richard had heard him mention World Magic Aether, yet he still had no idea what it was.
It sounded like the power of the entire world itself.
Unfortunately, the Tales of the Dragon Knight never told the story of World Magic Aether.
"Grandfather, what is World Magic Aether?" Richard couldn't help but ask.
"In short, it is something that makes all the races of the world wage war," Aldric replied with a chuckle.
"By the way, Richard, you have great talent, but I want to know whether you have ambition. I mean, the desire to explore the world, to witness wondrous things, to battle the strongest foes, or to marry the most beautiful woman."
"Ehmm..." Richard cleared his throat awkwardly upon hearing his words.
It seemed he assumed Richard didn't know what ambition was, so he explained it in such detail.
How could Richard not want those things?
"Grandfather, I believe I do have such desires," he replied innocently.
"Hahahaha, I knew it. You are my descendant, so how could you not share my ambition? What a pity that back then, I lost to my greatest foe, who also happened to be the most beautiful woman of that era. I still remember how she looked at me with disgust when I tried to woo her at our first meeting."
Richard, "..."
After chatting and feeding the man, Richard helped him build the hut.
He was unwilling to accompany him to the village, preferring solitude in the forest until he could regain his true power.
The best part was that he promised to give Richard all the Codices and Arcane Arts he possessed.
However, because he only had a sliver of power left, he could not transmit all those Codices and Arcane Arts.
He asked Richard to bring paper and ink so that he could write them down tomorrow.
Richard returned to the village first as evening approached, worried that if he didn't return by nightfall, Sister Lisa would start looking for him.
Of course, he brought back some fish, which made the other children happy since they could eat well again that night.