Upon hearing the elder's words.
Ian took a sharp breath. One major taboo of time travel is bringing back items that do not belong to one's own time! This could trigger unpredictable causal chaos!
As is well known.
There are many taboos in time travel.
First, one must not intervene or alter known major historical events, as this could lead to the collapse of the timeline or the reconstruction of reality. Secondly, one must not encounter their past self — meeting the past and future "self" could cause mental breakdowns, energy conflicts, or temporal paradoxes.
Do not repeatedly traverse the same time point, do not save the dead, do not create time loops, do not spy on or change one's destiny — and bringing future technology, weapons, or knowledge back to the past could lead to technological explosions, power imbalances, or historical distortions, as well as not bringing past items to the future.
These are the taboo laws of time travel, truths recognized by many alchemists. However, the elder before Ian had clearly done more than just violate multiple taboos.
Not only bringing back things.
But also repeatedly crossing the same time, and interacting with his past wife, with all her efforts ultimately aimed at fulfilling that eternal taboo.
Not to save the dead.
If all other taboos have already been shaken, honestly, whether this taboo can also be shaken and fulfilled is hard to say. It is equally a goal pursued by Albus Dumbledore.
"But one of the taboos of time travel is that you cannot bring back items that do not belong to this time! How did you do it?" Ian pursued the question.
This involved the deepest domain of time magic.
For the first time, a trace of technical pride flashed in Musa's eyes, although this pride was quickly overshadowed by greater loss.
"You're right, the 'effects' of time can't be completely avoided. My skill is not perfect, and I cannot truly bring items from fifty years ago 'intact' to fifty years later. Any item I bring back, no matter how 'fresh' it was at the time point I traveled back to, will immediately have the effects of the passage of time compounded upon it once it successfully crosses the temporal barrier and arrives in the 'present.'"
"That is to say, a bottle of vodka produced fifty years ago, if I bring it back, will instantly become a fifty-year-old aged liquor. Cans would rust, food would decay. They would show the marks of the years they were 'supposed to have.' My skill only 'tricks' space-time to some extent, completing the transfer of matter."
He paused, and his voice became more somber: "I originally… did harbor selfish intentions. I fantasized whether, if the technique were mature enough, I could… bring my wife and child back. But the facts proved that this is almost impossible. Once they are forcibly taken from their time point and brought to the present, what kind of effects would the time rules have on them? Instantaneously aging them by decades or turning them directly to dust? I… dare not take that risk or even do it."
Clearly.
The elder had thoughts about taking his untraveled wife and son away from their past space-time, but someone who's been in despair for too long might try anything.
However.
He hasn't gone mad to the point of disregarding everything, still maintaining the caution and rationality a wizard should have.
Although the other party looked apologetic, Ian listened with enthusiasm. Although Musa himself thought this technique was immature and flawed, to him, it already seemed like a near-miraculous achievement! To be able to conduct time travel relatively stably and even bring back matter is far beyond the realm of ordinary alchemy!
Throughout history.
This kind of ability has only appeared in him, this reincarnated raven. This is the realm of gods, not a field mere mortals can easily venture into.
Of course.
Ian didn't feel offended by this; he's not the petty type. He always knew knowledge shouldn't be exclusive, and someone able to research such means truly delighted him.
"This… this is already incredibly impressive, Mr. Musa!" Ian expressed his feelings without reservation and sincerely admired, "You have almost single-handedly, in your own way, challenged the laws of time! This is simply a miracle in the history of alchemy!"
Musa looked at Ian's undisguised admiration, just smiled bitterly, and that smile was filled with endless loneliness and emptiness. He slowly shook his head, his gaze returning to that pot of stew still simmering with sounds, yet through the rising steam, seemingly looking to a further, unreachable place.
Since Ian entered.
It has been stewing in the courtyard.
Perhaps not just for a day or two.
"No matter how impressive… what does it matter?"
His voice was as light as a sigh but struck heavily at Ian's heart.
"I caught a glimpse of the river of time, touched the fragments of rules, I can even use it to amass a fortune, making the wine ferment more fragrantly… but I still can't save my beloved wife and child. I don't even… know what exactly they experienced, or whether in the darkness beneath that ice field, they felt hunger and cold."
The rural courtyard once again fell into silence. The aroma of stewed meat was still rich, yet it no longer brought a sense of warmth. All skills, all wisdom, and all persistence seemed so helpless in front of the cold, unchangeable past, in the face of the eternal flaw of losing a loved one.