In his home at St. Delan Square, the vanishing door fell to the floor, yet Shad did not feel as though he had moved.
After sliding his finger into the white mist of the door ornament, he believed he remained standing in place. The door in his hand vanished, and the surging white mist instantly and completely swallowed the second-floor living room of the St. Delan Square residence.
Looking at the small cat plushie in his hand, it had indeed been brought along, and "her" voice echoed in his ears.
【Outlander, you have stepped into the "Time Corridor."】
【A message from the Ancient God, "Father of the Infinite Tree":】
【Autumn, Year 3002 of the Fifth Epoch, Western Continent, Forest of a Thousand Trees.】
【Event: God-Summoning Ritual—Contact with the Old God "Gate of Radiance."】
【Duration: Thirty minutes (1/3).】
"As expected, this key can be used multiple times. Not only did it specify the number of uses the first time, but the duration of a single use is even longer!"
Shad's eyes widened, for the information that followed was the key
"Does the Ancient God of Time have a task for me?"
【You have obtained additional information.】
【The gaze of the Father of the Infinite Tree watches you.】
【The Ancient God of Time grants you a trial.】
【Assist mortals in completing the God-Summoning Ritual—Contact with the Old God "Gate of Radiance."】
【The Father of the Infinite Tree shall grant you a reward: A truth of history (The Witch War at the end of the Fifth Epoch), and the Oddity—Spatial Stability Aura.】
The voice ceased, and Shad frowned as he stood in the white mist.
"A truth of history as a reward? Hmm, such a good deal exists?"
Although there were no spirit runes this time, a truth of history granted by an Ancient God was bound to be of immense value, no matter how one looked at it. Moreover, the Witch War at the end of the Fifth Epoch was inherently linked to the "Whispering Verses" and the secrets of the epoch's end. Even if it were truly useless to Shad, Miss Galina likely wouldn't mind spending money to obtain some hidden history from him.
He looked at the surrounding white mist, his expression remaining solemn.
"But this task is to assist mortals in contacting a god. In other words, I can only potentially meet the Old God if the task is completed... this is troublesome."
He had originally thought that this time, too, he would meet a god directly. If he encountered a benevolent god like the 【Innocent Creator】 again, he would gain sufficient knowledge on utilizing divinity.
This time, he had to help mortals summon a god; it was highly probable that a single time-travel trip would not be enough to complete it. But thinking positively, such a task was better than dealing with an evil god from the past, and he had gained an extra 30 minutes to ponder what to do upon his return.
"However, I've never heard of the Old God 'Gate of Radiance.' Is it another of those obscure Old Gods?"
With these thoughts, he stopped wasting time and stepped forward.
The surrounding white mist dissipated. In the silence, the chirping of cicadas grew louder, followed by the harder-to-detect sound of wind blowing through treetops. With one step, he entered a nocturnal forest. All was silent, as if everything had fallen into a deep slumber.
Without changing Mia back from her plushie state, Shad stood in the woods and looked around. Regardless of which life he was in, this was his first time visiting a true primeval forest.
The light of three moons filtered through the overlapping dense canopy overhead, casting mottled patterns on the ground. Those shadows swayed slightly as the wind brushed the branches. The surroundings were incredibly dark, as if something were peering at him from the darkness between the trees and weeds.
Once he thought this, a sense of panic involuntarily rose within him. This emotion was completely abnormal; compared to being gazed upon by an evil god a few minutes ago, a strange environment should not have frightened him.
"The Forest of a Thousand Trees... it has problems, just like Hope Town."
The wind blew gently, and the rustling sound in his ears felt like countless whispers overlapping. A sense of nausea gradually emerged, causing Shad to instinctively raise his hand to cover his head. Simultaneously, double visions and hallucinations appeared before his eyes—though perhaps they weren't hallucinations at all. He saw that on the trees surrounding him, eyes were opening one by one.
Those eyes were watching him, and the headache grew more intense.
"The first time I went to Hope Town, I was also surrounded by eerie scenes. Why is it like this every time?"
There was a faint light in the thicket ahead, so he endured the headache and ran forward. After pushing aside the grass in front of him, warm light immediately shone upon his face.
He stumbled out of the thicket completely, and the damp, decaying smell of the forest vanished. The air was fresh and dry, and he could even faintly smell a high-grade fragrance.
Shad had only smelled a similar scent on Miss Galina.
After running out of the thicket, a towering giant tree stood before him. Compared to the tree in front of him now, the 【Corpse Tree】 he had seen not long ago seemed as short as a weed.
This was a true world-tree; no other trees grew beneath its massive canopy, and Shad was currently standing in the clearing under that canopy.
A campfire was lit near the base of the trunk, the flames a dazzling crimson-gold. It was this firelight that dispelled the eerie sounds and atmosphere of the surroundings, making this clearing feel cozy rather than dangerous like the forest behind him.
Beside the campfire were two simple cloth tents, with kettles, small mirrors, wooden bowls, wooden boxes, basins of water for soaking clothes, and other miscellaneous clutter placed nearby.
Three hooded women sat by the campfire, like motionless statues. Hearing the sound of Shad emerging from the thicket, the women removed their hoods and looked up.
【Did you forget something?】
The whispering voice in his ear asked softly.
Shad stood at the edge of the clearing, which was also the edge of the campfire's light. Because of the flickering flames, his shadow swayed and projected onto the man-high grass behind him.
Listening to the crackle of firewood in the hearth, a troubled expression appeared on Shad's face.
"Oh no!"
Last time, he had encountered a god in the Fifth Epoch, but this time, he had encountered mortals in the Fifth Epoch. The characteristic of the Fifth Epoch was that only women could use supernatural powers, and witches harbored a special aversion toward men. Since they were performing a god-summoning ritual, the three women before him were certainly witches.
"How am I supposed to explain my appearance now?"
He was in a bit of a predicament.
The three witches by the campfire had already stood up. The young lady on the far left spoke
"Teacher, someone is coming. Oh, it seems to be a man. Something is wrong; I don't feel anything unusual from him. Is it an illusion?"
It was another language he had never heard, but fortunately, Shad could understand it.
The young lady on the far right said
"Teacher, he actually dared to enter the depths of the Forest of a Thousand Trees at night; even we wouldn't dare do that. Teacher, I understand now—this is a monster manifested from the forest's malice. This is not a human."
The woman in the middle, holding a book, looked at Shad. She appeared to be twenty-three or twenty-four years old, her skin as white as milk, her long golden hair exceptionally dazzling, and her golden pupils were actually glowing. With the campfire nearby, the witches' shadows were projected onto the giant tree behind them.
For some reason, Shad actually felt that the face of the woman called "Teacher" looked somewhat familiar.
This lady appeared exceptionally calm
"I have said many times, do not look at the appearance, look at the essence. I see the spark of life within him, a normal spark, which means he is a normal human. I also see ether flowing through his body—though weak, it is exceptionally brilliant—which means he is a mortal capable of using supernatural powers. There are no traces of illusions, and witches are not permitted to undergo gender transformation. Therefore, this is a normal man who can use supernatural powers."
Shad did not speak. He locked eyes with the woman in the center, intending to hear what she had to say.
Since the Ancient God had asked him to help mortals complete the summoning ritual, the difficulty certainly wouldn't be gaining the other party's trust; otherwise, three thirty-minute trips would definitely not be enough. But even if the other party were a well-meaning stranger, it didn't mean he could let his guard down.
"Teacher, is this normal?"
The young witch on the far left asked inquisitively. The woman called "Teacher" questioned her students
"What else do you see in him?"
"The light of the silver moon," the witch on the right answered.
"The breath of the trees," the witch on the left answered.
The "Teacher" shook her head
"His ether does not exist in the form that ours does, but in a strange form I once saw in the Southern Continent. A Circle Caster. This man is not a witch, but a supernatural practitioner of a quite mature Circle Caster system. He—"
The witch's golden eyes met Shad's, and Shad understood what she was about to say. A witch capable of holding a god-summoning ritual and even having the Ancient God—the Father of the Infinite Tree—send a helper was indeed extraordinary
"—comes from the future."
His identity had been seen through so easily, but for Shad, this was actually more convenient; he didn't have to exert effort to explain himself.
Furthermore, the fact that the other party possessed broad knowledge and great strength indicated that their summoning ritual was very likely to succeed, rather than Shad having to build it from scratch.
"Yes, I do indeed come from the future."
He did not argue, but he immediately saw the confused expressions on the witches' faces. He then realized that the Sixth Epoch common tongue he was using was completely unintelligible to them.
Just as he was about to try and express himself through gestures, he saw the witch called "Teacher" whisper something to the young lady beside her. The latter ducked into the tent behind them and brought out a small box.
"If you trust us and harbor no malice, come a bit closer."
The witch said. Shad nodded and approached the campfire cautiously. He noticed that centered around the campfire, circles of golden powder were scattered across the clearing. Every time Shad crossed a line, the powder would emit a sharp whistling sound or glow brightly; this was likely some form of alarm system.
He arrived at the campfire, and the witch called "Teacher" handed him the box, which contained a brooch. It was silver, shaped like the ancient rune for "Language." After touching the brooch and confirming it was a relic, Shad pinned it to his chest.
"What does this do?"
"We can understand what you are saying," the witch on the right said, then explained
"This is the relic 【Translation Brooch】. I didn't expect it to work for the language of the future. There should still be a relic system in the future, right? You should know what I mean."
They motioned for Shad to sit and talk, seemingly accepting the fact that the man before them was from the future almost instantly.
The three witches had likely witnessed many more miraculous things. Shad nodded and sat down with them.
Even if he didn't get to contact a benevolent god directly this time, this was still a good start.
PS: Guess who the "Teacher" is.
(End of Chapter)