For nearly an hour, Zachary told Isaac what had happened to him and how he had come to Falanx.
Zachary, or Ricardo, was a 24-year-old student studying sociology at the University of Madrid. Until the day a truck ran him over. He died instantly.
After that, all he could remember was waking up in the body of a newborn baby. He was born into a relatively simple family, peasants living in one of the farming villages in the royal domain of Kilguana.
Very quickly, he discovered his gift for magic, entered the Royal Academy, and at the age of 21, reached the rank of Archmage and was appointed Magus of the Court by the King.
Ricardo was rather passionate about his story. Isaac didn't want to interrupt, so he just listened. From the tone of his voice and his intonation, the young man seemed to need it badly.
Almost thirty years without telling anyone about his origin... It must have been a big secret to keep.
All this was exciting for Isaac because it allowed him to better theorize about his own situation.
Unlike Ricardo, Isaac was not dead. At least not in his world. He had simply been transported from one world to another.
Another thing that interested Isaac: Ricardo died in 2020, a year before Isaac was transported to Falanx.
How was it possible that 28 years had passed for Ricardo and only one year for Isaac? Maybe the time passed differently between Falanx and Earth?
Isaac formulated many theories in his mind but left it at that for the moment. He could always research it later when he will be able to return to Earth.
According to the descriptions given by Ricardo, he did not seem to have system access or knowledge of the Administrator.
Nevertheless, he was aware of the presence of the System from the records written by the Ancients.
Unlike the blue and red windows that constantly appeared in front of Isaac to give him information about the state of the garden, the System had golden windows that only appear during events of the greatest importance.
For example, during his passage from Master Mage to Archmage, a golden window appeared in front of Ricardo. Isaac also remembered seeing such a window.
The reason all mages know about this system is that it is a subject taught to all new mages.
This window has many names in the stories: The Window of Heaven, Father's Messenger, or The Golden Tablet. But "System Window" is the name that seems to have been accepted by the magical community since the word "System" is written above it.
It had attracted the attention of many, but no one had ever been able to testify its appearance other than those to whom it was addressed.
In the archives, reports of other appearances during magical phenomena of great importance, such as mana siphons and space rifts, were found. But these records date back several centuries and no one has been able to confirm them since.
The reason Ricardo was also interested in the system windows created by Isaac was simple. Archmages have been trying to replicate or take control of the System window for a very long time. So far, without success.
The fact that someone has achieved this feat deserved his interest.
Currently, the two Archmages were seated in front of a table, on which were two crystalline cups. Inside the cups was a tea of a light golden color.
It was hot water in which maple syrup had been poured and a few herbs infused. It was a recipe that Artiel had created while trying a few blends with plants in the garden. The taste was special, both sweet and fresh like mint. The drink was invigorating.
- "What should I call you? Zachary or Ricardo?" Isaac asked.
- "Good question. Call me Ricardo in private and Zachary in public. It's been a while since someone called me by my old name," Ricardo answered with a smile.
Isaac nodded in response.
- "Earlier, you told me that you were happy to meet an earthling that doesn't want to kill you. So, am I safe to assume you've met other earthlings?"
- "Oh yes. About fifteen, all psychopaths," he said. "I bet they work for Eris. But I'm sure there are other less hostile Reincarnated out there, but I don't know where they are. They are surely hiding."
- "Reincarnated?" asked Isaac.
- "This is what the writings of the Ancients call us. The Reincarnated, people coming from the Other Side after having died there."
- "The other side ?"
Ricardo then lifted his head up before pointing his finger at the sky, smiling slightly.
- "The Other Side can be interpreted as another dimension or other worlds. But in general, anything other than Falanx is described as the Other Side. Earth and probably other worlds. A lot of the tales I read tell the adventures of these beings and how they were captured, tortured, and exploited by the Ancient Kings. "
The Magus then looked Isaac in the eye, a worried expression dotting his gaze.
- "If you can, avoid saying out loud that you are a Reincarnated. Many people in this world believe that we are either envoys of the Gods sent to serve them or demons invading the world. So, if you don't want to live a slave-like life, I advise you to avoid mentioning it."
Isaac nodded. It was relatively logical, but he didn't totally agree with his way of thinking. It was way too extreme. Sure, some people may want to exploit the powers of Reincarnated ones, but not everyone would do that, right?
After all, the writings Ricardo was quoting were quite old and things always change with time. What's more, tales often have a bad habit of exaggerating things.
But he wasn't going to question someone who had lived almost thirty years in this world. So for now, he decided to keep his identity to himself.
Isaac was intrigued. Something big seemed to be happening and he was curious as to what.
- "And who is this Eris?"
- "A High Priestess of the Draconic cult of Durvador. You must have heard of the Principality I presume" Ricardo asked.
Isaac nodded.
- "I don't know what they want from me, but every time I meet them, the first thing they do is to attack and try to capture me," he said. "Not that they can beat me since I became an Archmage, but they keep trying."
- "Didn't you try to capture and question them?"
- "Of course I did, but they use Draconic spells that I don't know. One of which is a Return spell that teleports them to their point of origin. You should watch out for them."
- "I see" Isaac answered before taking a sip of tea.
- "Anyway, I told you about me, tell me about yourself! I'm curious what kind of Reincarnated you are."
- "I am technically not a Reincarnated," Isaac said.
Ricardo remained still for a long moment, waiting for Isaac to continue.
- "I was transported to Falanx," he said at last.
The Magus looked at Isaac for a long moment without moving. He thought deeply about what he had just heard.
- "Transported? So you were summoned here?"
- "In a way…" Isaac said before stopping.
He didn't know if he had to tell everything. Should he tell him about the Administrator? From what he knew about the world, he didn't have much to lose if he did.
What's more, Ricardo would probably know more than he did. So he decided to tell him. The next several minutes were Isaac recounting everything that had happened to him since he had arrived on this world.
From his meeting with the young woman in the sky, the black snake in space, his apprentice, the system windows, and even the rune of logic. He summed it all up and narrated, in a few minutes, the turbulent weeks he had lived in this world.
He started his story from when he fell from the sky because he didn't want to tell Ricardo about the "End of simulation" thing. He didn't want to alarm his newfound friend, after all the fact that Earth has been destroyed doesn't matter if they can't go there. At least for now.
At the end of his narration, Ricardo was still and thoughtful. After several seconds, he looked up.
- "So many adventures in such a short time. The fact that there is an Administrator occurred to me in the past, but no record speaks of one so I gave up on the idea. The subject interests me. We can research it if you want in the capital!"
Ricardo then laughed with excitement for a bit before calming down a little.
- "Haha! It's been a while since I've been this excited! Administrator! What a title. Immortality, infinite mana, and System access? You sure have some tremendous powers! I can't wait to test them out!"
- "Perfect, when can we go?"
Ricardo then raised his eyes to the sky and the sun before frowning.
- "The royal cavalry should have been here a while ago," he said. "Something is wrong."
- "We can go back to Erivia to check if you want."
Immediately, Ricardo nodded and stood up before casting a teleportation spell. But just as a white light enveloped him, an intense wave of energy swept over the surrounding mana, causing the teleportation spell to fail.
Moments later, a red window appeared in front of Isaac.
[System] Unauthorized mana interference detected
[System] Countermeasure activated
Ricardo stood still for a moment, unable to know what had just happened. Why did his spell fail? He looked at Isaac, who smiled at him before opening a shadow portal for Ricardo.
- "Garden security protocol," he said quite simply. "I have to go to my apprentices to tell them the news, I hope it's okay if they come."
- "No problem, they will be considered as your servants," Ricardo said before entering the portal. "Meet me in Erivia, then we'll leave for the capital!"
Isaac nodded, watched Ricardo disappear, and then closed the gate before slowly descending to reach the camp.
Kiril, Iracuz, Rita, Rebecca, and Artiel were sitting on logs as Isaac appeared in the air. Immediately, the group got up and approached.
- "How did it go?" Rebecca asked.
Everyone else remained silent and waited patiently for his answer. Isaac had expressly ordered them not to interfere.
They understood. Should a fight between two Archmages arise, they would be of no help. They would be as useful as the door to a vault without walls. So they withdrew and stood still, waiting for what was going to happen.
The stress had built up over the hour, but the fact that no fighting took place was a great relief.
- "The Magus invited me to the capital for… let's say an intellectual exchange," Isaac told the group.
Immediately, the atmosphere relaxed. There was no obvious resentment or remorse in Isaac's tone which relieved the two apprentices.
But at the same time, they weren't sure what it meant. Isaac was going to leave? Was he going to leave them behind? Their faces slowly filled with worry until Isaac continued.
- "Iracuz, Artiel, and Rebecca. I give you the choice again, you can choose to follow me or stay here," he said.
Without hesitation, all three took a step forward then placed their hands on their hearts before taking a solemn tone.
- "My place is at your side, Excellency," they said in unison.
Isaac smiled when he saw them. It looked like they had rehearsed together and that made him happy. They seemed relatively well synchronized—there shouldn't be too many problems between them during their training.
- "Perfect, I intend to train you personally, but I also intend to make you enter the Royal Academy. In fact, I intend to enter it as well."
- "What?!" Rebecca said excitedly.
- "Why?!" said Artiel and Iracuz in shock.
- "I only intend to learn what the libraries of Kilguana contain, believe me," answered Isaac, making a small smile appear on the corner of his lips.
The three apprentices shuddered when they saw him and swallowed lightly. They all had a bad feeling about it.
- "Anyway, we're leaving now. So say goodbye," he said looking at Artiel and Rebecca.
- "What will happen to the sanctuary?" Iracuz then asked curiously.
Isaac turned to the young man and smiled at him.
- "I will seal the place," he replied.
Iracuz nodded in understanding. He would have liked to explore the place and see what was in it, but if the owner wanted them to leave, there was nothing he could do.
Several minutes later, the small group descended from the cliffs and arrived in the lower plains, leaving Isaac alone in the heights.
In front of him, a red window appeared. He then proceeded to verify that everything was normal and operational, that the protection rune was intact and functional, and that everything was in order.
Once the checks were done, he teleported outside, looked at the shrine one last time with a smile.
- "See you next time!" he said before leaving to join his apprentices.
The group then split in two and each went their own way. Rita and Kiril returned to the village with the food reserves that Artiel and Rebecca had with them as well as a Lockdown runestone created by Isaac to protect them.
Rebecca, Artiel, Iracuz, and Isaac then took to the air and left for Erivia in a hurry.
While they were on the road, a stone crossed the sky above the clouds and came in contact with the protective dome of the sanctuary.
Within moments, a red window appeared in the air inside the Garden of Origins.
[System] Manual mode disabled
[System] Switch to automatic mode… completed
[System] Message analysis in progress… completed
[System] Message source: ERIVIA
[System] Message type: REQUEST (Martial law)
[System] No information available.
[System] Message ignored
Then, the red window disappeared.