Finnian watched Elurian devour his food quickly, filling his small mouth until it swelled, it looked cute. His attention to Elurian has always been based on his loyalty to Rex Violet. He know Rex Violet quite well and always follows him.
So, at the time of the student appointment and seeing Master Rex's interest in a unique boy, Finnian immediately added that thing to his list of things to pay attention to.
He always wanted Master Rex to have something that could make him feel like a human. That way, Master Rex will be able to fill the void in his heart that continues to worry Finnian.
He suddenly remembered something, the conversation he had with Master Rex after they built the Sanctuary base.
-"Finnian, why can those people feel emotions so easily? I had to pay a heavy price just to gain humanity. Are humans really born with lots of emotions?"
-"....Sir, you are more human than you think. Why do you still think that you are not human?"
-"I don't know. I've lived too long, everything seems insignificant to me. The Tower of Desire is the only goal I have now. There's something I want in there."
-"What will you do once you get it?"
-"I will end my existence."
The last words of the conversation rang in Finnian's mind. He choked up every time he remembered it. Even though Master Rex didn't say it, Finnian knew how tired he was. Hoping to stop and disappear, gain eternal peace.
Only then, since Elurian appeared, did Master Rex look more alive. Rather than an entity who was bored with his life and didn't care about anything, Rex Violet became more emotional.
Other guides only have their basic loyalty to Master Rex because they are different from Finnian. So, they wouldn't really care what their boss felt as long as they didn't do anything wrong. In fact, it was more appropriate that they were afraid of Rex Violet than trying to get to know him.
After remembering all that, Finnian decided to keep something that could be the reason Master Rex existed.
He saw Elurian finish his food happily and fully. Finnian remembered the nickname Master Rex gave his disciple.
If I look again, he really looks like a little rabbit.
"Hnm?" Elurian caught a strange look from the blonde guide in front of him. He somehow felt goosebumps.
What's that?
However, the worry didn't last long because Finnian suddenly spoke, "I will fulfill my promise to teach you aether after this lunch. You haven't forgot it, right?"
Elurian was stunned. He felt like many things happened at once in one day. Thinking that tonight he would experience a reaction to the curse, he couldn't practice now or he wouldn't have the energy to endure the curse.
"Uhm, may I postpone the training until Master returned?" asked Elurian who was worried.
Finnian chuckled. "Oh, right. I was just joking, I know you have to wait for your punishment first before doing anything else."
The corner of Elurian's mouth twitched. He didn't understand why Finnian was joking, he didn't look like someone who liked making jokes. No, actually, he might like that with a poet-like look.
"Alright, you can't leave the room, so stay here. Don't worry about protection, besides me, there will be surveillance stationed here. The previous incident won't happen again."
Finnian stood up then made a clapping gesture and suddenly the bedroom door opened, the previous servants returned to clear the dining table.
"I have to take care of something for a moment." Finnian told him while assuring him that there would be protection while he was gone.
He left with the servants and Elurian's room finally became quiet. Elurian was finally free and immediately lay on his back on his bed.
Lunch felt like afternoon tea time. He was finally free from Finnian's strange supervision and could think about how to deal with tonight's predicament.
The entity had been silent ever since he had been teasing it, now it was completely silent.
"Hey, don't you want to talk with me anymore?"
[...you told me to shut up.]
"Let's get ready for tonight. You can really take half the pain, right?"
[Yeah, I'll bear it for you. Don't give up and become a monster. ]
Elurian's violet eyes sparkled as he laughed. "Even if I become a monster, I will still have common sense."
---
The gate of the Violet Sanctuary opened for a moment, allowing the guide who was Rex Violet's representative to go out. Immediately after leaving the protective confines of Sanctuary, Finnian entered a completely different world
Barren and black land, dead and corroded trees, foul-smelling air, as well as the intensity of a wave of madness spreading everywhere.
His green eyes watched as a large group of wild beasts, corroded by madness, surrounded the Violet Sanctuary. A dangerous beast because it has been tainted by waves of madness and controlled by the energy mutation from the black tower in the Twilight Forest.
Finnian took white gloves from his trouser pocket. His striking white suit made him look relaxed as if he was not at all worried that he would dirty his clothes.
This was his main body, while he left two Avatars in Crescent Manor and one Avatar in the city.
His shoulder-length blonde hair flowed down, his usually friendly appearance replaced by an indifferent expression.
While putting on his gloves, Finnian muttered, "I have to take care of these annoying things. If I remember correctly, that traitorous guide led Elurian to the Twilight Forest or they just moved him there?"
He didn't forget about the betrayal of the two guides, which clearly made Master Rex quite angry.
"There's no way that little fellow can pass through the dark swamp ahead and arrive at the Twilight Forest safely." Finnian was still curious about how the child ended up in the Twilight Forest. He would have to investigate later.
The growls of the beasts grew louder as their numbers increased. They did not attack immediately because they were waiting for their friends. It was clear that the wave of madness was not actually just a wave of madness, but something that controlled the mass of living creatures.
Just when the beasts were about to attack, Finnian's green eyes turned dark. He spread his fingers and revealed illusory golden threads that appeared. Like a puppet controller, Finnian directed the threads towards the crowd of rampaging beasts.
Without moving from his position and only his hands moving, he pierced into the consciousness of several stronger beasts then controlled them to kill each other.
The sentient being's consciousness, emotions, actions, desires, and thoughts that have been implanted with the golden thread become complete puppets.
He can't eradicate them all at once like Master Rex, but he has his own way of speeding up the process. After controlling most of the large herd of beasts, Finnian started to move from his position.
The beasts that had escaped his control surrounded him, but their movements suddenly stopped. The golden threads had pierced into their consciousness and taken over.
He deliberately surrounded himself so that the golden threads would reach their target faster and spread to the next target like a spider web. All the beasts ended up getting entangled.
At that moment, Finnian felt someone approach from behind him. He turned his head and saw Alya watching him from the front gate.
He smiled in greeting and turned his attention back to all his targets. The dozens of beasts submitted to his control and finally calmed down from the source of the madness.
Alya, who noticed Finnian's actions, approached him and quipped, "You're not going to exterminate them?"
"No, I need them for experiments." Finnian still maintained his smile.
Alya looked pityingly at the beasts. She always looked into the distance at the snow-filled Twilight Forest, where one of the black towers was located and was the base of disaster in the Violet Sanctuary region.
Her purple eyes looked anxious as if she could sense that a great disaster was coming soon. Her purple hair fluttered as she felt the polluted aether energy around her.
"Hey, when will Master come back? I think something bad will happen if the tower isn't dealt with soon." Alya turned towards the gate after saying that. She didn't want to stay outside the Sanctuary for too long, where she would be polluted by the aether of madness from the Tower of Desire.
Finnian frowned while looking at the tall black tower that pierced the sky, which was visible within the Twilight Forest. If Alya, a guide who can sense danger, says that, then it is very likely a disaster will arise, that's beyond their ability to handle.
"I hope I don't have to use that golden ticket." Finnian still keeps the special golden ticket that Rex Violet gave him to handle situations that get out of control. However, he chose to fight to the end instead of using the golden ticket.
Not only because it was too valuable, but also because there was a huge price to pay to use it. A golden ticket that summons the Paradox Train, which penetrates space-time, and takes its passengers to the 'time' that the passengers desires.
Of course, that's the general function of a golden ticket. It was still too valuable because if one fulfilled certain conditions, the golden ticket could grant the wish of the applicant, whatever form it took. Regarding the origins of the golden ticket and the Paradox Train, that will all be discussed at another time.
It's clear how valuable it is. What's even more impressive is that Finnian knows how to get the golden ticket without going through Master Rex, but he doesn't want to do it. He would be violating his loyalty to Master Rex if he did that.
"The Paradox Train is the most dangerous place where the past, present and future are mixed. That's what Master Rex said, that's why I can't use that golden ticket carelessly." Either he was muttering to himself or telling someone unseen, but his decision didn't change.
***