Elurian looked at his appearance in the mirror. He was wrapped up like an egg roll; a gray coat and black cloak covered him. He turned to Finnian, who was trying to hold back his laughter, with a confused look.
"Ahem, the world outside the Sanctuary was more terrifying than you think, so Master Rex requested that you wear thick clothes that protect against contamination. All your clothes have protection magic," Finnian explained as he patted Elurian's head, which now looked a bit fat because of his thick clothes.
Why do you guys like patting my head so much? Elurian suppressed the twitch on his face, distracted by something else. He didn't mind the clothes, but he was as curious as the world outside the Sanctuary.
Rex Violet, who had prepared some things, appeared in his room, then picked him up suddenly like a pet. The corners of Rex Violet's mouth curled up as he looked at his cute disciple.
"Well, we will go through teleportation to the nearest place from Red Square. But, it will still take half a day to get there from that transit place." He told Elurian while extracting his own aether and providing protection to it.
He was on guard in case Elurian couldn't withstand the impact of the teleportation. After all, his disciple's strangeness of not being able to sense aether probably caused him to be unable to withstand the teleportation effect.
Elurian felt something warm hugging him, even though he couldn't feel the aether, the effects of the aether were still felt. He knew his Master put some kind of protective shield around him.
Rex Violet turned to Finnian, then instructed him, "You watch this place while I'm gone, as usual. Also, if the tower starts to activate, immediately contact me."
Regarding how Finnian contacted him, that wasn't necessary. Each of his subordinates had certain artifacts that could contact him at any time, with his permission of course.
"Yes, Sir." Finnian bowed slightly as Master Rex condensed aether around him and formed a teleportation portal.
It wasn't the teleportation portal he usually used. Obviously having brought his weak disciple, Rex Violet didn't want to use that portal that required divinity.
Elurian saw a bluish black portal, like a black hole leading to another world. For some reason, his heart was beating fast and anxiety arose for no apparent reason.
As his Master walked into the portal, Elurian closed his eyes, bracing for the possible impact. Soon he felt everything turn upside down, the excruciating dizziness made him unable to tell whether he was still conscious or no. Like delirium where he felt like someone who was drugged.
Who knows how long passed until the terrifying sensation subsided and his consciousness regained clarity. He opened his eyes with some anticipation and fear, then witnessed something unexpected.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the dark sky and the devastated scene that could not be described in simple words.
"What's that?!" Unconsciously, he exclaimed while tightly grasping the collar of his Master's robe. Showing his fear and confusion.
In the dark sky, huge cracks appeared like glass cracks, as if the world would collapse at any moment. The cracks spread across the horizon to unknown heights. Behind the crack was an unknown pitch black void.
Rex Violet also looked in the same direction, his expression slightly darkening as he explained quietly, "This world was destroyed, you should already know that. You can call it the second timeline as written in your notes. For some reason, this world was replicated and became a second timeline, unfortunately it cannot change the fate that has already happened."
Elurian flinched when his Master mentioned his notes. He stared at Master Rex's expression, trying to understand his meaning and see a certain possibility.
Rex Violet turned his attention towards him and smiled reassuringly, "I already know who you are. But, that doesn't change the fact that you became my disciple. So, don't worry, even though I don't understand why you know so much about this world, I won't force you to tell me if you don't want to."
A hint of disappointment rose in Elurian's heart, but he also felt relieved. His master didn't mind his origins, which meant he wouldn't kill him.
Wait, something feels wrong... Is he really the protagonist I know? No, he's not a character, he's a real person. But, what was the reason for having so much affection for me?!
Elurian still trapped in the puzzle of Rex Violet's true feelings. The more he thought about it, the weirder it became. In fact, he had thought that he himself had a certain magnetism that made the protagonists of this world like him, some kind of love potion?
That's scary if true...
Elurian shook his head quickly, shaking off his strange thoughts. His actions were of course noticed by his Master who was still smiling.
"I'm very curious what you're really thinking, Lil' Rabbit?" Rex Violet wondered while feeling it was a pity that he was restricted by causality. If he wasn't restricted, he could read his disciple's' minds. He felt that it would be very interesting.
Elurian chose not to answer and returned his attention to his surroundings. The crack in the sky slowly spread, leading to the corners of the world. At this transit point, a ruined temple, not a single other living creature could be seen. The ground was black, a rotten smell was everywhere, and the air felt very stuffy.
If not for the protection of his Master, Elurian would not have been able to survive long outside the Sanctuary. The outside environment is too terrible. This is why this world has actually been destroyed, the apocalypse has destroyed this world and all that remains are the poor survivors who still have a little hope of surviving.
Rex Violet stopped joking; he strengthened the barrier to filter the dirty air and contamination of the aether of madness. Then, he stepped towards the direction where the sky crack came from.
His black boots stepped on black mud that seemed alive. The living mud seemed to want to swallow the intruder, unfortunately the terrifying aura of the owner of the footsteps made any monsters around him not dare to appear and disturb him.
His red robe billowed as his footsteps quickened, leaving traces of red aether energy that devoured the surrounding monsters.
Slowly, appearing at the far end of the horizon, where the huge crack began, a black tower that penetrated the sky to infinite heights, appeared in his sight.
The tower was right under the huge crack of the sky, as if it was keeping the crack from spreading too quickly, maintaining balance in this world.
The distance was still too far, and the journey was not easy because there are many obstacles in the harsh environment. Elurian felt that he was really bothering his Master who had to carry him.
Rex Violet can actually speed up the pace and only take a few hours. However, he had deliberately walked around to clean up the remains of the monsters that had not been eradicated by the academy.
They stopped for a moment at a certain cave. That was because Rex Violet insisted that Elurian not forget to eat and actually acted like an overly attentive parent.
Elurian couldn't say anything more, he just obeyed eating food that his Master took out from his dimensional storage. He suddenly realized that this trip was like a picnic for his Master. There are no threatening monsters, just a bad environment. Apart from that, Elurian felt that Master Rex was deliberately taking a leisurely walk and not speeding up his steps.
The all too easy journey finally came to end when they arrived in front of the magical barrier that served as the gate to the tower.
There was already someone waiting there, knowing that Rex Violet would visit and came out to greet him happily.
The figure was wearing crystal glasses, a white wizard's robe with an elongated chain accessory. His shoulder length black hair flowed down and his bangs slightly cover his eyebrows and eyes.
The figure smiled strangely as he glanced briefly at Elurian before welcoming Rex Violet with excessive enthusiasm. His golden brown eyes sparkled.
"I've waited for so long. I thought you wouldn't want to come here," he said, while stretching out his hands in welcome.
Elurian felt that the figure's voice sounded familiar, he tried to remember where he had heard it. Then, at that moment, —
[This is our first time meeting, what do you think? Are you surprised?]
Elurian froze for a moment before he stared at the figure in a trance. The figure's smile grew wider.
***