Chapter 70: Island of Wisdom

"Indeed, I am talking about the island of wisdom that contains the legacy of the King of Time," Theodore said with a calm expression on his face.

Vincent caught on to the subtle hints in his words and his crimson eyes brightened in glee as excitement filled every fiber of his being.

"Instructor, your words imply that his legacy existing in the island of wisdom is a truth rather than just mere rumors. Is that honestly the case?" Vincent asked to confirm his suspicion as he looked at the man sitting in front of him.

"Well, to say the least, it was never a rumor to begin with. The rumors were only mere lies spread by the Four Great Royal Families to hide their shame." Theodore's calm mood took a swift turn as sad recollections of the past popped up in his mind.

A hundred and sixty years ago, the island of wisdom was a place where one could visit as they pleased as, at that time, the Emperor of Flames was hospitable to the people belonging to his race and the races allied with the humans. His hospitality wasn't without a reason as only those who provide a treasure of equal value could pass through the gates of the Temple of Flames and enter the island of wisdom.

However, after a certain incident, the Temple of Flames closed its doors for everyone except for the family and followers of Liam Horus.

"In what way?" Vincent asked with a curious look on his face.

"The legacy of the king of time is protected by a barrier. The descendants of the four families had never managed to walk past the barrier. Except for the few extremely powerful beings, no one has ever managed to glimpse at his legacy. The ones that did failed the trial and were kicked out of the boundary by a force they could barely resist. Outraged, the fools attacked the barrier with the strongest form of their abilities intending to destroy his legacy.

"However, they were beaten black and blue by Emperor Lima Horus. After that, some left in shame while the others were flung or kicked out of the Temple of Flames, and ever since that day, no one has been granted entry into the basin of wisdom. It was only after that day, certain members of the four families spread lies to hide the embarrassment they suffered under the hand of both Liam Horus and the king of time Ylaleath. Over the years, this lie has become a reality as Liam Horus never interfered with worldly matters."

Temples in general don't interfere in political and worldly matters unless necessary. The Emperor of Flame didn't interfere as he was a prideful man whose heart can't be shaken by the barking of dogs.

While digesting his words, Vincent licked his somewhat dried lips as his eyes gleamed in flickers of mixed emotion.

What a shocking revelation!

He could never have believed that the four families would spread lies just because they were taught a rightful lesson if he didn't hear it from the instructor Theodore's mouth.

"I am saying this for your sake, don't you ever expose the truth of this matter to anyone else who isn't worthy of your trust."

The underlying meaning behind his words was that Vincent will suffer a great deal if somehow the truth about this matter spread from his mouth.

"You shouldn't have told the truth to me," Vincent said with a somewhat exhausted expression as the truth he has come to know about might embroil him in useless trouble.

"Well, you're the one who asked about it. I also believe you're sensible enough to never commit a mistake with fatal outcomes. Besides, I have safeguarded this truth for more than a hundred years, and I am still alive and well!"

His words expressed the respect and admiration he held for Vincent. It also tried to undermine the severity of this situation.

Vincent looked at him, shrugged, and sighed. "Instructor, isn't it because you're powerful enough to thwart all harm that comes your way."

"That's correct!" Theodore's lips stretched back to expose his pearly white teeth.

He shared great relations with the Great Royal Truemight Family led by the Emperor of Might for various reasons, one being the fact that they were indebted to him. The other can be attributed to the fact that they were both followers of the Temple of Time.

The Hollow Family led by the Emperor of Abilities solely focuses on profit. Most of the massive auction houses and markets spread across various planets were owned by them. They were the richest family in the universe as they never took actions that could harm their interest in any way, and they considered it to be a waste of manpower and resources to hunt down Theodore.

The Ambrose Family that stood beside the Hollow Family had the same ideology. They had no intention of going against him as he was one of the major sources of their income.

This family's main turf was the Virtual World where Theodore was one of the most famous merchants.

Lastly, the Walken Family wasn't stable enough to have a face-off against him.

Naturally, Theodore never had any intentions of pissing off any of them. 

The Great Royal Families provides the military with benefits and facilities. Not to mention, the military academy was also funded by one of the four families.

Why would he berate and beat the peoples funding him in certain ways and helping all the races?

Thus, he never revealed the truth of this matter to the public. He only revealed it to some people who he deemed as friendly and trustworthy so that they can guard against the great royal families.

After a few moments, once the frown and the defeated expression on Vincent's face vanished, Theodore said, "After so many years, we together with the four families have finally managed to pursue the Emperor of Flames to grant a lucky chance to the younger generation. We plan on having you and all the newly enlisted students that have become a part of the nurturing plan participate in the trial of the Flame Emperor in order to enter the island of wisdom."

The trial of Liam Horus was the special exam that Vincent needed to pass in order to retain the rights to be nurtured by the academy and also enter the island.

"The special test will be held during one of the upcoming months. The exact date isn't set yet, but I will immediately inform you about the day of the special exam once I receive updates on this situation. Lastly, the students of this academy wouldn't be the only ones participating in the trial of Liam Horus as all of the royal families from around the universe would send their most talented youngster to participate in his trial."

The island of wisdom was a mysterious place that contains treasures in the form of knowledge, and be it royal or great royal families, everyone was thirsting after the treasures found in that place.

"So, you must do your best to increase your strength. Don't waste the opportunity given to you."

Theodore had high expectations for him.

"I won't!" Vincent exclaimed with determination vivid in his eyes. "Instructor, you haven't wasted this chance on me. I will do my best to not disappoint you. Hopefully, I will pass the trials and return with king Ylaleath's legacy."

"That's the determination you need. I am looking forward to seeing you prove your words in action. Though there's a high chance the legacy of King Ylaleath might refuse you as it didn't even consider the members of the four great royal families worthy enough. Of course, if you're not worthy of his legacy, don't waste even a single moment and go for another person's legacy. The entrance of the island of wisdom will only be opened for half a day, after all, and it's not like the legacy of the other experts isn't outstanding. They can be considered unique treasures. Though what you do is entirely up to you."

It requires a tremendous amount of high-grade energy and effort to open the sealed entrance of the island of wisdom. The seal was created by the temple of flames,

"I understand." Vincent nodded as happiness filled every fiber of his being.

Vincent's happiness and fervent excitement weren't without a reason. He has obtained a chance to venture into the Island of Wisdom where the rumored legacy of the unforgettable king Ylaleath—the one who is considered the strongest among the five great heroes—is said to be.

The King of Time, Ylaleath!

The history of his life and all his glorious tales were recorded in ‹The Legend of the Five Great Heroes›.

The legends of the Five Great Heroes recorded that Ylalaeth was a demi-human, born to an underprivileged mother of royal elven origin and an unknown father.

The legend has it that his mysterious father is a being from beyond this dimension. However, there is no concrete evidence behind this rumored claim that has long since become a legend.

He and his mother were immediately banished from her family as the royals considered giving birth to a child out of marriage to be a dishonorable act. One that brought great shame on their name.

Ylalaeth had lived in a tiny wooden shed with his mother, near a wide, water source that ran forward into an open forest teeming with beasts and animals, near the outskirts of the Empire of Avalon, on the planet Lorena. Yet, he didn't have any complaints as his mother loved him dearly.

Moreover, he was born strong and hunting deers and even weak magical beasts weren't a problem for him. Thus, they never lacked food and also had started to rack up silver coins.

Happiness used to fill every fiber of his being every time he used to see a smile on his mother's angelic face.

The two, mother and her only child, were living a poor but happy in the outskirts of the Empire.

However, at the age of 9, misfortune came pouring down at him.

The planet he lived on was invaded by grotesque creatures from another dimension.

The creatures were collectively known as Demons.

The Demon Race was an infamous race that likes to invade worlds, only to destroy them during their conquest.

They were natural predators that like to prey on the weak without a trace of mercy.

They were cruel!

Destruction was a part of their capricious nature!

They were bloodthirsty murderers.

Totally different from the elves that ruled the Empire of Avalon, living day by day in peace, forgetting what it means to be at war with a predatory race.

The Demon Race slaughtered the weakened elves as easily as a butcher slaughtering pigs, and a few months later, the eleven race ruling Lorena faced the threat of annihilation.

The elves were killed in cruel and torturous ways. Sometimes, the demons ate them alive, and right after laughed at the top of their lungs, remembering the pleasant screeches of the elves resounding in their ears.

Ylalaeth wasn't far from it all as he also suffered from it.

He watched as the demons crushed his mother's bones into dust, one by one, right in front of his eyes; the devilish laughers of the demons relishing in pleasure from his mother painful moans jeering laughter haunting his fragile mind, and although he fought with the demons with all he had to save his mother, he couldn't save her from the merciless hands of the demons. 

Although he roared at the top of his lungs, no help came!

He was just a child with no hope of winning against demons with burly muscles and titanic physical appearance.

However, as fate would have it, the death of his mother saddened and angered him so much more than he could ever imagine that he ended up awakening at the very moment, and it was that very day when he killed dozens of demons with one sentence.

He ended up awakening the ability to control time!

That's all Vincent knew about the tales of Ylalaeth.

The tales of the five great heroes was an unreligious book, containing historical deeds of all the five heroes, and Vincent hadn't read it entirely.

Furthermore, he had never read any religious book on the heroes or of any temple as he wasn't a follower of the Temple of Temple or any other Temple.

He was an ascetic that didn't believe in the God of any Temple as he was simply too busy training to become strong enough to end the war. Becoming a follower of a Temple didn't garner his interest.

Thus, he didn't read the legend of the greatest heroes to the very end. He did skimp through the unimportant details and read the important parts.

Most of the legends related to the five great heroes were about fighting against the Demon Race, Zergs, Titans, and other races with the tendencies to commit massacres and a destructive nature.

However, he admits that Ylalaeth was the most impressive out of the five great heroes.

In his life, Ylalaeth had created hundreds of different magic techniques, transcendental-grade combat techniques, and a varieties of fighting styles, one with might so destructive that even the moon was said to be chopped in two halves, and then also reconnected into one under two fingers of one of his hands.

Before Ylalaeth disappeared for obviously no apparent reasons, he was labeled as the most powerful ability user as he could establish a Time Kingdom, the boundary of which stretched for tens of thousands of miles wide and a few thousands miles long in the blink of an eye. In his ability kingdom, Ylaleath was the absolute ruler of everyone's time.

He was basically the strongest!

"We're about to arrive!" Theodore called out, looking into the distance. The cloud floating in the sky clouded the vision of every passenger.