430 The Second Declaration among Mystics

The Door.

'Girls?'

Thales frowned. He had a feeling that more memories were coming back to his mind. It was as if the mist above the sea was slowly dispersing, revealing the clear sea water.

"The girls?" he asked in bewilderment.

However, the unfamiliar figure had seemingly run out of patience.

"We don't have much time left," the stranger behind the odd 'water screen' gently said.

"The proximal world of the first threshold is just a step away from knocking on the Door. If they come to their senses and lower their heads slightly, they can still detect your presence."

A thought crossed Thales' mind. He suddenly knew the identity of the "girls".

'Why.'

When others, including the likes of Giza and Asda, talked about them, their expressions would always change. They were incredibly wary and fearful of the "girls".

'But this man…

'Actually referred to them as…'

"But you…"

The unfamiliar figure slowly raised his hands towards Thales, and a colorless wave spread out from his fingers.

He heard a gentle ringing in his ears. A faint sense of being threatened rose from within!

Thales' face was all scrunched up before he realized it. He instinctively attempted to put his guard up.

However, he awkwardly discovered, in that space where everything was strange, he could not even locate his arms.

Nevertheless, the most surprising thing happened. A streak of silver glow and white light appeared before him at the same time. They looked like small beasts that had been provoked.

They seemed to be consciously blocking the path between Thales and the stranger, forming a barrier.

'What?'

The sudden change stunned Thales.

"Is it, old friend?" There was faint exhaustion laced in the stranger's words. He sounded old.

Luckily, the blurry stranger did not seem to have the desire for further exploration. He put his finger down and just silently stared at the silver glow as well as the white light on Thales. Then, he watched them disappear.

He appeared pensive.

Thales stared at the changes, which were happening on his body, in shock.

"You are lucky, child." After the stranger observed him for a while, he finally shook his head in a slow manner.

"You do not just have old friends of mine looking after you… You should thank them for helping you hide from the girls, even stopping near the proximal world, a sight that is rarely seen. You are not lost and harmed, and it is all because of them."

Thales was getting more confused.

"Old friends?"

'Taking care of me...'

'Stopping near the proximal world, and not lost...'

He apparently realized something.

"Are you talking about… this?"

Thales lifted his right hand. He suddenly discovered that the parts of his body, which disappeared earlier, had returned to him completely. He tapped the silver glow on his forehead.

'Did he mean, "Never be lost?"'

The stranger did not deny it. He lowered his head, as though he was thinking about something.

In his shock, Thales observed his right hand; it had suddenly appeared. He raised his head.

"So, you and that person under Dragon Clouds City.. .are friends? Then who are…"

The stranger lifted his gaze. It seemed like he had no intention of answering Thales' questions.

"The number of times Asda contacted me over the past six years was more than the sum of the times he contacted me over the past six hundred years."

His words made Thales slightly astonished.

"His conversations also turned from repetitive, provocative declarations to pure academic discussions of Mystics. He had practically turned back into a scholar. I can tell that he really cares about you."

The stranger's words carried a slight hint of interest.

"But it was only when I personally saw you that I understood why, child."

Thales felt a chill in his heart due to the stranger's gaze even though he could not feel where the man's eyes were.

The stranger spoke in a tone that allowed no argument, "You are different…

"Regardless of whether you performed a substandard knock on the Door the last time because you were trying to flee for your life, or whether you tried to evolve wilfully this time, even though you missed the mark by a mile."

'The knock on the Door the last time?'

Thales felt shocked.

'Wait.

'The knock on the Door last time was because I was fleeing for my life…

'Dragon Clouds City, the Blood Mystic, the Queen of the Sky…' More and more words came to him as his memories returned to him.

'How about this time?'

Thales was stunned.

'This time was a "wilful evolution"... What… was it for again?'

He was getting more anxious.

What did he forget?

"But being unique is not necessarily a good thing."

The stranger whose face could not be seen clearly stood in front of him. He seemed to be rather sentimental about something.

"You have to know that becoming a Mystic is not a simple process."

The stranger gently separated his hands from each other. Colorless ripples spread out from the air between his hands, forming four transparent doors the size of a palm. Each door was more intricate and dignified than the last.

"Matter, concept, chaos, purity… These four steps are what countless generations of our ancestors have narrowed down. It is the path to be walked by mortals who want to become Mystics. Different Mystics have different progress rates, experiences, reactions, and results at different stages. The difference may even be as great as the distance between the sky and earth, but these are roughly the four Mystic stages."

The four doors broke into pieces one after another from the left to right. They turned back into colorless ripples.

'Four stages?'

'Matter, concept, chaos, purity?'

Thales' nerves tensed up. 'Based on my recovering memory, it seems like Asda didn't explain these things to me… or he did, and I forgot?

'Then…'

He cast the stranger before him a sideways glance.

'This man… just what is he...'

The words of the stranger slowly became serious.

"However, the process from losing control of your mystic energy during the 'matter' stage to successfully knocking on the Door during the final 'purity' stage and gaining your name of origin to transform into a true Mystic will not be smooth. It will not go as you plan.

"Every step is filled with difficulties and obstacles."

When he heard this, Thales' curiosity was completely piqued.

"In history, too many wizards who inherited their legacy from either the Three Great Magic Towers or from beyond the tower stumbled at the fourth step before they became Mystics. There, they lose themselves." The stranger seemed to be lamenting.

"They've never come back.

"And even those who take the final step and successfully find their name of origin…" The stranger stopped. He did not go on.

Thales' eyelids twitched a little.

He already caught many keywords along the way.

'Three Great Magic Towers…

'Too many wizards… become Mystics...'

The stranger's words turned cold again.

"However, these obstacles and risks are not without any significance. When you go through these dangerous steps in order, you will find yourself receiving a rare training opportunity. It is the foundation of becoming a Mystic."

The stranger talked tirelessly. The logical sequence was smooth, and his meaning was clear.

'Compared to a certain heartless teacher who's handsome but is useless and likes to go missing. He seems like a gentleman but has a bad temper and loves to tantalize his student…'

Thales shook his head, shaking off the image of that blue shirt.

"But as I've said, you are different.

"Until now, there has never been anyone who can skip over the hedges set by the three steps like that time when you 'lost control'. You advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching the 'purity' stage in one go. You swiftly evolved to knock on the Door, and even entered your basic form. That is the last test for Mystics."

The stranger's blurry face moved slightly. It was as if his face was vibrating behind the air between them. Ripples appeared in the background, which Thales could not see as well.

"This is your advantage, but it is also your weakness. In fact, this is extremely dangerous."

Thales frowned.

"You are talking about… the Two Empresses? I've heard Asda talking about them before. It seems like they can find me when I am knocking on the Door? But if we set aside this fact, can you first explain—"

"That is only the threat from the outside world," the stranger unceremoniously interrupted him.

"To us, the greatest danger always comes from within."

Thales was surprised.

The other party continued to speak, and his voice suddenly sounded tense.

"Take this as an example: as the number of times you 'lost control' increased, would you always glide to the edge of knocking on the Door, unable to control yourself from doing so?"

'Unable to control myself?'

Thales was shocked. He immediately raised his head and gazed at the vague face.

The stranger continued to coldly ask, "When you 'lose control', do you feel drunk for instance? Do you feel your memories fragmenting before you suddenly lose all of your memories?

"Even… forgetting about yourself?"

'Memory fragmentation...

'Forgetting about everything...

'Forgetting about yourself?'

The memories that Thales temporarily lost returned to his mind like a tidal wave. They slowly filled up the blanks, which previously existed.

'Forget?'

Fear was growing in his heart. His body was also shaking slightly.

'I must have forgotten some things.

'Some very important things…

'Especially... Especially things about myself. Why… Why am I even here? What was I doing previously?'

Thales could feel that he was drenched in cold sweat. Even though it was not cold, he still felt chills down his spine.

Alarmed and flustered, he nervously raised his head. He did not look at the stranger the same way again.

"You are… How do you know?"

However, the figure was still indifferent. It was as if his conversation with Thales was a dull and uninteresting official task to him. 

"Because you walked too fast.

"You did not experience the crucial steps in 'matter' and 'concept'. You did not overcome the necessary obstacle newcomers go through after 'losing control'...

"So, you did not get the chance to distinguish what is external material and what is yourself. You do not know how to touch, how to observe, and how to ultimately recognize mystic energy…"

His tone grew more serious, as though he was elaborating on a research question that was worth thousands.

"So when you touched mystic energy, you were unable to control the impulses and pleasures as you evolved. Your consciousness would be so clouded that you would have difficulty in distinguishing between yourself and the world around you. You could only rely on your mystic energy whose name of origin you don't even know, and go on a rampage.

"Then, you knocked on the Door hastily, and entered the dangerous basic form."

The anxious and fearful Thales wanted to speak, but found that he could not form his words.

The stranger nodded his head. It seemed that he knew what Thales was about to say.

"Under my old friends' care, you could still return at a stroke of fortune once or twice. You were not lost…"

His voice slowly turned frightening.

"But for the third, fifth, tenth, twentieth time…"

Thales clenched his fists tightly.

'So that's why I can't remember…'

He gritted his teeth.

'I can't remember the previous…'

Inside Thales' heart was a tiny man. He continuously urged Thales to do something.

'Hurry up! You still have things to do!

'Hurry!'

The stranger nodded. "You are very lucky, but you are not that lucky yet.

"And you're most definitely not going to be lucky all the way."

Thales immediately raised his head!

The teenager suppressed the restlessness in his heart. He looked into the stranger's eyes resolutely.

"Then teach me."

The stranger stared fixedly at him, but he did not reply.

"I know that since you've appeared in this place, you must have a way."

Thales gritted his teeth and said, "Teach me how to overcome this, I need… I can't, I can't enter this state anymore."

'Damn it.

'Why did I take the risk of actively using mystic energy?

'Think!'

'Think about… what I should care for.'

'Go back to… where I should be heading to."

Yet, the stranger slowly shook his head. He turned his body sideways and looked into the distance.

"Guiding you is Asda's responsibility. I am not in the position to interfere."

The stranger spoke calmly.

"Among Mystics, there is a sacred relationship between the guide and the guided that is not to be encroached upon. Take Asda and you for example. You two have a connection that is special and close. You are a special and important existence to each other."

'What?

'Guide?'

Thales was frowning slightly.

'Me and Asda? Each other?'

'Special and close connection, important and special existence...

'A sacred relationship that is not to be encroached upon…'

When he thought of it, Thales instantly felt disgusted.

'What kind of joke is that?'

Thales lifted his head indignantly. "But…"

In spite of that, the stranger changed his tune shortly after.

"But on behalf of my old friends, I could still give you some guidance so that when you face such a difficult situation again, you will be more or less prepared," the stranger said seriously.

"At least, when you lose control and evolve, you will not entirely forget your consciousness and lose yourself."

Thales was prepared to convince the other party to teach him when he heard that. He was slightly shocked. He did not expect the stranger to relent so soon.

"Listen..."

The stranger became serious again. "For the sake of protecting ourselves, and also for the sake of protecting others, a few Mystics who served as our forerunners formed three recognized rules. You can try to understand them and have them advise you in your path."

Thales' eyes brightened.

"Are you talking about the… Three Great Declarations of the Mystics?"

The stranger nodded his head.

"Did Asda tell you this before?"

Thales frowned. He tried hard to extract the information he wanted from his blurry memories.

"He only mentioned one: the first declaration among Mystics. We are not to delve deep into each other's origins."

Thales ruminated on those words. He lifted his head and he looked at the stranger with hope.

However, he was disappointed.

This time, the stranger remained silent for a long time.

The other party just stood quietly in the seemingly empty space. He did not move.

Just as Thales felt that he could burn holes into the stranger's blurry face with his stare, the man finally spoke with a calm demeanor.

"Is that so? The first declaration among Mystics?"

The stranger moved slightly.

"He told you first that's the first one?

"First declaration: do not delve deep into each other's origins?"

Thales sensed that something was off from the man's tone.

Even though there was a mysterious fog around him and strange flowing light, which resembled clouds, the stranger was the one who gave Thales an indescribable fear.

The anxiety and stress in Thales' heart made him force down his puzzlement. He urged the other party to hurry up with his answer.

"That's what he told me." The young man frowned. "What's wrong with it?"

After a while, the stranger shook his head firmly. "It's nothing."

Nevertheless, his tone made Thales feel strangely uneasy.

Very soon, Thales was attracted by the stranger's next sentence.

"Listen carefully, child, since Asda has taught you the first declaration…"

The stranger raised his head and said something of utmost gravity, "Then, what I'm about to tell you now is the second declaration in the Three Great Declarations of the Mystics."

'The Three Great Declarations of the Mystics...

'The second one...'

Thales instantly became serious, and he listened attentively.

The stranger behind the blurry "water screen" whispered. His voice was solemn.

"The second declaration among Mystics is to stay true to one's self."