Chapter 425: An Old Veriz

The darkness obscured their figure, but Arthur saw them standing atop the mast of a leaving ship. The familiarity grew stronger, and Arthur was sure that it was someone he knew from Earth. Finally, however, they disappeared without a trace, leaving Arthur dazed.

"Who was that?" Arthur wondered, but he couldn't summon the memory. Finally, however, he was sure that it was someone he knew, but he couldn't see their face or figure.

As his detection covered the land, Arthur found no trace of them, only the leaving ships. He grew disheartened again for the loss of a chance to meet someone he knew, but he was somehow relieved and terrified.

At least Arthur wasn't the only person in Alka, but it meant that someone he knew was in this dangerous world. After thinking that he lost them again, Arthur detected an abnormal presence with his mana.

The presence was far away from where he was, and Arthur's heart raced because it was the same person from earlier. Arthur teleported toward the outskirts of the town where a shabby hut was erected to find the person from earlier walking toward the hut's door.

The figure paused as Arthur appeared behind him, and he turned ever so slowly toward him. The moonlight finally revealed his face, and Arthur's heart shook.

There was something wrong with the person's identity because it was someone he recognized but somehow did not. Arthur stared at the youth in front of him with a shaking heart.

"Who are you?" Arthur muttered as he retreated, and the youth looked at him with wariness with no recognition.

"That's my line," the youth grabbed hold of his dagger, and his voice was a lot similar to the one Arthur knew.

"Are you... Ori?" Arthur asked with confusion, but it didn't make sense. This youth in front of him looked like Ori, but he was a lot younger.

The youth's eyes turned round when Arthur said the name, and his expression grew panic-stricken. Then, when Arthur took a step forward, the youth took out a device and used it. Then, he disappeared again.

There was a mana disturbance where the youth stood, and Arthur knew he had teleported away. However, he only left Arthur with more unanswered questions.

'I need to follow him,' Arthur couldn't wrap his head how a younger version of Ori was here, and he used his detection to look for him. However, the young Ori has disappeared, leaving the hut as the only clue.

The hut's door opened to reveal an old man with white hair. Arthur turned to him and could see utter fear in his eyes. As he took a step forward, wanting to ask him, the man closed the door hurriedly.

"Wait, sir!" Arthur called out. "I want to ask you about something. I seek no harm!" he walked toward the door and knocked slightly. "Please, I just have a few questions."

"Who are you?" the gruff voice of the old man arrived from behind the door, and Arthur could tell that he was being examined from behind the curtains.

"I am," Arthur hesitated before revealing, "someone from another world."

***

The chair was old, the same as everything in this house, including the couple here. Arthur looked at the woman pour him some tea as her husband rubbed his hands against each other in nervousness.

"Are you truly from another world?" the old man asked with confusion. "Can you prove it?"

"I lived in the Yalveran Union before I got here," Arthur said, and the man seemed a bit more relaxed.

"It explains your accent," the man said with an accent of Janea people. "This is the first time I meet someone from Earth..."

"The same thing for me," Arthur looked at his kind wife and thanked her for the tea. And to be safe, he used his healing rune on the tea to detox any kind of poison. "Can I know how you got here?"

"How I got here?" the man shook his head. "The same as any other one who got dragged into this ruthless world: a temporal fissure."

"A temporal... fissure?" Arthur was confused, but it somehow made sense. "You mean that it's something different from a normal fissure?"

"Those only affect space," the old man took a sip as he began revealing his knowledge. "I worked in a guild as an analyst. While doing a few tests on a fissure, it exploded to drag me into this world. However, when I asked around, I realized that I also got dragged into the past."

"Why did that happen?"

"I can't be sure, but it seems that if the gap between the two worlds fulfills a certain condition, it would rip apart the temporal fabric and connect to a different timeline from the other world. Hence, we are here, a hundred years ago."

"How do you know how long ago this is?" Arthur asked with a frown.

"My father is an archeologist, and he specialized in ancient civilizations. Ironically, most of the things he studied were from this world, not from Earth."

"I see..." Arthur couldn't believe that there would be other cases of temporal fissures, and it further confirmed that his father was here long ago. "Were you expecting any visitors?"

"Visitors?" the man was confused but shook his head. "No, I chose to hide. The only people who know of my origins are my wife, and now you know as well," the old man stood up and went toward the cupboard.

After giving a squeak of worn-out furniture, the cupboard opened to reveal stacks of books. The man took out a book that was in a better condition and placed it on the table.

"How long have you been here for, boy?" the old man asked as he traced his fingers on the book with reminiscing.

"A few months only," Arthur answered, feeling somehow relieved for the existence of this man and also curious about the book.

"A few months," the man repeated. "You are still new to this world, it seems. Have you lost your arm here?" the man looked at his missing arm with a hint of sympathy.

"I appeared in Alva, and I was sold as a slave to the person who did this," Arthur smiled lightly. "However, I believe that I was fortunate enough to survive that place."

"Alva is unkind to us indeed, and especially toward Veriz people," the man said, and it was a word that Arthur had almost forgotten.

'Those who know nothing,'

It was a word that summed up the suffering of people who teleported into this world, armed with no knowledge or language. The man pushed the book toward Arthur as he sat down.

"I came to this place fifty years ago," he revealed another shocking fact. "During the first thirty years, I kept trying to find a way back to Earth. But then, I gave up after countless dead-ends."

"And this book has what you gathered?"

"Exactly so," he nodded. "I believe that it deserves a new owner, someone who wants to go back to Earth. I lost that desire countless years ago."

"Why? Did you have no family?"

"I had," the man's pressed his hands together with trembling lips. "However, I only have one life. I wanted to live and find happiness than pursue an impossible dream. What if I spent my life looking, just to find dead-ends?"

The man's words struck fear in Arthur's heart, but he gathered his thoughts and reassured himself. He met Solomon before, so he had a lead on how to go back to Earth.

"I understand," Arthur bowed his head slightly. "I'm sorry for being insensitive. However, I have another question. Have you ever met someone who looks like me?"

"No," the man shook his head. "Nor have I met another person from Earth. I believe that most of us die or simply hide in an old hut."

"I... have gold," Arthur was about to take out whatever gold he had to help this man, but the latter simply raised his hand to stop him.

"If I have money, then it would bring me attention that can kill me. I bet that you are living a dangerous life too, and I pray for your safety."

"Thank you, sir," Arthur nodded and turned toward the book. After opening it, he found many explanations, documents, and illustrations.

"My book has everything I know about temporal fissures and possible theories about how to create one. However, none of them worked, and most are simply the act of gods."

"And can you choose what timeline you are going to travel to?"

"That's a question you need to find an answer for," the man shook his head. "The path ahead is an endless one, at least it was for me."

"Are you sure that you want me to take this?" Arthur asked. "I think there are others who have been here more than I have and are still hoping to find a way home."

"I don't know, boy," the man shook his head. "The only thing that I ask of you is this: if you indeed find a way, revisit me, for I have a letter to send back home."