Chapter 135 - Indicator (4)

Basil silently looked at the otherworldly handsome man in front of him. He was slightly confused by the development of the situation.

The man in front of him had said he was the ancestor of Pacifer Clan, his Clan, that he had thought was a mere small family. That means, the man in front of him was the first patriarch of his Clan.

Should he feel happy meeting someone from his clan? Should he feel honored being in the presence of his ancestor? The answer he got was pretty much obvious.

No!

Why should he be happy of meeting someone from his clan? He didn't even know the man personally. Why should he feel honored being in the presence of his ancestor? The man was as a dead person; the dead has no longer honor to bear.

Therefore, at the shocking reveal, Basil reacted simply.

"I see." He nodded lightly.

"Huh? That's it?" Undoubtedly, the man was bewildered. He had thought he could actually pull a dramatic reaction out of Basil. "There is something wrong with you, child. What can surprise you?" He looked helplessly at Basil.

"Do you really want to hear it?"

"No! That was rhetorical!" At that, Basil shook his head in disappointment. The man picked that up, and quickly asked, "Why are you shaking your head as if I said something wrong?"

Basil uprightly answered, "That was not a rhetorical question. You were clearly asking for an answer you do not know," he sighed, "I am glad I am not the first generation of Pacifer. Being as dumb as the ancestor will be an embarrassment."

"..."

The man was hurt; he didn't know how to react. He was excited meeting such a bright child. However, the child was so bright, he looked like an imbecile in front of the child.

Of course, he was experienced enough to quickly recover. "Kuhum! I am not as dumb as you think I am." When he saw Basil was about to open his mouth, he quickly continued, "However! That doesn't matter. I have summoned you here for a reason."

Basil nodded his head wordlessly. The man looked at Basil seriously, before saying, "I will tell you about Fragment and your duty as a Fragment Bearer." Sensing a question coming from Basil, the man asked, "Do you have anything to ask?"

Basil didn't dilly-dally as he addressed the matter directly. "First, let me know how I got here. Second, what is your name?"

"Why do you need my name?"

"If you want to be called Molester, you can keep your name to yourself."

"Aren't you too rude, child?!"

The man was simply bewildered at Basil's nonchalance in saying everything. Still, he was experienced enough to not get worked up by a child's word.

"Huuh... Alright, let's address the first matter." He nodded his head. "It has something to do with the Guide—the first Fragment. You have utilized it to the limit of its current function. Therefore, it awakened me to summon you."

"Do you mean I have asked it too many questions it couldn't answer yet?"

The man shook his head. "Although that's not wrong, in your case, you have acquired an information that the current you cannot comprehend yet."

Basil instantly recalled the last thing Caesar had said to him. "I couldn't hear the name of the person the Four Heroes had betrayed. Is that the thing I cannot comprehend yet?" He looked at the man weirdly.

The man gave Basil a silent look, before saying, "What that information entails will. You don't have to ask me; I am not allowed to answer you either."

Basil frowned. "That is bothersome. I thought the Guide and I supposed to have a symbiosis mutualism; I didn't think it was a parasite."

He considered the Guide's action of limiting things he should know and he shouldn't know was considered a parasitic behavior.

The man laughed faintly. "Don't worry, child. The Guide is doing a favor to you. Knowing who the person the Four Heroes had betrayed will only distract your mind from advancing forward."

Basil didn't quite understand what that meant, but he nodded nonetheless. Since the knowledge wouldn't help him improving his power in anyway, he could overlook it.

"Can I assume the Guide will not obstruct me in my way?" He was referring to his power progress.

The man smiled and nodded his head. "Of course not, my child. You don't have to worry." Seeing that Basil didn't have anything to say anymore, the man continued, "About my name, you will eventually find out about it."

Basil frowned; the man quickly explained himself. "You can call me by my nickname though. I am Matheus. You can call me Elder Matheus."

"I will call you Matheus, then."

"I believe you missed—"

"Matheus."

Matheus wanted to correct Basil again, but he gave up in the end. He knew he wouldn't be able to convince Basil the otherwise. Luckily, he was such a tolerant elder. If he wasn't, he wouldn't provide Basil anything with information from now on.

Matheus cleared his throat. "Kuhum! Let's move on to the main topic. I will explain about Fragment." He turned his body to the left, before sweeping the air with his hand. "This is what you called a Fragment."

Then, a 5 meters tall stone tablet appeared out of nowhere. Upon its appearance, the scenery in Basil's Mindscape—the white space—changed.

The previously white and bright space turned black and dark. Silence filled the space, and the only source of light in the entire space was the stone tablet.

Or to be exact, a fourth of the stone tablet. That was the only part that had shining writings on it.

Matheus looked at the stone tablet nostalgically and slightly forlorn gaze. Basil noticed that, but he didn't say a thing.

"That shining part, the one with writings on it, is a Fragment. Fragment is simply a part of the Tablet of Truth," he gestured with his hand, "this giant stone tablet."

He turned his head to Basil. "There are four Fragments in total, and you have only gathered one."

"You are the previous Fragment Bearer." The man nodded. "Does that mean you had completed the Tablet of Truth?"

The man shook his head. "No, I hadn't completed the Tablet of Truth. However, I have gathered all of the four Fragments." Sensing a questions coming, the man quickly explained, "Too many people were after them; I scattered them again."

"I see..." Basil nodded in acceptance. "So, you don't know what the Tablet of Truth contains?"

The man smiled. "It is as its name suggested, child. It bears the truth of everything. I think the Guide has shown you a glimpse of it."

"Knowledge," Basil concluded. Realizing something, he asked, "Does this mean I have to gather Fragments to upgrade the Guide?"

"No, you don't, child. You can simply increase the amount of your Magic Circles and improve the quality of your Core; the Guide will be upgraded by itself."

"So, my duty as a Fragment Bearer is to complete the Tablet of Truth by gathering the other Fragments, and protect them from any unwanted people?"

Matheus nodded.

"How can you be sure I am worthy of that task?"

"Because, you are a Pacifer. Furthermore, the Guide wouldn't have integrated with you, if it had deemed you unworthy."

"As expected, the Guide is part of the Fragment," Basil mused to himself.

"Yes, it is the last part of the Fragment, the hardest Fragment to deal with. Only someone with an incredible strength can forcefully bond theirself with it."

Basil was reminded of how irritating the Guide could get sometimes. Thus, he was convinced that he had been too powerful in the past, he had forcefully bonded the Guide with him.

Don't get him wrong. He had the right to think that way. No one was stronger than him other than The Seven Princes in the past, after all.

"Why are we called Fragment Bearer not Tablet of Truth's Vessel?"

"Because, not just everyone can complete the Tablet of Truth. Even after gathering all of the Fragments, there is no guarantee you can complete the Tablet of Truth."

"What do you mean?"

"You need the approval of the Tablet of Truth to complete it. Until then, the Fragment will remain a remain a Fragment. They give you nothing, aside from some power boost. Thus, we are called a Fragment Bearer."

"What do the other Fragments contain?"

At this, Matheus smiled mischievously. "You can only expect, child. You can only expect."

Basil wasn't satisfied with the explanation, but didn't pursue the matter any longer. He still had one last thing to ask. "Where are the other Fragments located?"

At that, Matheus scratched his head awkwardly. Basil instantly got the feeling he would be irritated by what Matheus would say.

"That... I don't know," Matheus said apologetically. "However! I have an excuse," he exclaimed.

"As what you have already heard, the Guide is the last Fragment. I have left my Soul Imprint in every Fragment with the knowledge of the other Fragment's location sequentially."

Sensing a question coming, he quickly explained himself.

"That means, the Soul Imprint I have left in the first Fragment will know the location of the second Fragment and so on. Therefore, I, as the last Soul Imprint, don't t know anything about the location of the other Fragments."

Basil frowned. "How is that even possible? Shouldn't you, as a Soul Imprint, have every memory your former self had?"

"About that, the reason is simple. As you have already visited Dreamland, you must have known about what happens to our soul when we die."

Basil nodded.

"My didn't go there—it was destroyed. Therefore, the Soul Imprints I left behind contained only a glimpse of my soul. So, of course, the memory I have is limited to what my former self had bestowed upon me."

"What caused your soul destruction?"

Matheus smiled bitterly. "I used the highest level of Magic to seal the Fragments. That required the destruction of my soul."

Basil was instantly reminded of the first time he found the first Fragment. It was merely set on the altar like a luxurious decoration. It was highly secured. However, no one seemed had ever hold it.

Now, he knew the reason why The Seven Princes didn't make use of it: they couldn't.

Basil nodded his head in appreciation. To be able to make the people of that caliber helpless means Matheus had been an exceptionally great Mage in the past.

"Do I need to worry about this seal?"

"No, you don't have to. Since you are my descendant, you will get a free pass." Matheus winked.

After a little bit more of conversation regarding the Tablet of Truth, Matheus finally concluded his explanation.

"Since I have explained almost everything to you, it will be the end of it. I have said as much as I can."

Basil nodded wordlessly.

"Upon reaching the Middle Realm, the special trait of a Pacifer will be unlocked." Basil was slightly surprised; he didn't know anything about that. "When that time comes, you can find the rest of our Clan."

When Basil was about to ask something, Matheus raised his hand. "I won't explain anything to you. But, I will give you something to help you in your endeavor." He approached Basil, then touched Basil's forehead with his pointer finger.

Soon, the tip of his finger glowed, and information rushed to Basil's brain. The amount was overwhelming enough for Basil to close his eyes, and tune the world out.

Now that Basil was immersed in the knowledge he was giving, Matheus looked at Basil forlornly.

"I am sorry I can't tell you about everything yet. It is unnecessary for you now. You are filled with rage, Basil. I can't tell you the truth, lest I wanted chaos to happen."

He sighed.

"You have to live not full of rage, but fulfillments. Make not the same mistake I have made, and live happily."

The light died down, and Basil once again opened his eyes. He was looking at Matheus in slight puzzlement.

Basil understood of Basil's puzzlement, and said, "You will understand the purpose of that Art later."

Basil blinked his eyes, before nodding his head in acceptance. Matheus swept the air with his hand, and everything went back to normal—the white space returned.

"Right after my disappearance, you will get hold of the Fragment fully. Remember, you are a Fragment Bearer. You have to keep them and your life to your utmost effort. Be the strongest existence!"

Basil smirked faintly. "I live by that principle." Matheus smiled faintly. "Then, off I go."

Matheus' body started disappearing, and Basil slowly regained his connection with the Guide and the outside world. Of course, Matheus didn't go without any last word.

"Enjoy your life."

Basil didn't have the time to react to that, as he was quickly pulled out of his Mindscape.

By the time he opened his eyes, he was already in the outside world; still with puzzlement to Matheus' last word.